Winter Olympics: Ice Hockey

A tournament of veterans

by Mike Morrison and Christine Frantz
The USA Women's Hockey team wins at the Nagano Olympics

The USA Women's Hockey team wins at the Nagano Olympics

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Did You Know?

Ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. The first Winter Olympics didn't take place until 1924.

Men's Ice Hockey

It's hard to believe it's been 26 years since a bunch of college kids from the United States defeated the Russians and ultimately won the gold in 1980's " Miracle on Ice."

Since that year, the U.S. men's hockey team has fallen on hard times, failing to get the gold in each of the last six Olympics. The low point for the program perhaps came in Nagano in 1998, when some members of the team trashed their room at the Olympic Village following a loss to the eventual champion, the Czech Republic.

In 1998 the face of Olympic hockey underwent a major change when it was ruled that professionals would be allowed to compete. As a result, we saw each nation's top players competing against each other. On the downside, it virtually eliminated the chance of another "Miracle on Ice."

Canada could do a repeat of 2002's gold medal, as hall-of-famer and Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky will once again have a formidable team of NHL all-stars wanting to make sure the gold stays in the birthplace of hockey. Russia is hoping that retired NHL star Pavel Bure can emulate Gretzky's success and put together a winning squad. In addition to Canada and Russia, the U.S. team under head coach Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes has some tough competition coming from Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Preliminary round action begins on Feb. 15 and ends with the gold medal match on Feb. 26. Hockey games will be played at the new Palasport Olimpico and also at an ice rink set up in the existing Torino Esposizioni.

Women's Ice Hockey

With all due respect to the other countries competing in the women's hockey event in Torino, international women's hockey comes down to just two teams: Canada and the United States.

Since 1990 the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) has sanctioned nine world championships in women's ice hockey. In all nine, the gold medal game has pitted the Canadians against the Americans. And in all but the most recent, in 2005, the Canadians have emerged victorious.

In 1998 the inaugural Olympic women's hockey tournament took place in Nagano. Not surprisingly, those same two countries battled for the gold medal. But this time it was the United States that took the gold, with a 3–1 win over their fiercest rivals.

In Salt Lake City in 2002, Canada got their revenge, beating the United States in the final game, 3–2. In games played in 2005, Canada beat the U.S. team six times before the U.S. finally got in a win.

Competition at the Torino Games starts on Feb. 11 at the new Palasport Olimpico and also at an ice rink set up in the existing Torino Esposizioni. The gold medal match will be on Feb. 20.

Fact Monster™ Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.