During the final days of last year’s World Championship, Slovenia and France faced off. It was not a huge game for many hockey fans. They combined for a single NHL player, Alexandre Texier, from France, and both teams had a goal differential of -15 or worse. But this game had a lot at stake: the winner would stay in the Elite division, while the loser would fall to Division 1.

Division 1 was familiar territory for Slovenia; they had been promoted and relegated 11 times since 2010. France, on the other hand, is a mainstay of the Elite division and played in every tournament held since 2010. France was technically relegated in 2019, but a combination of COVID and the suspensions of Belarus and Russia meant they never missed a tournament. 

In the relegation battle, Slovenia started hot and ended the first period with a two to nothing lead. Despite France outshooting Slovenia 24-15 in the final two periods, their luck had run out, and they lost 3-1. For the first time since 2007, France was going to play in Division 1.

While French hockey was frustrated, the rest of Division 1 was also unhappy with the result. With a five-game tournament, every game is already hard enough. 6 teams are competing for two promotional spots, and you would rather take the easier opponent, no matter how small the margin. At 19 in the IIHF rankings, Slovenia was much closer to the rest of the group than France is at 14. 

2025	2026
Great Britain (17)	France (14)
Italy (20)	Kazakhstan (15)
Poland (21)	Poland (21)
Romania (23)	Japan (24)
Japan (24)	Lithuania (25)
Ukraine (27)	Ukraine (27)

2025 was considered the easier year to earn promotion; France’s relegation loss to Slovenia just made 2026 more challenging. 

But as the 2026 hockey season progressed, things have shifted for France. Players and the coaching staff have only grown more frustrated with each other, and it’s spilled publicly. A couple of players are likely now guaranteed to be away from the national team for the foreseeable future. Then, with their unlikely Olympic birth, the question can be asked: how many players will be willing to suit up for the national team again at the end of the 2026 season?

It all started in October, when star forward Pierrick Dubé talked with a Russian media outlet and said he would not care if he was left off the Olympic roster since France did not really earn the right to be there. France did not receive a spot until after Russia’s ban was upheld, Dubé at the time, was playing for Rusian club Traktor Chelyabinsk. Although Dubé later returned to North American professional hockey, he was still not selected for the Olympics and seems unlikely to play for the national team anytime soon. A major loss for the French offense as Dubé owns a career .71 point per game average in the American Hockey League and had 5 points (1G-4A) in 3 games at last year’s Olympic qualifiers. 

Another roster shock would come after the reveal of a French Olympic squad without Tim Bozon. Bozon revealed he learned he was being left off the roster in November, after reaching out to France head coach Yorick Treille himself. Tim Bozon was the country’s leading scorer over the last five World Championships.

Bozon went public with his frustrations, noting that the coach and federation convinced him to come to last year’s World Championship, despite him being greatly injured. Bozon did report for the Worlds and had 3 points (2G-1A) in 6 games, tying for third on the team.

Yorick Treille only responded by saying his comments were “Very disappointing” and that Bozon had disrespected his teammates.  

France then headed to Milan without two of their best forwards. The results were expected for a country on the hockey level of France. When the tournament is best on best, there is really no one outside the top six countries who can compete. Losses of 4-0 to Switzerland, 6-3 to Czechia, and 10-2 to Canada were expected. 

That loss to Canada made all the wrong headlines after a late 3rd period fight between France’s Pierre Crinon and Canada’s Tom Wilson. Crinon had already started to develop a reputation, especially after punching goaltender Matt O’Connor during a Ligue Magnus game. Crinon had represented France at the previous four World Championships. His antics after being thrown out for his late fight against Canada seemed to be a step too far. The French hockey federation suspended Crinon for the remainder of the Olympics.

To make matters worse for Crinon, a Grenoble prosecutor reportedly decided to charge him with the offence of intentional violence for punching Matt O’Connor. French authorities initially dismissed the case, but his actions in the Olympics seemed to be a justification for reopening the case. The hearing is scheduled to take place in Grenoble on May 27th. The Division 1 Group A World Championship will take place May 2nd-8th in Sosnowiec, Poland. 

A couple of Crinnon’s teammates did jump to his defense. Per Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, French starting goalie Antoine Keller called it a joke. While defenseman Hugo Gallet said Crinon didn’t deserve it, adding the French federation was “biased by something that happened before.”

In the the qualification playoff, France was eliminated with a disappointing 5-1 loss to Germany. National team legend Pierre-Édouard Bellemare would score the only French goal and announce his retirement from international hockey after the game. The 40-year-old forward was the team’s captain and a staple of French hockey, representing his home country at 14 World Championships. 

Speaking to one French national team player who did not represent the country at the Olympics, he noted that it would be shocking to see top players represent France if Yorick Treille and other leaders remain in charge. It will have to be a quick turnaround for France, not just due to the World Championships in four months. But the 2030 Olympic Games will be held in the French Alps, with France guaranteed a spot in the Olympic hockey tournament as host. 

Even with all this drama, France is still a much better team than Poland. Back in December, Poland faced off with the French B squad, winning 3-1 in a shootout. It was not a full-strength Poland, and France had only 5 of its Olympians on that roster (Antoine Keller served only as backup vs. Poland). But the white and red were just able to edge out France’s backup with much more of their active roster. France is likely to have much more of their typical roster in May. 

Go back to the 2024 World Championship, Poland, and France faced off with much higher stakes. An early tournament loss to Kazakhstan made the game against Poland must win for France. A full-strength and motivated France got out to a 4 goal lead after 27 minutes and would then cruise to a 4-2 win.

France is likely heading to Poland for sure without any of Bellemare, Bozon, Crinon, and Dubé.  Three of those players (All but Dubé) were a part of that 2024 French team that beat Poland. I think that the number of French regulars sitting out is likely to grow given the circumstances. France will be the odds favorite, but this match-up may look better on paper than initially thought.

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Photo via IIHF.com