Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics
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The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the eighth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 23rd World Championships and the 34th European Championships. The tournament was held at the Olympic Ice Stadium and the Apollonio Stadium.[1]
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Italy |
| Dates | 26 January – 4 February 1956 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Soviet Union (1st title) |
Runners-up  |  United States |
Third place  |  Canada |
| Fourth place |  Sweden |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 33 |
| Goals scored | 262 (7.94 per game) |
| Attendance | 122,230 (3,704 per game) |
| Scoring leader | James Logan (15 points) |
The Soviet Union won all their games to claim their first Olympic title, their second World title, and their third European title. Canada, represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won its eighth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal, and first bronze medal.
East Germany and West Germany could not come to an agreement over how to formulate a combined team, so they played a qualification game against each other, which was won by West Germany. East Germany hosted a tournament for non-qualified teams, often referred to as World Championships Pool B, between the GDR, Norway and Belgium in Berlin.[2]
Medalists
Participating nations
Austria (17)
Canada (16)
Czechoslovakia (17)
United Team of Germany (17)
Italy (16)
Poland (17)
Soviet Union (17)
Sweden (17)
Switzerland (17)
United States (16)
World Championship Group A (Italy)
Qualification
- November 16, 1955
- East Germany 3–7 West Germany
First round
Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group earned a right to play for 1st–6th places.
Group A
- January 26
- Canada 4–0 Germany (UTG)
- Italy 2–2 Austria
- January 27
- Italy 2–2 Germany (UTG)
- Canada 23–0 Austria
- January 28
- Germany (UTG) 7–0 Austria
- Italy 1–3 Canada
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Czechoslovakia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 4 |
| 2 |  United States |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 2 |
| 3 |  Poland |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
- January 27
- Czechoslovakia 4–3 USA
- January 28
- USA 4–0 Poland
- January 29
- Czechoslovakia 8–3 Poland
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 4 |
| 2 | Sweden |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 2 |
| 3 |  Switzerland |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 0 |
- January 27
- USSR 5–1 Sweden
- January 28
- Sweden 6–5 Switzerland
- January 29
- USSR 10–3 Switzerland
Final round
The first place team, the Soviet Union, won the gold medal; the silver medal was won by the United States, and the bronze medal was won by Canada.
Coming into the final game of the tournament (Soviet Union vs Canada), the Soviets and Americans both had eight points while Canada had six points. A Canadian win would have created a three-way tie at eight points, to be broken by goal ratio. Canada (23/9=2.556) needed a victory by three or more to pass the Soviets (23/5=4.600). The Soviets would remain ahead of Canada with a win, a draw, or a loss by one or two.
The Americans (26/12=2.167) still had a chance at all three medal places due to the possibility of the goal ratios of Canada and/or the Soviets being altered according to the score of the final game.[3][4]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union |
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 10 |
| 2 | United States |
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 12 | +14 | 8 |
| 3 | Canada |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 6 |
| 4 | Sweden |
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 3 |
| 5 | Czechoslovakia |
5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 2 |
| 6 |  Germany |
5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 35 | −29 | 1 |
- January 30
- USA 7–2 Germany (UTG)
- Canada 6–3 Czechoslovakia
- USSR 4–1 Sweden
- January 31
- USSR 8–0 Germany (UTG)
- Sweden 5–0 Czechoslovakia
- USA 4–1 Canada
- February 1
- USA 6–1 Sweden
- February 2
- Canada 10–0 Germany (UTG)
- USSR 7–4 Czechoslovakia
- February 3
- Czechoslovakia 9–3 Germany (UTG)
- Canada 6–2 Sweden
- USSR 4–0 USA
- February 4
- USSR 2–0 Canada
- Germany (UTG) 1–1 Sweden
- USA 9–4 Czechoslovakia
Consolation round
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Italy |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 6 |
| 8 | Poland |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 4 |
| 9 | Switzerland |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 2 |
| 10 |  Austria |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 19 | −10 | 0 |
- January 31
- Switzerland 7–4 Austria
- February 1
- Poland 6–2 Switzerland
- Italy 8–2 Austria
- February 2
- Italy 8–3 Switzerland
- Poland 4–3 Austria
- February 3
- Italy 5–2 Poland
World Championship Group B (East Germany)
Final Round
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 |  East Germany |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 4 |
| 12 |  Norway |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 2 |
| 13 |  Belgium |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 0 |
- March 8
- East Germany 4–1 Norway
- March 9
- East Germany 14–7 Belgium
- March 10
- Norway 7–5 Belgium
Statistics
Average age
Gold medalists Team USSR was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 29 years and 11 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 22 years and 5 months. Tournament average was 26 years and 7 months.[5]
Leading scorers
| Rk | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Logan |
8 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Paul Knox |
8 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Vsevolod Bobrov |
7 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Jack McKenzie |
8 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | Gerry Theberge |
8 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Alexei Guryshev |
7 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 7 | John Mayasich |
7 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 8 | George Scholes |
8 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Ken Laufman |
8 | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | Gordon Christian |
6 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Tournament awards
- Best players selected by the directorate:
- Best Goaltender:
Willard Ikola - Best Defenceman: Nikolai Sologubov
- Best Forward: Jack McKenzie
- Best Goaltender: