Vladimir Viktorovich Tsyplakov was a Belarusian professional ice hockey player winger. He was drafted in the third round, 59th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was the 19th Olympic Championship. The Czech Republic, which emerged from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, won its first winter gold medal, becoming only the seventh nation to win Olympic ice hockey gold. The tournament, held from February 7 to February 22, was played at the Big Hat and Aqua Wing arenas.