1948 Winter Olympics

1948 Winter Olympics
Tournament details
Host nation	Switzerland
Dates	30 January–8 February
Teams	9
Venue(s)	St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink Suvretta Kulm (in 1 host city)
Champions	Canada (4 titles)
Tournament statistics
Games played	36
Goals scored	482  (13.39 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Walter Halder (29 points)

In Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics, Canada returned to its dominance, winning their fourth Gold Medal out of the first five Olympic Games. Additionally it marked Canada's twelfth World Championship, and Czechoslovakia's 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. At the center of the issue was amateurism. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Because this tournament was also the LIHG (forerunner of the IIHF) World Championship, they maintained a fourth place in that ranking.

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.

Medal	Team
Gold	Canada
Silver	Czechoslovakia
Bronze	Switzerland

	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Canada	8	7	0	1	69	5	15
Czechoslovakia	8	7	0	1	80	18	15
Switzerland	8	6	2	0	67	21	12
Sweden	8	4	4	0	55	28	8
Great Britain	8	3	5	0	39	47	6
Poland	8	2	6	0	29	97	4
Austria	8	1	7	0	33	77	2
Italy	8	0	8	0	24	156	0
United States *	8	5	3	0	86	33	10

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

Results

• January 30
  • Switzerland 5-4 USA
  • Canada 3-1 Sweden
  • Poland 7-5 Austria
  • Czechoslovakia 22-3 Italy

• January 31
  • USA 23-4 Poland
  • Czechoslovakia 6-3 Sweden
  • Switzerland 16-0 Italy
  • United Kingdom 5-4 Austria

• February 1
  • Canada 3-0 United Kingdom
  • USA 31-1 Italy
  • Switzerland 11-2 Austria
  • Czechoslovakia 13-1 Poland

• February 2
  • Sweden 7-1 Austria
  • Canada 15-0 Poland
  • Czechoslovakia 11-4 United Kingdom

• February 3
  • Canada 21-1 Italy
  • USA 5-2 Sweden

• February 4
  • Czechoslovakia 17-3 Austria
  • Poland 13-7 Italy
  • Switzerland 12-3 United Kingdom

• February 5
  • Austria 16-5 Italy
  • United Kingdom 7-2 Poland
  • Switzerland 8-2 Sweden
  • Canada 12-3 USA

• February 6
  • Switzerland 14-0 Poland
  • Canada 0-0 Czechoslovakia
  • Sweden 4-3 United Kingdom
  • USA 13-2 Austria

• February 7
  • USA 4-3 United Kingdom
  • Czechoslovakia 7-1 Switzerland
  • Canada 12-0 Austria
  • Sweden 23-0 Italy

• February 8
  • United Kingdom 14-7 Italy
  • Czechoslovakia 4-3 USA
  • Canada 3-0 Switzerland
  • Sweden 13-2 Poland

Top scorer

Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Walter Halder	8	21	8	29

European Championship medal table

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

Team rosters

Place	Team	Player
1	Canada	Murray Dowey, Bernard Dunster, Jean Gravelle, Patrick Guzzo, Walter Halder, Thomas Hibberd, Henri-André Laperrière, John Lecompte, George Mara, Albert Roméo Renaud, Reginald Schroeter, Irving Taylor
2	Czechoslovakia	Vladimír Bouzek, Gustav Bubník, Jaroslav Drobný, Přemysl Hajný, Zdenek Jarkovský, Vladimir Kobranov, Stanislav Konopásek, Bohumil Modrý, Miloslav Pokorný, Václav Rozinák, Miroslav Sláma, Karel Stibor, Vilibald Štovík, Ladislav Troják, Josef Trousílek, Oldrich Zábrodský, Vladimír Zábrodský
3	Switzerland	Hans Bänninger, Alfred Bieler, Heinrich Boller, Ferdinand Cattini, Hans Cattini, Hans Dürst, Walter Dürst, Emil Handschin, Werner Lohrer, Heini Lohrer, Reto Perl, Ulrich Poltera, Gebhard Poltera, Beat Rüedi, Otto Schubiger, Riccardo Torriani, Hans Trepp
4	United States	Al Opsahl, Bruce Mather, Bruce Cunliffe, Donald Geary, Fred Pearson, Goodwin Harding, Herb Vaningen, Jack Kirrane, Jr., Jack Riley, Jr., Jack Garrity, Ralph Warburton, Robert Baker, Bob Boeser, Stan Priddy
5	Sweden	Stig Andersson, Åke Andersson, Stig Carlsson, Åke Ericson, Rolf Ericsson, Svante Granlund, Arne Johansson, Rune Johansson, Gunnar Landelius, Klas Lindström, Lars Ljungman, Holger Nurmela, Bror Pettersson, Rolf Pettersson, Kurt Svanberg, Sven Thunman
6	Great Britain	Lennie Baker, George Baillie, Jimmy Chappell, Gerry Davey, Freddie Dunkelman, Art Green, Frankie Green, Frank Jardine, Johnny Murray, Johnny Oxley, Stan Simon, Bert Smith, Archie Stinchcombe, Tom Syme
7	Poland	Henryk Bromowicz, Mieczysław Burda, Stefan Csorich, Zygmunt Ginter, Alfred Gansiniec, Tomasz Jasiński, Mieczysław Kasprzycki, Bolesław Kolasa, Adam Kowalski, Eugeniusz Lewacki, Jan Maciejko, Czesław Marchewczyk, Mieczysław Palus, Henryk Przeździecki, Hilary Skarżyński, Maksymilian Więcek, Ernest Ziaja
8	Austria	Franz Csöngei, Friedrich Demmer, Egon Engel, Walter Feistritzer, Gustav Gross, Fredl Huber, Julius Juhn, Oskar Nowak, Hansjörg Reichel, Hans Schneider, Willibald Stanek, Herbert Ulrich, Friedrich Walter, Helfried Winger, Rudolf Wurmbrandt
9	Italy	Claudio Apollonio, Giancarlo Bassi, Mario Bedogni, Luigi Bestagini, Giancarlo Bucchetti, Carlo Bulgheroni, Ignazio Dionisi, Arnaldo Fabris, Vincenzo Fardella, Aldo Federici, Umberto Gerli, Dino Innocenti, Constanzo Mangini, Dino Menardi, Otto Rauth, Franco Rossi, Gianantonio Zopegni

Team Photos

Canada

Czechoslovakia

United States

Great Britain

References

• (2004) Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement. Westport CT.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32278-3. 
• Jeux Olympiques de Saint-Moritz 1948