 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Japan |
| Dates | 3–13 February 1972 |
| Teams | 11 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Soviet Union (4th title) |
Runner-up  |  United States |
Third place  |  Czechoslovakia |
| Fourth place |  Sweden |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 30 |
| Goals scored | 235 (7.83 per game) |
| Scoring leader(s) | Valeri Kharlamov (16 points) |
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 Sapporo Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hockey Canadawas invoked but never defined (see the help page).