1972 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
SAPPORO, JPN

On January 4, 1970, Canadian health and wellness minister John Munroe officially announced Canada was withdrawing from all international hockey competitions, in response to the International Ice Hockey Federation’s opposition to allowing professional players to take part. The decision cost Canada the opportunity to host the IIHF World Championship for the first time – it had been scheduled to welcome the hockey world in 1970 – as well as take part in seven world championships and two Olympic Games. Canada would to return to the world stage in 1977, when the IIHF and the sporting world were ready to adopt modern eligibility rules that didn’t make any distinction between amateurs and professionals. In Sapporo, the Soviet Union claimed its third-consecutive Olympic gold medal, posting a 4-0-1 record and outscoring its opposition 33-13, while the United States earned its first Olympic medal in 16 years, taking home the silver.

1972 MEN'S OLYMPIC HOCKEY
FINAL STANDINGS

1. Soviet Union (Gold)
2. United States (Silver)
3. Czechoslovakia (Bronze)

4. SWE, 5. FIN, 6. POL, 7. FRG, 8. NOR,
9. JPN, 10. SUI, 11. YUG