Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Tournament details
Host country	Italy
Dates	26 January–4 February
Teams	10
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union (1st title)
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Canada
Fourth place	Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played	33
Goals scored	262 (7.94 per match)
Attendance	122,230 (3,704 per match)
Scoring leader(s)	James Logan, Paul Knox 12 points
← 1955 or 1952 Olympics 1957 or 1960 Olympics →

Trophy awarded for the 1956 World Championships

At the 1956 Winter Olympics held in Cortina d'Ampezzo at the Stadio Olympica, Italy, one ice hockey event was held: men's ice hockey. This tournament was also counted as IIHF World Championship and IIHF European Championship. The two German nations could not come to an agreement over how to formulate a combined team, so they played a qualification game against each other, which the west won. The east hosted a tournament for non qualified teams, often referred to as World Championships Pool B, between GDR, Norway and Belgium in Berlin.

The Soviets won all their games to claim their first Olympic title, their second World title, and their third European title. The Canadian representative, the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen suffered losses to both the USSR and the USA, claiming bronze.

Medalists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Soviet Union Nikolai Puchkov Grigory Mkrtychan Nikolaï Sologubov Dmitry Ukolov Ivan Tregubov Genrikh Sidorenkov Alfred Kuchevsky Yevgeny Babich Viktor Shuvalov Vsevolod Bobrov Yuri Krylov Aleksandr Uvarov Valentin Kuzin Yuri Pantjukhov Aleksey Guryshev Nikolay Khlystov Viktor Nikiforov	United States Willard Ikola Don Rigazio Richard Rodenheiser Daniel McKinnon Ed Sampson John Matchefts Richard Meredith Dick Dougherty Ken Purpur John Mayasich Bill Cleary Wellington Burtnett Wendell Anderson Gene Campbell Gordon Christian Weldon Olson John Petroske	Canada Denis Brodeur Keith Woodall Floyd Martin Howie Lee Art Hurst Jack McKenzie James Logan Paul Knox Donald Rope Byrle Klinck Bill Colvin Gerry Théberge Alfred Horne Charlie Brooker George Scholes Bob White Ken Laufman

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

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	30	1	6
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	6	3
3	Italy	3	0	1	2	5	7	2
4	Austria	3	0	2	1	2	32	1

• 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

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	2	2	0	0	12	6	4
2	United States	2	1	1	0	7	4	2
3	Poland	2	0	2	0	3	12	0

• January 27
  • Czechoslovakia 4-3 USA

• January 28
  • USA 4-0 Poland

• January 29
  • Czechoslovakia 8-3 Poland

Group C

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	2	2	0	0	15	4	4
2	Sweden	2	1	1	0	7	10	2
3	Switzerland	2	0	2	0	8	16	0

• January 27
  • USSR 5-1 Sweden

• January 28
  • Sweden 6-5 Switzerland

• January 29
  • USSR 10-3 Switzerland

Final round

First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	5	5	0	0	25	5	10
2	United States	5	4	1	0	26	12	8
3	Canada	5	3	2	0	23	11	6
4	Sweden	5	1	3	1	10	17	3
5	Czechoslovakia	5	1	4	0	20	30	2
6	Germany	5	0	4	1	6	35	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

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Consolation round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
7	Italy	3	3	0	0	21	7	6
8	Poland	3	2	1	0	12	10	4
9	Switzerland	3	1	2	0	12	18	2
10	Austria	3	0	3	0	9	19	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

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World Championship Group B (East Germany)

Final Round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
11	East Germany	2	2	0	0	18	8	4
12	Norway	2	1	1	0	8	9	2
13	Belgium	2	0	2	0	12	21	0

• March 8
  • East Germany 4-1 Norway

• March 9
  • East Germany 14-7 Belgium

• March 10
  • Norway 7-5 Belgium

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Leading scorers

Rk	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
1	James Logan	8	7	5	12
1	Paul Knox	8	7	5	12
3	Vsevolod Bobrov	7	9	2	11
3	Gerry Theberge	8	9	2	11
5	Jack McKenzie	8	7	4	11
6	John Mayasich	7	7	3	10
6	Alexei Guryshev	7	7	2	9
8	Vlastimil Bubník	7	5	4	9
9	George Scholes	8	5	3	8
10	Viktor Shuvalov	7	5	2	7

Tournament awards

• Best players selected by the directorate:
  • Best Goalkeeper: Willard Ikola
  • Best Defenseman: Nikolai Sologubov
  • Best Forward: Jack McKenzie

Final ranking

1. Soviet Union
2. United States
3. Canada
4. Sweden
5. Czechoslovakia
6. Germany
7. Italy
8. Poland
9. Switzerland
10. Austria

European Championship final ranking

1. Soviet Union
2. Sweden
3. Czechoslovakia
4. West Germany
5. Italy
6. Poland
7. Switzerland
8. Austria

References

• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9. 
• Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press. pp. 25–6, 30, 107–8. 
• Jeux Olympiques d'Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956