Games were played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena.
1998 was the first year that the modern NHL took a break to allow its players to participate in the Olympics, allowing the United States and Canada to field teams with professionals of top calibre, as the European teams had been doing since the IIHF first allowed professionals into the Olympics.
Both Canada and the United States were heavily favoured; they had previously faced off in the final...
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Games were played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena.
1998 was the first year that the modern NHL took a break to allow its players to participate in the Olympics, allowing the United States and Canada to field teams with professionals of top calibre, as the European teams had been doing since the IIHF first allowed professionals into the Olympics.
Both Canada and the United States were heavily favoured; they had previously faced off in the final of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The United States left the tournament being remembered as the ugly Americans. After a below-expectations performance in the tournament which included only one win, several American players trashed their hotel rooms (the US squad did not stay in the Olympic village), and they left without apologizing. The Canadian team, despite a strong start in the round robin, failed to play well after losing their semifinal match, and disappointed Canadians who wished for Wayne Gretzky to get an Olympic medal, playing a...
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