Ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics
| Men's ice hockey at the Games of the VII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Picture of the Gold Medal-winning Winnipeg Falcons taken en route to the 1920 Olympics (photo includes an unidentified ships' officer and a woman) | ||||||||||
| Venue | Palais de Glace d'Anvers | |||||||||
| Dates | April 23–29 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 60 from 7 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Ice hockey was introduced to the Olympic Games at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.[1][2] The tournament also served as the 1st World Championships. The matches were played between April 23 and April 29, 1920. Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Falcons, won the gold medal. The silver went to the United States and Czechoslovakia took the bronze.
The organizing committee for the hockey matches included Paul Loicq, the captain of the Belgian team and a future president of the International Ice Hockey Federation.[3] The games used the Canadian ice hockey rules, and the Bergvall system to determine medal winning teams.[4]
All matches took place in the Palais de Glace d'Anvers (ice palace of Antwerp). The rink was smaller than North American standards, measuring 56 metres (184 ft) long by 18 metres (59 ft) wide. All games were played with seven players per side, with the rover position being used.
This was the first ice hockey tournament at an Olympic Games, and the only ever instance of it at a Summer Olympics. An ice hockey tournament was part of the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924 and has been part of every Winter programme since then.
Medalists
Participating nations
A total of 60 ice hockey players from 7 nations competed at the Antwerp Games:
Belgium (7)
Canada (8)
Czechoslovakia (8)
France (7)
Sweden (11)
Switzerland (8)
United States (11)
Final tournament
Seven nations entered teams in the inaugural Olympic ice hockey tournament. The tournament format used the Bergvall system, starting with an elimination round to determine the gold medal winner. With only seven teams, France received a bye into the semi-finals.
Gold medal round (premier prix)
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
 Canada
| 15 | |||||||||||||
 Czechoslovakia
| 0 | Canada
| 2 | |||||||||||
 United States
| 29 | United States
| 0 | |||||||||||
 Switzerland
| 0 | Canada
| 12 | |||||||||||
 Sweden
| 8 | Sweden
| 1 | |||||||||||
 Belgium
| 0 | Sweden
| 4 | |||||||||||
 France
| 0 | |||||||||||||
Silver medal round (second prix)
The three teams defeated by Canada in the gold medal round then played against each other to determine the second place team. Czechoslovakia received a bye into the silver medal game.
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||
| United States
| 16 | ||||||||
| United States
| 7 | Czechoslovakia
| 0 | ||||||
| Sweden
| 0 | ||||||||
Bronze medal round (troisième prix)
Lastly, the three remaining teams that were previously defeated by first place Canada or second place United States played against each other to determine the third place team. Czechoslovakia received a bye into the bronze medal game, which they won.
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||
| Sweden
| 0 | ||||||||
| Sweden
| 4 | Czechoslovakia
| 1 | ||||||
| Switzerland
| 0 | ||||||||
Matches - Gold medal round
| 1920 Summer Olympics Champions |
|---|
 Canada First title |
Top scorer
| Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Herbert Drury
|
4 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
Final ranking
| Rank | Team | GP | W | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Canada (CAN) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| 2 |  United States (USA) |
4 | 3 | 1 | 52 | 2 |
| 3 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 |
| 4 |  Sweden (SWE) |
6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 20 |
| 5 |  Switzerland (SUI) |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 |
| 6 |  France (FRA) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 |  Belgium (BEL) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
References
- ^ Justin Felisko. "When Ice Hockey Was A Summer Sport". USA Hockey Magazine. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ "Ice Hockey at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ Hansen, Kenth (May 1996). "The Birth of Swedish Ice Hockey – Antwerp 1920". LA84 Digital Library. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ "Story #21: Ice Hockey debuts at the Olympics". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2008. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
External links
- 1920 Olympic Games report (digitized copy online)
- International Olympic Committee results database
- Ishockey VM OS 1920-1939
Bibliography
- Hansen, Kenth (May 1996), "The Birth of Swedish Ice Hockey – Antwerp 1920", Citius, Altiu, Fortius, 4 (2): 5–27
- Wallechinsky, David; Loucky, Jaime (2005), The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: Turin 2006 Edition, Wilmington, Delaware: Sport Media Publishing, ISBN 1-894963-45-8
| Overview |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Men's events | ||
| Women's events | ||
