The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was the eighth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 23rd World Championships and the 34th European Championships. The tournament was held at the Olympic Ice Stadium and the Apollonio Stadium. East and West Germany could not come to an agreement over how to formulate a combined team, so they played a qualification game against each other, which the west won. The east hosted a tournament for non qualified teams, often referred to as World Championships Pool B, between GDR, Norway and Belgium in Berlin. The Soviets won all their games to claim their first Olympic title, their second World title, and their third European title. Canada, represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won its eighth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal, and first bronze medal. Medalists Participating nations World Championship Group A (Italy) Qualification November 16, 1955 East Germany 3-7 West Germany First round Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group earned a right to play for 1st-6th places. Group A January 26 Canada 4–0 Germany (UTG) Italy 2–2 Austria January 27 Italy 2–2 Germany (UTG) Canada 23–0 Austria January 28 Germany (UTG) 7–0 Austria Italy 1–3 Canada Group B January 27 Czechoslovakia 4–3 USA January 28 USA 4–0 Poland January 29 Czechoslovakia 8–3 Poland Group C January 27 USSR 5–1 Sweden January 28 Sweden 6–5 Switzerland January 29 USSR 10–3 Switzerland Final round The first place team, the Soviet Union, won the gold medal; the silver medal was won by the United States, and the bronze medal was won by Canada. Coming into the final game of the tournament (Soviet Union vs Canada), the Soviets and Americans both had eight points while Canada had six points. A Canadian win would have created a three-way tie at eight points, to be broken by goal ratio. Canada (23/9=2.556) needed a victory by three or more to pass the Soviets (23/5=4.600). The Soviets would remain ahead of Canada with a win, a draw, or a loss by one or two. The Americans (26/12=2.167) still had a chance at all three medal places due to the possibility of the goal ratios of Canada and/or the Soviets being sufficiently reduced according to the score of the final game. January 30 USA 7–2 Germany (UTG) Canada 6–3 Czechoslovakia USSR 4–1 Sweden January 31 USSR 8–0 Germany (UTG) Sweden 5–0 Czechoslovakia USA 4–1