From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be โIHLC Classics.โ Today, in honour of Czech Independence Day this Wednesday, we look back at the Czech’s first Olympic title, shocking the world at the first “open” Olympics for NHL players.
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia 1-0 Russia ๐ท๐บ
Olympic Gold Medal Game
Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena, Nagano ๐ฏ๐ต
Sunday, 22 February 1998
Although the Czech Republic could not have won gold at the 1998 Olympics without goalie Dominik Haลกek, it was Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic who was the final hero of the tournament, the first Olympics which included full participation of NHL players.
Haลกek had led the team to the gold-medal game by stopping all five Canadian players in a semi-finals shootout win, but it was Svoboda who scored the lone goal in the final game of the Olympics against Russia.
Continue reading โ
International Hockey Lineal Championship 