As both hockey tournaments got set to kick off at the 2018 Winter Olympics, many weren’t sure what to expect. There was a lot of uncharted territory in PyeongChang: the presence of a unified Korean women’s hockey team for the first time ever and the absence of active NHL players for the first time since 1994.
Nevertheless, both competitions yielded plenty of memorable moments, in every sense imaginable—from spectacular individual performances to sweet, golden redemption. Here are the best of the best:
10. Chris Lee winds up on the wrong bench
Like any other sport, hockey players employ some gamesmanship when possible to give their team a leg up. For the Czech Republic’s Michal Jordan and Martin Erat, that meant guiding Canadian defenseman Chris Lee to the back of their own bench during the two teams’ preliminary-round matchup—leaving Canada a man down, if only for a few seconds.
9. Norway wins its first game since 1994
Norway hadn’t won a men’s hockey game at the Olympics in more than two decades, since the last time NHL players did not compete at the Games. Naturally, with the NHL absent from PyeongChang, the Norwegian squad pounced on the opportunity, riding goals from Tommy Kristiansen and Alexander Bonsaksen to a 2-1 overtime victory over Slovenia.
Read the rest of the Top 10 Moments by clicking here
