1956 Winter Olympics

1956 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host nation	Italy
Dates	26 January–4 February
Teams	10
Champions	Soviet Union (1 title)
Tournament statistics
Games played	33
Goals scored	262  (7.94 per game)
Attendance	122,230  (3,704 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	James Logan 15 points

Trophy awarded for the 1956 World Championships

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the 8th 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 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 the west won. The east 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, though this was its first ever bronze medal.

Medalists

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Soviet Union Nikolai 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	USA Willard 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	Canada Denis 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

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

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	30	1	6
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	6	3
3	Italy	3	0	1	2	5	7	2
4	Austria	3	0	2	1	2	32	1

• 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

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	2	2	0	0	12	6	4
2	United States	2	1	1	0	7	4	2
3	Poland	2	0	2	0	3	12	0

• January 27
  • Czechoslovakia 4-3 USA

• January 28
  • USA 4-0 Poland

• January 29
  • Czechoslovakia 8-3 Poland

Group C

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	2	2	0	0	15	4	4
2	Sweden	2	1	1	0	7	10	2
3	Switzerland	2	0	2	0	8	16	0

• January 27
  • USSR 5-1 Sweden

• January 28
  • Sweden 6-5 Switzerland

• January 29
  • USSR 10-3 Switzerland

Final round

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

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	5	5	0	0	25	5	10
2	United States	5	4	1	0	26	12	8
3	Canada	5	3	2	0	23	11	6
4	Sweden	5	1	3	1	10	17	3
5	Czechoslovakia	5	1	4	0	20	30	2
6	Germany	5	0	4	1	6	35	1

• 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

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Consolation round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
7	Italy	3	3	0	0	21	7	6
8	Poland	3	2	1	0	12	10	4
9	Switzerland	3	1	2	0	12	18	2
10	Austria	3	0	3	0	9	19	0

• 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

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World Championship Group B (East Germany)

Final Round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
11	East Germany	2	2	0	0	18	8	4
12	Norway	2	1	1	0	8	9	2
13	Belgium	2	0	2	0	12	21	0

• March 8
  • East Germany 4-1 Norway

• March 9
  • East Germany 14-7 Belgium

• March 10
  • Norway 7-5 Belgium

---

Leading scorers

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

1. Soviet Union
2. United States
3. Canada
4. Sweden
5. Czechoslovakia
6. Germany
7. Italy
8. Poland
9. Switzerland
10. Austria

European Championship final ranking

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

Team rosters

Place	Team	Player
4	Sweden	Lars Svensson, Yngve Casslind, Bertz Zetterberg, Lars Björn, Åke Lassas, Vilgot Larsson, Ove Malmberg, Holger Nurmela, Sven Johansson, Sigurd Bröms, Hans Öberg, Ronald Pettersson, Nils Nilsson, Lars-Eric Lundvall, Stig Andersson-Tvilling, Hans Andersson-Tvilling, Stig Carlsson
5	Czechoslovakia	Jan Vodička, Ján Jendek, Karel Gut, Jan Kasper, Václav Bubník, Jaromír Bünter, Slavomír Bartoň, Vlastimil Bubník, Bronislav Danda, Zdeněk Návrat, František Vaněk, Bohumil Prošek, Miroslav Klůc, Stanislav Bacílek, Vladimír Zábrodský, Otto Cimrman, Václav Pantůček
6	Germany	Ulli Jansen, Alfred Hoffmann, Anton Biersack, Bruno Guttowski, Martin Beck, Paul Ambros, Karl Bierschel, Kurt Sepp, Markus Egen, Ernst Trautwein, Hans Huber, Rudolf Pittrich, Arthur Endress, Reiner Kossmann, Hans Rampf, Martin Zach, Günther Jochems
7	Italy	Vittorio Bolla, Giuliano Ferraris, Carmine Tucci, Carlo Montemurro, Aldo Federici, Mario Bedogni, Bernardo Tomei, Giovanni Furlani, Giampiero Branduardi, Aldo Maniacco, Ernesto Crotti, Giancarlo Agazzi, Gianfranco Darin, Reno Alberton, Giulio Oberhammer, Francesco Macchietto
8	Poland	Władysław Pabisz, Edward Kocząb, Janusz Zawadzki, Kazimierz Chodakowski, Stanisław Olczyk, Mieczysław Chmura, Henryk Bromowicz, Józef Kurek, Zdzisław Nowak, Szymon Janiczko, Adolf Wróbel, Kazimierz Bryniarski, Marian Herda, Hilary Skarżyński, Bronisław Gosztyła, Rudolf Czech, Alfred Wróbel
9	Switzerland	Christian Conrad, Martin Riesen, Kurt Peter, Georg Riesch, Émile Golaz, Rudolf Keller, Sepp Weingärtner, Paul Hofer, Hans Ott, Franz Berry, Hans Pappa, Fritz Naef, Emil Handschin, Bernhard Bagnoud, Walter Keller, Rätus Frei, Otto Schläpfer
10	Austria	Alfred Püls, Robert Nusser, Franz Potucek, Hermann Knoll, Hans Mössmer, Hans Scarsini, Hans Zollner, Fritz Spielmann, Wilhelm Schmid, Walter Znenahlik, Gerhard Springer, Adolf Hafner, Hans Wagner, Max Singewald, Kurt Kurz, Konrad Staudinger, Wolfgang Jöchl

Team Photos

• 

  Gold Soviet Union

• 

  Silver United States

• 

  Bronze Canada

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, 25–6, 30, 107–8. 
• Jeux Olympiques d'Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956

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