Hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics is played on February 25, 2006
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics took place in Italy from 15 to 26 February.Sweden won the gold medal, while the Czech Republic and Finland won silver and bronze, respectively.The tenth best-on-best hockey tournament in history was hosted by the National Hockey League players.Chris Chelios set a standard for the longest time between his first and last Olympics when he competed in the 1984 Olympics.The old record was set by a hockey player.He had played for twenty years after his debut.
The format of the 1998 and 2002 tournaments was similar to the 1992 and 1994 tournaments.The number of teams was reduced from 14 to 12 and they were split into two groups in the preliminary stage.The teams played each other once.The top four teams from each group advanced.
Canada lost two group stage games, including a shock defeat to Switzerland, before being eliminated by Russia in the quarter-finals of the tournament.Sweden lost their final group game against Slovakia to make it to the quarterfinals against Switzerland.
The Czech Republic was defeated by Sweden 7–3 in the semi-finals.The Czech Republic won the bronze medal after defeating Russia 3–0 in the best-on-best competition.Sweden became the first team to win the Olympic and World Championship gold in the same year after winning the World Championships three months later.[3]
The top eight teams in the IIHF World Ranking in 2004 were Canada, Sweden, Slovakia, Czech Republic, United States, Russia and Germany.Italy is the host team.Three teams qualified from qualification tournaments.
The Swedes would face Switzerland instead of Canada or the Czech Republic if the allegations are true.According to a report, Sweden's coach contemplated tanking in order to avoid Canada and the Czechs.Sweden had an extended five-on-three powerplay with five NHL stars on the ice, but failed to put it.The Washington Generals would have been the next opponent for the Swedes if they had passed the puck more.They were afraid to shoot.Russian coach Vladimir Krikunov said that.[4]
As part of a subsequent interview about the championship over five years later, Forsberg was said to have implied that Sweden lost their preliminary round game against Slovakia on purpose so as to draw Switzerland instead of Canada or the Czech Republic.The player who played with Forsberg on the 2006 team denied the idea, while adding that his comments in the interview were misconstrued.[4][5]
Team USA was the oldest team in the tournament, with an average age of 31 years and 8 months.Team Germany was the youngest team in the tournament, with an average age of 26 years and 7 months.Sweden won the gold medal with an average age of 29 years and 7 months.The tournament averaged 29 years and 2 months.[6]