Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics

Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host country   Switzerland
Dates 30 January–8 February
Teams 9
Venue(s) St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink, Suvretta, Kulm (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions   Canada (5th title)
Runner-up   Czechoslovakia
Third place    Switzerland
Fourth place  Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played 36
Goals scored 482 (13.39 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Canada Walter Halder
(29 points)

The men's ice hockey tournament (women's was added in 1998) at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, was the 6th Olympic Championship, also serving as the 15th World Championships and the 26th European Championships. Canada, represented by the Ottawa RCAF Flyers team of Canadian Armed Forces personnel, won its fifth Olympic gold medal and 12th World Championship. Highest finishing European team Czechoslovakia won the silver medal and its eighth European Championship.

Rival United States teams

The tournament was marred by controversy before the Games began. The United States sent two hockey teams to compete in St. Moritz, which nearly caused the cancellation of the entire tournament.[1][2] At the center of the issue was amateurism.[3] One team was sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). The USOC was responsible for determining American participation in the Games.[3] The other team was sponsored by the Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) and the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG). The LIHG, under the guidance of founder Wilhelm "Willie" Bernfeld, was responsible for approving the participation of national hockey teams at the Olympics.[4]

The AHA openly allowed professional players on their teams, and the team sent to St. Moritz was composed of professionals, whereas the AAU team was strictly made up of amateurs.[4] No resolution was reached before the Games and both teams arrived at St. Moritz ready to play. This created a tense showdown between the USOC's president, Avery Brundage, the LIHG, the Swiss organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC was responsible for the overall running of the Games. The IOC initially ruled that neither team could compete. This incensed the LIHG, which threatened to boycott the Olympics, effectively ending the hockey tournament.[4] The Swiss organizing committee, fearing this eventuality, ignored the IOC's ruling and allowed the AHA team to play in the tournament and the AAU team to march in the opening ceremony.

Eventually the parties agreed to allow the AHA team to play but they would receive no official ranking in the Olympic tournament, and they would not be eligible to win a medal.[4] Because this tournament was also the LIHG (forerunner of the IIHF) World Championship, they maintained a fourth place in that ranking.[5]

Final tournament

The tournament was run in a round-robin format with nine teams participating. The Canadians had seven wins and one tie against the team from Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia also won seven games. The tournament was decided on goal average. Canada outscored their opponents 69:5 (a 13.8 goal average). The Czechoslovakia team outscored their opponents 80:18 (a 4.44 goal average). On the final day the Swiss watched the Czechoslovaks beat the Americans dashing their gold medal aspirations, and then lost their opportunity for silver in a loss to Canada, finishing with a bronze.[6]

Medal Team
Gold  Canada
Silver  Czechoslovakia
Bronze   Switzerland
Pld W L T GF GA Pts
 Canada 870169515
 Czechoslovakia 8701801815
  Switzerland 8620672112
 Sweden 844055288
 Great Britain 835039476
 Poland 826029974
 Austria 817033772
 Italy 8080241560
 United States * 8530863310

* United States team was disqualified. Only eight teams are officially ranked.

Results

Top scorer

Team GP G A Pts
Canada Walter Halder 821829

Team Members

RCAF Flyers

Country Members
CAN Murray Dowey, Frank Dunster, Andre Laperriere, Louis Lecompte, Jean Gravelle, Patrick Guzzo, Walter Halder, Ted Hibberd, George Mara, Ab Renaud, Reg Schroeter, Irving Taylor; Coach: Frank Boucher

European Championship medal table

 Czechoslovakia
  Switzerland
 Sweden
4  Great Britain
5  Poland
6  Austria
7  Italy

References

  1. ↑ "1948-Winter Olympics V (St. Moritz, Switzerland)". CTV global media. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
  2. ↑ "Storms over St. Moritz". Time Magazine. Time Inc. 1948-02-09. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  3. 1 2 Findling & Pelle (2004), p. 316
  4. 1 2 3 4 Findling & Pelle (2004), p. 317
  5. ↑ Results and commentary in french
  6. ↑ "Rapport General sur les Ves Jeux Olympiques D'Hiver St Moritz 1948" (PDF). la84foundation.org. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
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