Since the inaugural Winter Olympic Games back in 1920, only 7 nations have won a gold medal in the men's hockey competition. Of all of these winners, perhaps the most surprising is the Czech Republic. Clinching gold the gold medal during the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, the Czechs were somehow able to shake their underdog reputation, defeat both Canada and Russia during the final games of the tournament and secure their first ever medal at the event!
But how did they do it? How did the Czechs defy the overwhelming odds stacked against them and finish the tournament as Olympic champions? Well in today's video, let's take a closer look at the team's historic run and find out!
This is the story of when the Czech Republic won Olympic gold...
#WinterOlympics #CzechRepublic #NHL #NationalHockeyLeague #Sports #Hockey #IceHockey #Nagano1998 #History #Story
Become a Patron here: / oddmanrush
Twitter: / oddmanrushyt
Please feel free to like, subscribe share or watch some of my other videos and thank you very much for watching!
*Fun Facts: Jagr is the only active player from the 1998 tournament, still playing. Today is also his 50th Birthday 💯🤜🤛*
He still plays because his body can, and his bank acct needs more.
@@katheinireland8431he plays for the club he owns, I wouldn’t say that It’s about his bank account
Our Jagr is always playing 🙏✌️🇨🇿🇨🇿
hasek still plays too
In short tournament there was one decisive factor: Dominik Hasek. He is a legend, the best of the best.
Imagine being his backup.
Jagr too genius
That's why he got rekt in 1992 against Pittsburgh He was the hawks goalie for a bit
@@hugh2hoob668 no. he got rekt cuz like half of that penguins team is in the hall of fame or will be
They didn't call Hasek 'the Dominator' for nothing. I remember that Czech team being incredibly fun to watch.
I remember Hasek was just an absolute cyborg in Nagano.
A Canadian here… having not won gold since I believe 1952 at the Olympics our excuse was always that we couldn’t send NHL players. As a nation we were way too cocky … beer commercials showing everyone afraid of us like there was no way we wouldn’t bring home gold. It was humbling to see us loose and know that goaltending can win a tournament! Chez’s deserved the gold!
The Czech Republic of 1998 was a great team with great chemistry and a lot of passion and hunger. They had all to win and nothing to lose. And between 1998 to 2001, the Czech national team dominated the international hockey scene with winning the Olympics in 1998 and then winning the IIHF world championship 3 years straight 1999, 2000 & 2001. And also they produced a lot of NHL and international top level players in the middle 90's to early 00's. Its always touching to here a Czech speaking of there lovely memory of the 1998 Olympic gold medal. That gold medal was a huge importance for there country like no one could ever imagine outside there country. And the 1998 Nagano tournament was stuffed with NHL super stars from Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czechs despite having the best european scorer in Jaromir Jagr and best european goalie in Dominik Hasek, they was believed to be at best a 5th placed team. No one believed they could topple the other titans. Yet they did. Yeah they did play some great hockey in that Olympics. Gold - Czech Republic Silver - Russia Bronze - Finland
I'm curious to know what happened that Czech hockey has seen such a decline since this golden era ?
@@habshockey1994 I wonder that too. Back then I remember that they had hockey as a possibility to practice even during school hoers in Czech Republic and there was great supervising of there development. Now I just don't understand where all that went (?).
@@habshockey1994 corruption in the junior categories, you play if your parents pay, that greatly reduces the amount of talent going up through the ranks.
@@WarioSaysSo Because it is accessible to the wealthy only today. Most kids can't play.
@@lukebruce5234 Yeah it is sad that hockey have been extremely expensive. I mean it has always been costly but now it is completely insane costs... Most past legends where no rich kids from wealthy families, in fact some parents had to do a lot of sacrifises for there kids but they still made it economically to survive. Now there are only wealthy kids...
