Dates 11–26 February 2006 | ||
Venues Torino Palasport Olimpico
Torino Esposizioni | ||
Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held at the Torino Palasport Olimpico and the Torino Esposizioni in Turin, Italy. The men's competition, held from 15 to 26 February, was won by Sweden, and the women's competition, held from 11 to 20 February, was won by Canada.
Contents
Men's competition
The format was changed from the version used in the 1998 and 2002 tournaments. This format was used in 1992 and 1994, the number of teams was reduced from 14 to 12 and the preliminary and final group stages were combined to form two six-team groups with the top four from each group advancing to the quarterfinals.
These changes had the following effects:
Qualification
Twelve places were allotted for the men's ice hockey tournament. The first eight were awarded to the top eight teams in the International Ice Hockey Federation ranking following the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. Those teams were:
- Canada
- Sweden
- Slovakia
- Czech Republic
- Finland
- United States
- Russia
- Germany
The teams that automatically qualified include the same "Super Six" teams that were automatically qualified for the final group stage in the two previous tournaments, plus new hockey power Slovakia, which in last years expanded "Super Six" to "Super Seven", by winning World Championship 2002, gaining medals on other tournaments and having 30+ NHL players in last years. Eighth team according to IIHF ranking was Germany. The ninth place was given to the host nation, Italy. The final three places were allotted through qualification tournaments in which Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Switzerland won places.
Preliminary round
Twelve participating teams were placed in two groups. After playing a round-robin, the top four teams in each group advanced to the Medal Round while the last two teams competed in the Consolation Round for the 9th to 12th places.
Group A
Preliminary round rankings for Group A:
A summary of the games played in Group A:
Group B
Preliminary round rankings for Group B:
A summary of the games played in Group B:
Allegations of Sweden throwing a game
Allegations have surfaced of Sweden throwing a game against Slovakia so the Swedes would face Switzerland instead of Canada or the Czech Republic. Shortly before the game, Sweden coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson was reported to have publicly contemplated tanking in order to avoid those teams, saying about Canada and the Czechs, "One is cholera, the other the plague." During the game itself, one reportedly suspect sequence came when Sweden had an extended five-on-three powerplay with five NHL stars on the ice—Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, Nicklas Lidström and Fredrik Modin—and failed to put a shot on net. Sports Illustrated writer Michael Farber would say about this particular powerplay, "If the Swedes had passed the puck any more, their next opponent would have been the Washington Generals." "[They] were even afraid to shoot!", Russian coach Vladimir Krikunov said.
As part of a subsequent interview about the championship over five years later, Forsberg was interpreted to insinuate that Sweden lost their preliminary round game against Slovakia on purpose, so as to draw Switzerland as their quarterfinal opponent, rather than Canada or the Czech Republic. Swedish forward Henrik Sedin, who played alongside Forsberg on the 2006 team denied the notion while adding that Forsberg's comments in the interview were misconstrued.
Leading goaltenders
Goaltenders with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.
Awards
Antero Niittymäki was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Teemu Selänne for best forward, and to Kenny Jönsson for best defenceman. The Media All Star Team consisted of Niittymäki, Nicklas Lidström, Kimmo Timonen, Teemu Selänne, Saku Koivu and Alexander Ovechkin.
Women's competition
The loss of the United States to Sweden in Semifinal 1 was one of the most important events in the history of international women's ice hockey. It was the first time the US team had lost in an international competition to a team other than Canada. In 2008 Finland duplicated the feat in the qualifying round, but 2006 is the only time someone else supplanted Canada or the USA in an olympic or world championship tournament.
Final rankings
- Canada
- Sweden
- United States
- Finland
- Germany
- Russia
- Switzerland
- Italy
Group A
Group A details
Group B
Group B details
Leading scorers
Hat trick scorers
Leading goaltenders
Goalies with 40% or more of their team's total minutes
Goalies with less than 40% of their team's total minutes
Shut-out posters
Awards
Tournament
Qualification
The top four teams from the International Ice Hockey Federation world rankings following the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships qualified automatically. These teams were Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden. Italy also gained a place as it was the host nation. Russia, Germany, and Switzerland qualified for the last three places through qualification tournaments.