Big Six (ice hockey)

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The IIHF World Ranking depicts the prominence of the Big Six IIHF World Ice Hockey Ranking graph from 2003.png
The IIHF World Ranking depicts the prominence of the Big Six

In men's international ice hockey, the Big Six is a group comprising the six national teams that have dominated play throughout the history of international ice hockey, especially since the 1950s. It has traditionally been composed of the North American countries of Canada and the United States and four European countries: Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden. [1] [2] During the Cold War and for two years afterwards, the Soviet Union/CIS and Czechoslovakia held the places of Russia and Czechia, respectively, within the group. The four European members are sometimes referred to as the "European Big Four" or "Big Four", especially to distinguish them from the North American teams. [3]

Contents

As of 2025, out of the 264 Ice Hockey World Championships medals awarded by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), 234 have been won by the Big Six teams. Since 1954, only ten medals have been won by teams outside the Big Six (four by Slovakia, four by Switzerland, and one each by Germany and Latvia). [4] Of the 75 Olympic ice hockey medals awarded, 67 have been won by a Big Six team. [5]

History

Results

Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes. However, the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. [6] In 1986, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to allow professional athletes to compete in the Olympic Games starting in 1988. The National Hockey League (NHL) was initially reluctant to allow its players to compete because the Olympics are held in the middle of the NHL season, and the league would have to halt play if many of its players participated. Eventually, NHL players were admitted starting in 1998. [7] However, the NHL again refused to release its players in 2018, citing financial reasons. On September 3, 2021, NHL announced that its players would return to the Olympics and participate in the 2022 tournament. [8] Later, in December 2021, the NHL and NHL Players' Association withdrew from the 2022 Winter Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic surge. [9] The league will participate in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics after an agreement was reached in 2024.

YearFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia/
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechia
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union/
Flag of the CIS.svg  CIS/
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1920 1342
1924 1542
1928 152
1932 12
1936 2453
1948 1244, DQ
1952 14732
1956 35142
1960 247351
1964 436125
1968 325146
1972 35142
1976 2415
1980 654231
1984 426137
1988 462137
1992 2371 [n 1] 54
1994 253418
1998 413256
2002 176352
2006 732418
2010 173652
2014 163524
2018 3461 [n 2] 57
2022 6912 [n 3] 45

IIHF Men's World Championships

Winners of the Ice Hockey World Championships with the number of titles by country.
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1
2-4
5-9
10-24
25+ Map of winners of the Ice Hockey World Championships.svg
Winners of the Ice Hockey World Championships with the number of titles by country.
Nation 93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
21
22
23
24
25
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 41321644561124122755551124212145
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechia 37413311154512756133744577473816
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 72155223245673235614426245121787
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 155445511627103531124161233635
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 23262137332241443326135611596633
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 64636126547133675641387363453734451

Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey

The Canada Cup served as an ice hockey world championship that was governed by National Hockey League (NHL) rules rather than IIHF rules, and was open to professionals so that NHL players could participate. The 1976 Canada Cup was, therefore, the first time that the best players from the leading ice hockey countries were able to face each other. The tournament was held five times between 1976 and 1991. Only one team outside of the Big Six, West Germany, was ever allowed to compete in the Canada Cup; this occurred in 1984 when West Germany replaced Finland because it had finished higher in the IIHF World Championship. [11]

The World Cup of Hockey replaced the Canada Cup in 1996. It has been held three times so far (1996, 2004, and 2016), though its future is uncertain. [2] Eight teams compete at the World Cup: Germany and Slovakia participated in the first two editions, whereas Team Europe, made up of European players whose countries did not have their own team in the event and Team North America, composed of players 23 years old and younger from Canada and the United States, played in 2016.

Canada Cup

YearFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1976 126345
1981 23 (tie)6153 (tie)
1984 153 (tie)23 (tie)
1987 13 (tie)623 (tie)5
1991 163 (tie)53 (tie)2

World Cup of Hockey

YearFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1996 27 (tie)5 (tie)3 (tie)3 (tie)1
2004 13 (tie)2653 (tie)
2016 [n 5] 168437

Notes

  1. The CIS team participated at the 1992 Winter Olympics as part of the Unified Team.
  2. Russia was disqualified from being represented in the tournament due to the Russian doping scandal. However, the Russian national team was allowed to play in the tournament under the Olympic flag and the moniker Olympic Athletes from Russia.
  3. Russia was disqualified from being represented in the tournament due to the Russian doping scandal. However, the Russian national team was allowed to play in the tournament under the Russian Olympic Committee flag and the moniker Russian Olympic Committee.
  4. Note that medals won by the Soviet Union or CIS are credited to Russia, the official successor state of the USSR, and those of Czechoslovakia are counted for the Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia's successor state per the IIHF.
  5. Note that the rankings include the final ranking of two non-national teams that participated in the tournament: Team North America and Team Europe. Were these teams not to be factored in to the final ranking, Sweden would have placed 2nd, Russia 3rd, the Czech Republic 4th, the United States 5th, and Finland 6th.

References

  1. "the Big Six hockey powers -- the United States, Canada, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland" "N.H.L. and Its Teams Send Players to Bench". New York Times. February 2002. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Figuring out the seventh and eighth teams beyond the so-called big six was the biggest hurdle to overcome in planning this event." "NHL announces World Cup of Hockey for 2016". The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. January 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  3. "World Cup of Hockey set to return in 2016". NHL.com. January 24, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. "Past medalists". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  5. "Ice hockey and Olympism" (PDF). Olympic Review. International Olympic Committee. 1984.
  6. Benjamin, Daniel (27 July 1992). "Traditions Pro Vs. Amateur". Time . Archived from the original on September 2, 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  7. Schantz, Otto. "The Olympic Ideal and the Winter Games Attitudes Towards the Olympic Winter Games in Olympic Discourses—from Coubertin to Samaranch" (PDF). Comité International Pierre De Coubertin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  8. "NHL players will participate in 2022 Beijing Olympics". nhl.com. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  9. "NHL Players Won't Participate in 2022 Olympics Amid COVID-19 Surge". si.com. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  10. Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  11. Pelletier, Joe; Houda, Patrick (2003). The World Cup of Hockey. Toronto: Warwick Publishing. ISBN   1-894622-17-0.