Olympic ice hockey is a winter sport that has been featured at the Olympics since 1920. The men’s tournament started in 1924, and the women’s event debuted in 1998.

The Soviets won the first three Olympic titles, but America dominated the next two Games. After a 2-2 tie in the first period, the U.S. scored a pair of goals in the second to take a 2-1 lead, and it looked like the Americans would advance. But the game went to a shootout. Eric Lindros, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs, took the first shot for Canada. The puck seemed to have crossed the goal line, but it was called back because the player closest to the puck had touched it first.

During the shootout, Czech goalie Dominik Haek saved all five of Canada’s shooters, including a spectacular sprawling save on then Philadelphia Flyers center Wayne Gretzky. The U.S. lost the next three games and finished sixth in the final standings.

The men’s tournament features twelve teams, with eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking and the rest through qualifying tournaments. The teams are divided into three groups, and each team plays every other team in its group once. The top two finishers from each group advance to the quarter-finals, and the winners play for the gold medal. The losers of the quarter-finals play for bronze. Icing is not allowed, and players are penalized for “hooking” (using the stick to impede an opposing player’s progress). Fighting is also not allowed in the game, and players who fight are subject to ejection from the competition.