ABOVE : East Germany, in their contemporary preferred uniform consisting of blue and white shirts with blue pants, contest a match with host-nation Sweden at the 1970 IIHF World Championships in Stockholm.

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The German Democratic Republic, more commonly known as EAST GERMANY, only ever took part in one final-round ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games.

Thru 1964, the International Olympic Committee in their infinite wisdom had insisted that a “unifed” Germany send athletes to participate at the Olympic Games. This was impossible since the Federal Republic in the West and the Democratic Republic in the East did not formally recognize each other diplomatically. In the case of ice hockey, the East and West German national teams conducted head-to-head meetings to determine the Olympic representative.

The West Germans triumphed in all three ‘qualification’ series and, thus, it was not until 1968 that East Germany appeared in a final-round Olympic tournament.

The East Germans earned entry to the Olympic final-round at Grenoble with a 3-1 victory over Norway in a qualification contest in the French Alps two days prior to the official start of the 1968 Winter Games.

The East Germans proceeded to lose all seven games in the final round, however, including the all-important encounter for propaganda rights with the Federal Republic of the West on the tournament’s last day.

Perhaps in part due to the loss to their political rivals from West Germany in front of a world-wide audience, the government officials in the German Democratic Republic would soon make fateful decisions with respect to East German ice hockey at the Winter Olympic Games.

Action from the only Olympic ice hockey meeting ever between the two Germanys, East and West.

The East Germans occasionally wore red as as opposed to their customary blue when assigned the dark jerseys in international competition. 

Perhaps as a symbol of solidarity with their communist brethren from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic appeared in their alternate uniforms for the final day game with the Federal Republic of Germany at the Grenoble Games in 1968.

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Although the two sides had played several times prior to contest Olympic participation in addition to regular meetings at the annual International Ice Hockey Federation World Championshps, as in the case of soccer’s World Cup, there was only ever one match between East and West Germany at the Winter Olympics.

The two nations, who did not formally recognize each other’s existance politically, met on the last day of competition at the Winter Olympics in 1968.

Always a big deal to the boys down at the propaganda ministries competing for hearts and minds, the meeting in the French Alps took on added significance for both East and West as a battle to avoid the basement at the ice hockey tournament of the Grenoble Games.

Each team stepped onto the ice at LE STADE DE GLACE having lost their first six games of the 1968 Olympics. The West Germans had been outscored 37-9 while the East Germans racked up a deficit of 44 goals conceded versus eleven goals scored.

Momentum might have been on the side of East Germany, who had decisively defeated the Federal Republic 8-1 at the 1967 IIHF World Championships in Vienna.

It was the Federal Republic, however, who registered the only goal of the first period in Grenoble and built a 3-1 lead after two periods. The East Germans, in an effort to stimulate the squad, changed goaltenders for the third period. To no avail as it turned out; each team added another goal and West Germany, who held a 31-21 shot-on-goal advantage, skated off 4-2 winners.

LORENZ FUNK, GUSTAV HANIG, PETER LAX and LEONHARD WAITL were the West German goal-scorers — LOTHAR FUCHS and BERND HILLER replied for East Germany in the historic match.

WEST GERMANY, wearing white shirts and black pants, desperately defend against the attacking SOVIET UNION in their traditional all-red attire at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France.

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The photo at the top of the page best exhibits the crossed-flags of West Germany and the Olympic movement that adorned the shoulders of the Federal Republic’s jerseys at the 1968 Winter Games in France.

The national flag, with the Olympic rings inside, was also used for a crest emblem on the West German sweaters at Grenoble.

The national ice hockey team of EAST GERMANY earned the right to participate at both the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympic Games. On each occasion, the East German authorities declined to field a representing team. Above, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik on their final appearance at a major international event --- the A pool of the 1985 IIHF World Championships in Prague.

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The communist government of the German Democratic Republic never made any secret of its extreme desire for athletic success at the Olympic Games in full view of a world-wide audience.

As part of a conscious effort to use sport as a forum to promote political ideology, the East German officials were very much concerned with the total medal count and the overall medal standings at both the Summer as well as Winter Games.

Perhaps in part spurred on by the last place finish of their team at the 1968 Grenoble Games in France, it was decided in 1970 by the powers that be in East Germany to de-emphasize the discipline of ice hockey.

