Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament

1998 Winter Olympics
Men's Ice Hockey
Tournament details
Host country  Japan
Dates 7–22 February
Teams 14
Venue(s) Big Hat, Aqua Wing Arena (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions   Czech Republic (1st title)
Runner-up   Russia
Third place   Finland
Fourth place  Canada
Tournament statistics
Matches played 35
Goals scored 210 (6 per match)
Scoring leader(s) 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.[1] 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[2] 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.[3]

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

Preliminary Round

Group A

Top team (shaded) advanced to the first round.

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
 Kazakhstan 32011411+35
 Slovakia 31119903
 Italy 3120111102
 Austria 3012912-32

All times are local (UTC+9).

7 February 1998Kazakhstan 5 – 3
(1-3, 1-0, 3-0)		 ItalyThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,634
7 February 1998Austria 2 – 2
(1-0, 1-2, 0-0)		 SlovakiaAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,315
8 February 1998Austria 5 – 5
(2-2, 2-1, 1-2)		 KazakhstanThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,410
8 February 1998Slovakia 4 – 3
(1-2, 3-1, 0-0)		 ItalyThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,620
10 February 1998Italy 5 – 2
(2-0, 2-0, 1-2)		 AustriaThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,473
10 February 1998Slovakia 3 – 4
(1-1, 1-0, 1-3)		 KazakhstanAqua 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
 Belarus 3201144+105
 Germany 321079-24
 France 312058-32
 Japan 3021510-51

All times are local (UTC+9).

7 February 1998France 0 – 4
(0-1, 0-1, 0-2)		 BelarusAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,419
7 February 1998Germany 3 – 1
(0-0, 1-0, 2-1)		 JapanThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,861
9 February 1998Germany 2 – 8
(0-2, 2-3, 0-3)		 BelarusThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,063
9 February 1998Japan 2 – 5
(2-1, 0-1, 0-3)		 FranceThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,930
10 February 1998Japan 2 – 2
(1-1, 1-1, 0-0)		 BelarusThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,659
10 February 1998France 0 – 2
(0-0, 0-1, 0-1)		 GermanyAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,916

Consolation round

13th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998Japan 4 – 3 (SO)
(1-2, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)		 AustriaThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,495

11th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998France 5 – 1
(1-0, 0-0, 4-1)		 ItalyThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,854

9th place match

All times are local (UTC+9).

12 February 1998Germany 4 – 2
(0-1, 1-1, 3-0)		 SlovakiaThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 8,670

First Round

Group C

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
 Canada 3300123+96
 Sweden 3210117+44
 United States 3120810-22
 Belarus 3030415-110

All times are local (UTC+9).

13 February 1998Canada 5 – 0
(2-0, 2-0, 1-0)		 BelarusThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,960
13 February 1998Sweden 4 – 2
(1-2, 2-0, 1-0)		 United StatesThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,985
14 February 1998United States 5 – 2
(2-1, 1-0, 2-1)		 BelarusThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,975
14 February 1998Canada 3 – 2
(0-1, 3-0, 0-1)		 SwedenThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,945
16 February 1998Sweden 5 – 2
(2-0, 1-1, 2-1)		 BelarusAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,235
16 February 1998Canada 4 – 1
(1-0, 2-0, 1-1)		 United StatesThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9.451

Group D

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
 Russia 3300156+96
 Czech Republic 3210124+84
 Finland 3120119+22
 Kazakhstan 3030625-190

All times are local (UTC+9).

13 February 1998Russia 9 – 2
(2-1, 5-0, 2-1)		 KazakhstanAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 3,752
13 February 1998Czech Republic 3 – 0
(0-0, 1-0, 2-0)		 FinlandAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,050
15 February 1998Czech Republic 8 – 2
(1-0, 3-2, 4-0)		 KazakhstanThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,975
15 February 1998Russia 4 – 3
(2-1, 1-2, 0-1)		 FinlandThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,894
16 February 1998Russia 2 – 1
(0-0, 0-1, 2-0)		 Czech RepublicThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,847
16 February 1998Finland 8 – 2
(3-1, 1-0, 4-1)		 KazakhstanAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,544

Final round

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

Quarter-finals

All times are local (UTC+9).

18 February 1998Canada 4 – 1
(2-1, 2-0, 0-0)		 KazakhstanThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,602
18 February 1998Czech Republic 4 – 1
(0-1, 3-0, 1-0)		 United StatesThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,822
18 February 1998Finland 2 – 1
(0-0, 0-0, 2-1)		 SwedenAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 5,044
18 February 1998Russia 4 – 1
(1-0, 1-0, 2-0)		 BelarusAqua Wing Arena, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 4,628

Semi-finals

All times are local (UTC+9).

