The Czech Republic’s historic upset in the 1998 Olympic hockey tournament -- the first with NHL players -- is the subject of the first film of the Olympic Channel Five Rings Films series.
“The Nagano Tapes” will premiere worldwide on Feb. 28 on Olympicchannel.com and its mobile apps, plus on NBCSN.
Directed by Czech Sundance award winner Ondřej Hudeček, it includes never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews with Olympians Dominik Hašek, Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros and Brett Hull.
The Czechs, behind Hašek’s dominant goaltending, upset Canada in the semifinals and Russia in the final.
“Many people in the Czech Republic treasure this story like a scripture,” Hudeček said in a press release. “To me personally, it brings back the memories of a 10-year-old kid inspired to see the world around him as a much smaller place, and I wanted to weave all of these threads into a film that could be relevant and fun to watch for everyone — not just hockey fans.”
Future Five Rings Films subjects include iconic Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson, a three-time Olympic gold medallist who famously turned down $5 million to fight Muhammad Ali. “La Lucha” is directed by Peter Berg of “Friday Night Lights” fame.
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