1952 Winter Olympics

1952 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host nation	Norway
Dates	15–25 February
Teams	9
Venue(s)	Jordal Amfi Arena Dælenenga Kadettangen Marienlyst Lillestrøm (in host cities)
Champions	Canada (5 titles)
Tournament statistics
Games played	37
Goals scored	335  (9.05 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Billy Gibson 19 points

The Ice hockey tournament at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway was mainly played at the Jordal Amfi Arena, as well as the stadiums at Dælenenga (Oslo), Kadettangen (Sandvika), Marienlyst (Drammen) and Lillestrøm (Lillestrøm). The Edmonton Mercurys represented Canada and won the gold medal. The tournament was nearly not played at all. In 1951 it was decided to drop hockey from the olympic program because of the controversies surrounding the 1948 games. However, at the IOC congress in Romania the same year, it was reinstated.

Teams from Germany and Czechoslovakia rejoined the top level of international hockey this year. Nine nations played a round-robin with the top three nations receiving medals at the end. Canada won their fifth Olympic title, and fifteenth World title. The USA tied their final game against Canada to finish one point ahead of both Sweden and Czechoslovakia, clinching the silver medal. Czechoslovakia and Sweden both finished with six wins and two losses, additionally, they had an equal goal differential of +29. The Czechs had defeated the Swedes four to nothing on the final day, and believed that they had won the Olympic bronze, and the European Championship. However, organizers decided that they should play a final tie-breaking game, in which the Swedes overcame a three goal deficit to win five to three.

The jersey of the Edmonton Mercurys, the gold medal winners.

This would be Canada's last gold medal in men's Olympic ice hockey until the 2002 Winter Olympics when they would again play the United States, 50 years to the day (also a Sunday).

Medalists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Canada Eric Paterson Ralph Hansch John Davies Don Gauf Robert Meyers Thomas Pollock Al Purvis Billy Gibson David Miller George Abel Billy Dawe Robert Dickson Gordon Robertson Louis Secco Francis Sullivan Robert Watt	United States Alfred Van Allen André Gambucci Arnold Oss Clifford Harrison Donald Whiston Gerald Kilmartin James Sedin John Mulhern John Noah Joseph Czarnota Kenneth Yackel Leonard Ceglarski Richard Desmond Robert Rompre Ruben Bjorkman	Sweden Göte Almqvist Hans Andersson-Tvilling Stig Andersson-Tvilling Åke Andersson Lars Björn Göte Blomqvist Thord Flodqvist Erik Johansson Gösta Johansson Rune Johansson Sven "Tumba" Johansson Åke Lassas Holger Nurmela Lars Pettersson Lars Svensson Sven Thunman Hans Öberg

World Championships Group A (Norway)

• February 15
  • Norway 2-3 USA
  • Sweden 9-2 Finland
  • Czechoslovakia 8-2 Poland
  • Canada 15-1 Germany

• February 16
  • Switzerland 12-0 Finland
  • USA 8-2 Germany
  • Norway 0-6 Czechoslovakia
  • Sweden 17-1 Poland

• February 17
  • Norway 2-4 Sweden
  • Czechoslovakia 6-1 Germany
  • Canada 13-3 Finland
  • Switzerland 6-3 Poland

• February 18
  • USA 8-2 Finland
  • Sweden 7-3 Germany
  • Canada 11-0 Poland
  • Norway 2-7 Switzerland

• February 19
  • USA 8-2 Switzerland
  • Canada 4-1 Czechoslovakia

• February 20
  • Norway 2-5 Finland
  • Poland 4-4 Germany

• February 21
  • Sweden 4-2 USA
  • Norway 2-6 Germany
  • Canada 11-2 Switzerland
  • Czechoslovakia 11-2 Finland

• February 22
  • USA 5-3 Poland
  • Finland 5-1 Germany
  • Canada 3-2 Sweden
  • Czechoslovakia 8-3 Switzerland

• February 23
  • USA 6-3 Czechoslovakia
  • Poland 4-2 Finland
  • Norway 2-11 Canada
  • Sweden 5-2 Switzerland

• February 24
  • Czechoslovakia 4-0 Sweden
  • Canada 3-3 USA
  • Norway 3-4 Poland
  • Switzerland 6-3 Germany

PLAYOFF

• February 25 *
  • Sweden 5-3 Czechoslovakia

* Sweden and Czechoslovakia were tied with identical record and goal differentials, so a tie breaker game was played.

Final round

Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Canada	8	7	0	1	71	14	15
United States	8	6	1	1	43	21	13
Sweden	8	6	2	0	48	19	12
Czechoslovakia	8	6	2	0	47	18	12
Switzerland	8	4	4	0	40	40	8
Poland	8	2	5	1	21	56	5
Finland	8	2	6	0	21	60	4
Germany	8	1	6	1	21	53	3
Norway	8	0	8	0	15	46	0

World Championships Group B (Belgium)

Played in Liege 15–22 March 1952. British manager Johnny Murray won with a roster composed entirely with English players, no Scots, no Canadians.

