Nagano (Japan)

The Winter Games returned to Japan 26 years after the Sapporo Olympics. In the fight for the right to host the sports forum, Nagano overtook the American Salt Lake City, Swedish Östersund, Spanish Haku and Italian Aosta. The competition on the island of Honshu was accompanied by heavy snow with rain and fog, due to which some of the starts had to be postponed. In addition, a magnitude 5 earthquake hit Nagano Prefecture on February 20 - the Olympians were terrified, although no one was hurt. At the same time, the Games themselves left a pleasant impression. First of all, thanks to the hospitality of the Japanese and the wonderful audience. In addition, the organizers of the Olympics managed to restrain the general sponsors of the IOC, who were very intrusive during the previous 1996 Summer Olympics.

Venue - Nagano, Japan
7 - 22 February 1998
Number of participating countries - 72
The number of athletes participating - 2176 (787 women, 1389 men)
Medal Sets - 68
Team Winner - Germany

Three main characters of the Games according to "SE"

Dominik Hasek (Czech Republic),
hockey
Hermann Mayer (Austria),
skiing
Larisa Lazutina (Russia),
ski race

BORE OVERCOMES GRETZKY

Number of participants Winter Games in Nagano exceeded 2,000 athletes for the first time. This was due to the new expansion of the competition program. Women's hockey, snowboarding and curling have entered the family of winter Olympic sports. But the main event was the agreement between the IOC and the NHL, which for the first time in history allowed players from the strongest hockey league in the world to compete at the Olympics. The last restrictions on the manifestation of the pros at the Games were canceled, and a break was taken in the regular season of the NHL. The hockey tournament in Nagano has beaten all possible TV ratings. Although CBS, which paid $ 375 million for the right to broadcast the Olympics, was still unhappy about the unsuccessful performance of the Americans and Canadians.

The Russian men's national ice hockey team in Nagano was made up entirely of NHL players, with the exception of the third goalkeeper Oleg Shevtsov. The main stars of the team were considered Pavel Bure, Sergey Fedorov and Alexey Yashin. Vyacheslav Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Alexander Mogilny, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sergey Zubov and some other famous hockey players refused an invitation to the national team. In many respects, the refusal was caused by the failed performance of our "dream team" at the 1996 World Cup, as well as the death in the spring of 1997 of the President of the National Ice Hockey Federation Valentin Sych, who was killed by a killer's bullet. Perhaps it was the refusenik stars that the Russian national team lacked to defeat the Czechs in the 1998 Olympics finals.

Decisive match the hockey tournament between the national teams of the Czech Republic and Russia ended with a football score 1: 0 in favor of our rivals. The Czechs, in which Dominik Hasek and Jaromir Jagr shone, became Olympic champions. And the Russian fans could only console themselves with the phenomenal result of Pavel Bure - in the semifinals, the captain of the Russian team sent as many as five goals to the Finnish goal.

But the great Canadian striker Wayne Gretzky, for whom Nagano was the first and last chance to perform at the Olympics, was noted for only four assists in the entire tournament. It got to the point that the coach of the Canadian national team, Mark Crawford, did not entrust the 37-year-old veteran with the execution of the post-match shootout in the semifinals against the Czechs. In that series, Hasek won all five duels against the "Maple Leaves", depriving the founders of hockey of chances for gold. The frustrated Canadian stars could not get together in the match for third place with the Finns and were left in Nagano without any medals at all.

SKIER TRIUMPH

In addition to hockey, in February 1998, the whole country followed the Olympic tournament in figure skating... In it, Russia won three gold out of four - Ilya Kulik, a pair of Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev, as well as a dance duet Oksana Grischuk and Yevgeny Platov did their best. The latter took the second to Nagano olympic title in a row, despite the fact that Oksana performed with a broken wrist. In addition, two months before the start of the Games, Grischuk unexpectedly announced that now she should be named Pasha (according to one version, so that she would not be confused with the Ukrainian single skater Oksana Baiul). After Nagano-1998, the duo broke up. Grischuk began performing with Alexander Zhulin and returned to the former name.

