When the ice hockey tournament gets started at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the games will be played on a sheet of ice that is slightly larger than what exists at NHL rinks.
The differences between an NHL rink and Olympic rink are small, but they can be a factor. Both rinks are 200 feet in length, but the rink in Sochi will be 15 feet wider. Essentially, the faceoff circles are in the exact same place, but there's more room along the outside of each zone.
The neutral zone in Sochi is 58 feet, which is eight feet larger than what exists in the NHL. That results in each attacking zone being six feet smaller, although there is an additional foot of space behind the goal line on Olympic ice.
There have been mixed results in tournaments played on the larger ice since the NHL began to send its players in 1998. The first three tournaments were played on the bigger sheet, with the 2010 Games taking place on an NHL-sized sheet.
Here are the results of those tournaments, with countries listed in order of gold, silver and bronze.
1998 (Nagano, Japan): Czech Republic, Russia, Finland
2002 (Salt Lake City, Utah): ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Dave Lozo
Whom Does the Larger Ice Favor at the 2014 Sochi Olympics?
February 10th, 2014 by Dave Lozo Leave a reply »
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