The entire league structure of East German domestic hockey was radically altered with just TWO teams — Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Weisswasser — being left to contest the elite level championship continuously amongst themselves.

Seven team were placed in the “first” division with another sixteen clubs arranged in two second division groups.

Furthermore, many players and coaches were re-assigned to either the figure or speed skating disciplines.

Thereafter, significantly, only the two elite Dynamo clubs were permitted to operate youth ice hockey development programs.

The official explanation for the gutting of East German ice hockey manifested itself in a two-pronged attack on the sport. The first reason cited for the de-funding of ice hockey was the East Germans’ supposed unrealistic chances of winning medals at the Winter Olympic Games.

What’s more, the line of thinking went, the sport of ice hockey had many games but generated just one possible medal at the Olympics whereas speed skating, in contrast, had several different events with multiple medals at stake for the overall total standings.

And, an ice hockey team required 18 players in order to produce just one medal whereas, for example, more than one East German speed skater could potentially medal in the same event.

The second justification for the intentional crippling of what was a developing ice hockey program was economics.

Ice hockey was determined to be too expensive to maintain and grow. Most of the East Germans’ equipment was imported since attempts at domestic manufacturing had failed. In addition, it was decided that more rinks would be required in the country to be expand the game nationally and remain competitive on the world stage.

Plus, in direct cost analysis, a far-greater amount of money was required to equip an individual hockey player as compared to a speed skater, plain and simple.

After its radical re-organzation of the ice hockey program, the German Democratic Republic continued to send teams to the annual IIHF World Championships and, amazingly enough, managed to make several appearances at the A pool tournament. 

But, after 1970, East Germany enacted a self-imposed boycott of the Winter Olympic Games until its ending days.

VSEVOLOD BOBROV (9) scored one goal in the USSR's 4-0 victory over the United States at the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

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VSEVOLOD BOBROV was the first great goal-scorer in the history of Soviet ice hockey.

Bobrov was also, like his contemporary, the Czechoslovak scoring star VLASTIMIL BUBNIK, a two-sport athlete who excelled in soccer, as well.

In fact, Bobrov began his athletic career as a soccer player with the army club CSKA Moscow after serving in the Soviet military during World War II. The 22-year-old led the Soviet league with 24 goals for CSKA during the 1945 season and was also invited to join Dynamo Moscow for their famous tour of Great Britain in November of that year. Bobrov scored six goals on the tour as Dynamo played top British clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Glasgow Rangers.

Bobrov began playing hockey, as well, for CSKA Moscow a year later.

In 1950, Bobrov had miraculously escaped death. The plane carrying the VVS MVO Moscow hockey team, the club of the Soviet air force, crashed on approach to the airport at Sverdlovsk in adverse weather and killed everyone on board. Bobrov, who missed the flight, later claimed his alarm clock malfunctioned and, therefore, saved his life.

Bobrov actually made his debut at the Olympics with the Soviet national soccer team at the Summer Games of Helsinki in 1952. Now 29, Bobrov scored five goals in three games at Helsinki. Bobrov notched a hat trick in the famous 5-5 draw with Yugoslavia; the Soviets by four goals with just seventeen minutes left before storming back to tie the game.

Bobrov was a particularly lethal goal-scorer in ice hockey, however, and totaled an amazing 250 goals in just 130 Soviet league games for his career.

Bobrov added another 94 goals in 59 games for the USSR national team.

At the 1956 Winter Olympic Games at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bobrov scored nine goals in seven games as the Soviet Union captured their first-ever gold medal in ice hockey. Bobrov’s goal total tied for the tournament lead with Canada’s GERARD THEBERGE.

In the Soviets’ second game in Italian Alps, a 10-3 victory over Switzerland, Bobrov bagged four goals in all. This mark was equaled twenty years later by VLADIMIR SHADRIN at Innsbruck in the qualification game against the host nation.

But never beaten.

The very first Olympic champion ice hockey squad from the USSR

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The Soviet Union sent its first ever Olympic team to the Winter Games at Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Alps in 1956.

The New York Times would write at the conclusion of the games, “There is one area where the Russians have shown results bordering on the impossible and that area is ice hockey.”

The USSR won all seven of their games and outscored their opposition 40 goals to nine on the way to their historic first set of Olympic gold medals.

