Amid a backdrop of war and political crisis, the first Olympic hockey games took place in 1920 at Antwerp’s small ice palace. The owner of the facility refused to let ice skating happen unless hockey was allowed, and the sport was born.
Today’s Olympics have changed quite a bit since the first games, from the way players skate to the dimensions of the rink itself. The game itself has also evolved significantly – the most significant change occurring at Squaw Valley in 1960 when organizers switched from natural to artificial ice, making for much smoother play and improved sightlines for TV viewers.
From the beginning, the Olympics have been a showcase for the best ice hockey players in the world. Minnesota natives have played an important role in that history, starting with the six members of the U.S. team that won the infamous Miracle on Ice in 1980 against the Soviet Union at Lake Placid. Among them were the late Mike Eruzione and former NHLers Goheen, Conroy, Fitzgerald, Weidenborner, Green, and Kaprizov.
Overtime at the Olympics isn’t as simple as next goal wins; the process depends on where a team is in the tournament, with games played in group play and quarterfinals having a longer overtime period than those in the semifinals and finals. There are no ties in the Olympic tournament, and any game that ends in regulation must be decided in either an overtime or a shootout.