 At the 1963 World Championships in Stockholm , the Soviet Union won the gold medal , beginning a streak of nine consecutive World Championship golds . The 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck , Austria marked the first time that Canada failed to win an Olympic medal in hockey . The Soviet Union won all seven of their games and the gold medal , but Canada finished the tournament with five wins and two losses , putting them in a three @-@ way tie for second place with Sweden and Czechoslovakia . Prior to 1964 , the tie @-@ breaking procedure was based on goal difference from games against teams in the medal round and under that system , Canada would have placed third ahead of the Czechoslovaks . The procedure had been changed to count all games and that meant the Canadians finished fourth . However , the Olympics also counted as the World Championships , and under IIHF rules , Canada should have won a bronze . In April 2005 , the IIHF admitted that a mistake had occurred and announced that they had reviewed the decision and would award the 1964 Canadian team a World Championship bronze medal . However , two months later , the IIHF over @-@ turned their decision and rejected an appeal in September . 
