Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics


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, and first bronze medal.

Medalists

Participating nations

Qualification

Top two teams from each group earned a right to play for 1st-6th places.

Group A

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

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World Championship Group B (East Germany)

Final Round

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Statistics

Average age

Gold medalists team USSR was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 29 years and 11 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 22 years and 5 months. Tournament average was 26 years and 7 months.

Leading scorers

Tournament awards

  10. European Championship final ranking

  18. Citations