‘Very Correct Adversaries’: The Cold War on Ice from 1947 to the Squaw Valley Olympics

Abstract

This article considers international ice hockey from 1947 through the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960. International hockey in these years dramatised important Cold War issues and offered useful insight into interaction among Americans, Canadians, Russians and Czechoslovaks. National programmes and styles of play reflected their nation states; hockey served simultaneously as both cultural diplomacy and psychological warfare. Czechoslovakia's powerhouse programme was purged for political reasons, while Prague officials tried to use Soviet hockey success to claim legitimacy for communism. The Soviets' communist-influenced ‘collective hockey’ achieved stunning success: the USSR national team started playing only in 1947 but was competitive with the world's best amateurs by 1954. Rules governing ‘amateurism’ were susceptible to manipulation, especially by communist regimes, further aiding Soviet progress. Canada remained the strongest power, but many of its best players were openly professional, hindering its efforts to stay on top. In 1948, US hockey demonstrated the messiness of an open society when two teams arrived in St Moritz claiming to represent the USA. After that, though, American players compiled a record in 1952, 1956 and 1960 that showed that the USA – not Canada, not the USSR – was the strongest nation in Olympic hockey.

Keywords::

• Cold War
• ice hockey
• Olympics
• world championships
• politics

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge research funding from Fulbright Canada, the University of Notre Dame and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts (ISLA) at Notre Dame that helped make this article possible. In addition, he would like to acknowledge the encouragement and assistance he has received from Heather Dichter, Randall Germain, Jack Healy, Jim Hershberg, Andy Holman, Linda Przybyszewski, Leo Ribuffo, Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu, Jeremi Suri and Chris Young.

Notes

^1. The IIHF also has been known by the French name, Ligue Intenationale de Hockey sur Glace. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, this article refers to it as the IIHF. Its big five in the 1950s were Canada, the USA, the Soviet Union, Sweden and Czechoslovakia. The IIHF hosted world championships annually; prior to 1972 in Olympic years the Olympics doubled as the world tournament.

^2. Foreign Despatch No. 479, AmEmbassy, Prague to Department of State, April 3, 1959, Record Group [RG] 59, General Records of the Department of State, 1955–1959 Central Decimal file, box 4062, file 800.453/4-359, U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD (hereinafter “USNA”).

^3. Foreign Despatch No. 479, AmEmbassy, Prague to Department of State, April 3, 1959.

^4. Foreign Despatch No. 479, AmEmbassy, Prague to Department of State, April 3, 1959.

^5. All Olympic and world tournament standings in this article found in Szemberg and Podnieks, World of Hockey, 206–222.

^6. Some recent or particularly influential examples of the growing literature on sport, the Cold War and international relations relevant to this study include Prozumenshchikov, “Sports as a Mirror”; Numerato, “Between Small Everyday Practices”; and Wagg and Andrews, East Plays West. Although focusing on a period before the Cold War, Keys, features the Soviet system in Globalizing Sport.

^7. Riordan, some of whose works are cited below, published early influential scholarship in English on Soviet sports. Edelman, with Serious Fun and Spartak Moscow, is another major scholar of Soviet sport publishing in English. Recent, relevant scholarship on Soviet sport also includes Parks, “Verbal Gymnastics.”

^8. Among scholarship specifically focused on the intersection of ice hockey and international relations during the Cold War are Jokisipilä, “Maple Leaf, Hammer and Sickle”; Cantleton, “Revisiting the Introduction”; Stark, “The Pioneer, The Pal”; Macintosh and Greenhorn, “Hockey Diplomacy and Canadian”; Soares, “Cold War, Hot Ice”; and Soares, “Our Way of Life.”

^9. Prior to 1949, only the USA (1933) and Great Britain (1936) had beaten out a Canadian team to win a world title.

^10.MacDonald, “A Colossal Embroglio,” 44.

^11. Daniel J. Ferris to Svenska Ishockeyfoerbundet, December 15, 1947, Avery Brundage Collection, Record Series 26/20/37, University of Illinois Archive, Urbana-Champaign, IL (hereinafter ABC), box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^12. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, August 26, 1947, ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^13. For more on Brundage, see Guttmann, The Games Must Go On; Senn, Power, Politics and the Olympic.

