IIHF Hall Of Fame Induction 2024
Czech 1998 Men’s Olympic Hockey Team
XVIII Olympic Winter Games, Nagano, Japan
7 to 22 February 1998
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Matt Zambonin
February 1998 was an historic month in the Czech Republic, a month that saw the men’s hockey team win Olympic gold for the first time. It was a victory that led to a national holiday, a parade of unprecedented size, and even an opera!
It was also a victory that could not have been anticipated. Nagano was the first time NHLers played at the Olympics, and the Wayne Gretzky-led Canadians were clear favourites, followed by the United States, which had won the 1996 World Cup just a year and a half earlier.
In the preliminary round, the Czechs won their first two games—3-0 over Finland, 8-2 over Kazakhstan—before losing to Russia, 2-1. But then the Czechs beat the Americans, 4-1, in the quarter-finals, setting up a showdown with Gretzky and Canada in the semis.
Two scoreless periods increased the drama, but when Jiri Slegr scored midway through the third, the impossible looked possible. Canada being Canada, however, they tied the game with only 63 seconds remaining. The overtime settled nothing. A shootout beckoned, and goalie Dominik Hasek was perfect, stoning all five shooters. Robert Reichel beat Patrick Roy with the first shot, and that goal held up as the winner.
In the gold-medal game, against Russia, another low-scoring contest played out, and again it wasn’t until midway through the third that a puck crossed the goal line. This time it was Petr Svoboda who scored, and this time the Czechs were flawless down the stretch, winning gold, 1-0, and sending an entire nation into a frenzy.
That victory has come to represent the pinnacle of success in Czechia and remains a defining moment in the nation’s sporting and cultural history.
It was also a victory that could not have been anticipated. Nagano was the first time NHLers played at the Olympics, and the Wayne Gretzky-led Canadians were clear favourites, followed by the United States, which had won the 1996 World Cup just a year and a half earlier.
In the preliminary round, the Czechs won their first two games—3-0 over Finland, 8-2 over Kazakhstan—before losing to Russia, 2-1. But then the Czechs beat the Americans, 4-1, in the quarter-finals, setting up a showdown with Gretzky and Canada in the semis.
Two scoreless periods increased the drama, but when Jiri Slegr scored midway through the third, the impossible looked possible. Canada being Canada, however, they tied the game with only 63 seconds remaining. The overtime settled nothing. A shootout beckoned, and goalie Dominik Hasek was perfect, stoning all five shooters. Robert Reichel beat Patrick Roy with the first shot, and that goal held up as the winner.
In the gold-medal game, against Russia, another low-scoring contest played out, and again it wasn’t until midway through the third that a puck crossed the goal line. This time it was Petr Svoboda who scored, and this time the Czechs were flawless down the stretch, winning gold, 1-0, and sending an entire nation into a frenzy.
That victory has come to represent the pinnacle of success in Czechia and remains a defining moment in the nation’s sporting and cultural history.
The Czechs during the national anthem when they won the Olympic gold in Nagano in 1998.
photo: © 1998 / International Olympic Committee (IOC) / MUNDAY, Stephen