WORLD HOCKEY presents a 2:31 clip featuring the Soviets in action against both the United States and Canada in their final two games :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kip6pMfIn3o

In the first minute of the clip, the Soviets skate against white-shirted Canada on the final day. The USSR prevailed 2-0, largely on the strength of the stocking-capped NIKOLAI PUCHKOV in goal.

Following, in color, are highlights from the Soviet Union’s 4-0 win over the United States. The big hit on Soviet star VSEVOLOD BOBROV (9) at the 1:08 mark is worth the look.

The last minute or so, again in color, returns to the USSR – Canada match.

At the 1:57 mark, Dynamo Moscow’s VALENTIN KUZIN (12) seals Canada’s fate with the second Soviet goal, which comes just 37 seconds into the third period of play.

LUDEK BUKAC (right) with his son, LUDEK JR. (left); the father and son have operated a highly successful youth hockey school in the Czech Republic since 1991.

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LUDEK BUKAC’s charges nearly collected Canada’s scalp in the quarterfinals at the 1992 Winter Olympic in France. In the historic shoot-out after overtime, the Germans literally fell inches short. Nevertheless, the Czechoslovak coach made Olympic history at the Albertville Games, anyway.

Bukac became the first man to coach the ice hockey teams of three different countries at the Winter Olympics. The former international led his native Czechoslovakia to the silver medal at Sarajevo in 1984 and guided Austria at the Calgary Games four years later. Bukac, who was behind the bench at two Olympics for Germany, was later the national team coach of the Czech Republic.  

Bukac never played for Czechoslovakia at the Winter Games but did skate at the IIHF World Championships in 1961 and 1963.

Upon retirement as a player, Bukac went into coaching and served as an assistant for the Oklahoma City Blazers of the old Central Hockey League for the 1965-66 season; the Blazers were a farm club for the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins.

The next year, the former Sparta Prague forward found himself in the Soviet Union on the staff of all-powerful army club, CSKA Moscow. Bukac then returned home and spent the next thirteen seasons working in the Czechoslovak elite league for Sparta Prague, VSZ Kosice and Motor Ceske Budejovice.

Bukac was appointed the coach of Czechoslovakia’s national team to start the 1980-81 campaign after serving as an assistant for the squad at the Lake Placid Games the previous winter. The well-traveled coach can claim two titles at the IIHF World Champinships on his resume — one for Czechoslovakia in 1985 and another for the Czech Republic in 1996.

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LUDEK BUKAC’s coaching record at major international events :

• 35 won 20 lost 11 tied — Czechoslovakia — (81-86)
• 15 won 15 lost   4 tied — Austria — (87-91)
• 16 won 16 lost   1 tied — Germany — (92-94)
• 11 won   4 lost   1 tied — Czech Republic — (95-96)

Germany's PETER DRAISAITL (20) tangles with FABIAN JOSEPH (8) of Canada at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France. Canada narrowly defeated Germany after overtime and a penalty-shot shootout.

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The nation of GERMANY was occupied by the conquering Allied armies and, ultimately, split in two as a result of the Second World War.

In November of 1989, the symbolic fall of the BERLIN WALL led directly to the destruction of the German Democratic Republic. This, in turn, resulted in the first entry of a true unified German team at the 1992 Winter Olympics for the first time in 56 years.

Ironically, the newly unified Germans under the Czechoslovak coach LUDEK BUKAC at the Albertville Games contained no players from the former East German national team, however.

East Germany had last appeared at the A Pool of the IIHF World Championships in 1985 at Prague. Long prior to that, the sport of ice hockey had been de-emphasized and de-funded by officials in the GDR in favor of other athletics. The best of example of this policy was the East German elite league itself, which contained exactly two teams.

In the spring of 1991, exactly two GDR national team players — goalie RENE BIELKE and forward MARIO NASTER — were picked to represent the newly re-unified Germany at the annual IIHF World Championships.

Only five former East German national team players ever went on to appear for re-united Germany at a major international event.

Two former GDR internationals, defenseman TORSTEN KIENASS and JORG HANDRICK, would wear the colors for Germany at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Canada's JOE JUNEAU (9) does not appear to be too excited about the set of silver medals, one of which the Boston Bruins' draft pick is due at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France.

