Ice hockey is one of the most intense sports on a rink. Its rules are designed to keep the game fast and the score close, which makes for great entertainment for fans and creates an even playing field.
At the Olympic level, the sport of hockey has produced some of the most memorable moments in sporting history. Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, teams competed in modest gear—woollen sweaters, leather skates, basic shin pads and wooden sticks. By the ’40s and ’50s, equipment improved incrementally. Goalies wore cricket-style masks, and gloves became thicker and more durable.
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union entered the Olympic arena and began a dominant run that would last until the end of the Cold War in 1992. With the collapse of the USSR, Team USA took over as gold medal juggernauts in both men’s and women’s tournaments. In the years that followed, new stories emerged as Sweden won its first Olympic hockey gold in 1994 and the Czech Republic (now the Czech Republic) rose behind Dominik Hasek’s awe-inspiring goaltending to win in 1998 and 2010.
Today, Canada remains the kingpin of men’s and women’s Olympic hockey, with 23 medals overall—including fifteen golds. Jim Craig, whose 36 saves in the ‘Miracle on Ice’ semifinal victory over the Soviets is considered by many to be the greatest goaltending performance in Olympic history, and Mike Eruzione—who won the golden puck after a dramatic comeback at the 1980 Lake Placid Games—are among the most beloved athletes in the sport.