1976 Olympics

At the 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, the Soviet Union won the Gold Medal in ice hockey. Star forward, Valeri Kharlamov scored the game-winning goal in the final game. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.
==Highlights==
The main rivalry in the tournament was between the USSR and Czechoslovakian national teams. The Czechoslovakian team suffered from influenza throughout the tournament, and they finished the game against Poland with only twelve players on the bench. A doping test of one of the players was positive and a loss was recorded for the Czechoslovakian team, although Poland did not receive points.
In the final, Czechoslovakia was up 2-0 after the first period. In the second the score was tied by Vladimir Shadrin and Vladimir Petrov. Eight minutes before the end of the game Eduard Novak scored the third goal for the Czechoslovakian team. But subsequent goals by Aleksandr Yakushev and one minute later by Valeri Kharlamov lead to the victory of the USSR.
==Medalists==
	Gold	Silver	
	Soviet Union
Vladislav TretiakAlexander SidelnikovAleksandr GusevVladimir LutchenkoSergei BabinovYuri LyapkinGennadiy TsygankovSergei KapustinAleksandr MaltsevBoris AleksandrovBoris MikhailovAlexander YakushevVladimir PetrovValeri KharlamovVladimir ShadrinValeri VasilievViktor ShalimovViktor Zhluktov	Czechoslovakia
Jiri HolikOldřich MacháčFrantišek PospíšilJiří HolečekBohuslav ŠťastnýIvan HlinkaVladimír MartinecEduard NovákJosef AugustaJiří BublaMilan ChalupaJiří CrhaMiroslav DvořákBohuslav EbermannMilan KajklJiří NovákMilan NovýJaroslav Pouzar	West Germany
Lorenz FunkErnst Köpf, Sr.Alois SchloderRudolf ThannerJosef VölkAnton KehleErich KühnhacklRainer PhilippKlaus AuhuberIgnaz BerndanerWolfgang BoosMartin HinterstockerUdo KiesslingWalter KöberleStefan MetzFranz ReindlFerenc VozarErich Weißhaupt
==Qualification matches==
Winners qualify for the Group A to play for 1st-6th places. Other teams played in Group B for 7th-12th places. Canada withdrew from international amateur hockey entirely because of disagreements over professionals not being allowed to play, therefore they did not send a team to the 1976 Winter Olympics. Sweden also withdrew from these Olympics because of amateur-professional disputes.
*February 2
**Poland 7-4 Romania
**Czechoslovakia 14-1 Bulgaria
**West Germany 5-1 Switzerland
*February 3
**USSR 16-3 Austria
**Finland 11-2 Japan
**USA 8-4 Yugoslavia
==Group A==
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
Rank	 	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1 	Soviet Union 	5 	5	0	0	40	11	10
2 	Czechoslovakia	5 	3	2	0	17	10	6
3 	West Germany 	5 	2	3	0	21	24	4
4 	Finland 	5 	2	3	0	19	18	4
5 	United States 	5 	2	3	0	15	21	4
6 	Poland 	5 	1	4	0	9 	37	0
*February 6
**Czechoslovakia 2-1 Finland
**West Germany 7-4 Poland
**USSR 6-2 USA
*February 8
**Finland 5-3 West Germany
**USSR 16-1 Poland
**Czechoslovakia 5-0 USA
*February 10
**USSR 7-3 West Germany
**Poland 1-0* Czechoslovakia
**USA 5-4 Finland
*February 12
**Czechoslovakia 7-4 West Germany
**USA 7-2 Poland
**USSR 7-2 Finland
*February 14
**USSR 4-3 Czechoslovakia
**Finland 7-1 Poland
**West Germany 4-1 USA
* Note: The score after the Czechoslovakia vs Poland match was 7-1, but due to the positive doping test of one of the Czechoslovakian players, the team was recorded a nil-1 loss. Poland didn't receive any points.
==Group B==
Teams, which lost their games in the qualification round, played in this group.
Rank	 	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
7 	Romania 	5 	4	1	0	23	15	8
8 	Austria 	5 	3	2	0	18	14	6
9 	Japan 	5 	3	2	0	20	18	6
10 	Yugoslavia 	5 	3	2	0	22	19	6
11 	Switzerland	5 	2	3	0	24	22	4
12 	Bulgaria 	5 	0	5	0	19	38	0
*February 5
**Yugoslavia 6-4 Switzerland
**Romania 3-1 Japan
**Austria 6-2 Bulgaria
*February 7
**Yugoslavia 4-3 Romania
**Switzerland 8-3 Bulgaria
**Austria 3-2 Japan
*February 9
**Yugoslavia 8-5 Bulgaria
**Austria 3-4 Romania
**Japan 6-4 Switzerland
*February 11
**Romania 9-4 Bulgaria
**Austria 3-5 Switzerland
**Japan 4-3 Yugoslavia
*February 13
**Romania 4-3 Switzerland
**Japan 7-5 Bulgaria
**Austria 3-1 Yugoslavia
==Leading scorers==
Rk	 	GP	G	A	Pts
1 	Vladimir Shadrin 	5 	6	4	10
2 	Aleksandr Maltsev 	5 	5	5	10
2 	Viktor Shalimov 	5 	5	5	10
2 	Erich Kuhnhackl 	5 	5	5	10
2 	Valeri Kharlamov 	5 	5	5	10
6 	Ernst Kopf Sr. 	5 	3	5	8
7 	Vladimir Petrov 	5 	4	3	7
8 	Alexander Yakushev	5 	3	4	7
8 	Bob Dobek 	5 	3	4	7
10	Lorenz Funk 	5 	2	5	7
==Final ranking==
# Soviet Union
# Czechoslovakia
# West Germany
# Finland
# United States
# Poland
# Romania
# Austria
# Japan
# Yugoslavia
# Switzerland
# Bulgaria
==Team Photos==
1976Germany.jpg|West Germany
==See Also==
*1976 Austria national ice hockey team
*1976 Bulgaria national ice hockey team
*1976 Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team
*1976 Finland national ice hockey team
*1976 Japan national ice hockey team
*1976 Poland national ice hockey team
*1976 Romania national ice hockey team
*1976 Soviet Union national ice hockey team
*1976 Switzerland national ice hockey team
*1976 United States national ice hockey team
*1976 West Germany national ice hockey team
*1976 Yugoslavia national ice hockey team
==References==
*Jeux Olympiques 1976
Category:Olympic Games
Category:International competitions
Category:1976 in hockey