Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics

Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host country  Austria
Dates 2–14 February
Teams 12
Final positions
Champions   Soviet Union (5th title)
Runner-up   Czechoslovakia
Third place   West Germany
Fourth place  Finland
Tournament statistics
Matches played 36
Goals scored 323 (8.97 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Soviet Union Vladimir Shadrin (14 points)
1972
1980

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the 13th Olympic Championship. The Soviet Union won its fifth gold medal. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.

Highlights

The main rivalry in the tournament was between the USSR and Czechoslovakian national teams. The Czechoslovakian team suffered from influenza throughout the tournament, and they finished the game against Poland with only twelve players on the bench. A doping test of one of the players was positive and a loss was recorded for the Czechoslovakian team, although Poland did not receive points.

In the final, Czechoslovakia was up 2–0 after the first period. In the second the score was tied by Vladimir Shadrin and Vladimir Petrov. Eight minutes before the end of the game Eduard Novák scored the third goal for the Czechoslovakian team. But subsequent goals by Aleksandr Yakushev and one minute later by Valeri Kharlamov lead to the victory of the USSR.

Heralded as one of the great moments in German ice hockey, the West German team won a surprising bronze. Sweden joined Canada in objecting to the amateur rules which heavily favored Eastern Bloc countries, and did not send a team as well.

Medalists

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
 Soviet Union
Vladislav Tretiak
Aleksandr Sidelnikov
Aleksandr Gusev
Vladimir Lutchenko
Sergei Babinov
Yury Lyapkin
Gennadiy Tsygankov
Sergey Kapustin
Aleksandr Maltsev
Boris Aleksandrov
Boris Mikhailov
Alexander Yakushev
Vladimir Petrov
Valeri Kharlamov
Vladimir Shadrin
Valeri Vasiliev
Viktor Shalimov
Viktor Zhluktov
 Czechoslovakia
Jiří Holík
Oldřich Machač
František Pospíšil
Jiří Holeček
Bohuslav Šťastný
Ivan Hlinka
Vladimír Martinec
Eduard Novák
Josef Augusta
Jiří Bubla
Milan Chalupa
Jiří Crha
Miroslav Dvořák
Bohuslav Ebermann
Milan Kajkl
Jiří Novák
Milan Nový
Jaroslav Pouzar
 West Germany
Lorenz Funk
Ernst Köpf
Alois Schloder
Rudolf Thanner
Josef Völk
Anton Kehle
Erich Kühnhackl
Rainer Philipp
Klaus Auhuber
Ignaz Berndaner
Wolfgang Boos
Martin Hinterstocker
Udo Kiessling
Walter Köberle
Stefan Metz
Franz Reindl
Ferenc Vozar
Erich Weishaupt

First round

In the first round teams were seeded according to their placement in the 1975 World Championships. Winners of this round qualified for Group A to play for 1st–6th places, while the losers competed in Group B for 7th–12th places. Canada had previously withdrawn from international amateur hockey entirely because of disagreements over professionals not being allowed to play, therefore they did not send a team to the 1976 Winter Olympics. Sweden, having several of their top players now playing in the NHL and WHA chose to join Canada in protesting the rules.[1] Additionally qualifiers from East Germany and Norway chose not to play.[2] 1975 ranking appears in parentheses.

  • February 2
    • Poland (5th) 7–4 Romania (11th)
    • Czechoslovakia (2nd) 14–1 Bulgaria (16th)
    • West Germany (8th) 5–1 Switzerland (9th)
  • February 3
    • USSR (1st) 16–3 Austria (17th)
    • Finland (4th) 11–2 Japan (12th)
    • USA (6th) 8–4 Yugoslavia (10th)

Final round

Finland − West Germany on a Paraguayan stamp

First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.

Rank Team Pld W L T GF GA Pts
1  Soviet Union 5500401110
2  Czechoslovakia 532017106
3  West Germany 523021244
4  Finland 523019184
5  United States 523015214
6  Poland 51409370
  • February 6
    • Czechoslovakia 2–1 Finland
    • West Germany 7–4 Poland
    • USSR 6–2 USA
  • February 8
    • Finland 5–3 West Germany
    • USSR 16–1 Poland
    • Czechoslovakia 5–0 USA
  • February 10
    • USSR 7–3 West Germany
    • Poland 1–0* Czechoslovakia
    • USA 5–4 Finland
  • February 12
    • Czechoslovakia 7–4 West Germany
    • USA 7–2 Poland
    • USSR 7–2 Finland
  • February 14
    • USSR 4–3 Czechoslovakia
    • Finland 7–1 Poland
    • West Germany 4–1 USA

* Note: The score after the Czechoslovakia vs Poland match was 7–1, but due to the positive doping test of one of the Czechoslovak players, the team was recorded a 0–1 loss. Poland didn't receive any points.

Consolation round

Teams, which lost their games in the qualification round, played in this group.

Rank Pld W L T GF GA Pts
7  Romania 541023158
8  Austria 532018146
9  Japan 532020186
10  Yugoslavia 532022196
11   Switzerland 523024224
12  Bulgaria 505019380
  • February 5
    • Yugoslavia 6–4 Switzerland
    • Romania 3–1 Japan
    • Austria 6–2 Bulgaria
  • February 7
    • Yugoslavia 4–3 Romania
    • Switzerland 8–3 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–2 Japan
  • February 9
    • Yugoslavia 8–5 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–4 Romania
    • Japan 6–4 Switzerland
  • February 11
    • Romania 9–4 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–5 Switzerland
    • Japan 4v3 Yugoslavia
  • February 13
    • Romania 4–3 Switzerland
    • Japan 7–5 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–1 Yugoslavia

Leading scorers

Rk GP G A Pts
1 Soviet Union Vladimir Shadrin 610414
T2 Soviet Union Alexander Maltsev 67714
T2 Soviet Union Viktor Shalimov 67714
4 Soviet Union Alexander Yakushev 64913
5 Germany Erich Kühnhackl 66511
6 Soviet Union Vladimir Petrov 6639
T7 Germany Lorenz Funk 6459
T7 Germany Ernst Köpf 6459
9 Soviet Union Valeri Kharlamov 5369
10 United States Bob Dobek 6358

Final ranking

  1.  Soviet Union
  2.  Czechoslovakia
  3.  West Germany
  4.  Finland
  5.  United States
  6.  Poland
  7.  Romania
  8.  Austria
  9.  Japan
  10.  Yugoslavia
  11.   Switzerland
  12.  Bulgaria

References

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