The performances of our skiers in Japan turned out to be very successful. Representatives of Russia - Larisa Lazutina, Olga Danilova and Yulia Chepalova collected all the individual gold, in addition, the Russian national team won the relay. For 21-year-old Chepalova, this was the first Olympics - it was in Nagano that her star rose. In men, the hero of the ski track was the Norwegian Bjorn Daly, who at the end of the 1998 Games became the most titled athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics - in his collection there are 8 gold and 4 silver medals. Another record was set in the figure skating tournament - 15-year-old American Tara Lipinski became the youngest individual champion in the history of the White Games.

One of the highlights of the 1998 Olympics was the incident with Austrian skier Hermann Mayer. After a terrible fall in downhill, the Austrian not only returned to the start, but also won gold medals in the super-giant and giant slalom. Thanks to this feat, the nickname Herminator stuck to Mayer - by analogy with the invulnerable movie Terminator. In the luge competition, the public applauded the German Georg Hackl, who won the third Olympics in a row. The Hackl medal proved to be an important contribution to the German national team's piggy bank - the Germans won the overall standings, beating the Norwegians by two golds. Our team dropped to third place for the first time. Even the incredible victory of the biathlete Galina Kukleva, who in the 7.5 km race was ahead of the German Usha Disl by only 7 tenths of a second, did not help.

CHAMPION SPIRIT

The scandal marked the Olympic debut of snowboarding. The first ever Olympic champion in giant slalom, Canadian Ross Rebalyatti, immediately fell for marijuana. The athlete explained the presence of the drug in his doping test by a visit to a party - where Ross's friends allegedly lit sensimilia, and Rebalyatti accidentally inhaled intoxicating smoke. The addict champion was disqualified, but, to everyone's surprise, was acquitted two days later. The IOC decided not to escalate the situation and believed the Canadian's excuses. In addition, it turned out that marijuana is not included in the list of prohibited drugs - this misunderstanding was corrected, but they did not retrospectively punish the athlete.

In general, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch did not like to pedal the topic of doping and, according to some reports, even thought about legalizing stimulants. But the competition in Nagano was the last Winter Olympics of the Spanish marquis. Soon, the sport will have completely different times, and the future of many champions of the Japanese Games will not be as bright as it seemed in 1998. Larisa Lazutina and Olga Danilova will end their careers after doping revelations at the 2002 Olympics; in 2009, Yulia Chepalova will fall under the hood of anti-doping services. Another skier - the winner of the 30 km race, Finn Mika Myllyula - two years after Nagano will be in the center of a high-profile doping scandal, addicted to alcohol and in 2011 will be found dead in his apartment. The police will conclude that Myllyula committed suicide.

German speed skater Claudia Pechstein, who won the 5000m race at the 1998 Games, will be disqualified at the end of her career on the basis of her "blood passport", will spend several years in the courts and ultimately prove that her abnormal test results are caused by a hereditary disease. By the way, Pechstein achieved success in Nagano not only thanks to her natural qualities, but also against the background of the technical revolution that took place in the mid-1990s in this sport. On the eve of the 1998 Games, almost all the leading skaters began to use slip-on skates with a breakaway heel. The novelty, combined with a special running technique, made it possible to increase the length of the skater's push and its speed. Best of all with valves by the beginning of the Olympics, the Dutch and the Germans got used to. But Russian athletes were not ready for these changes.

The rival of our team was the sensation of this tournament - the German team. 20 years ago, our Olympians stopped one step away from triumph, losing the palm to the Czechs. We remember how that match turned out.

48th minute of the game, 0: 0. Jagr and Josef Beranek flee in a counterattack. Beranek makes one shot, picks up the bounced puck and “shoots” Mikhail Shtalenkov point-blank. Pavel Bure rushes to his aid, and the goalkeeper fixes the puck.

