The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the eighth 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.
East Germany 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 was won by West Germany. East Germany 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. Canada, represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won its eighth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal, and first bronze medal.
Medalists
Participating nations
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
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
January 27
Czechoslovakia 4–3 USA
January 28
USA 4–0 Poland
January 29
Czechoslovakia 8–3 Poland
Group C
January 27
USSR 5–1 Sweden
January 28
Sweden 6–5 Switzerland
January 29
USSR 10–3 Switzerland
Final round
The first place team, the Soviet Union, won the gold medal; the silver medal was won by the United States, and the bronze medal was won by Canada.
Coming into the final game of the tournament (Soviet Union vs Canada), the Soviets and Americans both had eight points while Canada had six points. A Canadian win would have created a three-way tie at eight points, to be broken by goal ratio. Canada (23/9=2.556) needed a victory by three or more to pass the Soviets (23/5=4.600). The Soviets would remain ahead of Canada with a win, a draw, or a loss by one or two.
The Americans (26/12=2.167) still had a chance at all three medal places due to the possibility of the goal ratios of Canada and/or the Soviets being sufficiently reduced according to the score of the final game.
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
Consolation round
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
World Championship Group B (East Germany)
Final Round
March 8
East Germany 4–1 Norway
March 9
East Germany 14–7 Belgium
March 10
Norway 7–5 Belgium
Statistics
Average age
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.
Leading scorers
Tournament awards
Best players selected by the directorate: Best Goaltender: Willard Ikola Best Defenceman: Nikolai Sologubov Best Forward: Jack McKenzie