View source for 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament

The '''men's tournament in ice hockey at the [[2006 Winter Olympics]]''' was held in [[Turin]], [[Italy]], from 15 to 26 February. Twelve teams competed, with [[Sweden men's national ice hockey team|Sweden]] winning the gold medal, [[Finland men's national ice hockey team|Finland]] winning silver, and the [[Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team|Czech Republic]] winning bronze. It was the third Olympic tournament to feature [[National Hockey League]] players and the tenth best-on-best hockey tournament in history. Chris Chelios set a standard for longest time between his first Olympic ice hockey tournament and his last—he had competed twenty-two years earlier at the [[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Olympics]].<ref>{{cite book |title= IIHF Top 100 Hockey Stories of All Time |first1= Szymon |last1= Szemberg |first2= Andrew |last2= Podnieks |page= 120 |publisher= Fenn Publishing |location= Bolton, Ontario, Canada |year= 2008 |isbn= 978-1-55168-358-4 }}</ref> The old record was set by Swiss hockey player Bibi Torriani who had played twenty years after his debut (1928 and 1948).

The format was changed from the [[1998 Winter Olympics|1998]] and [[2002 Winter Olympics|2002]] tournaments, to a format similar to the [[1992 Winter Olympics|1992]] and [[1994 Winter Olympics|1994]] tournaments. The number of teams was reduced from 14 to 12. The 12 teams were split into two groups in the preliminary stage, which followed a round-robin format. Each team played the other teams in their group once. The top four teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

The tournament is also notable for the lacklustre performance of the defending champion Canada, which lost two group stage games (including a shock defeat to Switzerland) before being eliminated by Russia in the quarter-finals. As of 2016, this is the only Olympic ice hockey tournament of the 21st century (men's or women's) to not be won by the Canadian team.

== Final rankings ==

The full final rankings for the tournament were:
# {{ih|SWE}}
# {{ih|FIN}}
# {{ih|CZE}}
# {{ih|RUS}}
# {{ih|SVK}}
# {{ih|SUI}}
# {{ih|CAN}}
# {{ih|USA}}
# {{ih|KAZ}}
# {{ih|GER}}
# {{ih|ITA}}
# {{ih|LAT}}

In a celebration of the gold in Stockholm on 27 February, the Swedish team was seen in front of advertisements for sponsors of the [[Swedish Ice Hockey Federation]], not the ones of the Swedish Olympic Committee. This could have led to Sweden's disqualification, but the Finnish opponents in the final game chose not to report the incident to the IOC.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/sport/story/0,2789,786790,00.html |title= Miljonkrav från SOK efter festen |language= Swedish |date= 3 March 2006 |work= Sportbladet |first= David |last= Tanentsapf }}</ref>

==Qualification==
Twelve places were allotted for the men's ice hockey tournament.  The first eight were awarded to the top eight teams in the [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] ranking following the [[2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships]].  Those teams were:
# {{ih|Canada}}
# {{ih|Sweden}}
# {{ih|Slovakia}}
# {{ih|Czech Republic}}
# {{ih|Finland}}
# {{ih|United States}}
# {{ih|Russia}}
# {{ih|Germany}}

The teams that automatically qualified include the same "Super Six" teams that were automatically qualified for the final group stage in the two previous tournaments, plus Slovakia and Germany which (IIHF rankings notwithstanding) are often regarded as the seventh and eighth best teams.  The ninth place was given to the host nation, Italy.  The final three places were allotted through qualification tournaments in which Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Switzerland won places.

===Qualification tournaments===
The winners of Groups D, E and F advanced to Groups C, B, and A respectively. The winners of Groups A, B, and C qualified for the Olympics. 

