When Canada staged the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1988, plenty of history was made in Calgary. Unfortunately for the host country, what would have been the best memory of all – a gold medal in hockey for coach Dave King's Canadian Olympic team – just wasn't destined to be.

The hockey team, which finished fourth, wasn't alone in its misery. Despite the cheery cowboy-hat vibe in Cowtown, backed by David Foster's memorable “Winter Games” theme song, no Canadian in any sport won gold in Calgary. It's a legacy that stings to this day, and one which the Canadian Olympic Committee has vowed to rectify with its “Own the Podium – 2010” program. Canada's goal for Vancouver is to win more medals than any other nation.

But of course, hockey will be the number one focus from the first day of the 2010 Olympics to the last. As it always is. Looking back at Calgary, here are some memorable firsts and lasts that defined that history-making '88 tournament.

It was the last time the Soviet Union would win gold in international hockey, as the huge Communist state was officially dissolved at the end of 1991, prior to the 1992 Albertville Olympics.

It was also the last time the famous Soviet “Green Unit” of Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Vyacheslav Fetisov, and Alexei Kasatonov would play together at the Olympics. They dominated the competition, winning nine straight games and wrapping up the gold with a 7-1 rout of Sweden, this being the last time the Olympics would be played in a round-robin format. Krutov won the scoring derby with six goals and nine assists. According to Dave King, Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov later told him that the 1987-88 USSR national team was the best one he ever coached.

Larionov, who was tied for second place in scoring with Fetisov, told the Western media not to expect him and or his comrades to appear in the NHL any time soon, despite the advent of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in the Soviet Union: “As long as we're needed by the national team, they will not let us play (in the NHL). It's exactly the same as Wayne Gretzky playing in the Soviet Union. Canadian fans would be disappointed.” As it turned out, however, Larionov and other Soviet stars were released to play in North America for the 1989-90 season.

The lone blemish on the USSR's '88 Olympic record was a tournament-closing 2-1 loss to Finland, thanks to an Erkki Lehtonen power-play goal and a 31-save performance by goalie Jukka Tammi. The upstart Finns made history by winning silver, their first-ever medal at either an Olympics or IIHF World Championship. That was a huge confidence-builder for the small Nordic nation, which went on to win medals at three of the next five Olympic hockey tournaments.

Many other memorable moments marked the tournament. There was Canada’s first loss, 3-1 to Finland on February 18, where King caught Jarmo Myllys wearing an illegal-sized goalie mask with under three minutes to go, but his team couldn’t get the equalizer on the ensuing power play. Lightly regarded, Poland rejoiced after beating France 6-2 that day, but had its victory taken away after 23-year-old scoring star Jaroslaw Morawiecki tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone.

Few expected the West Germans to win four out of five games in the preliminary round, yet they did just that, including a 2-1 shocker versus Czechoslovakia and a 4-1 win over the Americans.

The most anticipated game of the tournament was the USSR-Canada showdown on February 24. Hopes were high for the home fans since the Canadian national team had shocked everyone by beating the stacked Soviets at the Izvestia Tournament in Moscow in December. But this matchup proved to be anticlimactic as the Soviets swept to a 5-0 triumph. “They are too good for us, plain and simple,” said losing goalie Sean Burke.

1988 was the first Olympics at which NHLers were permitted to participate, in contrast with past Games where amateur status was required. The decision dated back to an October 20, 1986 announcement by the IIHF. “There are no restrictions,” IIHF President Dr. Günther Sabetzki said. “Canada can use Wayne Gretzky if it wants to.”

However, thinking bottom-line first, few NHL clubs actually agreed to release their players. Those who did get time off to play in the Games included workmanlike NHLers like Calgary’s Jim Peplinski, Steve Tambellini, and Brian Bradley; Toronto’s Ken Yaremchuk; and Winnipeg’s Tim Watters. Granted, there were plenty of other future and past NHL names, such as the netminding duo of Burke and Andy Moog, but no one like Gretzky, Mark Messier, or Mario Lemieux. Canada only mustered 34 goals in 10 games, not enough to fulfill Sports Illustrated’s prediction of gold at the Calgary Saddledome.

Unique to the 1980’s, Calgary also marked the last of three consecutive tourneys where no IIHF World Championship was played in the same year as the Olympics. Whoever won gold at the Games was counted as the World Champion. Therefore, the feat of winning double gold (as Sweden did in 2006 in Turin and Riga) wasn’t an option for the Soviets. Retrospectively, it was unfortunate for them, since the odds are pretty good that they would have pulled it off in either ‘84 or ‘88.

Calgary was the first Olympics for Slava Bykov, who would contribute five points en route to gold and later capture two World Championships (2008, 2009) behind the bench of the Russian national team. Bykov will be back in Vancouver, gunning for gold again.

And if there’s one player from 1988 who has a shot at playing in Vancouver, it’s Czech goalie Dominik Hasek. His Olympic debut that year at age 23 wasn’t all that successful: Czechoslovakia finished sixth, Hasek had a 4.98 GAA in five games, and his lone shutout was a 4-0 decision versus Austria. But of course, the legendarily flexible netminder went on to steal the show in Nagano 1998, giving his nation its first-ever gold, and he’s come out of retirement for the second time at age 44 in hopes of playing one more Olympics.

It's been nearly 22 years, but the legacy of Calgary lives on.

LUCAS AYKROYD