After the resumption of the game, the Russians throw themselves. The puck returns to the "point". Pavel Patera wins the throw-in, Peter Svoboda throws in from the blue line. The shell touches Andrei Kovalenko and hits the top nine.

This is how the victorious and only goal was scored in the final of the Olympics in Nagano. What happened before that?

"I have 22 brothers here"

That became the silver team was collected by Vladimir Yurzinov. Many of our stars refused to participate in the Olympics. Who knows how things would have turned out if Nikolai Khabibulin had arrived? But he did not even begin to talk with the head of the FHR, Alexander Steblin. Sergei Fedorov refused for a long time, referring to the fact that he was on strike because of the contract and had no playing practice, but then changed his mind and came.

The list of refuseniks included Igor Larionov, Alexander Mogilny, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Sergey Zubov, Vladimir Malakhov. How everything would have turned out if not for the war of hockey players with the federation, it is useless to guess. But we remember that that team managed to rally and become one. “I have not one brother Valery here, but 22,” said Pavel Bure before the start of the tournament.

“For me, it was the sixth Olympics out of eight in which I participated. The time was vague then. After the 1996 World Cup, strife arose. Vasya does not want to play with Petya, Petya - with Kolya, these on these, those on those ... In the spring of 97, Sych was killed. Dmitriev died. I got to the Olympics, in general, by accident. He worked in a Finnish club. In the summer, Steblin called and offered to lead the team in Nagano. At first I wanted to refuse. But, after thinking hard, I decided to take it, ”Yurzinov recalled.

Russia got into the same group with the Czech Republic and won it, then scoring two goals to Hasek in 10 seconds in the third period. By winning in the preliminary round, our guys secured a comfortable playoff grid - Belarus in the quarterfinals, and then the Finns or Swedes had to be. It turned out the Suomi national team, in a tense match with which Pavel Bure scored five goals, becoming the hero of the semifinals.

The Czechs, on the other hand, were rivals in the quarterfinals against the Americans, with whom they coped quite confidently, and then there was a game with Canada. At this point Dominik Hasek had to sweat, but Ivan Glinka's team emerged victorious in the battle with the star maple leaves.

And here is the ending. The Russians felt themselves to be favorites, while the Czechs were dark horses, upstarts who miraculously reached the battle for gold. Yes, there were many good-quality players in their roster, but only Jaromir Jagr and the famous Hasek stood out against the general background.

Russian national team-1998: five Bure goals and a fatal ricochet in the final

Bure's five goals against the Finns and the fatal Svoboda puck was our best Olympics in 20 years.

The final

Interest in the hockey tournament in Japan was high. At the beginning of the season, the NHL, which was preparing to send its players to the Olympics for the first time, even arranged two regular season matches in Tokyo to better acquaint the inhabitants of the country rising sun with an outlandish sport for them. Big Hat stadium was packed for the gold match. In addition to Czech and Russian fans in the stands were the Emperor and Empress of Japan, IIHF President Rene Fasel, IOC head Juan Antonio Samaranch. The league commissioner Gary Bettman and the head of the players' union Bob Goodenough also closely followed the "tournament of the century", as the first Olympics with the participation of the NHL was called.

The game began cautiously. Here Jagr is trying to break through to the gate of Shtalenkov, but Gusarov and Mironov take him into the "box". The Russians are sent off, but the minority is confident, and Fedorov even manages to run into a counterattack, but throws past.

Then Milan Heyduk creates a wonderful moment. After the Russians' mistake, he finds himself face to face with Shtalenkov, but does not outplay through the goalkeeper. Our guys also attack dangerously - Yashin and Kamensky get an excellent chance in a two-on-one attack, but Hasek, in his own style, throws himself under the puck, and Valery artlessly throws the bottom into the goalkeeper.