'''Group D''' ([[Briançon]], [[France]], 11–14 November 2004)
*{{ih|France}}-x (3–0)
*{{ih|Romania}} (2–1)
*{{ih|Estonia}} (1–2)
*{{ih|Bulgaria}} (0–3)

'''Group E''' ([[Nowy Targ]], [[Poland]], 11–14 November 2004)
*{{ih|Poland}}-x (3–0)
*{{ih|Netherlands}} (2–1)
*{{ih|Lithuania}} (1–2)
*{{ih|Croatia}} (0–3)

'''Group F''' ([[Stavanger]], [[Norway]], 11–14 November 2004)
*{{ih|Norway}}-x (2–0–1)
*{{ih|Hungary}} (2–0–1)
*{{ih|China}} (1–2)
*{{ih|Serbia and Montenegro}} (0–3)

'''Group A''' ([[Kloten]], [[Switzerland]], 10–13 February 2005)
*{{ih|Switzerland}}-x (3–0)
*{{ih|Norway}} (2–1)
*{{ih|Denmark}} (1–2)
*{{ih|Japan}} (0–3)

'''Group B''' ([[Riga]], [[Latvia]], 10–13 February 2005)
*{{ih|Latvia}}-x (3–0)
*{{ih|Belarus}} (2–1)
*{{ih|Slovenia}} (1–2)
*{{ih|Poland}} (0–3)

'''Group C''' ([[Klagenfurt]], [[Austria]], 10–13 February 2005)
*{{ih|Kazakhstan}}-x (2–1)
*{{ih|Austria}} (1–1-1)
*{{ih|France}} (1–1-1)
*{{ih|Ukraine}} (1–2)

==First round==
Twelve participating teams were placed in two groups. After playing a round-robin, the top four teams in each group advanced to the Medal Round while the last two teams competed in the Consolation Round for the 9th to 12th places.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| style="background: #ccffcc;" | &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
|Team advanced to the [[#Final round|Final Round]]
|-
| style="background: #ffcccc;" | &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
|Team sent to compete in the [[#Consolation Round (9th to 12th places)|Consolation Round]]
|}

===Group A===
;Table
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=165|Team
!width=40|GP
!width=40|W
!width=40|L
!width=40|T
!width=40|GF
!width=40|GA
!width=40|PTS
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Finland]]
| 5 || 5 || 0 || 0 || 19 || 2 || 10
|-style="background:#ccffcc" 
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Switzerland]]
| 5 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 10 || 12 || 6
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Canada]]
| 5 || 3 || 2 || 0 || 15 || 9 || 6
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Czech Republic]]
| 5 || 2 || 3 || 0 || 14 || 12 || 4
|-style="background:pink"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Germany]]
| 5 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 7 || 16 || 2
|-style="background:pink"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Italy]]
| 5 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 9 || 23 || 2
|-
|}
;Results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Team
! {{ih|FIN|name=FIN}}
! {{ih|SUI|name=SUI}}
! {{ih|CAN|name=CAN}}
! {{ih|CZE|name=CZE}}
! {{ih|GER|name=GER}}
! {{ih|ITA|name=ITA}}
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|FIN|name=FIN}} ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; ||5–0 ||2–0 || 4–2 ||2–0 ||6–0
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|SUI|name=SUI}} ||0–5 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; || 2–0 ||3–2 ||2–2 || 3–3
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|CAN|name=CAN}} ||0–2 ||0–2 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; ||3–2 ||5–1 ||7–2
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|CZE|name=CZE}} ||2–4 ||2–3 ||2–3 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; || 4–1 || 4–1
|-style="background:pink"
| {{ih|GER|name=GER}} ||0–2 ||2–2 ||1–5 ||1–4 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; || 3–3 
|-style="background:pink"
| {{ih|ITA|name=ITA}} ||0–6 ||3–3 ||2–7 ||1–4 ||3–3 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp;
|-
|}