20 February 1998Canada 1 – 2 SO
(0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0)
(SO: 0-1)		 Czech RepublicThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,279
20 February 1998Finland 4 – 7
(0-2, 3-2, 1-3)		 RussiaThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,640

Bronze medal game

All times are local (UTC+9).

21 February 19983rd, bronze medalist(s) Finland 3–2
(2–1, 0–1, 1–0)		 CanadaThe Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,875

Gold medal game

All times are local (UTC+9).

22 February 19981st, gold medalist(s)  Czech Republic1–0
(0–0, 0–0, 1–0)		Russia  2nd, silver medalist(s)The Big Hat, Nagano, Japan
Attendance: 9,985

Leading scorers

Rank Player GP G A Pts PIM
1  Teemu Selänne (FIN) 546108
2  Saku Koivu (FIN) 628104
3  Pavel Bure (RUS) 69092
4  Aleksandr Koreshkov (KAZ) 73692
5  Philippe Bozon (FRA) 45274
6  Konstantin Shafranov (KAZ) 74376
7  Dominic Lavoie (AUT) 45168
8  Jere Lehtinen (FIN) 64262
9  Alexei Yashin (RUS) 63360
10  Serge Poudrier (FRA) 62464
11  Sergei Fedorov (RUS) 61568

Medal-winning rosters

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
 Czech Republic (CZE)
Josef Beránek
Jan Čaloun
Roman Čechmánek
Jiří Dopita
Roman Hamrlík
Dominik Hašek
Milan Hejduk
Milan Hnilička
Jaromír Jágr
František Kučera
Robert Lang
David Moravec
Pavel Patera
Libor Procházka
Martin Procházka
Robert Reichel
Martin Ručínský
Vladimír Růžička-C
Jiří Šlégr
Richard Šmehlík
Jaroslav Špaček
Martin Straka
Petr Svoboda		  Russia (RUS)
Pavel Bure-C
Valeri Bure
Oleg Chevtsov
Sergei Fedorov
Sergei Gonchar
Alexei Gusarov
Valeri Kamensky
Darius Kasparaitis
Andrei Kovalenko
Igor Kravchuk
Sergei Krivokrasov
Boris Mironov
Dmitri Mironov
Alexei Morozov
Sergei Nemchinov
Mikhail Shtalenkov
German Titov
Andrei Trefilov
Alexei Yashin
Dmitri Yushkevich
Valeri Zelepukin
Alexei Zhitnik
Alexei Zhamnov		  Finland (FIN)
Aki-Petteri Berg
Tuomas Grönman
Raimo Helminen
Sami Kapanen
Saku Koivu-C
Jari Kurri
Janne Laukkanen
Jere Lehtinen
Juha Lind
Jyrki Lumme
Jarmo Myllys
Mika Nieminen
Janne Niinimaa
Teppo Numminen
Ville Peltonen
Kimmo Rintanen
Teemu Selänne
Ari Sulander
Jukka Tammi
Esa Tikkanen
Kimmo Timonen
Antti Törmänen
Juha Ylönen

Source:

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).[4] Rob Zamuner was a surprise pick, while Mark Messier and Scott Niedermayer were omitted.[5]

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) or 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.[6]

Records

Sergei Fedorov of Russia became the first player to win an Olympic silver medal in hockey and Stanley Cup in the same year.

Final rankings

Team
1st, gold medalist(s)  Czech Republic
2nd, silver medalist(s)  Russia
3rd, bronze medalist(s)  Finland
4th  Canada
5th  Sweden
6th  United States
7th  Belarus
8th  Kazakhstan
9th  Germany
10th  Slovakia
11th  France
12th  Italy
13th  Japan
14th  Austria

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
  1. ↑ http://www.canoe.ca/SlamNaganoHockeyMenArchive/feb20_angry.html
  2. ↑ http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1998/Czechs-Win-Hockey-Gold/id-1b8a324826480f0298c434dd488e0645
  3. ↑ "Winter Sports / Road To Nagano -- Street Crashes, Expected To Be OK For Olympics -- Binding Problem At 75 Mph Leaves Her With Concussion". The Seattle Times. 1 February 1998.
  4. ↑ MacGregor, Roy (1998-02-04). "All eyes on Eric: Is 24-year-old Eric Lindros ready to carry Canada's hockey hopes?".
  5. ↑ Willes, Ed (1997-11-30). "HOCKEY; Gretzky In, Messier Out As Canada Picks Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  6. ↑ "Gary Suter hangs up skates". CBC News. September 10, 2002.
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