Big Six (ice hockey)

Last updated September 21, 2024

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 is 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]

As of 2024, out of the 261 Ice Hockey World Championships medals awarded by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), 232 have been won by the Big Six teams. Since 1954, only nine medals have been won by teams outside the Big Six (four by Slovakia, three 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.

Year	Canada	Czechoslovakia/ Czechia	Finland	Soviet Union/ CIS/ Russia	Sweden	United States
1920	1	3	–	–	4	2
1924	1	5	–	–	4	2
1928	1	5	–	–	2	–
1932	1	–	–	–	–	2
1936	2	4	–	–	5	3
1948	1	2	–	–	4	4, DQ
1952	1	4	7	–	3	2
1956	3	5	–	1	4	2
1960	2	4	7	3	5	1
1964	4	3	6	1	2	5
1968	3	2	5	1	4	6
1972	–	3	5	1	4	2
1976	–	2	4	1	–	5
1980	6	5	4	2	3	1
1984	4	2	6	1	3	7
1988	4	6	2	1	3	7
1992	2	3	7	1^{[n 1]}	5	4
1994	2	5	3	4	1	8
1998	4	1	3	2	5	6
2002	1	7	6	3	5	2
2006	7	3	2	4	1	8
2010	1	7	3	6	5	2
2014	1	6	3	5	2	4
2018	3	4	6	1^{[n 2]}	5	7
2022	6	9	1	2^{[n 3]}	4	5

IIHF Men's World Championships

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
Canada	4	1	3	2	1	6	4	4	5	6	1	1	2	4	1	2	2	7	5	5	5	5	1	1	2	4	2	1	2	1	4
Czechia	3	7	4	1	3	3	1	1	1	5	4	5	1	2	7	5	6	1	3	3	7	4	4	5	7	7	4	7	3	8	1
Finland	7	2	1	5	5	2	2	3	2	4	5	6	7	3	2	3	5	6	1	4	4	2	6	2	4	5	1	2	1	7	8
Russia	1	5	5	4	4	5	5	11	6	2	7	10	3	5	3	1	1	2	4	1	6	1	2	3	3	6	3	5	–	–	–
Sweden	2	3	2	6	2	1	3	7	3	3	2	2	4	1	4	4	3	3	2	6	1	3	5	6	1	1	5	9	6	6	3
United States	6	4	6	3	6	12	6	5	4	7	13	3	6	7	5	6	4	13	8	7	3	6	3	4	5	3	7	3	4	4	5

Only the tournaments since the formation of the modern Czech Republic team are shown above.
The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]

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

Year	Canada	Czechoslovakia	Finland	Soviet Union	Sweden	United States
1976	1	2	6	3	4	5
1981	2	3 (tie)	6	1	5	3 (tie)
1984	1	5	–	3 (tie)	2	3 (tie)
1987	1	3 (tie)	6	2	3 (tie)	5
1991	1	6	3 (tie)	5	3 (tie)	2

World Cup of Hockey

Year	Canada	Czech Republic	Finland	Russia	Sweden	United States
1996	2	7 (tie)	5 (tie)	3 (tie)	3 (tie)	1
2004	1	3 (tie)	2	6	5	3 (tie)
2016 ^{[n 5]}	1	6	8	4	3	7

Notes

↑ The CIS team participated at the 1992 Winter Olympics as part of the Unified Team.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ "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.
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.
↑ "World Cup of Hockey set to return in 2016". NHL.com. January 24, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
↑ "Past medalists". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
↑ "Ice hockey and Olympism" (PDF). Olympic Review. International Olympic Committee. 1984.
↑ Benjamin, Daniel (27 July 1992). "Traditions Pro Vs. Amateur". Time . Archived from the original on September 2, 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
↑ 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.
↑ "NHL players will participate in 2022 Beijing Olympics". nhl.com. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
↑ "NHL Players Won't Participate in 2022 Olympics Amid COVID-19 Surge". si.com. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
↑ Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
↑ Pelletier, Joe; Houda, Patrick (2003). The World Cup of Hockey. Toronto: Warwick Publishing. ISBN 1-894622-17-0.

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[10] The CIS team participated at the 1992 Winter Olympics as part of the Unified Team.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.

[13] 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.

[16] 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.

[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.

[cbc-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.

[Benjamin,_Daniel-6] Benjamin, Daniel (27 July 1992). "Traditions Pro Vs. Amateur". Time . Archived from the original on September 2, 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.

[schantz-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.

[14] Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.

[15] Pelletier, Joe; Houda, Patrick (2003). The World Cup of Hockey. Toronto: Warwick Publishing. ISBN 1-894622-17-0.

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