thumb|200px|Soviet postage stamp for the 1968 Winter Olympics
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1968 Winter Olympics held in Grenoble, France, was the 11th Olympic Championship, also serving as the 35th World Championships and the 46th European Championships. This was the last Olympic tournament to include the World and European titles. Games were held at the Palais des Sports. The Soviet Union won their third Olympic gold medal, eighth World Championship and twelfth European Championship. Czechoslovakia won the silver, followed by Canada taking the bronze.
For the first (and only) time, not all qualifiers were given the opportunity to play for medals, as the lowest two ranked qualifiers (Japan and Austria), together with host France were placed directly into the Consolation Group. Poland and Italy qualified but declined to participate.
Teams
Fourteen nations participated:
Highlights
In their penultimate match of the tournament, the USSR team lost to the Czechoslovak team, which gave a tie-breaking advantage to the latter as each team had a record of 5 wins, 1 loss (10 points) with one game remaining. Yet the USSR team was also tied with Canada and would play the Canadians in the final game of the tournament. For teams finishing with identical records, it is games between those against each other that determines the placings. In their final matches of the tournament, Sweden tied with Czechoslovakia, while the USSR won its game against Canada, and the gold medal.
Firsts
East Germany participated for the first and only time in these games and played its final game with rival West Germany. The West prevailed, 4–2. Finland pulled off a historic first, defeating Canada in the second day of competition. For the USSR, their loss broke a record streak of 39 straight World Championship games without a loss.
Leading scorers
{| class="wikitable"
! width="20"|Rk
! width="20"|Team
! width="160"|Player
! width="20"|GP
! width="20"|G
! width="20"|A !! width="20"|Pts
|- align=center
|1
|||align=left| Anatoli Firsov
|7||12||4||16
|- align=center
|2
|||align=left| Viktor Polupanov
|7||6||6||12
|- align=center
|2
|||align=left| Viacheslav Starshinov
|7||6||6||12
|- align=center
|4
|||align=left| Vladimir Vikulov
|7||2||10||12
|- align=center
|5
|||align=left| Jozef Golonka
|7||4||6||10
|- align=center
|6
|||align=left| Fran Huck
|7||4||5||9
|- align=center
|7
|||align=left| Jan Hrbatý
|7||2||7||9
|- align=center
|8
|||align=left| Marshall Johnston
|7||2||6||8
|- align=center
|8
|||align=left| Jack Morrison
|7||2||6||8
|- align=center
|10
|||align=left| Václav Nedomanský
|7||5||2||7
|}
Leading scorers–Consolation round
{| class="wikitable"
! width="20"|Rk
! width="20"|Team
! width="160"|Player
! width="20"|GP
! width="20"|G
! width="20"|A !! width="20"|Pts
|- align=center
|1
|||align=left| Albin Felc
|5||5||6||11
|- align=center
|2
|||align=left| Viktor Tišler
|5||8||2||10
|- align=center
|2
|||align=left| Ivo Jan
|5||6||2||8
|- align=center
|4
|||align=left| Takao Hikigi
|5||5||3||8
|- align=center
|5
|||align=left| Iuliu Szabo
|5||4||4||8
|}
Final ranking
European Championship final ranking
IIHF Awards
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Best Goaltender||style="text-align:left;"| Ken Broderick
|-
|Best Defenceman||style="text-align:left;"| Josef Horešovský
|-
|Best Forward||style="text-align:left;"| Anatoli Firsov
|-
|}
Citations
References
- Hockey Hall Of Fame page on the 1968 Olympics
- Jeux Olympiques 1968