hockey tournament

Adjusted summary from Wikipedia

olympics

Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men’s tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games programme in 1924. The women’s tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes, and until 1998, the players of the National Hockey League (NHL) and other men’s professional leagues were not allowed to compete. The games of the tournament follow the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which differ slightly from the rules used in the NHL.

In the men’s tournament, Canada was the most successful team of the first three decades, winning six of seven gold medals. Between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also counted as the Ice Hockey World Championship for that year. The United States won gold medals in 1960 and upset the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

In 1986, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to allow all athletes to compete in Olympic Games held after 1988. The tournament format was changed again in 2006; every team played five preliminary games with the full use of NHL players.

In July 1992, the IOC voted to approve women’s hockey as an Olympic event; it was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. The United States won the first tournament in 1998, while Canada won in 2002 and 2006.

The tournament was played from April 23 to April 29. Seven teams participated: Canada, Czechoslovakia, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, France and Belgium. The Swedish team consisted of mostly bandy players, many of whom had only started playing hockey in preparation for the tournament. Canada won all three of the team’s games in the first round and won the gold medal, defeating Sweden in the final and outscoring opponents 27–1. In the two subsequent rounds, the United States and Czechoslovakia won the silver and bronze medals respectively. The Bergvall System was criticised, especially in Sweden, because the Swedish team had to play six games (winning three) while the bronze medal winning Czech team only had to play three (winning one).