Ice hockey at the 1988 Winter Olympics
The Canadian team had defeated the favoured Soviets twice in the run-up to the Olympics and was considered a gold medal contender for the first time since 1968.The first win over the Soviet squad was particularly significant as it happened in the annual Izvestia tournament which was held in 1987 in Moscow and was considered a final shot before the Olympics.[3] While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was able to convince the IIHF to allow OCO'88 to schedule games after the match draws had occurred to ensure premier matches were held in the higher capacity Olympic Saddledome, the IIHF remained reluctant to increase the number of games noting it would extend the break for European leagues with players participating.[5] The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) banned Morawiecki from competition for 18 months and invalidated Poland's victory in the France match.Points from previous games against their own group carry over, excluding teams who failed to make the medal round.