^14. Avery Brundage to James R. Sloane, December 30, 1947; J. Sigfrid Edstrom to Members of the Executive Commission of the IOC, n.d., attached to J. Sigfrid Edstrom to Avery Brundage, January 8, 1948; ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^15. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, October 15, 1947; Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, November 15, 1947; and Avery Brundage to Members of the USOC, December 30, 1947; all in ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^16. Text of resolution included in Asa S. Bushnell to Jean Weymann, December 3, 1947, ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^17. Avery Brundage to M.C. Nater, January 7, 1948, ABC, box 156, file: Ice Hockey Problem.

^18. For some references to the AHA as an “outlaw” group, see Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, October 15, 1947; Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 27, 1947; Avery Brundage to Members of the USOC, December 30, 1947; and William May Garland to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 31, 1947; all in ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949. The United States Olympic specifically referred to the AHA squad as an “outlaw team” in a letter the IOC. USOC to IOC, January 9, 1948, ABC, box 156, file: Ice Hockey Problem.

^19. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 27, 1947.

^20. Daniel J. Ferris to Svenska Ishockeyfoerbundet, December 15, 1947.

^21. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 27, 1947.

^22. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 14, 1947, ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^23. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, October 15, 1947.

^24. Avery Brundage to J. Sigfrid Edstrom, December 27, 1947.

^25. J. Sigfrid Edstrom to Avery Brundage, November 10, 1947, ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^26. Telegram, Avery Brundage to Sigfrid Edstrom, December 14, 1947, ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey – Special File 1946–1949.

^27. Edstrom told Brundage bluntly, ‘If there is no Ice Hockey there can be no Winter Games’. J. Sigfrid Edstrom to Avery Brundage, November 10, 1947.

^28.MacDonald, “A Colossal Embroglio,” 50, 49.

^29. Memorandum, “The Ice Hockey Controversy at St. Moritz,” March 1, 1948, found in ABC, box 236, file: Ice Hockey Special File.

^30.MacDonald, “A Colossal Embroglio,” 51–3; Bushnell, “An Emergency Assignment.”

^31.Lentz and Bushnell, United States 1960 Olympic, 375.

^32.Parks, “Verbal Gymnastics.”

^33. Material in this and the next paragraph is based on a reading of: “Interim Report on Minor Amateur Hockey in Canada,” RG 29, National Health and Welfare, Vol. 2076, file: Interim and Status Reports, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario (hereinafter LAC); Tarasov, Road to Olympus; Riordan, Sport in Soviet Society; Brokhin, The Big Red Machine; Baumann, “The Central Army Sports Club”; Edelman, Serious Fun; and Edelman, Spartak Moscow.

^34. Revelations in the perestroika era demonstrated just how limited recreational opportunities were for Soviet citizens despite the propaganda. Riordan, “Playing to New Rules.”

^35. Telegram No. 386, Praha to Secretary of State, March 17, 1950, 849.4537/3-1750, State Department Central Decimal Files, 1950–1954, RG 59, box 4942, USNA.

^36.Soares, “Cold War, Hot Ice,” 210–11.

^37. Telegram No. 386, Praha to Secretary of State, March 17, 1950; Telegram No. 221, Praha to Secretary of State, October 5, 1950, 849.4537/10-550; Telegram No. 226, Praha to Secretary of State, October 6, 1950, 849.4537/10-650; Telegram No. 238, Praha to Secretary of State, October 10, 1950, 849.4537/10-1050; Telegram No. 241, Praha to Secretary of State, October 11, 1950, 849.4537/10-1150; all in State Department Central Decimal Files, 1950–1954, RG 59, box 4942, USNA. The dramatic trail of documents in box 4942 trail suddenly goes dry. In conversations with National Archive personnel in June 2011, the author was informed that additional documents or files referenced in this file apparently are no longer extant. Also see Velinger and Bock, “Czechs in History”; “Worse Wrong Done to in Czechoslovak Hockey Fifty Years Ago,” CTK Czech News Agency, March 10, 2000 (LexisNexis Academic Universe (hereinafter ‘Lexis’)).

^38. Velinger and Bock, “Czechs in History”; “Worst Wrong Done to in Czechoslovak Hockey Fifty Years Ago,” CTK Czech News Agency, March 10, 2000.

^39. See Memorandum attached to Numbered Letter No. 193, Canadian Legation, Prague, to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, March 24, 1954, RG 25, External Affairs, Vol. 8203, file 8137-D-40, part: 1.1, file title: World Hockey Championships – Canadian participation.

