is there a mercy rule in olympic hockey

There is no automatic “mercy rule” in Olympic ice hockey like you see in many youth or recreational leagues, where a game is stopped early once the score reaches a specific goal differential. Olympic tournaments are played under International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rules, and games run for the full three periods except in very rare, game‑management situations (for example, a forfeit or exceptional circumstances decided by officials and organizers).

Historically, there has been discussion about adding a mercy rule for women’s Olympic hockey because of some very lopsided USA and Canada wins, but those conversations did not turn into a standard, across‑the‑board rule that ends games at a set score margin. Instead of stopping games early, most top‑level international events rely on informal sportsmanship (teams easing off, rolling four lines, etc.) rather than a formal mercy cutoff like “up 10, game over.”

So if you’re watching Olympic hockey now, you should expect the full game to be played even in a blowout, unless something extraordinary forces officials to terminate it.