Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Men

Fourteen countries played in the tournament. Six countries, hockey powers Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States of America were admitted to the final eight. The other eight countries, Austria, Belarus, France, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine played in a preliminary round in two pools. The winners of those pools, Belarus and Germany, advanced to the final round with the other six.

The biggest surprise of the tournament was Belarus, 0-3-0 in Group D play, knocking off 3-0-0 Sweden in quarterfinal play. Canada won the gold medal, defeating the USA in a game that was very close until a couple of late goals gave Canada its final three-goal margin. Canadian Joe Sakic[?] was named tournament MVP.

Preliminary Round

Final Round

Quarter-finals (February 20)

• Belarus 4 Sweden 3
• Russia 1 Czech Republic 0
• USA 5 Germany 0
• Canada 2 Finland 1

Semi-finals (February 22)

• Canada 7 Belarus 1
• USA 3 Russia 2

Bronze medal game (February 23)

• Russia 7 Belarus 2

Gold medal game (February 24)

• Canada 5 USA 2

Women

Eight countries competed. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the semi-finals.

Canada did not allow a goal in the preliminary round, while USA allowed only one goal. Canada trailed 3-2 to Finland going into the third period, but score 5 unanswered goals to advance to the final. USA had a fairly uneventful semi-final, shutting out Sweden. In the final, Canada outplayed USA despite being called for 13 penalties by the American referee (the Americans received four penalties). The turning point of the game probably came when Canada's Jayna Hefford scored with one second left in the second period to give the Canadians a 3-1 lead going into the third period. USA scored late in the third period on the power play to cut the lead to 3-2, but Canada hung on to win. It was the first women's hockey gold for Canada. Coming into the game, the Americans were 35-0 on their season, and had beaten the Canadians in their eight previous meetings. Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser was named tournament MVP.

Preliminary Round

Group A

• Canada 3-0-0
• Sweden 2-1-0
• Russia 1-2-0
• Kazakhstan 0-3-0

Group B

• USA 3-0-0
• Finland 2-1-0
• Germany 0-2-1 (finished ahead of China on goal differential)
• China 0-2-1

Semi-finals

• Canada 7 Finland 3
• USA 4 Sweden 0

Bronze medal game (February 21)

• Sweden 2 Finland 1

Gold medal game (February 22)

• Canada 3 USA 2