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It had been forty years since Canada had last captured the set of gold medals for ice hockey at the Winter Olympics. But the 1992 Albertville Games offered renewed hope for the historical home of the sport. After all, the former Soviet Union had collapsed…

… and the overwhelming majority of its elite hockey players had already found gainful employment in the West, many with National Hockey League clubs.

CANADA, meanwhile, had put together a formidable squad which included veterans with considerable NHL experience such as defenseman CURT GILES as well as forwards DAVE HANNAN and DAVE TIPPETT.

SEAN BURKE, Canada’s goaltender at Calgary in 1988, was involved in a contract dispute with the New Jersey Devils and, thus, made himself available for the Olympic cause the 1991-92 season.

Finally, the number one overall selection of the 1991 National Hockey League, ERIC LINDROS, declared he would not sign for the Quebec Nordiques and instead decided to don the sweater for the national team to be competing in France that winter.

Indeed, the Canadians enjoyed a good run at the Albertville Games; powered on offense by Boston Bruins draft pick JOE JUNEAU (6 go 9 as, 15 pts) as well as Lindros (5 go 6 as, 11 pts), Canada lost only once in reaching the Gold Medal Match.

Unfortunately for the Canucks, they were paired with the Unified Team in the final, the same team who had defeated Canada previously.

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A two-time All-America at Renssaler Polytechnical Institute and 1988 4th round choice of the Boston Bruins (# 81 overall), it was JOE JUNEAU who topped the point-scoring chart at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games.

The Unified Team's EVGENY DAVYDOV, credited with being the first player off the bench at the infamous Piestany Punch-Up in 1987, waves to the crowd at the 1992 Winter Olympics in France. Three Unified Team players --- Davydov, Igor Kravchuk and Dmitri Mironov --- joined NHL clubs immediately after the Albertville Games. 20 of 23 Unified Team members ultimately skated in the National Hockey League.

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A referendum for the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was held in March of 1991 with nine of fifteen republics voting in favor of such. Before the New Union Treaty could be signed, however, hardline Communist Party members in the government and KGB staged an attempt to take power so as to reverse the reforms of Soviet leader MIKHAIL GORBACHEV in August. That same month, the republics of Estonia and Latvia declared their independence (joining Lithuania, who had done so in 1990).

On December 8, 1991, the presidents of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the BELAVEZHA ACCORDS. The Accords formally dissolved the Soviet Union and announced the COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES would take its place.

On December 21, 1991, delegates from all the former Soviet republics with the exception of Georgia signed the ALMA-ATA PROTOCOL, which basically confirmed the Belavezha Accords and addressed practical matters with respect to the dismemberment and dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

On Christmas Day of 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR, declared the office no longer existed and then transferred all governing power to the president of Russia, BORIS YELTSIN.

Exactly one day later, the highest governmental body of the USSR, the SUPREME SOVIET, officially dissolved itself. It is this date that historians typically mark as the formal end of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a political state. 

Many of the former Soviet Union’s elite had already departed the disintegrating USSR for lucrative contracts with Western clubs long before the official end came. At the time of the Calgary Games four years previously, it had been projected that junior national team stars ALEXANDER MOGILNY, SERGEI FEDOROV and PAVEL BURE would constitute the next great troika to carry the Soviet Union in the 1990s. By the arrival of the Albertville Games, all three were already lacing their skates in the National Hockey League.

In the off-season of 1989, Soviet hockey officials began to allow sizeable numbers of skaters to head West. Over the course of the next two seasons, 34 USSR national team players alone left the Soviet Union. To start the 1991-92 campaign, another 23 national team players took off including the likes of VALERY KAMENSKY, VLADIMIR KONSTANTINOV and VYACHESLAV KOZLOV.

Long-time Soviet national team coach VIKTOR TIKHONOV still had enough talent left over in Feburary of 1992 to put together a typically-strong side, who competed under the moniker of ‘UNIFIED TEAM’ at Albertville.

Only the CCCP logo was in absentia. The rest — the lipstick-red uniforms, the authoritarian coach as well as the high-calibre of skill — was still there. As were the results on the scoreboard.

Old foe Czechoslovakia, at their final Olympic tournament as well, tripped the Unified Team 4-3 in the round-robin. Once the quarterfinal stage (appearing at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time ever) arrived, however, there was little doubt who the champion squad were. The Unified Team’s 3-1 victory over Canada in the first official Gold Medal Match simply certified such convictions.