Few points: - Czech team was motivated to correct their reputation after an embarrassing performance at ’96 World Cup, where they had essentially the same roster as in Nagano, but played unfocused, worst hockey in country’s history. - Great coaching by Ivan Hlinka, who motivated players while having a very free-range approach. - Jágr was playing double shifts, and it took two oponent’s players to defend him, creating more room for other forwards. That way he himself didn’t score much, but was the main difference maker. - Defense was underrated, outside of first period against USA and shooutout against CAN, Hasek didn’t face that many high danger situations. Players like Špaček or Kučera deserve more credit. They took care for Bure and Selanne. - As a Czech citizen, I have to admit we were lucky that Mario Lemieux didn’t play at those games, otherwise he would make team Canada simply too powerfull.
I was there, as a 12-year-old but nonetheless. Kučera was easily the most underappreciated player the Czech team, maybe the entire tournament, had. My goodness, did that guy give headaches. Hasek has gotten so much praise, and I guess it's all been said and done in that regard, but all the defensemen really, really played for him: everybody played like Hasek is their god. And that is how you win games in ice hockey, by sticking together as a team and playing to your advantages. Now, speaking as a Finn, Pavel Bure absolutely annihilated our team in the semifinals: no one in my age group can forget what happened back then. In any and every case, Czech team won the Olympic Gold fair and square: they were skilled, they were organized, they were hungry and they wanted it. One of the most deserved medals in the history of the sport. 24 years on, and I still think of that tournament fondly.
Your a liar 2 people weren't need to defend against jagr that would be stupid to begin with because idk it would leave a guy open for jagr to pass to if he's so good why can't he pass it to the open guy
@@lilwoodiewood3457 how’s Jagr going to get a pass off/even get the puck in general if he has 2 people covering him. Also the person stated Jagr didn’t get many points that tournament because of that.
@@sacredalien8011 nobody does that dude ... that leaves u hendicap when 2 guys cover one I'm sorry u don't understand
@@sacredalien8011 buddy is a Czech liar he's ethnically biased here and just making shyt up about his hero .... jagr isn't on the level of Bobby orr ...mario or wayne ... I don't need to see some bs story about some team using 2 players to cover one... if u had a brain ud know that's almost as bad as being on the penalty kill maybe even worse actually or atleast just as bad as u can't ice the puck... u know why powerplays have alot of goals it's because one guy is left open
Definitely helped the Czechs that in 1998 they had the best forward in the world, Jaromir Jagr, and the best goalie in the world in Dominik Hasek. Would love to see more of these Olympic retrospectives.
If Czechoslovakia never broke up IMAGINE how many they would've won too!
Jagr, Elias, havlat, hejduk, hossa, demitra, satan, gaborik, chara, hamrlik, sykora, stumpel, prospal, kubina In same team Torino 2006
@@survivor218 but that would be every year if they never disbanned
@@survivor218 Riechel too was czech
"Wasn't considered a legitimate contender" CAMOON. They were considered to be that everywhere but in NA. I love your videos, but the dramatisation in this one is WAY over the top.
this video doesnt capture the magnitude of that final game. you have to understand that Czechs have been occupied by Russia for decades and a lot of times in past they couldnt win against soviets because of what the regime would do to them after their return. Thats why there were always fights during games with russians, and the fact that we faced them during final game made the win incredibly sweeter than if it was with anyone else, basically cementing the whole team as national heroes because it meant more than just a simple gold medal win. And no, its not true that Czechs didnt repeat their success, they didnt won olympic gold but they won multiple world championships and other things and are regarded as one of the best national hockey teams every year.
I remember when the USA lost to Czech Republic someone or some of the boys destroyed the locker room... When Canada lost i was completely shocked and sad though i knew deep down Dominik Hasek was on his head. Though when i look back at it, it was good for them to win it as like you said they may never win it again. Awesome video !!!
It was chelios. He smeared poop all over the olympic village
Nothing against you, but Milan Hejduk during Nagano 1998 was still Czech league player not NHL player. He was drafted by Québec Nordiques, but from some reason he did not want to go into NHL and want to stay in Pardubice. That change after gold medal triumf, when he finaly sign contract with Colorado to which it moved Québec meanwhile and held all right for thi player.
