The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, was the ninth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 27th World Championships and the 38th European Championships. The United States won its first Olympic gold medal and second World Championship. Canada, represented for the second time by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won the silver and Canada's ninth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal (a feat not matched until the Soviet Union won its ninth consecutive medal in 1988). The Soviet Union (the highest finishing European team) won the bronze medal and its sixth European Championship. The tournament was held at the Blyth Arena, under the supervision of George Dudley on behalf of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Canada, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Sweden were the top four teams heading into the Games. All four were defeated by the American team, which won all seven games it played. On the 50th anniversary of these Games, a documentary entitled Forgotten Miracle was produced by Northland Films, making reference to the more famous 1980 gold medal known as the Miracle on Ice; these were the only two Olympic gold medals won by USA men's ice hockey before 2026. Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 US team, was the last player cut from the 1960 team by coach Jack Riley.
This was the first and to date, only time Australia participated in an Olympic men's ice hockey tournament.
Medalists
GoldSilverBronze Jack McCartan John Mayasich John Kirrane Paul Johnson Weldon Olson Eugene Grazia Richard Rodenhiser Edwyn Owen Rodney Paavola Richard Meredith William Christian Tom Williams Roger Christian Robert McVey Lawrence Palmer Bill Cleary Bob Cleary Harold Hurley Harry Sinden Jack Douglas Bob Attersley Fred Etcher George Samolenko Donald Charles Head Darryl Sly Ken Laufman Floyd Martin James Connelly Robert Forhan Donald Rope Maurice Benoît Bobby Rousseau Cliff Pennington Robert McKnight Yuri Tsitsinov Vladimir Grebennikov Mikhail Bychkov Viktor PryazhnikovNikolai Karpov Nikolai Puchkov Yevgeni Groshev Viktor Yakushev Stanislav Petukhov Yevgeny Yorkin Nikolai Sologubov Yuri Baulin Aleksandr Almetov Konstantin Loktev Veniamin Alexandrov Genrikh Sidorenkov Alfred Kuchevsky
Qualification The two German teams played a qualification round to determine which team would participate at the Olympics. West Germany won both games.
First round Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group advanced to the final round and played for 1st-6th places, other teams played in the consolation round.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Consolation round
Teams that did not qualify for the final round played here. Sources differ on which Finland-Japan game took place on the 23rd, and which game took place on the 26th.
Final round
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
Statistics Average age Team Australia was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 28 years and 5 months. Team Finland was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 23 years and 11 months. Gold medalists Team USA averaged 24 years and 6 months. Tournament average was 25 years and 7 months.
Leading scorers Statistics: Rk Team GP G A Pts1 Fred Etcher7912212 Bob Attersley7612183 Bill Cleary777144 Veniamin Aleksandrov776135 Bill Christian7211136 Raimo Kilpiö693127 Jouni Seistamo58412T8 George Samolenko78412 Lars-Eric Lundvall78412T10 Václav Pantůček77512 John Mayasich77512 Nisse Nilsson77512
Tournament awards Best players selected by the directorate: Best Goaltender: Jack McCartan Best Defenceman: Nikolai Sologubov Best Forward: Nisse Nilsson
Final ranking
European Championship final ranking
References
External links Jeux Olympiques 1960
Official games report Summary and rosters