Canada national ice hockey team The Canadian national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada . The team is overseen by Hockey Canada , a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation , and participates in international competitions . From 1920 until 1963 , Canada ' s international representation was by senior amateur club teams . Canada ' s national men ' s team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association , playing out of the University of British Columbia . The nickname " Team Canada " was christened for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to the Canadian national team ever since . Canada has been one of the leading national ice hockey teams in international play , winning the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union , four of five Canada Cups dating back to 1976 , 8 Winter Olympics ( the most of any participating hockey nation ) , including the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics , four consecutive IIHF World Championships , including eighteen total , and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey . The current coach is Craig MacTavish . Canada is currently ranked second in the IIHF World Ranking . History . From 1920 until 1963 , the senior amateur club teams representing Canada , were usually the most recent Allan Cup champions . The last senior team to win a gold medal at the World Championship was the Trail Smoke Eaters in 1961 . Following the 1963 World Championships , Father David Bauer founded the national team as a permanent institution . The new permanent national team first competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics . Since 1964 , the national team has two Olympic gold medals , and five world championship wins . Before the emergence of the Soviet Union , Canada dominated hockey , winning six out of seven golds at the Olympics before 1956 and 13 world championship gold medals before 1961 . From 1954 to 1991 , Canada was able to win only four World Championships and no Winter Olympic Gold medal s when the Soviet , Czechoslovak , and Swedish teams dominated . This was in part because Canada ' s best professional players were unable to attend these events as they had commitments with their respective National Hockey League teams . Canada withdrew from official IIHF events in 1970 and the National Team programme was suspended after they were refused permission to use semi - professional players at the world championship . Canada returned to the IIHF in 1977 after a series of negotiations between IIHF President Dr . Sabetzki and top officials of professional ice hockey in Canada and the United States of America . Canadians and Americans were allowed to enhance their world championship teams with professional players ; and the world championships were scheduled as late as possible to ensure more players would be available from among the NHL teams eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs . In return , a competition for the " Canada Cup " was to be played every four years on North American territory with the participation of Canada , the United States , and the four strongest European national teams , including professionals . In 1983 , Hockey Canada began the " Programme of Excellence " , whose purpose was to prepare a team for the Winter Olympics every four years . This new National Team played a full season together all over the world against both national and club teams , and often attracted top NHL prospects , veteran pros with NHL experience and , in a few cases , current NHLers who were holding out in contract disputes . This programme was discontinued in 1998 , when the NHL began shutting down to allow its players to compete . After not winning a gold medal for 33 years , Canada finally won the World Championship in 1994 in Italy . Since that time , they have won in 1997 , 2003 , 2004 , and 2007 . At the 2010 Olympics , Canada won the gold medal with a 3 - 2 win against the USA in the final . Sidney Crosby ' s overtime goal secured Canada the final gold medal of the Games . Coaches . List of coaches of the Canada men ' s national ice hockey team . Competition achievements . Olympic Games . All Olympic ice hockey tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships They have won a total of 14 Olympic medals . World Championships . All Olympic ice hockey tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships . The 1920 Olympics were the first world championship . IIHF World Championships were not held during the Winter Olympic years of 1980 , 1984 or 1988 . Spengler Cup . Spengler Cup victories for Team Canada have occurred in 1984 , 1986 , 1987 , 1992 , 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 2002 , 2003 and 2007 . In this tournament , Canada competes against European club teams , not against national teams . These opposing teams often have Canadians on their rosters . Canada used to be represented by the standing national team at this event , but since its dissolution is usually made up of Canadians playing in European leagues . Rosters . 2010 Olympics roster . The captain was Scott Niedermayer . ( C ) The alternate captains were Jarome Iginla , Chris Pronger and Sidney Crosby . ( A )