The Czechs are knitting the game, but the Russians still carry out attacks, however, with the completion it does not go well at all. In our own zone, we play selflessly, we block a lot of shots, and the Czechs take a wait and see attitude and no, no, and make dangerous attacks. Raichel brought Jagr to a rendezvous with the goalkeeper with an accurate pass, but the zeros continue to burn on the scoreboard.

The Russians had three majorities in the first period, but they could not take advantage of the chances. Yashin's excellent program could pass from behind the gate on Fedorov, forgotten by everyone in the patch, but it is skillfully interrupted by Hasek with a club. Ours are playing tough against the leader of the Czechs, the brilliant Jagr. Zhitnik conducts a crushing forceful force, after which Jaromir cannot recover for some time, sitting on the bench.

In the second period, the Czechs began to seize the initiative. At first, the Russians did not even manage to part in the zone in the majority, then Jagr could complete a dangerous counterattack, but Kasparaitis played reliably, knocking out the puck from him. Soon Shtalenkov's goal was dangerously shot twice in a row - the first shot was blocked, and in the second moment our goalkeeper helped out.

And now Hasek responds with his save. Mironov gives the pass to Yashin, who is on duty at the left post, he sends the puck behind his back to an empty corner, but Kovalenko pulls in another moment, probably the best that our team had in that match.

Photo: Jamie Squire / Allsport / Getty Images

Soon there is a ringing of the barbell - this is Jagr again reminded of himself, throwing from under the defender. Jaromir practically does not leave the court at all, playing through the shift. The attacks of the Russians are stalling more and more often, the Czechs reduce the game to the sides and knit the opponent in their trademark manner. Neither team can gain a foothold in the zone.

At the end of the period, the teams exchange moments. First, Zelepukin moved along the side of the gate and drove out from the other side, but he did not succeed in the throw. The puck bounced on Morozov, but he was prevented from hitting an empty corner. And then Zhamnov is grossly mistaken in the majority. Lost on the blue line, and Patera runs away one-on-one, but misses the target.

In the third period, the Czechs are already completely dictating the game, and in attack they have more chances to excel. Which is what happens. Not an obvious moment, but luck turns out to be on the side of our rivals. And having scored a goal, they stood up as a wall. The Czechs put pressure on, do not allow to enter their zone ... Minutes run, and our guys do not succeed at all. Does not pass through the pass, through the cast too. The Czechs stand tight and even carry the puck around our zone, not allowing the goalkeeper to be replaced. Finally, 25 seconds before the end, when the Russians achieved a throw-in at Hasek's goal, Shtalenkov went to the bench. But the Czechs competently remove the puck, and ours throw themselves in powerlessness. Hasek rejoices - 13 seconds remain before the championship.

Dominator's Triumph. How Hasek stole gold from Gretzky and the Russian national team

After winning the Olympics, Hasek was nominated for the presidency of the Czech Republic, asteroids were named in his honor and operas were staged.

“Well, we’ll beat these dudes. Failed"

Our team remained a team that gave everything and did not deserve reproaches for the silver. Although, of course, I did not feel joy from this medal.

“In the group stage match, we beat the Czechs, and when I went to practice, and Ivan Glinka went to class with coffee, we greeted each other, and then I asked:“ Ivan, where is the team? ”. Answers: "Yes, it will come out now." And I look, they come out: Jagr in shorts and skates, then a couple of hockey players who are in what. That is, the Czech team went out to roll out at will. I thought, "Well, we'll beat these dudes today." But it didn’t work, ”Yurzinov admitted recently.

“I remember that it was in Nagano that the team was felt, the team was felt. Yes, we had stars, we had personalities, but Vladimir Vladimirovich Yurzinov managed to create a good microclimate in the team. We didn’t play for ourselves, we played only for the team. First of all, we were worried about partners. This was the first time in the national team, ”Kovalenko recalled eight years after the memorable match.

And the Czechs ... The Czechs were the only ones who could dry up the Russians in Nagano, and they were the last to laugh.

