Ice hockey at the
Games of the VII Olympiad
1st Ice Hockey
World Championships
Picture of the Gold Medal-winning Winnipeg Falcons taken en route to the 1920 Olympics (photo includes an unidentified ships' officer and a woman)
Tournament details
Host country Belgium
DatesApril 23–29, 1920
FormatBergvall System
Teams7
Final positions
Champions  Canada
Winnipeg Falcons (1st title)
Runner-up  United States
Third place  Czechoslovakia
Fourth place Sweden
Tournament statistics
Games played10
Goals scored99 (9.9 per game)
Attendance6,946 (695 per game)
Scoring leader(s) Herb Drury (14 points)

Ice hockey was introduced to the Olympic Games at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.[1][2] The tournament also served as the first World Championships. The matches were played between April 23 and April 29, 1920. Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Falcons, won the gold medal.[3] The silver went to the United States and Czechoslovakia took the bronze.

Summary

The organizing committee for the hockey matches included Paul Loicq, the captain of the Belgian team and a future president of the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG).[4] The games used the Canadian ice hockey rules, and the Bergvall system to determine medal winning teams.[5]

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) chose the Winnipeg Falcons as the 1920 Allan Cup champions to represent the Canada men's national team, instead of forming a national all-star team on short notice.[6][7] Canada's manager W. A. Hewitt, introduced the CAHA rules of play to the LIHG at the Olympics.[8] Writer Andrew Podnieks described Hewitt's interpretation of the rules as "competitive yet gentlemanly", and that the rules of play were accepted for Olympic hockey.[9] Hewitt refereed the first Olympic hockey game played, an 8–0 win by the Sweden men's national team versus the Belgium men's national team, on April 23, 1920.[10]

All matches took place in the Palais de Glace d'Anvers (ice palace of Antwerp).[3] The rink was smaller than North American standards, measuring 56 metres (184 ft) long by 18 metres (59 ft) wide. All games were played with seven players per side, with the rover position being used. For the duration of each match no substitutions were permitted and if a player exited the game due to injury the opposing team was forced to take a player out as well. Additional differences from modern play included a prohibition on forward passing and the requirement that all players including the goaltender be standing on his skates to play the puck.[4] The duration of each game was two periods of twenty minutes each.[3] Any game tied at the end of forty minutes would be extended by two periods of five minutes each, not sudden death. If tied at the end of fifty minutes, this process would repeat—and repeat as many times as needed until a winner is declared.

This was the first ice hockey tournament at an Olympic Games, and the only ever instance of it at a Summer Olympics.[3] An ice hockey tournament was part of the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924 and has been part of every Winter program since then.

Medalists

Palais de Glace d'Anvers ice rink where the ice hockey tournament was held.
Gold Silver Bronze
 Canada (CAN)
Robert Benson
Walter Byron
Frank Fredrickson
Chris Fridfinnson
Magnus Goodman
Haldor Halderson
Konrad Johannesson
Allan Woodman		  United States (USA)
Raymond Bonney
Anthony Conroy
Herbert Drury
Edward Fitzgerald
George Geran
Frank Goheen
Joseph McCormick
Lawrence McCormick
Frank Synott
Leon Tuck
Cyril Weidenborner		  Czechoslovakia (TCH)
Karel Hartmann
Vilém Loos
Jan Palouš
Jan Peka
Karel Pešek
Josef Šroubek
Otakar Vindyš
Karel Wälzer

Participating nations

A total of 60 ice hockey players from 7 nations competed at the Antwerp Games:

Format

Seven nations entered teams in the inaugural Olympic ice hockey tournament. The tournament format used the Bergvall system, starting with an elimination round to determine the gold medal winner, after which teams that lost to the tournament winner would play through a new bracket to determine silver. Finally, teams which lost to either the gold or silver winners would face off in a third bracket to determine the bronze winner. For the gold medal round, teams were drawn into the bracket with France receiving a bye to the semifinals.

