1976 Olympics

At the 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, the Soviet Union won the Gold Medal in ice hockey. Star forward, Valeri Kharlamov scored the game-winning goal in the final game. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.

Highlights
The main rivalry in the tournament was between the USSR and Czechoslovakian national teams. The Czechoslovakian team suffered from influenza throughout the tournament, and they finished the game against Poland with only twelve players on the bench. A doping test of one of the players was positive and a loss was recorded for the Czechoslovakian team, although Poland did not receive points.

In the final, Czechoslovakia was up 2-0 after the first period. In the second the score was tied by Vladimir Shadrin and Vladimir Petrov. Eight minutes before the end of the game Eduard Novak scored the third goal for the Czechoslovakian team. But subsequent goals by Aleksandr Yakushev and one minute later by Valeri Kharlamov lead to the victory of the USSR.



Qualification matches
Winners qualify for the Group A to play for 1st-6th places. Other teams played in Group B for 7th-12th places. Canada withdrew from international amateur hockey entirely because of disagreements over professionals not being allowed to play, therefore they did not send a team to the 1976 Winter Olympics. Sweden also withdrew from these Olympics because of amateur-professional disputes.


 * February 2
 * Poland 7-4 Romania
 * Czechoslovakia 14-1 Bulgaria
 * West Germany 5-1 Switzerland


 * February 3
 * USSR 16-3 Austria
 * Finland 11-2 Japan
 * USA 8-4 Yugoslavia

Group A
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.


 * February 6
 * Czechoslovakia 2-1 Finland
 * West Germany 7-4 Poland
 * USSR 6-2 USA


 * February 8
 * Finland 5-3 West Germany
 * USSR 16-1 Poland
 * Czechoslovakia 5-0 USA


 * February 10
 * USSR 7-3 West Germany
 * Poland 1-0 * Czechoslovakia
 * USA 5-4 Finland


 * February 12
 * Czechoslovakia 7-4 West Germany
 * USA 7-2 Poland
 * USSR 7-2 Finland


 * February 14
 * USSR 4-3 Czechoslovakia
 * Finland 7-1 Poland
 * West Germany 4-1 USA

* ''Note: The score after the Czechoslovakia vs Poland match was 7-1, but due to the positive doping test of one of the Czechoslovakian players, the team was recorded a nil-1 loss. Poland didn't receive any points.''

Group B
Teams, which lost their games in the qualification round, played in this group.


 * February 5
 * Yugoslavia 6-4 Switzerland
 * Romania 3-1 Japan
 * Austria 6-2 Bulgaria


 * February 7
 * Yugoslavia 4-3 Romania
 * Switzerland 8-3 Bulgaria
 * Austria 3-2 Japan


 * February 9
 * Yugoslavia 8-5 Bulgaria
 * Austria 3-4 Romania
 * Japan 6-4 Switzerland


 * February 11
 * Romania 9-4 Bulgaria
 * Austria 3-5 Switzerland
 * Japan 4-3 Yugoslavia


 * February 13
 * Romania 4-3 Switzerland
 * Japan 7-5 Bulgaria
 * Austria 3-1 Yugoslavia

Final ranking

 * 1) Soviet Union
 * 2) Czechoslovakia
 * 3) 🇩🇪West Germany
 * 4) 🇫🇮Finland
 * 5) 🇺🇸United States
 * 6) 🇵🇱Poland
 * 7) Romania
 * 8) 🇦🇹Austria
 * 9) Japan
 * 10) Yugoslavia
 * 11) Switzerland
 * 12) 🇧🇬Bulgaria