Big Six (ice hockey)

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Not to be confused with Big 6 Hockey League.
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 is composed of the North American countries of Canada and the United States and four European countries: the Czech Republic, 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 the Czech Republic, 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]

Out of the 207 Ice Hockey World Championships medals awarded by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), only 21 have been won by teams outside the Big Six, and only six of those have been won since 1953 (four by Slovakia, two by Switzerland).[4] Of the 75 Olympic ice hockey medals awarded, only eight have not been won by a Big Six team.[5]

History[]

Main article: International Ice Hockey Federation § History

Results[]

Olympic Games Men's Ice Hockey Tournament[]

Main article: Ice hockey at the Olympic Games

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 will return to the Olympics and participate in 2022 tournament.[8] Later, in December 2021, NHL and NHL Players’ Association agreed to not participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics due to COVID-19 surge.[9]

Year  Canada  Czechoslovakia/
 Czech Republic 		 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 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[]

Main article: Ice Hockey World Championships
Winners of the Ice Hockey World Championships with number of wins.[n 4]
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
 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
 Czech Republic 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
 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
 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
 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

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[]

  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 ROC.
  4. ^ Note that medals won by the Soviet Union or CIS are credited to Russia, and those of Czechoslovakia are counted for the Czech Republic.
  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. ^ a b "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.
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