Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the eighth time ice hockey was played at the Olympics. It also counted as the 23rd World Championships and the 34th European Championships. The games were held at the Olympic Ice Stadium and the Apollonio Stadium.

The Soviet Union won all their games and got their first Olympic title. They also won their second World title and third European title. Canada, with a team called the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, got its eighth Olympic ice hockey medal, this time a bronze.

Because East Germany and West Germany could not agree to form one team, they played a special game to see who would compete. West Germany won that game. Later, East Germany hosted a separate tournament for teams that did not qualify. This included the GDR, Norway, and Belgium in Berlin.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Soviet UnionNikolai 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 StatesWillard 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	CanadaDenis Brodeur Keith Woodall Floyd Martin Howie Lee Art Hurst Jack McKenzie James Logan Paul Knox Donald Rope Byrle Klinck Bill Colvin Gérard Théberge Alfred Horne Charlie Brooker George Scholes Bob White Ken Laufman

Participating nations

See also: Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Rosters

•  Austria
•  Canada
•  Czechoslovakia
•  United Team of Germany
•  Italy
•  Poland
•  Soviet Union
•  Sweden
•  Switzerland
•  United States

World Championship Group A (Italy)

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, had teams from many countries. They played in several groups.

In the first round, teams were split into three groups. Canada, Italy, Austria, and Germany played in Group A. The Soviet Union, Sweden, Switzerland, and Poland played in Group C. The United States, Czechoslovakia, and Poland were in Group B.

In the final round, the Soviet Union won the gold medal. The United States won the silver medal, and Canada won the bronze medal. The Soviet Union won all their games, claiming their first Olympic title.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	30	1	+29	6
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	6	+3	3
3	Italy	3	0	1	2	5	7	−2	2
4	Austria	3	0	2	1	2	32	−30	1

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

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

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

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

World Championship Group B (East Germany)

Final Round

The ice hockey games in Group B had East Germany, Norway, and Belgium. These were their scores:

• March 8
  • East Germany 4–1 Norway
• March 9
  • East Germany 14–7 Belgium
• March 10
  • Norway 7–5 Belgium

Source: HockeyCanada.ca

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

Statistics

The Soviet Union team won the gold medal. They were the oldest team, with an average age of 29 years and 11 months. The U.S. team was the youngest, averaging 22 years and 5 months. The overall average age for all teams was 26 years and 7 months.

Here are the top players chosen by the directors:

• Best Goaltender: Willard Ikola from the United States
• Best Defenceman: Nikolai Sologubov from the Soviet Union
• Best Forward: Jack McKenzie from Canada

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

Final ranking

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics was held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The Soviet Union won all their games and claimed their first Olympic title. This was also their second World title and third European title.

European Championship final ranking

Here is the final ranking from the ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics:

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