The beginning of 1992 was a politically charged time as the USSR collapsed and perestroika restored independence to countries previously ruled by the Soviets. As a result of this upheaval, there was no true Soviet team in existence at the time of the Albertville Olympics. The players from Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the other former Soviet territories decided to form one unit and called themselves the Unified Team. In a classic gold medal showdown against Canada, the Unified Team triumphed 3-1 with every goal coming in the third period. Vyacheslav Bykov, Andrei Khomutov, Alexei Zhitnik, Sergei Zubov and Darius Kasparaitis were some of the key figures behind the gold medal win.