Canada competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games. Canada's biggest story at these games was the failure of the men's ice hockey team to win a medal. For the first time, Canada's best players (professional players from the National Hockey League) were able to compete at the Olympics, so Canadians had high expectations. The team lost its semi-final game to the Czech Republic when goaltender Dominik Hašek stopped all five shots he faced in the tie-breaking shootout. Canada then lost the bronze medal game to Finland.