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Ice Hockey, Men

Date26 January – 4 February 1956
StatusOlympic
LocationStadio del Ghiaccio, Cortina d'Ampezzo / Stadio Romano e Armando Apollonio, Cortina d'Ampezzo
Participants169 from 10 countries
FormatRound-robin pools, followed by medal and consolation rounds.

Canada had dominated Olympic ice hockey from 1920-1952, winning 37 games, tying 3, and losing only once, while outscoring their opponents, 403-34. But things would be different beginning in 1956. In 1954, the Soviet Union had won the World Championships in Stockholm, defeating the Canadians easily, 7-2. Until the break-up of the Soviet Union, their ice hockey team would dominate the Olympic tournaments.

In 1956, Canada was represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, who had won the Allan Cup for the previous two seasons. The Americans again consisted of a selected all-star team. The Soviets were a national team that trained together year-round, most of their players titularly working in the military, to circumvent amateur rules. The three teams advanced to the medal round, along with Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. In the medal round, the US defeated Canada 4-1, in the second game for each team. Two days later, the USSR defeated the United States, 4-0, virtually guaranteeing them the gold medal. They iced that by beating Canada, 2-0, in the final series of games. The United States won the silver medal and Canada the bronze.

PosNrTeamNOCWTLPtsGoalsGPMPGLSSOGASSPTS+/-PIMSVSSV%GAA
1Soviet UnionURS7001440–9Gold
2United StatesUSA5021033–16Silver
3CanadaCAN6021253–12Bronze
4SwedenSWE214517–27
5CzechoslovakiaTCH304632–36
6Unified Team of GermanyGER125415–41
7ItalyITA321826–14
8PolandPOL203415–22
9SwitzerlandSUI104220–34
10AustriaAUT015111–51

Preliminary Round (26 – 29 January 1956)

Group A (26 – 29 January 1956)

Round-robin pool. First two qualified for final round, other teams to consolation round.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1CAN300630–1Q
2GER11139–6Q
3ITA02125–7
4AUT01212–32

Match #1 26 Jan 13:00CAN 4 – 0GER
Match #2 26 Jan 15:30AUT 2 – 2ITA
Match #3 27 Jan 14:30CAN 23 – 0AUT
Match #4 27 Jan 19:00GER 2 – 2ITA
Match #5 28 Jan 15:30CAN 3 – 1ITA
Match #6 29 Jan 21:00GER 7 – 0AUT

Group B (27 – 29 January 1956)

Round-robin pool. First two qualified for final round, other teams to consolation round.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1TCH200412–6Q
2USA10127–4Q
3POL00203–12

Match #1 27 Jan 10:30TCH 4 – 3USA
Match #2 28 Jan 19:30USA 4 – 0POL
Match #3 29 Jan 14:30TCH 8 – 3POL

Group C (27 – 29 January 1956)

Round-robin pool. First two qualified for final round, other teams to consolation round.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1URS200415–4Q
2SWE10127–10Q
3SUI00208–16

Match #1 27 Jan 21:00URS 5 – 1SWE
Match #2 28 Jan 21:30SWE 6 – 5SUI
Match #3 29 Jan 19:00URS 10 – 3SUI

Consolation Round (31 January – 3 February 1956)

Round-robin pool.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1ITA300621–7
2POL201412–10
3SUI102212–18
4AUT00309–19

Match #1 31 Jan 15:30SUI 7 – 4AUT
Match #2 01 Feb 19:00ITA 8 – 2AUT
Match #3 01 Feb 21:30POL 6 – 2SUI
Match #4 02 Feb 12:00ITA 8 – 3SUI
Match #5 02 Feb 16:00POL 4 – 3AUT
Match #6 03 Feb 10:30ITA 5 – 2POL

Final Round (30 January – 4 February 1956)

Round-robin pool.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1URS5001025–5
2USA401826–12
3CAN302623–11
4SWE113310–17
5TCH104220–30
6GER01416–35

Match #1 30 Jan 21:30URS 4 – 1SWE
Match #2 30 Jan 21:00USA 7 – 2GER
Match #3 30 Jan 18:00CAN 6 – 3TCH
Match #4 31 Jan 19:00URS 8 – 0GER
Match #5 31 Jan 21:30USA 4 – 1CAN
Match #6 31 Jan 16:00SWE 5 – 0TCH
Match #7 02 Feb 15:00URS 7 – 4TCH
Match #8 02 Feb 10:00USA 6 – 1SWE
Match #9 02 Feb 21:30CAN 10 – 0GER
Match #10 03 Feb 15:00URS 4 – 0USA
Match #11 03 Feb 11:00CAN 6 – 2SWE
Match #12 03 Feb 21:00TCH 9 – 3GER
Match #13 04 Feb 19:00URS 2 – 0CAN
Match #14 04 Feb 19:30USA 9 – 4TCH
Match #15 04 Feb 19:00GER 1 – 1SWE

Rankings

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Penalties in Minutes (PIM)
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