Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the 13th Olympic Championship. The Soviet Union won its fifth gold medal. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.[1]

Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host country Austria
Dates2–14 February
Teams12
Final positions
Champions  Soviet Union (5th title)
Runner-up  Czechoslovakia
Third place  West Germany
Fourth place Finland
Tournament statistics
Matches played36
Goals scored323 (8.97 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Vladimir Shadrin (14 points)
← 1972
1980 →

Highlights

The main rivalry in the tournament was between the USSR and Czechoslovak national teams. The Czechoslovak 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 Czechoslovak team, although Poland did not receive points.

In the deciding game, 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 Czechoslovak team. But subsequent goals by Aleksandr Yakushev and one minute later by Valeri Kharlamov led to the victory of the USSR, 4–3. The Soviet team won their fourth consecutive gold medal and fifth title overall.

Heralded as one of the great moments in German ice hockey, the West German team won a surprising bronze. After beating the Americans on the final day the German team celebrated what they believed to be a fourth place finish. While in the locker room they were informed that they had actually come third.[2][3][4] The three way tie was broken by first comparing the teams head-to-head goal differential, then the remaining tied teams' goal ratio.

Sweden, having several of their top players now playing in the NHL and WHA, chose to join Canada in protesting the amateur rules and boycotted the games. They were also dissatisfied with the fact that the Soviet and Czechoslovak state-funded players who were de facto professionals were allowed to participate, meaning that Eastern Bloc countries did have an ability to send their best players, but the Western nations did not.[5][6][7]

Medalists
Main article: Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics – Rosters
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
Pavol Svitana		  West Germany
Lorenz Funk
Ernst Köpf
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 Weishaupt

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.[8] Qualifiers from East Germany and Norway chose not to play.[9] 1975 ranking appears in parentheses.

  • February 2
    • Poland (5th) 7–4 Romania (11th)
    • Czechoslovakia (2nd) 14–1 Bulgaria (16th)
    • West Germany (8th) 5–1 Switzerland (9th)
  • February 3
    • USSR (1st) 16–3 Austria (17th)
    • Finland (4th) 11–2 Japan (12th)
    • USA (6th) 8–4 Yugoslavia (10th)

Final round

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
  • February 6
    • Czechoslovakia 2–1 Finland
    • West Germany 7–4 Poland
    • USSR 6–2 USA
  • February 8
    • Finland 5–3 West Germany
    • USSR 16–1 Poland
    • Czechoslovakia 5–0 USA
  • February 10
    • USSR 7–3 West Germany
    • Poland 1–0* Czechoslovakia
    • USA 5–4 Finland
  • February 12
    • Czechoslovakia 7–4 West Germany
    • USA 7–2 Poland
    • USSR 7–2 Finland
  • February 14
    • USSR 4–3 Czechoslovakia
    • Finland 7–1 Poland
    • West Germany 4–1 USA

* Note: The score after the Czechoslovakia vs Poland match was 7–1, but due to the positive doping test of one of the Czechoslovak players, the team was recorded a 0–1 loss. Poland didn't receive any points.

Consolation round

Teams that 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
  • February 5
    • Yugoslavia 6–4 Switzerland
    • Romania 3–1 Japan
    • Austria 6–2 Bulgaria
  • February 7
    • Yugoslavia 4–3 Romania
    • Switzerland 8–3 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–2 Japan
  • February 9
    • Yugoslavia 8–5 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–4 Romania
    • Japan 6–4 Switzerland
  • February 11
    • Romania 9–4 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–5 Switzerland
    • Japan 4–3 Yugoslavia
  • February 13
    • Romania 4–3 Switzerland
    • Japan 7–5 Bulgaria
    • Austria 3–1 Yugoslavia

Statistics

Average age

Team Bulgaria was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 27 years and 9 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 22 years and 4 months. Gold medalists team USSR averaged 26 years and 4 months. Tournament average was 25 years and 7 months.[10]

Leading scorers
Rk GP G A Pts
1 Vladimir Shadrin 610414
T2 Alexander Maltsev 67714
T2 Viktor Shalimov 67714
4 Alexander Yakushev 64913
5 Erich Kühnhackl 66511
6 Vladimir Petrov 6639
T7 Lorenz Funk 6459
T7 Ernst Köpf 6459
9 Valeri Kharlamov 5369
10 Bob Dobek 6358

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
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References
  1. "Ice Hockey at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. Jeux Olympiques d'Innsbruck
  5. http://webarchive.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-17/
  6. http://nitzyshockeyden.blogspot.com/2009/12/canadas-hockey-boycott.html?m=1
  7. "Salming-less Sweden skips
  8. "Salming-less Sweden skips
  9. The Qualification Match-ups
  10. https://www.quanthockey.com/olympics/en/teams/team-finland-players-1976-olympics-stats.html
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