Date	Matches B World Championships 1952	Result	Period.
15 March	France - Netherlands	7 - 3	1-0,3-1,3-2
16 March	Belgium - Italy	1 - 3	1-0,0-0,0-3
16 March	Austria - Netherlands	5 - 5	1-2,4-1,0-2
17 March	Belgium - Great Britain	5 - 1	4-1,0-0,1-0
17 March	Austria - Italy	5 - 1	1-1,0-0,4-0
18 March	Great Britain - Netherlands	8 - 1	3-0,3-0,2-1
18 March	Belgium - France	3 - 3	0-2,2-0,1-1
19 March	Italy - Netherlands	5 - 3	1-2,1-0,3-1
20 March	Great Britain - France	10 - 0	4-0,5-0,1-0
20 March	Belgium - Austria	7 - 10	2-2,2-6,3-2
21 March	Italy - France	14 - 5	4-1,5-1,5-3
21 March	Great Britain - Austria	2 - 1	0-0,2-1,0-0
22 March	Austria - France	11 - 4	3-0,0-4,8-0
22 March	Great Britain - Italy	7 - 3	2-1,1-1,3-1
22 March	Belgium - Netherlands	1 - 7	1-3,0-3,0-1

Table

Place	Team	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Difference	Points
10	Great Britain	5	4	0	1	28 - 10	8
11	Austria	5	3	1	1	32 - 19	7
12	Italy	5	3	0	2	26 - 21	6
13	Netherlands	5	1	1	3	19 - 26	3
14	Belgium	5	1	1	3	17 - 24	3
15	France	5	1	1	3	19 - 41	3

Top scorers

Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Billy Gibson	8	12	7	19

European Championship medal table

	Sweden
	Czechoslovakia
	Switzerland
4	Poland
5	Finland
6	West Germany
7	Norway

Team Photos

• 

  Canada

• 

  Finland

Team rosters

For rosters of the top three teams, see the "Medalists" section.

Place	Team	Player
4	Czechoslovakia	Goaltenders: Jan Richter, Josef Záhorský. Defensemen: Karel Gut, Václav Bubník, Miloslav Ošmera, Miroslav Nový, Jan Lidral, Zdeněk Pýcha. Forwards: Vlastimil Bubník, Bronislav Danda, Miloslav Charouzd, Miroslav Rejman, Slavomír Bartoň, Jiří Sekyra, Vlastimil Hajšman, Oldřich Sedlák, Miloslav Blažek. Coaches: Jiří Tožička, Josef Herman.
5	Switzerland	Goaltenders: Hans Bänninger, Paul Wyss. Defensemen: Emil Handschin, Paul Hofer, Emil Golaz, Reto Delnon. Forwards: Francois Blank, Otto Schläpfer, Gebhard Poltera, Ulrich Poltera, Hans-Martin Trepp, Bixio Celio, Walter Dürst, Gian Bazzi, Otto Schubiger, Willy Pfister, Alfred Steun. Coach: Richard Torriani.
6	Poland	Goaltenders: Stanisław Szlendak, Jan Hampel. Defensemen: Henryk Bronowicz, Kazimierz Chodakowski, Michał Antuszewicz, Alfred Gansiniec, Roman Peczak. Forwards: Stefan Csorich, Rudolf Czech, Marian Jeżak, Eugeniusz Lewacki, Hilary Skarżyński, Tadeusz Świcarz, Zdiszław Trojanowski, Adolf Wróbel, Antoni Wróbel. Coach: Mieczyslaw Kasprzycki.
7	Finland	Goaltenders: Unto Viitala, Pekka Myllylä. Defensemen: Pentti Isotalo, Ossi Kauppi, Eero Saari, Jukka Vuolio. Forwards: Christian Rapp, Yrjö Hakala, Aarne Honkavaara, Erkki Hytönen, Matti Karumaa, Keijo Kuusela, Kauko Mäkinen, Esko Rehoma, Matti Rintakoski, Eero Salisma, Lauri Silvan. Coach: Risto Lindroos.
8	Germany	Goaltenders: Alfred Hoffmann, Heinz Wackers. Defensemen: Karl Bierschel, Engelbert Holderied, Ludwig Kuhn, Herbert Schibukat, Karl Wild. Forwards: Markus Egen, Karl Enzler, Georg Guggemos, Dieter Niess, Walter Kremershof, Fritz Poitsch, Xaver Unsinn, Hans-Georg Pescher. Coach: Joe Aitken.
9	Norway	Goaltenders: Per Dahl, Arthur Kristiansen. Defensemen: Arne Bergh, Gunnar Kroge, Johnny Larntvedt, Roar Pedersen, Per Voigt. Forwards: Jan Erik Adolfsen, Egil Bjerklund, Bjørn Gulbrandsen, Bjørn Oscar Gulbrandsen, Finn Gundersen, Annar Petersen, Ragnar Rygel, Leif Solheim, Øivind Solheim, Roy Strandem. Coach: Bud McEachern.

References

• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports, 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9. 
• Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press, 107. 
• Jeux Olympiques d'Oslo 1952

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