Most hockey games have low scores, especially in Olympic hockey. No team really wants to humiliate its opponent. Sometimes, however, a team is so inept that nothing can be done. It would be even more humiliating if a team deliberately refrained from scoring.
That was the situation the Canadian skaters found themselves in during the 1924 Olympics. Their opponent, Czechoslovakia, had a defense as porous as a sieve. The Canadians won, 30-0. Harry Watson of the Canadian team scored 13 goals. Although official records for individuals in Olympic hockey are not usually kept, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s annual guide, Hockey’s Heritage, Watson’s scoring spree is the Olympic record for a single game.
From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
Turns out that wasn’t the most lopsided victory during those games. Canada first beat Switzerland, 33-0. Between Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Sweden, the combined scoring total was 85-0. They beat Great Britain, 19-2, in the semifinals, and the US, 6-1, in the finals.
This was also the inaugural winter games.