The Bergvall system was a variation of the traditional knockout tournament system.
It was used at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics after being devised by Erik Bergvall, a Swedish water polo player, journalist and sports official who wanted to improve on the traditional knockout method used in Olympic competitions.
Erik Gustaf Bergvall (7 April 1880 – 4 February 1950) was a Swedish water polo player, journalist and sports official. He also promoted the Bergvall system, a variation of the traditional knockout tournament system which was used at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, was the second Olympic Championship, also serving as the second World Championships. The competition was held from Monday, January 28, 1924, to Sunday, February 3, 1924. Canada, represented by the Toronto Granites, defended its championship from the 1920 Summer Olympics. The United States and Great Britain took the silver and bronze respectively, while other contenders included Czechoslovakia, France, and Sweden.
The Bergvall system used in the 1920 Olympics was discarded in favor of a two-level round-robin tournament. Qualifying teams were placed in pools for the opening round, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the final round. The medals were awarded based on the record in the final round. This format would remain in use until the 1992 Winter Olympics, when the final round-robin was replaced with a medal-round single-elimination tournament.
View the full Wikipedia page for Ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics