1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament

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1998 Winter Olympics
Men's Ice Hockey
Nagano98.png
Tournament details
Host nation  Japan
Dates 7–22 February
Teams 14
Venue(s) Big Hat, Aqua Wing Arena (in 1 host city)
Champions Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic (1 title)
Tournament statistics
Games played 35
Goals scored 210  (6 per game)
Scoring leader(s) Flag of Finland Teemu Selänne10 points

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was the 19th Olympic Championship. The Czech Republic, which emerged from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, won its first gold medal, becoming only the seventh nation to ever win Olympic ice hockey gold. The tournament, held from February 7 to February 22, was played at the Big Hat and Aqua Wing arenas.

This was the first Olympics in which the National Hockey League (NHL) took a break allowing national teams to be constructed using the best possible talent from each country. The 1998 Olympic tournament therefore came to be known as the "Tournament of the Century". Unlike previous Olympics where athletes could choose five-star hotel accommodations (such as the USA Men's Basketball team), NHL players were required to stay in the Olympic Village like other athletes.

Both Canada and the United States were heavily favoured; they had previously faced off in the final of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. After a below-expectations performance in the tournament which included only one win, however, several American players trashed their rooms in the Olympic Village. Although the Americans quickly paid for the damage, they never apologized. The Canadian team, despite a strong start in the round robin, failed to play well after losing their semifinal match against the Czech Republic, and played a lackluster bronze medal game, disappointing Canadians who wished for Wayne Gretzky to get an Olympic medal. Nonetheless, Gretzky encouraged all of his teammates to attend the closing ceremony.

With political struggles and problems within the Russian hockey program at the time, Russia was missing most of its top NHL stars that refused to participate for political or personal reasons, and were not expected to medal. Among the missing were Nikolai Khabibulin, Alexander Mogilny, Igor Larionov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Oleg Tverdovsky, Vladimir Malakhov and Sergei Zubov. Alexei Kovalev missed the tournament due to injury where he was replaced by Sergei Fedorov, who called the president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and offered to be a substitute, who had not played in nearly a year and was currently in a holdout with the Detroit Red Wings.

In large part due to the goaltending of Dominik Hašek, who was considered the best goaltender throughout Olympic play as well as the NHL, the Czech Republic shut-out Russia to win the gold medal.

The format of the men's tournament was criticized because the National Hockey League (NHL) clubs would not release their players for the preliminary round. This severely hampered the campaigns of Germany and Slovakia, both of whom failed to qualify for the final group stage. Also the final group stage was criticized as being meaningless since all of the teams qualified for the quarter-finals. The format was eventually changed for the 2006 tournament in an effort to address these criticisms.

Qualification

Fourteen nations would qualify for the Olympic tournament, eight to the preliminary round, and six to the first round. The IIHF used the standings of the 1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships to determine qualification. First, the top six nations from Pool A would go directly to the first round. The preliminary round was made up of the nations ranked seventh and eighth, along with the host Japan, and five others from a series of qualification tournaments. The nations ranked nine through twelve went straight to the final qualification round.[1]

Regional Pre-Qualification

Group A

Five nations played each other twice, both home and away, from October 25, 1995, until December 12, 1996.

Rank Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Switzerland Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Denmark Flag of Slovenia Flag of Netherlands
1 Flag of Switzerland.svg.png Switzerland 8 6 0 2 42 14 14 2 - 2 8 - 1 5 - 3 7 - 1
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg.png Great Britain 8 5 0 3 31 15 13 3 - 3 1 - 1 5 - 0 4 - 1
3 Flag of Denmark.svg.png Denmark 8 3 4 1 23 28 7 2 - 6 2 - 3 4 - 2 4 - 0
4 Flag of Slovenia.svg.png Slovenia 8 3 5 0 32 24 6 1 - 4 4 - 5 5 - 1 9 - 0
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg.png Netherlands 8 0 8 0 8 55 0 1 - 7 2 - 8 3 - 8 0 - 8
Group B

This tournament was played in Tychy, Poland, from December 17 to 22, 1996.

Rank Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Ukraine Flag of Poland Flag of Romania Flag of Bulgaria Flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1 Flag of Ukraine.svg.png Ukraine 4 3 0 1 51 3 7 3 - 3 10 - 0 17 - 0 21 - 0
2 Flag of Poland.svg.png Poland 4 3 0 1 36 8 7 3 - 3 6 - 3 14 - 0 13 - 2
3 Flag of Romania.svg.png Romania 4 2 2 0 19 22 4 0 - 10 3 - 6 7 - 2 9 - 4
4 Flag of Bulgaria.svg.png Bulgaria 4 1 3 0 7 40 2 0 - 17 0 - 14 2 - 7 5 - 2
5 Flag of FR Yugoslavia.svg.png Yugoslavia 4 0 4 0 8 48 0 0 - 21 2 - 13 4 - 9 2 - 5
  • Note: In January 1996 Greece beat Israel 10-2, but forfeited the result because of an ineligible player. Following that, in March of the same year Israel played Yugoslavia, in Lithuania, losing 5-3. Israel's loss is officially a 5-0 loss, the match was declared forfeit because they used ineligible players from Russia.
Group C

This tournament was played in Riga, Latvia, from August 27 to September 1, 1996.

Rank Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Belarus Flag of Latvia Flag of Hungary Flag of Estonia Flag of Lithuania
1 Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus 4 4 0 0 54 4 8 4 - 1 13 - 1 16 - 1 21 - 1
2 Flag of Latvia.svg.png Latvia 4 3 1 0 53 6 6 1 - 4 10 - 2 15 - 0 27 - 0
3 Flag of Hungary.svg.png Hungary 4 2 2 0 19 31 4 1 - 13 2 - 10 7 - 4 9 - 4
4 Flag of Estonia.svg.png Estonia 4 1 3 0 14 41 2 1 - 16 0 - 15 4 - 7 9 - 3
5 Flag of Lithuania.svg.png Lithuania 4 0 4 0 8 66 0 1 - 21 0 - 27 4 - 9 3 - 9
  • Note: In January 1996 Hungary played a challenge series against Croatia winning 7-0 and 6-0.
Group D

The Asian Winter Games were used as a qualifying tournament, and were played in Harbin, China, from February 5 to 8, 1996. Japan participated though already qualified for the Olympics.

Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Kazakhstan Flag of Japan Flag of China Flag of South Korea
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan 3 3 0 0 33 2 6 4 - 1 20 - 0 9 - 1
Flag of Japan.svg.png Japan 3 2 1 0 14 6 4 1 - 4 7 - 1 6 - 1
Flag of China.svg.png China 3 1 2 0 7 29 2 0 - 20 1 - 7 6 - 2
Flag of South Korea.svg.png South Korea 3 0 3 0 4 21 0 1 - 9 1 - 6 2 - 6

Final Olympic Qualification

The top two from each group qualify, the two third placed nations play for the final spot.

Group 1

Played in Oberhausen, Germany, from February 6 to 9, 1997.

Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Germany Flag of Slovakia Flag of Switzerland Flag of Ukraine
Flag of Germany.svg.png Germany 3 2 0 1 11 7 5 3 - 2 4 - 1 4 - 4
Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Slovakia 3 1 1 1 9 7 3 2 - 3 3 - 3 4 - 1
Flag of Switzerland.svg.png Switzerland 3 1 1 1 6 8 3 1 - 4 3 - 3 2 - 1
Flag of Ukraine.svg.png Ukraine 3 0 2 1 6 10 1 4 - 4 1 - 4 1 - 2
Group 2

Played in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 6 to 9, 1997.

Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Flag of Belarus Flag of Kazakhstan Flag of Austria Flag of Norway
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus 3 1 0 2 12 8 4 4 - 4 6 - 2 2 - 2
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan 3 1 0 2 11 8 4 4 - 4 4 - 1 3 - 3
Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria 3 1 2 0 7 11 2 2 - 6 1 - 4 4 - 1
Flag of Norway.svg.png Norway 3 0 1 2 6 9 2 2 - 2 3 - 3 1 - 4
February 11, 1997 Austria Flag of Austria.svg.png 2 – 0
(0–0, 1–0, 1–0)
Flag of Switzerland.svg.png Switzerland Duisburg Germany

Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria secures the final spot in the Preliminary Round.

