1987 Canada Cup

The 1987 Canada Cup was a Professional international ice hockey tournament series in 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11, 1987 and Hamilton, Ontario on September 13, and September 15 1987 and were won by Team Canada.

The final three-game series of this tournament between Canada and the USSR is considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history. At the time, the USSR 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 their skills head-to-head against the best of the NHL. While many fans may have rooted against the Soviet team, they never questioned their skills. The tournament also was the only time in a meaningful contest that the two most dominant NHL players of the last quarter century, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, played on the same forward unit, and as expected dazzled fans with electrifying goals. Only two players are still active in the NHL today from that tournament: Chris Chelios and Teppo Numminen

Rosters

Canada

Forwards and Defense: Dale Hawerchuk, Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Kevin Dineen, Michel Goulet, Brent Sutter, Rick Tocchet, Brian Propp, Doug Gilmour, Claude Lemieux, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Doug Crossman, Craig Hartsburg, Normand Rochefort, James Patrick, Raymond Bourque, Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey
Goaltenders: Ron Hextall, Kelly Hrudey, Grant Fuhr
Coaches: Mike Keenan, John Muckler, Jean Perron, Tom Watt

Czechoslovakia

Forwards and Defense: Petr Rosol, Igor Liba, Jan Jasko, Jiri Kucera, Jiri Dolezal, Vladimir Ruzicka, Ladislav Lubina, David Volek, Petr Vlk, Dusan Pasek, Jiri Sejba, Jiri Hrdina, Rostislav Vlach, Miloslav Horava, Drahomír Kadlec, Ludek Cajka, Bedřich Ščerban, Jaroslav Benák, Antonin Stavjana, Mojmir Bozik
Goaltenders: Petr Briza, Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Sindel
Coaches: Dr. Ján Starsi, Frantisek Pospisil

Finland

Forwards and Defense: Timo Blomqvist, Jari Grönstrand, Matti Hagman, Raimo Helminen, Iiro Järvi, Timo Jutila, Jari Kurri, Markku Kyllonen, Mikko Makela, Jouko Narvanmaa, Teppo Numminen, Janne Ojanen, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Christian Ruuttu, Jukka Seppo, Ville Siren, Petri Skriko, Raimo Summanen, Esa Tikkanen, Hannu Virta
Goaltenders: Jarmo Myllys, Kari Takko, Jukka Tammi
Coaches: Rauno Korpi, Juhani Tamminen

weden

Forwards and Defense: Tommy Albelin, Mikael Andersson, Peter Andersson, Jonas Bergqvist, Anders Carlsson, Thom Eklund, Anders Eldebrink, Peter Eriksson, Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Tomas Jonsson, Lars Karlsson, Mats Näslund, Kent Nilsson, Lars-Gunnar Pettersson, Magnus Roupe, Thomas Rundqvist, Tommy Samuelsson, Håkan Södergren, Peter Sundström, Mikael Thelvén
Goaltenders: Anders Bergman, Åke Lilljebjörn, Peter Lindmark
Coaches: Tommy Sandlin, Curt Lindström, Ingvar Carlsten

USA

Forwards and Defense: Joe Mullen, Curt Fraser, Corey Millen, Aaron Broten, Kelly Miller, Mark Johnson, Bob Brooke, Wayne Presley, Pat Lafontaine, Bobby Carpenter, Ed Olczyk, Joel Otto, Chris Nilan, Dave Ellett, Mike Ramsey, Kevin Hatcher, Rod Langway, Phil Housley, Gary Suter, Chris Chelios
Goaltenders: Tom Barrasso, Bob Mason, John Vanbiesbrouck
Coaches: Bob Johnson, Ted Sator, Doug Wood

USSR

Forwards and Defense: Vyacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Gusarov, Igor Stelnov, Vasily Pervukhin, Mikhail Tatarinov, Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Starikov, Anatoli Fedotov, Igor Kravchuk, Andrei Chistiakov, Yuri Khmylev, Vladimir Krutov, Andrei Lomakin, Igor Larionov, Valeri Kamensky, Andrei Khomutov, Sergei Svetlov, Alexander Semak, Sergei Kharin, Sergei Nemchinov, Sergei Makarov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Gerhan Volgin, Anatoly Semenov, Mikhail Kravets
Goaltenders: Vitali Samoilov, Sergei Mylnikov, Evgeny Belosheikin
Coaches: Viktor Tikhonov, Igor Dmitriev

Round Robin Standings

Assists

Goaltender Save Percentage

*minimum 120 minutes played

Goaltender Goals Against Average

*minimum 120 minutes played

"All numbers in bold represent that was tournament high"

Trophies and Awards

Tournament Champion

*Canada

Tournament MVP

*Wayne Gretzky, Canada

All-star team

*Goaltender: Grant Fuhr, Canada
*Defence: Ray Bourque, Canada; Viacheslav Fetisov, Soviet Union
*Forwards: Wayne Gretzky, Canada; Mario Lemieux, Canada; Vladimir Krutov, Soviet Union

ee also

*Summit Series
*Canada Cup
*World Cup of Hockey

External links

* [http://www3.telus.net/worldcuphockey/1987page.html Greatest Hockey Ever Played]
* [http://www.hhof.com/html/GamesSummaryCCUP1987.shtml Hockey Hall of Fame Tournament Summary]
* [http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/4552/la_id/1.htm Hockey Canada Tournament Summaries]
* [http://www.geocities.com/canadavsrussia Canada Versus the Soviet Union: The Heyday of the Battle for World Hockey Supremacy]