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The XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan was the first time the NHL allowed its players* to participate in the Olympic Ice Hockey tournament. Depite the fact that the US and Canadian teams sported rosters that largely read like Hall of Fame ballots, the Czech Republic won gold. Though the team featured a roster of largely NHL players, true offensive NHL stars were few and far between - a mullet rockin' Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Martin Straka, a really young Milan Hejduk. But none of that mattered because they had Dominik Hasek.
Hasek was, by all accounts, the difference. Hasek allowed 4 goals in 3 games in Group play, but his best was yet to come. In the Final Round, the Dominator allowed 2 goals in 3 games. 1 against the United States, 1 against Canada and finished it off with a 1-0 shutout of Russia. Hasek won the Olympic games best goaltender award.
How good was Hasek? Following Canada's shootout loss to the Czechs, Wanye Gretzy said "I think right now he's the best player in the game. He's at a level that nobody else is at right now. He's just sensational.... There are few times in sports when you see a guy get into a zone or a stratosphere that others only wish they could be." Hasek stopped Theoren Fleury, Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan in that shootout.
The Americans were so frustrated after outshooting the Czech 39-19 but coming away with a 4-1 loss, that several players trashed their rooms in the Olympic Village. (classy!) This save was on Brett Hull, the 3rd best goal scorer in NHL history.
The gold medal winning goal against Russia came from an unlikely source, Peter Svodoba, a defenseman who only had 58 goals in his 1028 NHL games. With only 11 minutes left in the 3rd, Svodoba blasted a slapshot from the point past Russian netminder Mikhail Shtalenkov to score the biggest goal in Czech Republic history.
Another quircky thing about this team was their threads. The Nike uniforms the Czech team wore were very unique - particularly, the very large CZECH on the back of the jersey. These uniforms made another appearance in Salt Lake City in 2002, but did not bring the same luck.
1998 Czech Republic Olympic Results:
- Group C Match #1 CZE 3, FIN 0
- Group C Match #4 CZE 8, KAZ 2
- Group C Match #6 RUS 2, CZE 1
- Quarter-Finals CZE 4, USA 1
- Semifinals CZE 1, CAN 1 (CZE wins shootout)
- Finals CZE 1, RUS 0
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