===Group B===
;Table
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=165|Team
!width=40|GP
!width=40|W
!width=40|L
!width=40|T
!width=40|GF
!width=40|GA
!width=40|PTS
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Slovakia]]
| 5 || 5 || 0 || 0 || 18 || 8 || 10
|-style="background:#ccffcc" 
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Russia]]
| 5 || 4 || 1 || 0 || 23 || 11 || 8
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Sweden]]
| 5 || 3 || 2 || 0 || 15 || 12 || 6
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[United States]]
| 5 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 13 || 13 || 3
|-style="background:pink"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Kazakhstan]]
| 5 || 1 || 4 || 0 || 9 || 16 || 2
|-style="background:pink"
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Latvia]]
| 5 || 0 || 4 || 1 || 11 || 29 || 1
|-
|}
;Results
{| class="wikitable"
! Team
! {{ih|SVK|name=SVK}}
! {{ih|RUS|name=RUS}}
! {{ih|SWE|name=SWE}}
! {{ih|USA|name=USA}}
! {{ih|KAZ|name=KAZ}}
! {{ih|LAT|name=LAT}}
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|SVK|name=SVK}} ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; ||5–3 ||3–0 ||2–1 ||2–1 ||6–3
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|RUS|name=RUS}} ||3–5 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; || 5–0 ||5–4  ||1–0  ||9–2
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|SWE|name=SWE}} ||0–3 ||0–5 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; ||2–1  ||7–2  ||6–1
|-style="background:#ccffcc"
| {{ih|USA|name=USA}} ||1–2 ||4–5 ||1–2 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; ||4–1 ||3–3
|-style="background:pink"
| {{ih|KAZ|name=KAZ}} ||1–2 ||0–1 ||2–7 ||1–4 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp; || 5–2 
|-style="background:pink"
| {{ih|LAT|name=LAT}} ||3–6 ||2–9 ||1–6 ||3–3 ||2–5 ||bgcolor="#ffffff"| &nbsp;
|-
|}

==Final round==
{{Quarter-2-groups
 |quarter-date = 22 February 2006
 |semi-date = 24 February 2006
 |final-date = 26 February 2006

 |flags-a = {{flagicon|Canada}} {{flagicon|Czech Republic}} {{flagicon|Finland}} {{flagicon|Germany}} {{flagicon|Italy}} {{flagicon|Switzerland}}
 |flags-b = {{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} {{flagicon|Latvia}} {{flagicon|Russia}} {{flagicon|Slovakia}} {{flagicon|Sweden}} {{flagicon|United States}}

 |team-1 = {{ih|CZE}}
 |score-1 = 3
 |team-2 = {{ih|SVK}}
 |score-2 = 1
 |team-3 = {{ih|SWE}}
 |score-3 = 6
 |team-4 = {{ih|SUI}}
 |score-4 = 2
 |team-5 = {{ih|CAN}}
 |score-5 = 0
 |team-6 = {{ih|RUS}}
 |score-6 = 2
 |team-7 = {{ih|USA}}
 |score-7 = 3
 |team-8 = {{ih|FIN}}
 |score-8 = 4

 |sa-team-top = {{ih|CZE}}
 |sa-score-top = 3
 |sa-team-bot = {{ih|SWE}}
 |sa-score-bot = 7
 |sb-team-top = {{ih|RUS}}
 |sb-score-top = 0
 |sb-team-bot = {{ih|FIN}}
 |sb-score-bot = 4

 |f-team-top = {{ih|SWE}}
 |f-score-top = 3
 |f-team-bot = {{ih|FIN}}
 |f-score-bot = 2

 |bronze-team-top = {{ih|CZE}}
 |bronze-score-top = 3
 |bronze-team-bot = {{ih|RUS}}
 |bronze-score-bot = 0
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url= http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Winter/Turin-2006/ |title= Turin 2006 |publisher= International Olympic Committee }}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/All-Sports/Ice-Hockey/All-Ice-hockey-events/ice-hockey-Men/ |title= Men's ice hockey |publisher= International Olympic Committee }}

{{Olympic Games}}
{{Wikipedia}}
[[Category:Ice hockey at the Olympic Games]]
[[Category:2006 in ice hockey]]