In the first Olympic Winter Games featuring NHL players, the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team opened the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, with a matchup against defending gold medalist Sweden. After dropping a 4-2 decision in the team’s first game, the U.S. responded by knocking off Belarus, 5-2. Team USA would then lose to Canada, 4-1, before falling to eventual gold medalist Czech Republic by an identical score in the quarterfinal round.