Olympic ice hockey uses rules developed by the International Ice Hockey Federation, which are a bit different from those used in the NHL. The games have been part of the Winter Olympics since 1920. They are played on a large rink measuring 197 feet long by 98.5 feet wide, and players wear helmets and use goalie masks. The tournament is a round-robin series of games with medals awarded based on record over the course of a single round. Playoffs were introduced in 1992, and tie games during the medal round now are decided by a shootout.
The most famous upset in Olympic ice hockey history came when the United States defeated the Soviet Union in a semifinal game at the 1980 Lake Placid Games, a victory known as the “Miracle on Ice.” U.S. forward Mike Eruzione, a Toronto Maple Leafs player at the time, was responsible for the winning goal in the game’s third period. He picked up a loose puck in the Soviet zone, skated to a position near the goal line and then shot the puck past the Soviet goalie.
The ’80 games also marked the end of the Red Army’s dominance over Olympic ice hockey. The Soviet Union had won all five of its division games in a row, outscoring opponents 51-11 to advance to the final. But a loss to Sweden in the first medal game scuttled the Soviets’ chances of winning gold. Two days later, the American team beat the Soviets in a sudden-death overtime period, the first time that the Red Army had lost in its 70-game Olympic history.