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

The men's ice hockey tournament (women's was added in 1998) at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the 13th Olympic Championship. The Soviet Union won its fifth gold medal. This was the second consecutive Olympics to which Canada, a ten time ice hockey medalist, did not send a hockey team. 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 hockey, the West German team won a surprising bronze. With Sweden not participating, Finland (who had finished fourth six years in a row in the world championships) was the expected beneficiary. On the third day of competition, the Finns lost to the Americans, who then needed only a draw against the Germans to clinch a medal. Needing a margin of victory of at least three goals in their final game, Erich Kühnhackl scored four points against the Americans in a four to one victory, pushing the Americans into fifth.

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, Sr.
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 Weißhaupt

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.

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

* Note: The score after the Czechoslovakia vs Poland match was 7-1, but due to the positive doping test of one of the Czechoslovakian 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

Leading scorers

Rk GP G A Pts
1 Soviet Union Vladimir Shadrin 6 10 4 14
T2 Soviet Union Alexander Maltsev 6 7 7 14
T2 Soviet Union Viktor Shalimov 6 7 7 14
4 Soviet Union Alexander Yakushev 6 4 9 13
5 Germany Erich Kühnhackl 6 6 5 11
6 Soviet Union Vladimir Petrov 6 6 3 9
T7 Germany Lorenz Funk 6 4 5 9
T7 Germany Ernst Köpf 6 4 5 9
9 Soviet Union Valeri Kharlamov 5 3 6 9
10 United States Bob Dobek 6 3 5 8

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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