Preliminary Round

Group A

Top team (shaded) advanced to the first round.

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan 3 2 0 1 14 11 +3 5
Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Slovakia 3 1 1 1 9 9 0 3
Flag of Italy.svg.png Italy 3 1 2 0 11 11 0 2
Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria 3 0 1 2 9 12 -3 2

All times are local (UTC+9).

7 February 1998 Kazakhstan Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png 5 – 3
(1-3, 1-0, 3-0)
Flag of Italy.svg.png Italy The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,634
7 February 1998 Austria Flag of Austria.svg.png 2 – 2
(1-0, 1-2, 0-0)
Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Slovakia Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,315
8 February 1998 Austria Flag of Austria.svg.png 5 – 5
(2-2, 2-1, 1-2)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,410
8 February 1998 Slovakia Flag of Slovakia.svg.png 4 – 3
(1-2, 3-1, 0-0)
Flag of Italy.svg.png Italy The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,620
10 February 1998 Italy Flag of Italy.svg.png 5 – 2
(2-0, 2-0, 1-2)
Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,473
10 February 1998 Slovakia Flag of Slovakia.svg.png 3 – 4
(1-1, 1-0, 1-3)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,659

Group B

Top team (shaded) advanced to the first round.

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus 3 2 0 1 14 4 +10 5
Flag of Germany.svg.png Germany 3 2 1 0 7 9 -2 4
Flag of France.svg.png France 3 1 2 0 5 8 -3 2
Flag of Japan.svg.png Japan 3 0 2 1 5 10 -5 1

All times are local (UTC+9).

7 February 1998 France Flag of France.svg.png 0 – 4
(0-1, 0-1, 0-2)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,419
7 February 1998 Germany Flag of Germany.svg.png 3 – 1
(0-0, 1-0, 2-1)
Flag of Japan.svg.png Japan The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,861
9 February 1998 Germany Flag of Germany.svg.png 2 – 8
(0-2, 2-3, 0-3)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,063
9 February 1998 Japan Flag of Japan.svg.png 2 – 5
(2-1, 0-1, 0-3)
Flag of France.svg.png France The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,930
10 February 1998 Japan Flag of Japan.svg.png 2 – 2
(1-1, 1-1, 0-0)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,659
10 February 1998 France Flag of France.svg.png 0 – 2
(0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Flag of Germany.svg.png Germany Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,916

Consolation round

13th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998 Japan Flag of Japan.svg.png 4 – 3 (SO)
(1-2, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)
Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,495

11th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998 France Flag of France.svg.png 5 – 1
(1-0, 0-0, 4-1)
Flag of Italy.svg.png Italy The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,854

9th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998 Germany Flag of Germany.svg.png 4 – 2
(0-1, 1-1, 3-0)
Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Slovakia The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,670

First Round

Group C

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada 3 3 0 0 12 3 +9 6
Flag of Sweden.svg.png Sweden 3 2 1 0 11 7 +4 4
Flag of the United States.svg.png United States 3 1 2 0 8 10 -2 2
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus 3 0 3 0 4 15 -11 0

All times are local (UTC+9).

13 February 1998 Canada Flag of Canada.svg.png 5 – 0
(2-0, 2-0, 1-0)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,960
13 February 1998 Sweden Flag of Sweden.svg.png 4 – 2
(1-2, 2-0, 1-0)
Flag of the United States.svg.png United States The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,985
14 February 1998 United States Flag of the United States.svg.png 5 – 2
(2-1, 1-0, 2-1)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,975
14 February 1998 Canada Flag of Canada.svg.png 3 – 2
(0-1, 3-0, 0-1)
Flag of Sweden.svg.png Sweden The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,945
16 February 1998 Sweden Flag of Sweden.svg.png 5 – 2
(2-0, 1-1, 2-1)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,235
16 February 1998 Canada Flag of Canada.svg.png 4 – 1
(1-0, 2-0, 1-1)
Flag of the United States.svg.png United States The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9.451

Group D

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia 3 3 0 0 15 6 +9 6
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic 3 2 1 0 12 4 +8 4
Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland 3 1 2 0 11 9 +2 2
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan 3 0 3 0 6 25 -19 0

All times are local (UTC+9).

