Olympics Ice Hockey

Season Description
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 winter gold medal, becoming only the seventh nation to 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 (17 days, from February 8 to February 24) allowing national teams to include NHL players from each country. Unlike basketball's Dream Team in 1992, where the players stayed in a hotel in Barcelona due to security concerns, NHL players stayed in the Olympic Village due to improved security measures.

The Canadian team, despite a strong start in the round robin, lost their semifinal match against the Czech Republic in a shootout. Team Finland defeated Canada in the bronze medal game. In the final, the Czech Republic beat Russia 1–0 to win the gold medal, as goaltender Dominik Hašek shutout the Russian squad.

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