Ice hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Ice hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host country United States
Dates19–28 February 1960
Teams9
Final positions
Champions  United States (1st title)
Runner-up  Canada
Third place  Soviet Union
Fourth place Czechoslovakia
Tournament statistics
Games played30
Goals scored334 (11.13 per game)
Scoring leader(s)Canada Fred Etcher (21 points)

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, United States, was the ninth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 27th World Championships and the 38th European Championships. The United States won its first Olympic gold medal and second World Championship. Canada, represented for the second time by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won the silver and Canada's ninth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal (a feat not matched until the Soviet Union won its ninth consecutive medal in 1988). The Soviet Union (the highest finishing European team) won the bronze medal and its sixth European Championship.[1] The tournament was held at the Blyth Arena, under the supervision of George Dudley on behalf of the International Ice Hockey Federation.[2]

Canada, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Sweden were the top four teams heading into the Games. All four were defeated by the American team, which won all seven games it played.[3] On the 50th anniversary of these Games, a documentary entitled Forgotten Miracle was produced by Northland Films, making reference to the more famous 1980 gold medal known as the Miracle on Ice; these are the only two Olympic gold medals won by USA men's ice hockey.[4] Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 US team, was the last player cut from the 1960 team by coach Jack Riley.[5]

This was the first and to date, only time Australia participated in an Olympic men's ice hockey tournament.[6]

  1. ^ "Ice Hockey at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Dudley, George – Biography – Honoured Builder". Legends of Hockey. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  3. ^ Szemberg, Szymon; Podnieks, Andrew (2008). "Story #16–USA's original but unheralded "Miracle on Ice"". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  4. ^ "Forgotten Miracle". 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  5. ^ Calio, Jim (3 October 1980). "A Solitary Soul on Ice, Coach Herb Brooks Drove His Young Olympians to Glory : People.com". People. People Magazine. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  6. ^ Saltau, Chloe (21 February 2010). "The rink outsiders who made the big time". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2019.