Olympic Hockey Card of the Day, Finland vs Germany 1952


These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated;

"Germany's young ice hockey team did not have much to order in Oslo. They were not trained well and was only the 8th Place, respectively. The picture shows a scene in front of the Finnish Gate, Germany in the attack. Finland won 5-1."

This game took place ohm February 22, 1952 at Oslo, Norway. The Finnish goalkeeper pictured was named Unto Wiitala and he won two and lost two during the 1952 Olympics while posting a GAA of 6.00. His other victory was a 5-2 win over host Norway. In addition to this Olympics, Wiitala represented Finland at five World Championship events.
 The Finnish player #13 in front of the net is Aarne Honkavaara a Centre who played domestically for Ilves Tampere. He collected 2 goals and 2 assists in the '52 Games. The #3 German battling for the puck is Ludwig 'Luddi' Kuhn who would star for Fussen in the German Bundesliga for 20 seasons.

Canada, represented by the Edmonton Mercury's won the gold medal with a record of 7-0-1 with the only blemish being a 3-3 tie with the silver medal winning United States.


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