Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in Canada and has long been a staple at the Olympic Games. It was first played at the 1920 Summer Olympics and again in 1924. In the early years of the sport, teams from Canada dominated the tournament. However, after 1956, amateur club teams were no match for the government-sponsored Soviet players. The USSR (and its 1992 Unified Team) won all but two gold medals for the next decade. Only in 1960 and 1980 did the United States pull off a pair of improbable upsets, including the famous “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviets.
Canada has won the most Olympic medals of any nation in both men’s and women’s ice hockey. Canadian players, Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser, hold the most gold medals of any woman with four each. They are tied with teammates Becky Kellar and Jennifer Botterill, who each have three.
A key development in Olympic ice hockey came in 1995 when the NHL agreed to allow its players to participate in the Olympics. The change allowed teams like the Czech Republic and Sweden to gain an edge as they used players from their professional leagues. It would not be until 2018 PyeongChang that the NHL again opted not to permit its players to play in the Olympics, a move that hurt both the U.S. and Canada, as they relied heavily on their NHL stars.
The ice at the Olympic Arena in PyeongChang is painted with blue zones and red ones. The blue lines are 60 feet (18 meters) out from the goal line, and the red ones are 30 feet (9 meters). The center circle is yellow and is where faceoffs take place. The goalie’s crease is the area inside the blue zone, and no attacking player may enter while the puck is in the crease.
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