^40. Translation of anonymous letter attached to Numbered Letter No. 145, Canadian Legation, Prague, to The Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, March 3, 1955, RG25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC; and Foreign Despatch No. 479, AmEmbassy, Prague to Department of State, April 3, 1959.

^41.Radzinsky, Stalin, 543.

^42.Edelman, Spartak Moscow, 157.

^43.Radzinsky, Stalin, 543.

^44. Igor Marinov, “The Air Force Hockey Team Tragedy,” Moscow News, March 5, 1993, 5 (Lexis).

^45. Kevin Sherrington, “Olympic Games: Hockey: 42 Years Later, There Is talk of Hockey Tragedy,” Ottawa Citizen, February 11, 1992, B2; “Russia's Hockey Hall of Fame,” Moscow Times, March 1, 1997 (both Lexis).

^46.Tarasov, Road to Olympus, 36.

^47. This paragraph is based on a reading of Tarasov, Road to Olympus; Baumann, “The Central Army Sports Club”; and Edelman, Serious Fun.

^48.Official Report, VII Olympic Winter Games, Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956. Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, n.d., 682.

^49.Orr, The Story of Hockey, 71–4.

^50.Official Report, VII Olympic, 682.

^51. Velinger and Bock, “Czechs in History.”

^52. “IIHF European Championships,” Accessed February 26, 2013, http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/men.html

^53. Foreign Despatch No. 479, AmEmbassy, Prague to Department of State, April 3, 1959.

^54. Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Canadian Legation, Prague to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, February 23, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.1, file title: World Hockey Championships – Canadian participation, LAC.

^55. Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Canadian Legation, Prague to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, February 23, 1955.

^56. Telegram No. 298, Prague to Secretary of State, March 4, 1955, 849.453/3-455, U.S. State Department Central Decimal Files, RG 59, Czechoslovakia, 1955–1959, Microfilm No. C0037, Roll 7, USNA; Numbered Letter No. 145, Canadian Legation, Prague, to The Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, Ottawa, March 3, 1955.

^57. Desptach No. 169, Charge d'Affaires a.i., Prague, to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, March 7, 1954, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.1, LAC.

^58.Lechenperg, Olympic Games 1960, 5.

^59. The Swedes competed at Moscow while many democracies boycotted in 1957 and participated in the 1962 world championships in the USA that were boycotted by communist nations.

^60. Quoted in “CAHA Won't Put Team in Moscow for Hockey Series,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), November 15, 1956, 37 (all Globe and Mail via ProQuest Historical Newspapers).

^61. Ibid.

^62. G.S. Dudley to L.B. Pearson, September 28, 1956; L.B. Pearson to J.J. McCann, October 9, 1956; L.B. Pearson to Walter E. Harris, October 9, 1956; L.B. Pearson to G.S. Dudley, October 9, 1956; G.S. Dudley to L.B. Pearson, October 19, 1956; L.B. Pearson to G.S. Dudley, October 23, 1956; Minister of National Revenue to L.B. Pearson, October 19, 1956; and Minister of Finance to L.B. Pearson, October 22, 1956; all in RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^63. L.B. Pearson to G.S. Dudley, October 31, 1956, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^64. G.S. Dudley to L.B. Pearson, November 6, 1956, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^65. “Swiss Boycott Reds,” Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1956, sec. A, 4 (ProQuest).

^66. Joseph C. Nichols, “Wild Bill Stewart's U.S. Sextet Hopes Tame Its Rivals,” New York Times, February 1, 1957, 39 (ProQuest).

^67. “Russians Voice Surprise at Decision of U.S. Hockey to Cancel Visit; U.S. Denies Imposing Barrier,” New York Times, February 17, 1957.

^68. Ibid.

^69. “College Rivals Tie, 3-3, But Big Number Is 74,554,” New York Times, October 7, 2001, 458 (ProQuest).

^70. Numbered Letter no. 62, Canadian Legation, Prague, to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, January 30, 1956, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^71. Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Canadian Legation, Prague to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, February 23, 1955.

^72. Message No. 196, Secretary of State for External Affairs to The High Commissioner for Canada, London, February 3, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.1, LAC.

^73. Numbered Letter No. 374 from the Canadian Embassy, Bonn, to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, April 28, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^74. Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Canadian Legation, Prague to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, February 23, 1955.