At the time of draw, the Swedish team questioned how the matchups for the later rounds would be determined and it was believed that teams advancing further in the earlier round would receive a bye.[4] However, no decision was made and when it came time for the silver medal round Sweden and the United States were selected to play a semifinal game while Czechoslovakia received the bye. Later for the bronze medal round, organizers wanted to ensure the tournament would conclude on schedule but were reluctant to force the Czechoslovakians to play twice in one day. As a result, the Swedish team were made to play another semifinal game which would be their fourth in as many days with the bronze medal game the following day. This led to criticism of the format despite Bergvall later noting that the system was not used correctly.[4]

Gold medal round (premier prix)

Bracket

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsGold Medal Game
 
          
 
April 23
 
 
 Sweden8
 
April 25
 
 Belgium0
 
 Sweden4
 
 
 France0
 
 
April 26
 
 
 Canada 1st place, gold medalist(s)12
 
April 24
 
 Sweden1
 
 United States29
 
April 25
 
  Switzerland0
 
 Canada2
 
April 24
 
 United States0
 
 Canada15
 
 
 Czechoslovakia0
 

Quarterfinals

23 April 1920
21:30		Sweden 8 – 0
(5–0, 3–0)		 BelgiumPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Seth HowanderGoaliesFrançois VergultReferee:
Canada W. A. Hewitt
Burman1 – 0
Johansson2 – 0
Burman3 – 0
Lindqvist4 – 0
Burman5 – 0
Johansson6 – 0
Molander7 – 0
Lindqvist8 – 0
12 minPenalties6 min
24 April 1920
17:00		United States 29 – 0
(15–0, 14–0)		  SwitzerlandPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Ray BonneyGoaliesRené SavoieReferee:
United States Raoul Le Mat
Conroy (8)
J. McCormick (7)
Drury (6)
Goheen (6)
Fitzgerald
Tuck		Goals
7 minPenalties0 min
24 April 1920
21:30		Canada 15 – 0
(7–0, 8–0)		 CzechoslovakiaPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Walter ByronGoaliesJan Peka
Halderson (7)
Fredrickson (4)
Goodman (2)
Woodman
Johannesson		Goals
0 minPenalties0 min

Semifinals

25 April 1920
17:00		Sweden 4 – 0
(2–0, 2–0)		 FrancePalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Seth HowanderGoaliesJacques GaittetReferee:
Canada Ernie Garon
Burman1 – 0
Svensson2 – 0
Molander3 – 0
Lindqvist4 – 0
0 minPenalties0 min
Shots1
25 April 1920
21:00		Canada 2 – 0
(0–0, 2–0)		 United StatesPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Walter ByronGoaliesRay BonneyReferee:
France Alfred de Rauch
Fredrickson1 – 0
Johannesson2 – 0
7 minPenalties5 min

Gold medal game

26 April 1920
22:00		1st place, gold medalist(s) Canada 12 – 1
(5–1, 7–0)		 SwedenPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Walter ByronGoaliesSeth HowanderReferee:
United States Joseph McCormick
Halderson – 1:151 – 0
Fridfinnson − 1:552 – 0
Fredrickson – 5:203 – 0
3 – 115:58 – Svensson
Fredrickson – 16:004 – 1
Fredrickson – 17:355 – 1
Goodman – 23:476 – 1
Benson – 28:097 – 1
Fredrickson – 29:158 – 1
Fredrickson – 29:309 – 1
Fredrickson – 34:5510 – 1
Halderson – 36:2011 – 1
Fredrickson – 39:0212 – 1
0 minPenalties0 min

Silver medal round (second prix)

Bracket

 
SemifinalSilver Medal Game
 
      
 
April 27
 
 
 United States7
 
April 28
 
 Sweden0
 
 United States 2nd place, silver medalist(s)16
 
 
 Czechoslovakia0
 
 
 
 

Semifinal

27 April 1920
22:00		United States 7 – 0
(5–0, 2–0)		 SwedenPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Cy WeidenbornerGoaliesSeth Howander
Drury (4)
Geran (3)		Goals
0 minPenalties0 min