“I knew that we had a great team, and I told everyone that if we were with one fist, we could take gold. Then everyone laughed. Now we are laughing, ”said Jiri Schlegr.

I don’t know how anyone, but when I mention the "Olympic hockey tournament" Nagano immediately comes to mind. Perhaps because it was the first Olympic hockey tournament I watched. Or maybe because it was with Nagano that the Olympic hockey tournament reached a new, higher level. And the NHL helped to reach this new level. For the first time in history, the league suspended the regular season and gave its players the opportunity to play in the tournament for their national teams.

Since the best players from the top national teams have played in the NHL, it would be odd not to use their services. And so it happened - 8 teams took part in the Olympic hockey tournament, 61% made up of NHL players.

Russian team

The Russian team had great difficulties with the line-up. If at the 1996 World Cup it was possible to collect almost all the best players, then in Nagano, alas, it was not possible.

No other team had so many "refuseniks". And because of this, the team “sagged” in all “lines”. Refused the only main Russian goalkeeper in the NHL - Nikolay Khabibulin , in the end, I had to rely on Shtalenkov and Trefilov, who played little. There were big losses among the "defencists" - Fetisov , Tverdovsky , Malakhov and Teeth ... The losses were in the attack - Kozlov , Grave (on the picture), Larionov and Kovalev ... Although Kovalev is a different case - he was injured.

There was no certainty about the leading Russian center-forward - Sergey Fedorov ... The player went on strike with Detroit for six months and did not play, so coming to the national team was of course a risk. But he still came.

If there were doubts in Fedorov's playful form (after all, more than six months outside hockey), then in relation to another star of the Russian national team - Pavel Bure - there was no doubt. The captain of the Russian team had a great season in Vancouver and, importantly, scored a lot.

Finland squad

The strong team was Suomi , headed by Teemu Selanne , Saku Koivu and Jari Kurri ... Moreover, for Kurri it was the second Olympiad, he came to the first 18 years ago (in Lake Place). The goalkeeper brigade raised only questions. In recent years, we have become accustomed to the fact that now there are many Finnish goalkeepers in the NHL, almost all of them are the main ones in the teams. But then the Finns did not have NHL goalkeepers at all, so they had to rely on those who play in Europe.

Czech national team

Czechs attracted attention by the fact that quite a few players were not from the NHL - 11 (that is, almost 50%). Other top teams had more NHL players.

Standing out in attack, of course Jaromir Jagr is one of the best forwards in the world.

But the goal was defended by a man whom all the teams would not refuse to see at home - Dominik Hasek ... At that time, “Dominator” was at its peak and was considered the best goalkeeper in the world. Best of that Confirmation - in the last 4 seasons, he received "Vezina" three times.

Sweden squad

The operating Olympic champions the world. Among the European teams, it was Tre Kruner who had the most preferred chances of winning the tournament. Great offense led by a great center-forward duo - Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin .

Team USA

Many experts saw the Americans among the main contenders for the "gold". Which, however, was quite logical - a couple of years ago they triumphantly performed at the 1996 World Cup, winning the tournament.

Almost everyone from that championship team came. The national team looked very impressive and by name - the goalkeeper Mike Richter , defenders Chris Chelios and Brian Leach , forwards Mike Modano , Brett Hull , John Leclair , Jeremy Renick , Pat Lafontaine , Kate Tkachuk, Tony Amonti and Doug Waite .

Team Canada

Well, the main favorites of the tournament are Canadians ... For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, they put together a normal team - made up of the best Canadian players.

The abundance of "stars" - Joe Sakik , Eric Lindros , Joe Nuwendijk , Scott Stevens , Ray Burke , Al McKinis , Patrick Roy and the most important thing Wayne Gretzky .