Good catch. Unacceptable he missed this 😔
That 98 team had a beat in the net... Want even close !! I remember the shoot out with Canada .
I watched the 1998 Nagano Olympics Canada vs. Czech game live, and what a game it was. When they went into shoot out, it was basically Team Canada against Dominik Hasek.
I have a tl;dr version of this video. Hasek.
Your annunciation always kills me lol. I love it , eh folks?
The 1936, 1956, 1960, 1980, 1998 MEN'S Winter Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments have Produced Upsets mainly because of GOALTENDING.
Stories like that are what sports is all about
I think Svoboda was a defenseman.
Ummmmm no it was the 1936 Great Britain team that shouldve been the most unlikely, maybe the 60 and 80 US squad
Incredible
A great documentary for any Hockey fan, about this journey is the movie "The Nagano Tapes: Rewound, Replayed & Reviewed" :) Czech it out ;)
leading up to the gold medal game cz rep/czechoslovakia were constantly a top 5 if not top 3 team calling them massive underdogs is straight up bs
My favourite non-Canadian team was the Slovak team that won the World Championships years ago. Their team song kicked ass, and their fanbase was as passionate as ours was during the 2010 Olympics.
How bout jamomir jagr
*Stastny* paved the way for Czechs in the nhl Imo never gets his due credit his totals only playing like 900 games on less than great teams is astounding
hes actually slovakian, but yeah between him and and his son, theyve represented 4 different countries in international play. peter played for Czechoslovakia, slovakia, and canada, and paul skates for team usa
@@hotdogwater7037 it was One nation then wasn't it?
I really want to see some big holywood production to make a movie about this run.
I disagree entirely with the premise of this video. Czechoslovakia, and then the Czech Republic, have always been heavyweights in hockey. For a decade in the late 90's and early 2000s they were arguably the best team in the world. So yes, while winning olympic gold was new for them, it definitely wasn't a huge surprise.
Jiri Dopita is the GOAT 🐐
Isn’t Jagr still playing in the Czech league?
Yes, he is. Yesterday, he played for Kladno and celebrate his 50 birthday!
YEs, HC Rytíři(Knights) Kladno
yes xdd
Well lets hope that we can return to those hockey heights once we deal with corruption inside our management system.
❤🏆❤
oh bud is that a pre-nhl roman cechmanek i see??
He just died😭
3:26 - Yea, "no Czechs in that top 10". And #7 Jiří Kučera is what? A Martian?
the czech team from the lates 90s up 2005 where a competive good team even at the iihf under 20 they won back to back in 2000 and 2001, since the post lock out period they havent won much .in my oppion what the hell happen to hockey in Czechia
Damn Soviets! Take a loss to those Crazy Canadians anyday over the Reds! Plus Canada beating them was a win for us all lol
czechs made sure that NHL will never take a break to allow top players to compete at olympics again😂
This is called being carried by your goaltender
they had Jagr too that whole team played for each other like few have since but ofc yes Hasek was is the best ever
Lol the entire Sweden team in that first shot Red Wings… yas
U mean domink hasek won it right ... anybody calling brodeur or Roy the goat really need to sit down
The argument about our system hits a nail on the head. It’s the single and most important reason out hockey is in decline since 1998. After the fall of communism everyone thought that this will become a standard and just sort of stopped trying to improve, the heads of our association are a corrupt former STB agents who barelly contribute to better our youth development or to get funding fpr sports from the goverment. Sadly it looks like Czech hockey will hit it’s lowest point in the coming years and there is no light at the end of the tunnel right now..
One word for reason they won. "Dominator" eod
This has been pretty heavily dramatised. Czech Republic had an extremely good team for years in international competitions. Ffs calling them "underdogs" and saying they were against "overwhelming odds" is just stupid. Ffs there are other teams than Canada, USA and Russia in the ice hockey world and you should definately know that if you've ever watched any international games.