1987 Canada Cup

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1987 Canada Cup
Tournament details
Host nation  Canada
Dates August 28 – September 15, 1987
Teams 6
Venue(s) 7 (in 7 host cities)
Champions  Canada (3 titles)
Tournament statistics
Games played 20
Goals scored 138  (6.9 per game)
Scoring leader(s) Flag of Canada Wayne Gretzky (21 pts)
MVP Flag of Canada Wayne Gretzky

The 1987 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team Canada.

The final three-game series of this tournament between Canada and the Soviet Union is considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history. At the time, Soviet players were not allowed to pursue playing careers in North America, and so it was only through tournaments like this one where hockey fans could see them exhibit their skills head-to-head against the best of the National Hockey League (NHL). The United States and Soviet Union teams complained about the neutrality of the officiating in the tournament.[1] Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov said he felt the main reason his team lost was because of "bias and errors in refereeing.".[2]

The tournament also was the only time that the two most dominant NHL players of the last quarter century, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, played on the same forward unit, combining with each other on 29% of Team Canada's goals.

Round robin standings

Team GP W L T GF GA DIF PTS
 Canada 5 3 0 2 19 13 +6 8
 Soviet Union 5 3 1 1 22 13 +9 7
 Sweden 5 3 2 0 17 14 +3 6
 Czechoslovakia 5 2 2 1 12 15 –3 5
 United States 5 2 3 0 13 14 –1 4
 Finland 5 0 5 0 9 23 –14 0

Game scores

Round-robin

Friday, 28 August 1987
18:00 MDT 		Canada  4–4
( 2–2, 1–1, 1–1 ) 		 Czechoslovakia Olympic Saddledome, Calgary
Attendance: 8,458
Friday, 28 August 1987
19:30 EDT 		Finland  1–4
( 0–0, 0–1, 1–3 ) 		 United States Civic Centre Coliseum, Hartford
Attendance: 8,508
Saturday, 29 August 1987
12:00 MDT 		Sweden  5–3
( 3–1, 1–2, 1–0 ) 		 Soviet Union Olympic Saddledome, Calgary
Attendance: 3,055
Sunday, 30 August 1987
20:00 EDT 		Finland  1–4
( 0–2, 1–2, 0–0 ) 		 Canada Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 9,624
Monday, 31 August 1987
12:00 CST 		Soviet Union  4–0
(2–0, 1–0, 1–0 ) 		 Czechoslovakia Agridome, Regina
Attendance: 5,477
Monday, 31 August 1987
19:30 EDT 		United States  5–2
( 1–0, 3–1, 1–1 ) 		 Sweden Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 4,474
Wednesday, 2 September 1987
12:00 CST 		Czechoslovakia  0–4
( 0–1, 0–1, 0–2 ) 		 Sweden Agridome, Regina
Wednesday, 2 September 1987
12:00 ADT 		Soviet Union  7–4
( 3–3, 3–0, 1–1 ) 		 Finland Halifax, Halifax
Attendance: 3,262
Wednesday, 2 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		United States  2–3
( 1–0, 0–2, 1–1 ) 		 Canada Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 17,026
Friday, 4 September 1987
14:00 ADT 		Czechoslovakia  5–2
( 2–0, 2–0, 1–2 ) 		 Finland Centre 200, Sydney
Attendance: 4,500
Friday, 4 September 1987
19:30 EDT 		Soviet Union  5–1
( 2–0, 1–1, 2–0 ) 		 United States Civic Centre Coliseum, Hartford
Attendance: 14,838
Friday, 4 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		Canada  5–3
( 2–2, 1–0, 2–1 ) 		 Sweden Forum, Montréal
Attendance: 12,360
Sunday, 6 September 1987
12:00 ADT 		Sweden  3–1
( 1–0, 1–0, 1–1 ) 		 Finland Centre 200, Sydney
Attendance: 4,500
Sunday, 6 September 1987
16:00 ADT 		United States  1–3
( 0–1, 1–1, 0–1 ) 		 Czechoslovakia Centre 200, Sydney
Attendance: 4,500
Sunday, 6 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		Canada  3–3
( 1–0, 1–3, 1–0 ) 		 Soviet Union Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 17,026

Semi-Finals

8 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		 Soviet Union 4-2
 Sweden  Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 7,051
9 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		 Canada 5-3
 Czechoslovakia  The Forum, Montreal
Attendance: 10,262

Finals Game 1

11 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		 Soviet Union 6-5 (OT)
 Canada  The Forum, Montreal
Attendance: 14,588

Finals Game 2

13 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		 Canada 6-5 (2OT)
 Soviet Union  Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 17,026

Finals Game 3

15 September 1987
20:00 EDT 		 Canada 6-5
 Soviet Union  Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
Attendance: 17,026

Three closely fought 6-5 games decided the '87 Canada Cup. In Game 1, Canada erased a 4-1 second period deficit to send the game to overtime, only to lose on Alexander Semak's goal at 5:33 of the extra frame.

In Game 2, which is considered by some to be the greatest hockey game ever played, Canada led 3-1 after one period, but this time it was the Soviets who came from behind to tie it 3-3 in the second. Canada scored twice more, each time Mario Lemieux assisted by Wayne Gretzky, but the Soviets replied each time. The tying goal was an end-to-end rush by Valeri Kamensky with 1:04 remaining in regulation time. After a scoreless period of overtime, which featured effective goaltending from Grant Fuhr, Gretzky and Lemieux hooked up for the third time of the evening at 10:07 of the second overtime. It was the fifth assist for Gretzky on the night and completed a hat trick for Lemieux.

The Canadians got off to a slow start in the decisive third game. The Soviets scored three times in the first eight minutes to take a 3-0 lead. Canada's grinders took over after that (particularly Rick Tocchet, Brent Sutter and Dale Hawerchuk), and pulled Canada into a 5-4 lead after two periods. The Soviets tied it back up in the third and the game looked like it would head to overtime again. But late in the third period, Canada coach Mike Keenan, who had been juggling lines all series, sent the trio of Gretzky, Lemieux and Hawerchuk out to play with a faceoff in Canada's end. After the faceoff, Gretzky, Lemieux and Larry Murphy rushed up the ice. Young Soviet defenseman Igor Kravchuk was the only man back and he fell down to block a pass across but Gretzky fed the puck back to Lemieux, who fired a shot over the glove of goaltender Sergei Mylnikov with 1:26 remaining. The Gretzky to Lemieux play is one of the most memorable plays in Canadian hockey history.

References

  1. ↑ "The Canada Cup of Hockey Fact and Stat Book" (2005), (p. 114), By H. G. Anderson.
  2. ↑ http://articles.philly.com/1987-09-24/sports/26211674_1_smu-president-kenneth-pye-viktor-tikhonov

External links

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