Gretzky: " I am looking forward to the start of the Games. I had never played for Canada in the Olympics and deep down I regretted it. When I played at Edmonton, I watched every match of the Canadian national team on TV with other Canadians during the Olympics and were very worried about her. Therefore, I am sure that unusual and very pleasant sensations await me. But the main thing is that after this Olympics, Canadian children will have two dreams: to win the Stanley Cup and the Games' gold medals. "

It is noteworthy that of the entire Canadian national team, only 24-year-old Eric Lindros had experience of participating in the Olympic Games. True, in Albertville (1992), the forward was content with only “silver”.

Many were surprised that it was "Big Eric" who became the captain of the "maple leaves". In the presence of more experienced Gretzky, Yzerman, Burke, Stevens. Although, considering that the general manager of the team was Bobby Clark (general manager of Philadelphia), this is generally not surprising.

On the other hand, it is impossible to call him a random captain - in Philadelphia he has already skated with the "C" patch for 4 seasons.

An interesting fact - for Patrick Roy, the tournament in Nagano was the first for the national team. Before that, “Saint Patrick” did not play internationally, even for the “youth”. It so happened that this tournament was his first and last.

Since the Olympiad was held in Japan, many eagerly wanted to see their hero - Paula Caria ... Yes, Kariya was born and raised in Canada, but he was half Japanese (by his father). He was included in the team and had to go to the Olympics, if not for one thing. Just before the tournament, after a dirty trick, Suter suffered a fractured jaw and a concussion.

For Caria, skipping the Olympics will be one of the biggest disappointments in her career.

For the Canadian national team, Caria's absence was a loss. Forward Anaheim in those years showed a super-productive game.

If the aforementioned "six" claimed medals, then Belarus and Kazakhstan set themselves much more modest tasks. In principle, they have already completed all their tasks, making their way to the tournament through the sieve of qualifying matches.

Objectively, both of them were extremely difficult to compete with the leading national teams. In the composition of the Belarusians there were only 2 NHLovtsa - Ruslan Salei and Vladimir Tsyplakov (on the picture).

But in the composition Of Kazakhstan there were no NHL players at all.

Both teams were actually made up of the players of the Russian "Super League".

Looking ahead, both teams did not show anything outstanding at the tournament, losing all their matches.

Group stage

Russian national team to some extent lucky with the calendar - they started the tournament with a match with Kazakhstan ... The Russian team did a great job in the attack, hitting the gate 9 times with a Kazakh. However, the team conceded twice. As a result, "9 - 2" - running ahead, this victory was the most devastating in the tournament.

Czech Republic - Finland

In another match, the rivals, the Finns and the Czechs, sorted out the relationship. The Czech defense did not allow the attack of “Suomi” led by Koivu and Selanne to turn around, and Hasek made the first “cracker” in the tournament.

In attack, the Czechs played much more productively than their rivals - having thrown 3 goals.

Russia - Finland

The first serious test for the Russian national team is the match against the Finnish squad. B really, the match was extremely difficult - the Finns were leading three times (2-0, 3-1), but each time the Russians recouped. In the third period, over 3 minutes left before the end, Alexey Morozov scores the winning goal. Result 4-3.

Russia - Czech Republic

In fact, the match was for reaching the semifinals, since the winner received 1/4 of the Belarusians.

As in the match with the Finns, the Russians were losing again - losing in the long run after 2 periods 0-1. But again they made a comeback - at the beginning of the third period, within 10 seconds, the Russians hit Hasek twice. As a result, 2-1.

Sweden - USA

In the match with the Swedes, the Americans started well, leading after 1 period with a score of 2-1. But in the future, only the Scandinavians were soloing - three times hitting the gate of Mike Richter. As a result, 4-2.

Canada - Sweden

Four years ago in Lillehamer, both teams met in the final, in which the Scandinavians won in shootouts. The Canadians are not without problems, but still took revenge for that defeat by winning 3-2 .

Canada - USA

In addition to the desire to win "gold" for the Canadians, it was in principle also to defeat their southern neighbors - the Americans (not without reason Gretzky said this). The rematch for the defeat in the 1996 World Cup final was a success - by the beginning of the 3rd period, Canada removed all questions about the winners, leading 4-0. The only thing that the Americans could do was to reduce the score in the match - Brett Hull's puck set the final score in the match (4-1).

