For the first time since ice hockey was introduced at the Olympic Games in 1920, Canada did not send a team to the 1972 Olympics after Canadian Minister of Health and WelfareJohn Munro announced the withdrawal of the team from all international competitions in response to the International Ice Hockey Federation opposition to allowing professional players at international competitions.[2] Canadian officials were frustrated that their best players, competing in the National Hockey League, were prevented from playing while Soviet players, who were "employees" of the industrial or military organizations that fielded "amateur" teams, were allowed to compete.[3] At that point, the Canadian men's ice hockey team was the most successful team in the world, having won six of the eleven tournaments previously competed, with medals in ten of the eleven tournaments (and a controversial post-tournament rule change denying them a perfect eleven medals). Canada would not compete internationally in hockey until 1977, when the IIHF adopted eligibility rules that allowed for professional players to compete.[2] Instead of competing internationally at the Olympics, Canadian officials helped organize a series of games against the Soviet Union in 1972 known as the Summit Series.
Team USAedit
While the 1980 team had the celebrated "Miracle on Ice" and the 1960 US team had the "Forgotten Miracle", the 1972 team could be called the "completely overlooked miracle." The U.S. team was expected to finish 5th behind the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Finland. The Soviet and Czech teams were especially powerful as there was no distinction between amateurs and pros in communist countries; these teams were made up of seasoned professionals and were ranked 1 & 2 in the world. Valeri Kharlamov of the Soviet Union was considered one of the world's best players and experts agree he would have been a star in the NHL. The same can be said for Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. In fact, this was basically the same Soviet Team that played a Canadian team composed of NHL All Stars in the 1972 Summit Series that Canada narrowly won, 4–3–1.[citation needed]
After qualifying for Group A by beating Switzerland 5–3, the U.S. lost as expected to Sweden, 5–1. Then they pulled off the upset of the tournament when they beat Czechoslovakia, 5–1. This surprising result was nearly as astonishing as the wins over the Soviets in 1960 and 1980. After losing as expected to the Soviet Union, the young Americans upset Finland. In the final games of the competition, the U.S. beat Poland while Finland beat Sweden and the Soviets beat the Czechs (in the game that decided the gold medal); those results boosted the U.S. from 4th to 2nd for an unexpected silver medal.[citation needed]
Fourteen nations qualified, but East Germany, Romania and France all chose not to travel for primarily financial reasons. The remaining eleven nations were seeded according to their placement in the 1971 World Championships with first place (USSR) and the five winners to play in Group A to for 1st–6th places. The five losers played in Group B for 7th–11th places. 1971 ranking appears in parentheses.
3 February
Japan (11th) 2–8 Czechoslovakia (2nd)
Sweden (3rd) 8–1 Yugoslavia (12th)
4 February
USA (6th) 5–3 Switzerland (7th)
Poland (8th) 4–0 West Germany (5th)
Finland (4th) 13–1 Norway (10th)
Final roundedit
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
Gold medalists team USSR was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 26 years and 4 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 23 years and 3 months. Tournament average was 25 years and 3 months.[4]
^. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
^ abc"1972 Winter Olympic Games". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
^. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
^"Team Finland - Olympics - Sapporo 1972 - Player Stats". QuantHockey. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
External linksedit
Jeux Olympiques 1972
March 06, 2024
