Hockey Den: The Premier Hockey Card and Memorabilia Destination
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Once every four years we get to bask in the glory that is Olympic hockey! This year marks the 90th anniversary of hockey as an Olympic sport, and like anything with 90 years under its belt it’s gone through a fair amount of change, had highs and lows, and has had its fair share of oddities wrapped up into its history! Let’s take some time and delve into the history of this particular tournament and journey from its curious beginnings to its decorated present! Too big for one single dose, here’s part one of a double shot of “Who Knew?”: The Olympic Hockey Edition!
(REMINDER: My offer to email copies of the Olympic Hockey TV schedule that I made up is still open! Just drop me a line at
[email protected] and I’ll send you off a copy ASAP!)
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- Ice hockey became an Olympic sport at a Summer Olympics in Antwerp in 1920, four years prior to the debut of the Olympic Winter games.
- The only reason hockey, an optional sport prior to 1920, was included? The owners of the arena would not permit it to be used for figure skating unless a hockey tournament was part of the games.
- The 1920 games conducted the hockey tournament under the "Bergvall System". Under this system, three elimination-style rounds were played, with each round awarding one of the medals. The winner of the first round was awarded the gold medal. The second round took the teams defeated by the gold medal winner and had them play each other for the silver medal. The third round included any team that had been beaten be either of the gold or silver medal winners and had them play for the bronze medal. This structure was used on this year, changing for the 1924 games.
- The first Olympic champs? The Allan Cup winning Winnipeg Falcons who represented Canada.
- Canada and the Soviet Union have combined to win 14 of the 19 Olympic hockey tournaments.
- As opposed to the single elimination medal round of today, between 1924-88 the tournament was a round-robin series followed by a medal round where the medals were awarded on accumulated points. This was changed by the IOC in 1990 for the 1992 games as under the points system medals were at times being determined before all the games had been played.
- Canada won the 1924 games, outscoring opponents 110-3.
- Most improbable gold medal country? Likely Great Britain, 1936 gold medalists.
- Although they did not participate until 1998, the IOC had actually held a vote in 1986 that allowed for the participation of NHL players beginning with the 1988 games. The NHL did not allow its players to participate until the aforementioned 1998 Nagano games.
- Between 1920-68, each Olympic hockey tournament stood in for the IIHF World Championship. In fact, the 1920 Olympic tournament is recognized by the IIHF as the first World Championship tournament.
- The 1948 gold medal was decided by goal differential when Canada and Czechoslovakia, both having won seven games, tied their eighth: against each other. The Czech's average was 4.3 goals per game. Canada's average goals per game? 13.8
- The 1952 gold medal win by Canada would be their last for 50 years, until the second "Dream Team" of Canadian NHL players won gold at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
- A team from Australia competed in the 1960 games, marking the first and last time a team from "down under" would compete in men's Olympic hockey.
- No Canadian team participated in the 1972 or 1976 games in dispute over the amateur status of Soviet players who were widely recognized to be paying their players "on the sly". Other teams that did not play in 1976 in protest of the Soviets include Sweden, East Germany and Norway.
- There is a popular misconception that the "Miracle on Ice" game, at the 1980 Games in Lake Placid where team USA beat the heavily favoured Soviets, was for the gold medal. It was not! While the USA did win gold they did not have the necessary points to do so until their next, and final, game two days later (February 24, 1980)which they won versus Finland.
- Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 a "Unified Team" was entered into the 1992 games in France. Consisting of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, the Unified Team won gold, beating Canada in the first gold medal game of the Olympic playoff era.
- The 1998 games were split into two rounds to accommodate the NHL schedule. In the preliminary round, started on February 7, neither NHL players or the "Big 6" teams (Canada, US, Czech Republic, Sweden, Russia and Finland) played. On February 13 NHL players began playing, as did the "Big 6". This format was changed for the 2006 games, allowing all teams to access NHL players for the full tournament and making the "Big 6" play the full tournament.
- Sweden won gold at the 2006 Olympics and the 2006 World Championships, making them the only team to win both tournaments in a single calendar year.
- On the basis of a 1992 IOC vote, women's hockey was added to the Olympic Winter Games program for the Nagano games in 1998. The organizers did not want to hold a women's tournament, however, relenting only once the field was limited to six teams and they were assured they would not incur additional costs via infrastructure to hold the tournament.
- A further part of the deal to include a women’s tournament was the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association agreeing to help build and train a Japanese team in advance of the games so the host country could participate.
- Prior to the 1998 Olympic Games, Canada had won every World Championship. The 1998 games saw, however, the USA team defeat the Canadian team 3-1 for the gold, after having defeated Canada 7-4 during the round robin tournament.
- During the 2006 Olympics Sweden defeated the USA in the semi-finals of the tournament, marking the first time it had lost to anyone other than Canada in women's hockey.
- The 2010 tournament marks the first time since the NHL began participation that the Olympics are being held in an NHL city. It also marks the first time the tournament will be held on NHL-sized ice.
Shawn Gates
[email protected]
Twitter: ShawnHockeybuzz
Facebook: Shawn Gates
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Visit us at
www.hockeyden.net for the UD Series One box break! Watch and win a prize pack from the break!
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Previous “Who Knew?” Articles
#1: Gordie Howe
#2: The Zamboni
#3: Maurice “The Rocket” Richard
#4: Ron Hextall
#5: Stanley Cup Abuse, Neglect and Versatility
#6: The Puck
#7: Don Cherry
#8: Cam Neely
#9: The Early Years of Les Canadiens
#10: Hockey Superstitions!
Previous “Humpday Hockey Videos”
January 20, 2010: Pain for Pleasure
January 27, 2010: National Anthems
February 3, 2010: Dion Phaneuf
February 10, 2010: Hockey Fans
Previous “WHAT IF…?” Articles
#1 What If The NHL Contracted To 24 Teams?
#2 What If Quebec Traded Lindros To The Rangers Instead Of The Flyers?
#3 What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?
#3a What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?: A RESPONSE
#4 What If The WHA Never Existed?
#5 What If The Position Of Rover Had Not Been Eliminated?
#6 What If Pittsburgh Had Not Been Awarded A Team In 1967?
#7 What If Steve Smith Had Not Scored In His Own Net In Game 7?
#8 What If The NHL Had a Cross-Conference Playoff Structure?
#9 What If The NHL Asked For Fan Ideas For Improving The Game??
#10 What If Henderson Had Missed The Net In Game 8?
#11 What If You Could Sneak Into A Stanley Cup Celebration?
#12 What If The NHL Returned To Quebec City?
#13 What if Toronto and Edmonton Had Traded Teams in 1981?
#14 What if You Could Create Your Own Hockey Dream Team?
#15 What if An Active Player in the NHL “Came Out” as Gay?
#16 You Could Assemble Your Own Fantasy Pick-up Hockey Team?
#17 Hockey Had A Champions League Tournament?
Previous “Town Without A Team” Articles
Booger Hollow, Arkansas
Hell, Michigan
Previous “Hockey Psychology” Articles
State Dependent Learning
Arousal and Performance
Depression
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