NHL, IIHF reach agreement that will bring stars to Sochi

Don't expect any of the top teams to miss out on the quarterfinals that begin on Feb. 19, but the way the brackets are set up -- with three teams in each of

Alexander Ovechkin was adamant about playing for Russia when it hosts the 2014 Winter Olympics :: Martin Rose/Getty Images

Don't expect any of the top teams to miss out on the quarterfinals that begin on Feb. 19, but the way the brackets are set up -- with three teams in each of four groups -- the U.S. will face Russia and Ovechkin in a Group A game on Feb. 15. In case one of the other favorites has a bad outing in preliminary-round play (Slovakia is also in Group A along with Slovenia; Canada and Finland are in Group B along with Austria and Norway; the Czech Republic and Sweden are in Group C with Switzerland and Latvia), there will be a pair of play-in games, a qualification play-off on Feb. 18. Canada needed an extra game to beat Germany and advance to the quarterfinals in 2010, before rolling to the gold medal.