In a sport with so many great stories, few have had the staying power of the Miracle on Ice. That famous gold medal round win in 1980 has been an Olympic highlight ever since, and still resonates with many sports fans, particularly those from the U.S.
In the early decades of Olympic hockey, the Canadian men built a bulging trophy cabinet, followed by a lean 50-year spell, then a resurgence in 2002, 2010 and 2014. In recent editions without NHL players on the roster, the podium has broadened: Sweden won in 1994 with a shootout classic against Canada, the Czech Republic (now Czechia) rose behind Dominik Hasek’s imperious goaltending to win in 1998, and Finland claimed its first-ever men’s medal in 2022.
The games are played on an ice rink that is 197 feet long and 98.5 feet wide, which is larger than the typical NHL-sized rink. The rink is split into three zones: the attacking and defending zones, and the neutral zone. The neutral zone includes a centre circle where the game starts and ends, and the two defending zones are situated to either side of it.
The rules of Olympic ice hockey are determined by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which differ slightly from those used in the National Hockey League (NHL). The IIHF requires players to be drug-free, and maintains a Registered Testing Pool where top players are subjected to random in-competition and out-of-competition testing.