Having defeated the Americans, the Canadians, like the Russian team, also won 1st place in their group. But most importantly, both of them could now intersect with each other not earlier than the final.

At the end of the group stage, there was a scandal. As part of the Swedish national team played Ulf Samuelsson who had American citizenship. According to Swedish laws, the presence of two citizenships was not allowed - when acquiring a new one, the old (Swedish) was lost.

Members of the Czech Olympic Committee demanded that the Swedes admit defeats in all group stage matches. As a result, the Czechs would play with a weak Belarus, and the Russian team would receive the Swedes in 1/4. but the arbitration was limited to disqualification only against Samuelsson.

Quarterfinals

At the group stage, the Kazakhs played all their 3 matches with a very devastating score - "6 - 25". But in a match with Canadians lost with a more decent score of "1-4".

Russian national team with the same score took up over Belarus.

Finland - Sweden

“Northern Derby” turned into a confrontation between the two main stars of their national teams - Teemu Selanne and Peter Fosberg (on the picture) - because only they scored in that match.

On Forsberg's goal, “Finnish Flash” responded with a “double” and the Swedes resigned their champion powers.

Czech Republic - USA

The Americans scored first. But later neither increase the advantage nor keep the score “Stars and Stripes” could not.

Broke the outcome of the fight Jaromir Jagr ... With his transfer Ruzicka equalized the score in the middle of the match.

But then Jaromir scored himself. Washers Ruchinski and Completed set the final score - " 4 -1 ".

The inglorious participation in the tournament somewhat puzzled the American players and they made a brawl, breaking the furniture in their rooms in the Olympic Village, causing material and moral damage to the organizers.

Czech Republic - Canada

The game turned out to be extremely stubborn.

The attack of both of them "was silent" for a long time.

In the middle of the third period, the goal still happened - with a flick of the defender Jiri Schleger Roy failed.

After the Czechs retreated to their goal, trying to keep their minimal advantage. More than a minute before the siren, the Canadians still struck the “Dominator”. Distinguished himself Trevor Linden .

Overtime did not reveal the winner and there was a shootout - as in football, each team was given 5 attempts. Looking ahead, this match was the only one in the history of the "Olympics of the New Era" (with the participation of NHLovtsev), when in the playoffs the winner was determined by shootouts.

Canadians opened the bullet streak, but not successfully - throw Theo Fleury retorted Hasek.

But the Czechs open an account - Robert Reichel punches Rua.

Burke past, but also Ruchinski also does not score. Doesn't beat Hasek and Nuwendijk, Patera does not use the opportunity to break away.

The fourth attempt of the Canadians is performed Lindros and does it great, but ... the puck hits the bar. But Canadians are also lucky - after the throw Jagra the puck flies into the side goal post.

Before the last series of shots, a difficult situation - there was not enough goal Shenaheng , one had to hope that he would not miss Roy. But Hasek took this shot too.

The Czechs, after the Americans in the quarterfinals, are now stopping another North African team.

After the match Gretzky will say: "We didn't lose the match, we lost the gold medals."

But the Czechs for the first time in history reached the final of the Olympics.

Russia - Finland

If the first semi-final was a "benefit of defense", then the second, on the contrary, was "attacks". The Russian-Finnish confrontation turned into 11 goals.

Better in this scoring extravaganza showed themselves Russian hockey players, scoring 7 goals.

The lion of which was on the account Pavel Bure ... “Russian Rocket” scored a “penta-trick” in that match - scored 5 goals!

Match for 3rd place

Finland - Canada

The match was also interesting with the confrontation between long-term teammates - Jari Kurri and Wayne Gretzky.

The personal duel ended in a draw - on Kurri's goal, Gretzky noted with an assist.

But Kurri left the tournament with the “bronze” as the Finns won (3-2).

