1987 Canada Cup



The 1987 Canada Cup was an international 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. Only three players are still active in the NHL today from that tournament: Chris Chelios, Teppo Numminen, and Claude Lemieux.

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 Čajka, Bedřich Ščerban, Jaroslav Benák, Antonin Stavjana, Mojmir Bozik

Goaltenders: Petr Briza, Dominik Hašek, 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 Mäkelä, 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

Sweden
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 Roupé, 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, 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

 * Canada 4-4 Czechoslovakia (Calgary, Alberta)
 * United States 4-1 Finland (Hartford, Connecticut)
 * Sweden 5-3 Soviet Union (Calgary, Alberta)


 * Canada 4-1 Finland (Hamilton, Ontario)
 * Soviet Union 4-0 Czechoslovakia (Regina, Saskatchewan)
 * United States 5-2 Sweden (Hamilton, Ontario)


 * Soviet Union 7-4 Finland (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
 * Canada 3-2 United States (Hamilton, Ontario)
 * Sweden 4-0 Czechoslovakia (Regina, Saskatchewan)


 * Soviet Union 5-1 United States (Hartford, Connecticut)
 * Czhechoslovakia 5-2 Finland (Sydney, Nova Scotia)
 * Canada 5-3 Sweden (Montreal, Quebec)


 * Czechoslovakia 3-1 United States (Sydney, Nova Scotia)
 * Canada 3-3 Soviet Union (Hamilton, Ontario)
 * Sweden 3-1 Finland (Sydney, Nova Scotia)

Playoff round
Semi-finals

Finals (best-of-3)



Three thrilling 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 a brilliant end-to-end rush by Valeri Kamensky with 1:04 remaining in regulation time. After a scoreless period of overtime, which featured some brilliant 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 euphoria from Game 2 didn't carry over long into the third and decisive game, however. The Soviets stunned all of Canada by scoring 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 sent the Gretzky-Lemieux-Hawerchuk line out to play, with a faceoff in Canada's end. The rest is history, as Hawerchuk tripped up Bykov, Gretzky, Lemieux and Larry Murphy rushed down the ice on a three-on-one. Young Soviet defenseman Igor Kravchuk was the only man back and he fell down when Gretzky fed the pass to Lemieux. Once again, Gretzky set up 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.

Goaltender Save Percentage

 * minimum 120 minutes played

Goaltender Goals Against Average

 * minimum 120 minutes played

All numbers in bold represent that was tournament high

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