Ice hockey at the Olympic Games in the context of "Russia men's national ice hockey team"

Ice hockey or simply known as hockey in North America, is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. The two opposing teams score by using their ice hockey sticks to control and advance a vulcanized rubber hockey puck, and then shooting it into the net of the other team, each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of gameplay is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender. It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports.

The modern sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor game was played on March 3, 1875. It draws influence from shinty which originated in Scotland, as well as field hockey which originated in England. Some characteristics of ice hockey, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey leagues began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was initially commissioned in 1892 as the "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" and was first awarded in 1893 to recognise the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL). In the early 1900s, the Canadian rules were adopted by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace, in Paris, France, the precursor to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The sport was played for the first time at the Olympics during the 1920 Summer Games—today it is a mainstay at the Winter Olympics. In 1994, ice hockey was officially recognized as Canada's national winter sport.

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was the 18th Olympic Championship. Sweden won its first gold medal, becoming the sixth nation to ever win Olympic ice hockey gold. The tournament, held from 12 February to 27 February, was played at the Fjellhallen in Gjøvik and the Håkons Hall in Lillehammer. There was no women's tournament at the Olympics until 1998.

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, was the second Olympic Championship, also serving as the second World Championships. The competition was held from Monday, January 28, 1924, to Sunday, February 3, 1924. Canada, represented by the Toronto Granites, defended its championship from the 1920 Summer Olympics. The United States and Great Britain took the silver and bronze respectively, while other contenders included Czechoslovakia, France, and Sweden.

The Bergvall system used in the 1920 Olympics was discarded in favor of a two-level round-robin tournament. Qualifying teams were placed in pools for the opening round, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the final round. The medals were awarded based on the record in the final round. This format would remain in use until the 1992 Winter Olympics, when the final round-robin was replaced with a medal-round single-elimination tournament.

The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.

The first World Championship that was held as an individual event was in 1930 in which twelve nations participated. In 1931, ten teams played a series of round-robin format qualifying rounds to determine which nations participated in the medal round. Medals were awarded based on the final standings of the teams in the medal round. In 1951, thirteen nations took part and were split into two groups. The top seven teams (Pool A) played for the World Championship. The other six (Pool B) played for ranking purposes. This basic format would be used until 1992 (although small variations were made). During a congress in 1990, the IIHF introduced a playoff system. As the IIHF grew, more teams began to participate at the World Championships, so more pools (later renamed divisions) were introduced.

The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; French: Équipe Canada) is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior amateur club teams. Canada's national men's team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, playing out of the University of British Columbia.The nickname "Team Canada" was first used for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to both the Canadian national men's and women's teams ever since.

Canada is the leading national ice hockey team in international play, having won the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, a record four Canada Cups dating back to 1976, a record two World Cups of Hockey, a record nine Olympic gold medals, and a record 28 World Championship titles.

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, was the 17th Olympic Championship. All the games were played at the Méribel Ice Palace in Méribel, about 45 km from host city Albertville. The competition, held from 9 to 23 February, was won by the Unified Team in its only appearance. The team was composed of some newly emerged nations from the former Soviet Union, which had dissolved just weeks before the Games began. Canada won the silver medal, its first hockey medal since 1968 and 11th Olympic ice hockey medal.

Pavel Valeryevich Datsyuk (Russian: Па́вел Вале́рьевич Дацю́к, IPA: [ˈpavʲɪl dɐˈtsuk]; born 20 July 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player, who played for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2001 to 2016. Nicknamed the "Magic Man", Datsyuk was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history, and was the only active player on the list outside of the NHL at the time of announcement.

Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup in 2002 and 2008 with the Red Wings, and the Gagarin Cup in 2017 with SKA Saint Petersburg. He was part of the Russia men's national ice hockey team at the Olympic Games in 2002, 2006, 2010 and was team captain in 2014 and 2018. With his gold medal win at the 2018 Olympics, Datsyuk joined the Triple Gold Club.

Erik Ronald Pettersson (16 April 1935 – 6 March 2010) was a Swedish ice hockey player. He played 252 international games for Sweden between 1955 and 1967, including thirteen World Championships and three Olympic Games. Between 1951 and 1967 Pettersson played for Surahammars IF, Södertälje SK and Västra Frölunda IF. He won the Swedish championship twice, in 1956 with Södertälje and in 1965 with Västra Frölunda. He won Guldpucken in 1959–60 as the most valuable player in Swedish Championship playoffs.

After suffering a career-ending injury in 1967, Pettersson took on the role as head coach for the Swedish national junior team from 1968 to 1974, the Swedish national senior team from 1974 to 1976, and the Norwegian national men's team from 1978 to 1981. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004, and his jersey #14 was retired by Västra Frölunda in 2002.

In men's international ice hockey, the Big Six is a group comprising the six national teams that have dominated play throughout the history of international ice hockey, especially since the 1950s. It has traditionally been composed of the North American countries of Canada and the United States and four European countries: Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden. During the Cold War and for two years afterwards, the Soviet Union/CIS and Czechoslovakia held the places of Russia and Czechia, respectively, within the group. The four European members are sometimes referred to as the "European Big Four" or "Big Four", especially to distinguish them from the North American teams.

As of 2025, out of the 264 Ice Hockey World Championships medals awarded by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), 234 have been won by the Big Six teams. Since 1954, only ten medals have been won by teams outside the Big Six (four by Slovakia, four by Switzerland, and one each by Germany and Latvia). Of the 75 Olympic ice hockey medals awarded, 67 have been won by a Big Six team.