MILESTONES IN INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY UP UNTIL THE SUMMIT SERIES


1810-1850
Depending on which rendition you believe, ice hockey is invented sometime between the above mentioned dates, somewhere in Canada.

1886
The first recorded international ice hockey game is held between the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (Canada) and a team from Burlington, Vermont (USA). Montreal AAA wins the contest handily.

1908
The "Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace" was founded in Paris France by representatives of five national federations: Bohemia, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Great Britain.

1920
Canada and the USA join the "Ligue" which is now known as the International Ice Hockey Federation, or IIHF. Later that year Ice Hockey is introduced to the Olympic Games at Antwerp Belgium as a demonstration sport. The participating countries are Canada, USA, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia. An amateur hockey club from Winnipeg representing Canada wins the tournament easily (3 wins, 0 loses; 29 goals for, 1 goal against) and are declared the first "World Champions".

1924
Hockey is an official sport at the inaugural Winter Olympics in Chamonix France. The competition is open only to amateurs. Canada wins the first gold medal in the sport by devastating the competition (6 wins, 0 loses; 132 goals for, 3 goals against), and are declared World Champions again.

1930
For the first time a World Championship hockey tournament is held apart from the Olympics. The tournament in Berlin Germany is still only open to amateurs. Canada's team retain the title of World Champions for the fourth straight time.

1933
Canada are beaten for the first time in international play and wind up in second place at the World Championships in Prague Czechoslovakia, thus ending their title streak at 6. The team that beats them and wins the Championship is an American squad which is made up mostly of other Canadians.

1936
Canada are beaten for the first time at the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany. This time by Great Britain who also have at least 5 Canadians playing for them.

1947
Canada boycotts the World Championships in Prague Czechoslovakia because of a number of quarrels with the IIHF. The Czechs take advantage of this situation and win their first Championship at home.

1948
Canada and the IIHF resolve their differences and Canada celebrates by winning their 12th World title and 6th Olympic gold medal at the Winter Games in St. Moritz Switzerland.

1953
Canada is absent from the World’s again and Sweden takes their fist Championship in Zurich Switzerland.

1954
The USSR makes an impressive debut, to say the least, at the World Championships in Stockholm Sweden by winning the whole tournament. After Stockholm the world of international ice hockey changes forever.

1956
The Soviets make an equally successful Olympic debut in Cortina d’Ampezzo Italy. They win their first Gold and their 2nd Championship.

1960
The USA win their first Olympic gold medal and 2nd World Championship in front of a home crowd in Squaw Valley California.

1968
In an eventful Olympics at Grenoble France the USSR win their third gold medal in the Olympics and their 6th straight World title, tying the mark set by Canada. Incidentally, after beating Canada 5-0 in a medal round game, Soviet coach Anatoly Tarasov boasted that his team could beat any team in the NHL.

1970
Canada boycotts both the World Championships and the Olympics to protest the IIHF’s refusal to allow professional hockey players to compete against the "shamateurs" playing for the USSR and other Soviet Block countries. The boycott will last untill 1977.

1972
The title "World Championship" is separated from the Olympic tournament. The USSR takes their 4th Olympic gold in Sapporo Japan, but their streak of 9 straight World Championships is broken by Czechoslovakia who win their third World title in Prague.

After the 1972 World Championships in Czechoslovakia the parody in amateur competition glory between Canada and the USSR looked like this:
Canada - 19 Championships from 33 World’s ; 6 Gold Medals from 11 Olympics
USSR - 11 Championships from 19 World’s ; 4 Gold Medals from 5 Olympics


It is time to decide who the dominant force in ice hockey is, once and for all!

CONTINUE