20 years of hockey history between Canada and Sweden

Every four years, the Winter Olympics plays host to the most anticipated hockey event outside of the Stanley Cup Final. 

With just one game remaining to decide who will take the gold in Sochi, Sweden and Canada vie for their third Olympic men's hockey gold in the last 20 years. 

In terms of overall performance in the last two decades, Canada has been consistent outside of their sevent place finish in Turin. At the other end of the ice, Sweden has placed no lower than fifth in the last 20 years.

Here's a closer look at how the two nations have done in the last six Winter Games.

Lillehammer, 1994

Both Canada and Sweden finished the preliminary rounds with the same record; three wins, one loss, one tie, seven points.

The two would meet in the final with Sweden coming out the gold medal champion by a score of 3-2 in a shootout. 

Lillehammer was the last Winter Olympic Games before professional players were allowed to participate. With amateurs and others playing for both Canada and Sweden, the seven-round shootout had some interesting names.

Peter Nedved would be the first up for Canada followed by Paul Kariya, Dwayne Norris, Greg Parks, Greg Johnson. Peter Nedved would get a second chance at Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo.

For Sweden, Hakan Loob would shoot first, followed by Magnus Svensson, Mats Naeslund, Peter Forsberg, Roger Hansson. Magnus Svensson and Peter Forsberg would shoot twice. Forsberg would turn Corey Hirsch inside-out on the debut of his patented 'Forsberg' move.

Nagano, 1998

Canada went into the playoff rounds of the tournament with three wins and six points. Sweden had two wins and a loss for four points, but neither Sweden nor Canada would medal at the Nagano Olympics in Japan. 

Sweden was ousted in the quarterfinal, while Canada was taken out after the semifinal. 

In one of the most controversial Canadian hockey decisions, Wayne Gretzky was left sitting on the bench during their semifinal shootout. Although winding his career down, he is widely considered to be the best to play the game. His nickname 'The Great One' says it all.

If your heart still stings from the shootout battle between Canada and the Czech Republic, it's only normal. It was Dominik Hasek vs. Patrick Roy. Somebody had to lose.

Salt Lake, 2002

The Canadians struggled out of the gate in Salt Lake. The preliminary standings saw them win just one game with one loss and one tie for three points. The Swedes on the other hand won all three of their games for six points.

With criticism around the team, Executive Director Wayne Gretzky (and famous for being the best hockey player in the world) stood up for his team. 

"Am I hot? Yeah, I’m hot. I’m tired of people taking shots at Canadian hockey." He said during a press conference in Salt Lake. "We've got a proud bunch in our locker room. I know the whole world wants us to lose, except for Canada and Canada fans and our players. And we’ll be there. We’ll be standing."

When asked if the coach, Pat Quinn, was the problem, Gretzky simply answered, "American propaganda." Gretzky continued to say the media from other counties was loving the fact that Canada was struggling.

"They want to see us fail. They love beating us. They might tell (reporters) something different. But believe me, when you’re on the ice, that’s what they say."

The Lucky Loonie was buried at center ice that year which is a tradition that continues today.

Turin, 2006

The Canadians and Swedes were once again tied after preliminary action. The Canadians had won three games and lost two for six points. The Swedes also won three games and lost two for six points. 

Canada would be knocked off early by a Russian team that would be blanked 4-0 by Finland in the semifinal.

Finland struck first scoring on the power play on a puck that just trickled over the goal line. Henrik Zetterberg would score for Sweden just a few minutes into the second period and teammate Niklas Kronwall would score; both goals coming on the power play.

The game would be tied by Finland and just the third period remained. A goal from Nicklas Lidstrom would be the winner. Three Detroit Red Wings would win the gold medal for Sweden. 

Vancouver, 2010

Canada would end preliminary play with one win, one overtime win, and one loss for seven points. Sweden was a perfect 3-0 with nine points.

The outcome of the Turin games was flipped as Sweden lost their quarterfinal game to Slovakia, and Canada went on to win gold in overtime.

Thanks to 'The Golden Goal' by Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and some quick passing by Jarome Iginla, the Canadians would defeat the Americans who stormed back to force overtime. 

"He was yelling pretty hard for [the puck], so I just laid it in there, hoping I wasn't too late," Iginla told reporters.

"There's different pitches to a guy's voice when he's yelling for it. This was pretty urgent, so I knew he had a step. I didn't see it go in, I just heard everybody yelling, and saw him jumping around, so I knew we won."

All Crosby had to shout was "Iggy! Iggy! Iggy!" and the game was over.

Sochi, 2014

Neither team has been defeated in the tournament. A discrepancy in points is due to Canada's overtime win against Finland. Sweden would win all three of their games in regulation, earning nine points.

For the first time in Olympic men's hockey history, the team who wins the gold medal will be the only team to go undefeated through the entire tournament.

The last time Canada and Sweden met in a final was in 1994. Twenty years is a long time to wait for a rematch.