1976 Canada Cup

After the Summit Series of 1972 and 1974, the NHL and NHLPA decided to broaden the scope of the competition, inviting to the tournament a number of hockey countries and allowing each invited country to send the best possible team they could muster. To live up to this ideal, the Canada Cup (unlike the 1972 Summit Series) would allow players from the WHA to participate. This first of five such Canada Cup tournaments would take place during the first two weeks of September 1976.

As expected, the star-studded Canadian team won the tournament after Darryl Sittler scored the winning goal in overtime against Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovaks (winners of the 1976 and 1977 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments) were also very strong. In contrast, the Soviets were in "rebuilding mode" and several experienced players from their Olympic championship team of 1976 (Gennady Tsygankov, Yuri Lyapkin, Valeri Kharlamov, Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov, Vladimir Shadrin, Alexander Yakushev) did not participate. Consequently the Soviets finished a disappointing third as the new players lost to Canada and Czechoslovakia and only managed a draw against Sweden.

Among the remaining teams, Sweden (reinforced by eight professional players from the NHL and WHA although Christer Abrahamsson and Thommy Abrahamsson were omitted due to a row over unpaid transfer fees between the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and the WHA) played very well and managed to beat both the Czechoslovaks and Americans. In fact, "Tre Kronor" would have made it to the finals if not for a disastrous loss against Finland, who somehow managed to outscore the Swedes 8–6 despite trailing 1–4 at one point. Apart from that game, the Finns (with four WHA professionals) proved to be by far the weakest team of the tournament. The American team finished fifth after beating the Finns in the last game. The USA coach Bob Pulford assembled a team comprising mostly young and unproven players from bad teams in the NHL and WHA (Robbie Ftorek was the only real American star at the time as Mark Howe and Marty Howe were unavailable).

Rosters

Canada

Forwards and Defense: Bill Barber, Bobby Clarke, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Bob Gainey, Danny Gare, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Guy Lapointe, Reggie Leach, Richard Martin, Peter Mahovlich, Lanny McDonald, Bobby Orr, Gilbert Perreault, Denis Potvin, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Darryl Sittler, Carol Vadnais, Jimmy Watson; Training camp only -- Dave Burrows, Dan Maloney, Jean Pronovost, Rene Robert and Paul Shmyr
Goaltenders: Gerry Cheevers, Glenn Resch, Rogatien Vachon; Dan Bouchard (training camp only)
Coaches: Scotty Bowman, Don Cherry, Bobby Kromm, Al MacNeil

Czechoslovakia

Forwards and Defense: Josef Augusta, Jiří Bubla, František Černik, Milan Chalupa, Miroslav Dvorak, Bohuslav Ebermann, Ivan Hlinka, Jiří Holik, Karel Holý, František Kaberle, Milan Kajkl, Oldrich Machac, Vladimír Martinec, Jiří Novák, Milan Nový, František Pospisil, Jaroslav Pouzar, Pavel Richter, Vladimír Sandrik, Bohuslav Šťastný, Marián Šťastný, Peter Šťastný, Vladimír Sandrík
Goaltenders: Vladimir Dzurilla, Jiří Holeček
Coaches: Karel Gut, Jan Starsi

Finland

Forwards and Defense: Tapio Flinck, Matti Hagman, Hannu Kapanen, Veli-Pekka Ketola, Pertti Koivulahti, Tapio Koskinen, Tapio Levo, Harri Linnonmaa, Lasse Litma, Kari Makkonen, Timo Nummelin, Lasse Oksanen, Esa Peltonen, Jouni Peltonen, Pekka Rautakallio, Matti Rautiainen, Seppo Repo, Heikki Riihiranta, Jouni Rinne, Timo Saari, Juhani Tamminen, Jorma Vehmanen
Goaltenders: Antti Leppänen, Markus Mattsson, Jorma Valtonen
Coaches: Lasse Heikkilä, Carl Brewer

weden

Forwards and Defense: Mats Åhlberg, Thommie Bergman, Per-Olov Brasar, Lars-Erik Eriksson, Roland Eriksson, Lars-Erik Esbjörs, Inge Hammarström, Anders Hedberg, Björn Johansson, Dan Labraaten, Willy Lindström, Tord Lundström, Lars-Göran Nilsson, Ulf Nilsson, Stig Östling, Börje Salming, Stig Salming, Lars-Erik Sjöberg, Jan-Olov Svensson, Mats Waltin, Juha Widing, Kjell-Arne Wikström
Goaltenders: Hardy Åström, Göran Högosta, William Löfqvist
Coaches: Hans "Virus" Lindberg

USA

Forwards and Defense: Fred Ahern, Curt Bennett, Harvey Bennett, Dan Bolduc, Rick Chartraw, Mike Christie, Lee Fogolin, Robbie Ftorek, Alan Hangsleben, Steve Jensen, Mike Milbury, Lou Nanne, Joe Noris, Bill Nyrop, Gerry O'Flaherty, Doug Palazzari, Craig Patrick, Larry Pleau, Mike Polich, Gary Sargent, Dean Talafous, Warren "Butch" Williams; Training camp only -- Stan Gilbertson, Jim Niekamp, Gordie Roberts, Peter Scamurra, Bobby Sheehan and Timothy Sheehy
Goaltenders: Mike Curran, Pete LoPresti, Cap Raeder; Ed Walsh (training camp only)
Coaches: Bob Pulford, Harry Neale

USSR

Forwards and Defense: Boris Alexandrov, Sergei Babinov, Helmut Balderis, Valeri Belousov, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Alexander Golikov, Alexander Gusev, Sergei Kapustin, Vladimir Kovin, Vladimir Krikunov, Alexander Kulikov, Viktor Kuznetsov, Yuri Lebedev, Vladimir Lutchenko, Alexander Maltsev, Vladimir Repnev, Viktor Shalimov, Alexander Skvortsov, Valeri Vasiliev, Vladimir Vikulov, Viktor Zhluktov
Goaltenders: Vladislav Tretiak, Mikhail Vasilenok, Viktor Zinger
Coaches: Viktor Tikhonov, Boris Mayorov, Robert Cherenkov

Round Robin Standings

Player Statistics

Points

Goaltending

*minimum 120 minutes played.

Trophies and Awards

Tournament Champion

*Canada

Tournament MVP

*Bobby Orr, Canada

Team MVPs

*Rogatien Vachon, Canada
*Milan Novy, CSSR
*Alexander Maltsev, USSR
*Borje Salming, Sweden
*Robbie Ftorek, USA
*Matti Hagman, Finland

All-Star Team

*Goaltender: Rogatien Vachon, Canada
*Defence: Bobby Orr, Canada; Borje Salming, Sweden
*Forwards: Aleksandr Maltsev, USSR; Milan Novy, CSSR; Darryl Sittler, Canada

ee also

*Summit Series
*Canada Cup
*World Cup of Hockey

External links, Sources and References

* [http://www.hhof.com/html/GamesSummaryCCUP1976.shtml Hockey Hall of Fame Tournament Summary]
* [http://www.chidlovski.com/personal/1974/world/ccup76.htm Canada Cup 1976 Summary]
* [http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/hockey/world/1976canadacup.htm Canada Cup 1976 Stat Summary]
* [http://www.tsn.ca/world_cup_hockey/feature.asp?fid=9310 TSN Canada Cup '76 Summary]
* [http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/4498/la_id/1.htm Hockey Canada Tournament Summary]
* [http://www.russianhockey.net/cc76.htm Russian Hockey Tournament Summary]
* [http://www.geocities.com/canadavsrussia Canada Versus the Soviet Union: The Heyday of the Battle for World Hockey Supremacy]