Only 4th place - this is how the tournament ended gloomily for the Canadians, and for the entire North African hockey.

After the tournament, the coach of the Canadians Mark Crawford did not seek an excuse, saying: " In this particular tournament, the best teams were the Czechs, Russians and Finns, who received medals. Maybe next time we will be on the podium. I am confident that one day Canada will become an Olympic champion. "

And the Finns won the “bronze”, speaking in a weakened composition - due to injury Teemu Selanne did not play. For Suomi

To all other Saku Koivu and Topic Selanne with 10 points each became the top scorers of the tournament.

The final. Czech Republic - Russia

The final brought together not only the principal rivals, but also the main “underdogs” of the tournament - the best attack (26 goals) led by Pavel Bure and the best defense led by “Dominator” (6 goals).

Unlike the semifinals, the Czech defense did not allow the Russian forwards to turn around.

Although there were undoubtedly moments at Hasek's goal. Kamenskiy had a great moment as he got out of the kill position.

It was a great moment for Andrey Kovalenko .

But against the best sniper of the tournament Pavel Bure (9 goals) the Czechs played very reliably and the captain of the Russian team, in general, did not have any chances.

But the Czechs, even if they acted from defense, but very sharply attacked, there was even a one-on-one way with Pavel Patera.

But neither the one nor the other had the puck stubbornly going into the goal. The more time passed, the higher the goal factor grew. Alas, for the Russian team, this goal flew into their goal. Throw-in and kick-in won Petre Svoboda ... The defender, who had not been famous for his exploits in the attack before, worked flawlessly this time - a powerful click flew into the nine of the gate Mikhail Shtalenkov .

For the remaining 12 minutes, the Russian national team did not try, but failed to break through the Czech defense. To be fair, the Czechs played very reliably.

The final whistle declared the first Olympic "gold" in the history of not only Czech, but also Czechoslovakian hockey.

By the way, this "gold" was the only one for the Czechs at that Olympiad.

To this day, it is the only Olympic gold medal in the history of Czech ice hockey.

its already to say, the main victory in the history of Czech hockey.

But he led this victorious team - the now deceased Ivan Glinka .

After the Olympics in Nagano, 4 Olympic hockey tournaments have already been held - Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver and Sochi. In none of them did the Russian national team surpass Nagano's achievement, but they did not even succeed in repeating it - contenting themselves with the “bronze” of Salt Lake City (2002).

Tournaments ... Wikipedia

World and European Ice Hockey Championships 1964 Ice Hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics Championship Details Country ... Wikipedia

Ice Hockey World and European Championship 1960 Ice Hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics Championship details Country of ... Wikipedia

World and European Ice Hockey Championships 1956 Ice Hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics Championship details Country ... Wikipedia

The first ice hockey tournament of the Olympic Games took place at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Since 1924, ice hockey has moved to the Olympic Winter Games program. Women's ice hockey tournament included in ... ... Wikipedia

Ice Hockey World Championship 1924 1924 IIHF World Championship 1924 Championnat Mondiale d IIHF Championship Details Country ... Wikipedia

Ice Hockey World Championship 1932 1932 IIHF World Championship 1932 Championnat Mondiale d IIHF Championship Details Country ... Wikipedia

The 1952 Winter Olympics hockey tournament was held in Oslo, Norway. It was counted as the 19th World Cup in 1952 and the 30th European Championship in 1952. At the hockey tournament of the Olympic Games, a set of medals among men was played for the 7th time. The tournament was admitted ... Wikipedia

The 1936 Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament was held in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany. It was counted as the 10th Ice Hockey World Championship in 1936 and the 21st European Championship. At the Olympic hockey tournament for the 5th time ... ... Wikipedia

The 1948 Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament was held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It was counted as the 15th Ice Hockey World Championship in 1948 and the 26th European Ice Hockey Championship in 1948. At the Olympic hockey tournament in the 6th ... ... Wikipedia