Ice hockey was first contested at the Olympics in 1920 and has since been featured at every Winter Games. The men’s tournament is the most popular event, with teams from Canada winning 23 gold medals, including the famous “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union in 1980.

The Olympic tournament is governed by the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation, which differ slightly from those of the NHL. Players must be registered with the IIHF and subject to regular in- and out-of-competition drug testing. In addition, a player can only be sent to the bench for one misconduct penalty in an Olympic game. In the NHL, the face-off circle is a rectangle; in Olympic play it is a square. The attacking team puts their stick down first for the face-off.

In the preliminary rounds, teams are assigned to a group and then play five games against each other. During the round-robin phase, teams are awarded points to determine their final standing. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. The remaining teams compete in a play-off to decide the four quarterfinalists.

The semi-finals feature a 20-minute period of three-on-three overtime in case the game is tied after regulation. This is different from the playoffs, where the game continues with full overtime periods at 5-on-5 until a winner is determined. The gold medal and bronze medal games are also played under the same overtime rules.