In 1988 the Olympic hockey tournament was expanded from 8 to 12 teams.  The
seeds for the Olympics are determined by the finishes in the previous
World Championships.  Then, the teams are put into two pools - A and B.
The host country always gets a seed, although I think France earned its
way in anyway.  (Thus, Japan will play in 1998 and I don't even know what
division they are playing in.)
 
Sweden won the WC last year (also known as the "A" WC) and got the first
seed, and was placed in Pool A.  I am guessing on the rest: Can & USSR/CIS
2-3 and in Pool B; USA & FIN 4-5 (Pool A); Czech. & Norway 6-7 (Pool B);
Germany 8 (Pool A).
 
Italy won the "B" WC and thus was seeded 9th, joining Pool A.  France &
Switzerland, I'm guessing, were 2nd-3rd in the "B" WC, seeded 10th-11th in
the Olympics and in Pool B; and Poland finished 4th in the "B" WC, got the
12th seed and was placed in Pool A.
 
This is the way the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) has decided
to conduct the Olympic hockey tourney.  Each sport's international governing
body is responsible for determining how entrants may qualify.  That's how
Eddie the Eagle got to jump in 1988 - some sports, for instance, allow
every country to send X number of participants.  The IOC plays no part.
Rather, it delegates this authority to the governing bodies.  (I'm assuming
the IOC can reject prospective participants if a country sets ridiculous
criteria for athletes, but I'm not familiar enough to know.)
 
The governing bodies of the sport within each country are allowed to
decide how to choose the entrants that will represent their country.  Thus
the rules that allowed 15 Canadians and 1 American to play for Italy.
 
Gates Orlando, BTW, played for Providence and is very high on PC's all-time
scoring list.  Italy could have used him yesterday.
 
 
- mike