Winter Olympics Ice Hockey: Men's Finals - Preview, Complete Schedule and How to watch

The men's ice hockey tournament is nearing what will surely be a thrilling conclusion as medals are awarded at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

First up, Sweden and Slovakia will face off in Saturday's (19 February) bronze medal match.

"If somebody said before the tournament that we will play for the medals, maybe we wouldn't trust him," said Slovakia's Patrik Rybar about the chance to win the nation's first ice hockey Olympic medal. "But, right now, we are here, and we need to focus for our game."

Then, defending champions ROC and Finland will face off to determine the gold and silver medallists. ROC is seeking back-to-back titles for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, while Finland are hoping to go one better than their silver medals at Calgary 1988 and Torino 2006.

"It's huge for everybody individually, as a team and as a hockey country. It is a big thing," said Finland's Harri Sateri. "It would be huge. It's the Olympics – one of the biggest tournaments you can win."

Read on for what to look out for, game schedule and how to watch.

Here's a look at the medal round schedule. All times local to Beijing:

Saturday 19 FebruaryBronze medal game21:10 Sweden v. Slovakia

Sunday 20 FebruaryGold medal game12:10 Finland v. Sweden

ROC, the defending Olympic gold medallists from PyeongChang 2018, have one last hurdle to overcome to earn a second-straight Olympic title: Finland.

They’ll meet in the gold medal game, and ROC head coach Alexei Zhamnov is expecting a battle.

"We'll try but it won't be easy. We know this," he told Olympics.com after their semi-final win over Sweden. "Finland are a very good team and we want to make sure we're ready."

ROC's Damir Sharipzyanov explained how he sees the stakes of