Silver medal game

28 April 1920
22:00		2nd place, silver medalist(s) United States 16 – 0
(7–0, 9–0)		 CzechoslovakiaPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Cy WeidenbornerGoaliesJan PekaReferee:
Belgium Paul Loicq
L. McCormick (7)
Drury (4)
Conroy (2)
Goheen
J. McCormick
Synott		Goals
0 minPenalties0 min

Bronze medal round (troisième prix)

Bracket

 
SemifinalBronze Medal Game
 
      
 
April 28
 
 
 Sweden4
 
April 29
 
  Switzerland0
 
 Czechoslovakia 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1
 
 
 Sweden0
 
 
 
 

Semifinal

28 April 1920
23:30		Sweden 4 – 0
(0–0, 4–0)		  SwitzerlandPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Abbe JanssonGoaliesRené SavoieReferee:
Canada Frank Fredrickson
Säfwenberg1 – 0
Johansson2 – 0
Arwe3 – 0
Arwe4 – 0
0 minPenalties0 min

Bronze medal game

29 April 1920
23:00		3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Czechoslovakia 1 – 0
(1–0, 0–0)		 SwedenPalais de Glace d'Anvers
Game reference
Karel WälzerGoaliesSeth HowanderReferee:
Canada Frank Fredrickson
Šroubek1 – 0
0 minPenalties0 min
2Shots48

Statistics

Average age

Team France was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 32 years and 11 months. Gold medalists team Canada was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 24 years and 5 months. Tournament average was 26 years and 9 months.[11]

Scoring leaders

PlayerGPG
 Herb Drury (USA)414
 Frank Fredrickson (CAN)312
 Anthony Conroy (USA)410
 Haldor Halderson (CAN)39
 Joe McCormick (USA)38
 Moose Goheen (USA)62
 Larry McCormick (USA)15
 Erik Burman (SWE)54
 Gerry Geran (USA)23
 Magnus Goodman (CAN)33

Source: olympedia.org

Final ranking

Black and white photo of eight hockey players in equipment and uniforms standing on an ice rink, with four men in suits and ties
Winnipeg Falcons team photo at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Canada 3 3 0 29 1 +28
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  United States 4 3 1 52 2 +50
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Czechoslovakia 3 1 2 1 31 −30
4  Sweden 6 3 3 17 20 −3
5   Switzerland 2 0 2 0 33 −33
5  France 1 0 1 0 4 −4
5  Belgium 1 0 1 0 8 −8

References

  1. ↑ Justin Felisko. "When Ice Hockey Was A Summer Sport". USA Hockey Magazine. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  2. ↑ "Ice Hockey at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Stephen (23 April 2020). "Remembering Canada's first Olympic hockey gold: Winning gold 100 years ago in Antwerp, Belgium, Canada's team set a standard for Olympic hockey dominance that would last for three more successive Games". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hansen, Kenth (May 1996). "The Birth of Swedish Ice Hockey – Antwerp 1920". LA84 Digital Library. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  5. ↑ "Story #21: Ice Hockey debuts at the Olympics". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2008. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  6. ↑ Podnieks, Andrew (1997), p. 2
  7. ↑ Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2005), pp. 28–29
  8. ↑ "Pro Officials Like Own Interpretation Of Rules". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. December 7, 1957. p. 43.Free access icon
  9. ↑ Podnieks, Andrew (1997), p. 4
  10. ↑ "IIHF Honour Roll: W. A. Hewitt". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Team Canada - Olympics - Antwerpen 1920 - Player Stats". QuantHockey. Retrieved 23 April 2020.

Sources

  • Podnieks, Andrew (1997). Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History 1920–1998. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada. ISBN 0-385-25688-4.
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2005). Silverware. Toronto, Ontario: Fenn Publishing. ISBN 1-55168-296-6.
  • Hansen, Kenth (May 1996), "The Birth of Swedish Ice Hockey – Antwerp 1920", Citius, Altiu, Fortius, 4 (2): 5–27
  • Wallechinsky, David; Loucky, Jaime (2005), The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: Turin 2006 Edition, Wilmington, Delaware: Sport Media Publishing, ISBN 1-894963-45-8
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