1948 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Recap

Photo Credit: Canadian Olympic Committee

By Zane Miller

On Monday, February 8th, 1948, Canada defeated Czechoslovakia by 0 points in the standings to win the sixth gold medal in Olympic men’s ice hockey history, with Canada winning the gold medal on a tiebreaker as they had a +64 goal differential, while Czechoslovakia only had a +62. It was the fifth gold medal for Canada in Olympic men’s ice hockey. Czechoslovakia took the silver medal with 15 points in the standings, claiming their first silver medal in Olympic men’s ice hockey. Switzerland defeated Sweden by four points in the standings to take the bronze medal, grabbing their second bronze medal in Olympic men’s ice hockey. The tournament was held in Switzerland, with St. Moritz as the host city.

Wally Halder of Canada scored the most goals during the tournament with 21. The United States was disqualified from the tournament due to an internal dispute as to which team would represent the country. Apparently this was enough of an issue that the U.S. was unable to decide which team to send to the Olympics until the day before the start of the tournament, at which point the International Olympic Committee was fed up and disqualified the U.S. from being able to earn a medal in ice hockey. However, the IOC still allowed them to compete anyway, presumably due to there not being enough time to redraw the schedule before the beginning of the tournament.

1948 Final Standings (W-L-T format)

1. Canada (7-0-1, 1.000) (Gold)

2. Czechoslovakia (7-0-1, 1.000) (Silver)

3. Switzerland (6-2, .750) (Bronze)

4. Sweden (4-4, .500)

5. Great Britain (3-5, .375)

6. Poland (2-6, .250)

7. Austria (1-7, .125)

8. Italy (0-8, .000)

9. United States (5-3, .625) (disqualified)

Game Results