Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics Host country Italy Dates 26 January – 4 February Teams 10 Champions Soviet Union (1st title) Runner-up United States Third place Canada Fourth place Sweden Matches played 33 Goals scored 262 (7.94 per match) Attendance 122,230 (3,704 per match) Scoring leader(s) James Logan (15 points)
Trophy awarded for the 1956 World Championships
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo , Italy , was the 8th 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]
East 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 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 .[2]
The Soviets 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.
Medalists [ edit ]
Participating nations [ edit ]
World Championship Group A (Italy) [ edit ]
Qualification [ edit ]
November 16, 1955
East Germany 3-7 West Germany
First round [ edit ]
Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group earned a right to play for 1st-6th places.
Group A [ edit ]
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 [ edit ]
January 27
January 28
January 29
Czechoslovakia 8–3 Poland
Group C [ edit ]
January 27
January 28
January 29
Final round [ edit ]
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
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
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 [ edit ]
January 31
February 1
Poland 6–2 Switzerland
Italy 8–2 Austria
February 2
Italy 8–3 Switzerland
Poland 4–3 Austria
February 3
World Championship Group B (East Germany) [ edit ]
Final Round [ edit ]
March 8
March 9
East Germany 14–7 Belgium
March 10
Statistics [ edit ]
Average age [ edit ]
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.[3]
Leading scorers [ edit ]
Tournament awards [ edit ]
Best players selected by the directorate:
Final ranking [ edit ]
Soviet Union
United States
Canada
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
Germany
Italy
Poland
Switzerland
Austria
European Championship final ranking [ edit ]
Soviet Union
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
West Germany
Italy
Poland
Switzerland
Austria
Citations [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Summary by year Men's events Women's events
Medals were awarded to the best European participants of the World Championships or Olympic Games (marked in italics ).