| Date | 2 – 14 February 1976 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Olympiaeisstadion, Innsbruck / Kunsteisbahn, Messehalle, Innsbruck | |
| Participants | 217 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Qualifying round placed teams into final and consolation round-robin pools. | |
Seven months after the 1972 Winter Olympics, the world got the chance to see if the Soviet ice hockey leviathan was the equal of the best NHL teams. Canada and the Soviet Union played a summit series of eight games, four in Canada, and four in Moscow. After five games, the Canadian NHL stars were trailing, with only one win and one tie. To pull out the series they had to win the final three games in the Soviet’s rink. All Canadians from that era know where they were on September 28, 1972, when Paul Henderson scored the final goal of the eighth game, to allow Canada to defeat the USSR in the game, and the series.
But the IOC still did not allow professionals to compete and Canada again eschewed sending a team to the Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Led by forwards Valery Kharlamov and Aleksandr Yakushev, goalie Vladislav Tretyak, and the huge defenseman, Boris Mikhaylov, the Soviets again won the gold medal, defeating Czechoslovakia, 4-3, in the final game.
| Date | 2 – 3 February 1976 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advanced to final round, losers to consolation round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Feb | Poland | POL | 7 – 4 | Romania | ROU | |
| Match #2 | 02 Feb | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 14 – 1 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #3 | 02 Feb | West Germany | FRG | 5 – 1 | Switzerland | SUI | |
| Match #4 | 03 Feb | Finland | FIN | 11 – 2 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #5 | 03 Feb | United States | USA | 8 – 4 | Yugoslavia | YUG | |
| Match #6 | 03 Feb | Soviet Union | URS | 16 – 3 | Austria | AUT |
| Date | 5 – 13 February 1976 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pool. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | ROU | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 23-15 | ||
| 2 | Austria | AUT | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 18-14 | ||
| 3 | Japan | JPN | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 20-18 | ||
| 4 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 22-19 | ||
| 5 | Switzerland | SUI | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 24-22 | ||
| 6 | Bulgaria | BUL | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 19-38 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Feb 14:00 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 6 – 4 | Switzerland | SUI | |
| Match #2 | 05 Feb 17:00 | Romania | ROU | 3 – 1 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #3 | 05 Feb 20:00 | Austria | AUT | 6 – 2 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #4 | 07 Feb 14:00 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 4 – 3 | Romania | ROU | |
| Match #5 | 07 Feb 17:00 | Switzerland | SUI | 8 – 3 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #6 | 07 Feb 20:00 | Austria | AUT | 3 – 2 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #7 | 09 Feb 14:00 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 8 – 5 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #8 | 09 Feb 17:00 | Japan | JPN | 6 – 4 | Switzerland | SUI | |
| Match #9 | 09 Feb 20:00 | Romania | ROU | 4 – 3 | Austria | AUT | |
| Match #10 | 11 Feb 14:00 | Romania | ROU | 9 – 4 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #11 | 11 Feb 17:00 | Japan | JPN | 4 – 3 | Yugoslavia | YUG | |
| Match #12 | 11 Feb 20:00 | Switzerland | SUI | 5 – 3 | Austria | AUT | |
| Match #13 | 13 Feb 14:00 | Japan | JPN | 7 – 5 | Bulgaria | BUL | |
| Match #14 | 13 Feb 17:00 | Romania | ROU | 4 – 3 | Switzerland | SUI | |
| Match #15 | 13 Feb 20:00 | Austria | AUT | 3 – 1 | Yugoslavia | YUG |
| Date | 6 – 14 February 1976 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pool. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union | URS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 40-11 | ||
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 17-10 | 9 | |
| 3 | West Germany | FRG | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 21-24 | ||
| 4 | Finland | FIN | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 19-18 | ||
| 5 | United States | USA | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15-21 | ||
| 6 | Poland | POL | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9-37 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Feb 13:00 | West Germany | FRG | 7 – 4 | Poland | POL | |
| Match #2 | 06 Feb 16:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 6 – 2 | United States | USA | |
| Match #3 | 06 Feb 20:00 | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 2 – 1 | Finland | FIN | |
| Match #4 | 08 Feb 13:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 16 – 1 | Poland | POL | |
| Match #5 | 08 Feb 16:00 | Finland | FIN | 5 – 3 | West Germany | FRG | |
| Match #6 | 08 Feb 20:00 | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 5 – 0 | United States | USA | |
| Match #7 | 10 Feb 13:00 | United States | USA | 5 – 4 | Finland | FIN | |
| Match #8 | 10 Feb 16:00 | Poland | POL | — | Czechoslovakia | TCH | |
| Match #9 | 10 Feb 20:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 7 – 3 | West Germany | FRG | |
| Match #10 | 12 Feb 13:00 | United States | USA | 7 – 2 | Poland | POL | |
| Match #11 | 12 Feb 16:00 | Czechoslovakia | TCH | 7 – 4 | West Germany | FRG | |
| Match #12 | 12 Feb 20:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 7 – 2 | Finland | FIN | |
| Match #13 | 14 Feb 13:00 | West Germany | FRG | 4 – 1 | United States | USA | |
| Match #14 | 14 Feb 16:00 | Finland | FIN | 7 – 1 | Poland | POL | |
| Match #15 | 14 Feb 20:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 4 – 3 | Czechoslovakia | TCH |