hockey, 1972, winter, olympics, hockey, tournament, 1972, winter, olympics, sapporo, japan, 12th, olympic, championship, games, were, held, makomanai, arena, tsukisamu, indoor, skating, rink, soviet, union, fourth, gold, medal, united, states, silver, while, c. The men s ice hockey tournament at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo Japan was the 12th Olympic Championship Games were held at the Makomanai Ice Arena and at the Tsukisamu Indoor Skating Rink 1 The Soviet Union won its fourth gold medal The United States won the silver while Czechoslovakia won the bronze Canada did not send a team to the event for the first time since ice hockey was first competed at the Olympics in 1920 instead competing with and defeating the Soviets in a competition later that year known as the Summit Series 2 Canada would not send a men s hockey team to the Olympics until 1980 Ice hockey at the 1972 Winter OlympicsTournament detailsHost country JapanDates3 13 February 1972Teams11Final positionsChampions Soviet Union 4th title Runner up United StatesThird place CzechoslovakiaFourth place SwedenTournament statisticsGames played30Goals scored235 7 83 per game Scoring leader s Valeri Kharlamov 16 points 19681976 Contents 1 Teams 1 1 Team Canada 1 2 Team USA 2 Medalists 3 First round 4 Final round 5 Consolation Round 6 Statistics 6 1 Average age 6 2 Leading scorers 7 Final ranking 8 References 9 External linksTeams editMain article Ice hockey at the 1972 Winter Olympics Rosters Team Canada edit For the first time since ice hockey was introduced at the Olympic Games in 1920 Canada did not send a team to the 1972 Olympics after Canadian Minister of Health and Welfare John Munro announced the withdrawal of the team from all international competitions in response to the International Ice Hockey Federation opposition to allowing professional players at international competitions 2 Canadian officials were frustrated that their best players competing in the National Hockey League were prevented from playing while Soviet players who were employees of the industrial or military organizations that fielded amateur teams were allowed to compete 3 At that point the Canadian men s ice hockey team was the most successful team in the world having won six of the eleven tournaments previously competed with medals in ten of the eleven tournaments and a controversial post tournament rule change denying them a perfect eleven medals Canada would not compete internationally in hockey until 1977 when the IIHF adopted eligibility rules that allowed for professional players to compete 2 Instead of competing internationally at the Olympics Canadian officials helped organize a series of games against the Soviet Union in 1972 known as the Summit Series Team USA edit While the 1980 team had the celebrated Miracle on Ice and the 1960 US team had the Forgotten Miracle the 1972 team could be called the completely overlooked miracle The U S team was expected to finish 5th behind the Soviet Union Czechoslovakia Sweden and Finland The Soviet and Czech teams were especially powerful as there was no distinction between amateurs and pros in communist countries these teams were made up of seasoned professionals and were ranked 1 amp 2 in the world Valeri Kharlamov of the Soviet Union was considered one of the world s best players and experts agree he would have been a star in the NHL The same can be said for Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak In fact this was basically the same Soviet Team that played a Canadian team composed of NHL All Stars in the 1972 Summit Series that Canada narrowly won 4 3 1 citation needed After qualifying for Group A by beating Switzerland 5 3 the U S lost as expected to Sweden 5 1 Then they pulled off the upset of the tournament when they beat Czechoslovakia 5 1 This surprising result was nearly as astonishing as the wins over the Soviets in 1960 and 1980 After losing as expected to the Soviet Union the young Americans upset Finland In the final games of the competition the U S beat Poland while Finland beat Sweden and the Soviets beat the Czechs in the game that decided the gold medal those results boosted the U S from 4th to 2nd for an unexpected silver medal citation needed Medalists edit nbsp 1972 Olympic gold medalGold Silver Bronze nbsp Soviet Union Vladislav Tretiak Alexander Pashkov Vitaly Davydov Viktor Kuskin Alexander Ragulin