13 February 1998 Russia Flag of Russia.svg.png 9 – 2
(2-1, 5-0, 2-1)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,752
13 February 1998 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png 3 – 0
(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,050
15 February 1998 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png 8 – 2
(1-0, 3-2, 4-0)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,975
15 February 1998 Russia Flag of Russia.svg.png 4 – 3
(2-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,894
16 February 1998 Russia Flag of Russia.svg.png 2 – 1
(0-0, 0-1, 2-0)
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,847
16 February 1998 Finland Flag of Finland.svg.png 8 – 2
(3-1, 1-0, 4-1)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,544

Final round

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Gold medal game
                           
  C1  Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada 4  
D4  Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan 1  
  C1  Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada 1  
  D2  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic 2  
D2  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic 4
  C3  Flag of the United States.svg.png United States 1  
    D2  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic 1
  D1  Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia 0
  C2  Flag of Sweden.svg.png Sweden 1  
D3  Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland 2  
  D3  Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland 4 Bronze medal game
  D1  Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia 7  
D1  Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia 4 D3  Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland 3
  C4  Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus 1   C1  Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada 2

Quarter-finals

All times are local (UTC+9).

18 February 1998 Canada Flag of Canada.svg.png 4 – 1
(2-1, 2-0, 0-0)
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,602
18 February 1998 Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png 4 – 1
(0-1, 3-0, 1-0)
Flag of the United States.svg.png United States The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,822
18 February 1998 Finland Flag of Finland.svg.png 2 – 1
(0-0, 0-0, 2-1)
Flag of Sweden.svg.png Sweden Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,044
18 February 1998 Russia Flag of Russia.svg.png 4 – 1
(1-0, 1-0, 2-0)
Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus Aqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,628

Semi-finals

All times are local (UTC+9).

20 February 1998 Canada Flag of Canada.svg.png 1 – 2 SO
(0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0)
(SO: 0-1)
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,279
20 February 1998 Finland Flag of Finland.svg.png 4 – 7
(0-2, 3-2, 1-3)
Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,640

Bronze medal game

All times are local (UTC+9).

21 February 1998 1 Finland Flag of Finland.svg.png 3 – 2
(2-1, 0-1, 1-0)
Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,875

Gold medal game

All times are local (UTC+9).

22 February 1998 1 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic 1–0
(0–0, 0–0, 1–0)
Russia Flag of Russia.svg.png 1 The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,985

Roster notes

Several of general manager Bobby Clarke's selections for Team Canada were controversial. Eric Lindros was named captain over longtime leaders such as Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, and Ray Bourque (Clarke at the time was general manager of Lindros's NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers). Rob Zamuner was a surprise pick, while Mark Messier and Scott Niedermayer were omitted.

Memorably, during the shootout in their semifinal match against the Czech Republic, Canadian coach Marc Crawford opted to have defenceman Ray Bourque shoot in the shootout instead of high-scoring forwards Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman. Hockey commentators alternatively criticized Crawford's decision (Bourque, like the other four Canadian shooters, failed to score) and praised it on the grounds that Bourque was one of hockey's most accurate shooters at the time and Gretzky had always been surprisingly mediocre on breakaways.

Japanese fans were disappointed when their adopted hero, Paul Kariya, a Canadian of Japanese heritage and one of Canada's best stars, failed to make the Games due to a crosscheck by Gary Suter during regular season NHL play.

Final rankings

Team
1 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg.png Czech Republic
1 Flag of Russia.svg.png Russia
1 Flag of Finland.svg.png Finland
4th Flag of Canada.svg.png Canada
5th Flag of Sweden.svg.png Sweden
6th Flag of the United States.svg.png United States
7th Flag of Belarus.svg.png Belarus
8th Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Kazakhstan
9th Flag of Germany.svg.png Germany
10th Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Slovakia
11th Flag of France.svg.png France
12th Flag of Italy.svg.png Italy
13th Flag of Japan.svg.png Japan
14th Flag of Austria.svg.png Austria

References


Ice hockey at the Olympic Games
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