^75. The regulation Canadian ice surface was 200 feet long by 85 feet wide; the international surface was 200 feet by 100.

^76. Memorandum, European Division to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, February 1, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.1, LAC.

^77. “Press Comment on the Penticton V's Participation in the World Hockey Championship Series, Germany, 1955,” attached to “Public Relations Aspects of the Canadian Participation in World Hockey Championships of 1955”, May 5, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^78. “Public Relations Aspects of the Canadian Participation in World Hockey Championships of 1955.”

^79. Despatch No. 92, Canadian Minister, Stockholm, to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, March 10, 1954, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.1, LAC.

^80. Maurice Wallace to Lester Pearson, August 4, 1956; Herbert W. Herridge to Paul Martin, August 14, 1956; Lester Pearson to Herbert W. Herridge, August 25, 1956; L.B. Pearson to James A. Dunn, August 25, 1956; J.A. Dunn to L.B. Pearson, August 29, 1956; G.S. Dudley to L.B. Pearson, September 1, 1956; all in RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^81. ‘Senior amateurs’ were for players over the age of 20 who had not signed professional contracts.

^82. “Public Relations Aspects of the Canadian Participation in World Hockey Championships of 1955.”

^83. Desptach No. 169, March 7, 1954 from the Charge d'Affaires a.i., Prague, to Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs.

^84. Despatch No. 92, Canadian Minister, Stockholm, to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, March 10, 1954.

^85. “Public Relations Aspects of the Canadian Participation in World Hockey Championships of 1955.”

^86. Letter No. 34, Canadian Military Mission, Berlin to the Canadian Embassy, Bonn, March 9, 1955, RG 25, Vol. 8203, file: 8137-D-40, part 1.2, LAC.

^87. When officials investigated, the Penticton group claimed that they had been joking: they had sent the real trophy to the USSR, and kept a duplicate.

^88. “Soviet Captain's Sign Language Spells Victory for US Sextet,” New York Times, February 29, 1960, 34.

^89. Gladwin Hill, “Russian Tip Helps US Win Olympic Hockey,” New York Times, February 29, 1960, 1.

^90. Tim Sullivan, “Squaw Valley Miracle Recalled,” Cincinnati Enquirer, February 22, 1980, B-2.

^91. Quoted in John Powers, “They Set the Gold Standard in US Hockey,” Boston Globe, March 11, 2000, G9. Actually, the USA had posted 10 wins, 4 losses and 4 ties in the pre-Olympic tour.

^92. “Olympic Sextet in Tie: Coach Critical After Team's 4-4 Game With Minnesota,” New York Times, January 24, 1960 (ProQuest).

^93. Kevin Allen, “US Hockey Team Broke Mold in '60,” USA Today, February 27, 1995, 1C (Lexis).

^94. “U.S. Upsets Czechs at Hockey, 2 to 0,” New York Times, February 20, 1949, S1 (ProQuest).

^95. Joseph M. Sheehan, “US Olympic Six Blanks Army, 8-0,” New York Times, January 3, 1960, S2.

^96. Scott Young, “A Close Look,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), February 22, 1960, 18.

^97. John Crumpacker, “As Cold War Raged, US Hockey Team Made History,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 15, 2002, C4; and Kevin Allen, “US Hockey Team Broke Mold In '60,” USA Today, February 27, 1995, 1C (both Lexis-Nexis).

^98. For 1960 Olympic results, see VIII Winter Olympics, 1960: Final Report. California Olympic Commission, n.d., 123–35.

^99. Hill, “Russian Tip Helps US Win.”

^100. “Soviet Captain's Sign Language Spells Victory.”

^101. The tiebreaker was goal differential, in which Canada had an advantage over the Americans. So, even though the USA had beaten Canada in their head-to-head meeting, Canada would have taken gold if the two nations had finished in a tie in the standings.

^102.VI Olympic Winter Games, Organizing Committee, n.d., 248–9; Official Report, VII Olympic, 682–3; VIII Winter Olympics, 123–35.

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John Soares

John Soares is adjunct assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame. In autumn 2010, he was Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in North American Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. Among his publications on Cold War hockey are chapters in the Routledge anthology, Sport and the Transformation of Modern Europe and the forthcoming University Press of Kentucky anthology Diplomatic Games.