Gennadiy Tsygankov Vladimir Lutchenko Valeri Vasiliev Igor Romishevsky Yevgeni Mishakov Alexander Maltsev Alexander Yakushev Vladimir Vikulov Anatoly Firsov Valeri Kharlamov Yury Blinov Boris Mikhailov Vladimir Petrov Vladimir Shadrin Yevgeni Zimin nbsp United States Mike Curran Pete Sears Wally Olds Tom Mellor Frank Sanders Jim McElmury Charles Brown Dick McGlynn Ronald Naslund Robbie Ftorek Stu Irving Kevin Ahearn Henry Boucha Craig Sarner Timothy Sheehy Keith Christiansen Mark Howe Tim ReganBruce McIntosh nbsp Czechoslovakia Vladimir Dzurilla Jiri Holecek Vladimir Bednar Rudolf Tajcnar Oldrich Machac Frantisek Pospisil Josef Horesovsky Karel Vohralik Vaclav Nedomansky Jiri Holik Jaroslav Holik Jiri Kochta Eduard Novak Richard Farda Josef Cerny Vladimir Martinec Ivan Hlinka Bohuslav StastnyFirst round editFourteen nations qualified but East Germany Romania and France all chose not to travel for primarily financial reasons The remaining eleven nations were seeded according to their placement in the 1971 World Championships with first place USSR and the five winners to play in Group A to for 1st 6th places The five losers played in Group B for 7th 11th places 1971 ranking appears in parentheses 3 February Japan 11th 2 8 Czechoslovakia 2nd Sweden 3rd 8 1 Yugoslavia 12th 4 February USA 6th 5 3 Switzerland 7th Poland 8th 4 0 West Germany 5th Finland 4th 13 1 Norway 10th Final round editFirst place team wins gold second silver and third bronze Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts1 nbsp Soviet Union 5 4 0 1 33 13 20 92 nbsp United States 5 3 2 0 18 15 3 63 nbsp Czechoslovakia 5 3 2 0 26 13 13 64 nbsp Sweden 5 2 2 1 17 13 4 55 nbsp Finland 5 2 3 0 14 24 10 46 nbsp Poland 5 0 5 0 9 39 30 0Source citation needed 5 February Sweden 5 1 USA Czechoslovakia 14 1 Poland USSR 9 3 Finland 7 February USSR 3 3 Sweden USA 5 1 Czechoslovakia Finland 5 1 Poland 8 February Czechoslovakia 7 1 Finland 9 February Sweden 5 3 Poland USSR 7 2 USA 10 February USSR 9 3 Poland Czechoslovakia 2 1 Sweden USA 4 1 Finland 12 February USA 6 1 Poland 13 February Finland 4 3 Sweden USSR 5 2 CzechoslovakiaConsolation Round editTeams which lost their games in the qualification round played in this group Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts7 nbsp West Germany 4 3 1 0 22 10 12 68 nbsp Norway 4 3 1 0 16 14 2 69 nbsp Japan 4 2 1 1 17 16 1 510 nbsp Switzerland 4 0 2 2 9 16 7 211 nbsp Yugoslavia 4 0 3 1 9 17 8 1Source citation needed 6 February Norway 5 2 Yugoslavia West Germany 5 0 Switzerland 7 February Japan 3 3 Switzerland West Germany 6 2 Yugoslavia 9 February Japan 3 2 Yugoslavia West Germany 5 1 Norway 10 February Japan 4 5 Norway Switzerland 3 3 Yugoslavia 12 February Japan 7 6 West Germany Norway 5 3 SwitzerlandStatistics editAverage age edit Gold medalists team USSR was the oldest team in the tournament averaging 26 years and 4 months Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament averaging 23 years and 3 months Tournament average was 25 years and 3 months 4 Leading scorers edit Player GP G A Pts nbsp Valeri Kharlamov 5 9 7 16 nbsp Vaclav Nedomansky 6 8 3 11 nbsp Craig Sarner 6 4 6 10 nbsp Kevin Ahearn 6 6 3 9 nbsp Vladimir Vikulov 5 5 3 8 nbsp Aleksandr Maltsev 5 4 3 7 nbsp Jiri Kochta 6 4 3 7 nbsp Anatoli Firsov 5 2 5 7 nbsp Yuri Blinov 5 3 3 6 nbsp Richard Farda 6 1 5 6Final ranking edit nbsp Soviet Union nbsp United States nbsp Czechoslovakia nbsp Sweden nbsp Finland nbsp Poland nbsp West Germany nbsp Norway nbsp Japan nbsp Switzerland nbsp YugoslaviaReferences edit Ice Hockey at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games Sports Reference Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 19 May 2019 a b c 1972 Winter Olympic Games Hockey Canada Retrieved 18 February 2014 Ice Hockey at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games Men s Ice Hockey Sports Reference Archived from the original on 17 October 2013 Retrieved 18 February 2014 Team Finland Olympics Sapporo 1972 Player Stats QuantHockey Retrieved 29 January 2021 External links editJeux Olympiques 1972 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ice hockey at the 1972 Winter Olympics amp oldid 1150196916, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
