Canada Cup (ice hockey)

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Following the exciting 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, interest in a world professional ice hockey championship increased substantially. The Canada Cup would bring together the top hockey-playing countries in the world.

It was held in 1976, 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991. It featured competition between teams representing Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Soviet Union, Sweden, the United States, and (in 1984 only, taking the place of Finland) West Germany. All the tournaments were won by Canada except the 1981 tournament, which was won by the Soviet Union. The 1987 event is often called one of the most spectacular in hockey history as #99 Wayne Gretzky and #66 Mario Lemieux combined forces to capture the Canada Cup at Copps Coliseum as Team Canada defeated the Soviets. Canada won that series 2 games to one and all three games ended in 6-to-5 scores. ^[1] The 1987 and 1991 finals were both held in Hamilton, Ontario. ^[1]

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1976	Canada	Czechoslovakia	USSR
1981	USSR	Canada	Czechoslovakia
1984	Canada	Sweden	USSR
1987	Canada	USSR	Sweden
1991	Canada	United States	Finland

In 1996, the Canada Cup was replaced by the World Cup of Hockey.

Contents 1 Trivia 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Trivia

• Alan Eagleson came up with the ideal for the Canada Cup in 1966 after watching the FIFA World Cup final on TV. He said to himself, "if they can do a World Cup for soccer then why not a World Cup for hockey as well?"^{[citation needed]}
• The 1981 win by the USSR caused controversy when Canadian officials announced that the trophy would not actually go home with the winning team. A group of Canadian fans, feeling this was unsportsmanlike, raised money to produce a duplicate trophy to give to the Soviet team.
• Every player from the USSR's 1984 Canada Cup team was a left-handed shooter.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• International Ice Hockey Federation
• National Hockey League
• World Professional Hockey Championships
• Ice Hockey World Championships

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Hamilton Spectator-Memory Project (Souvenir Edition) page MP56 (2006-06-10). "Tigertown Triumphs". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.

[edit] External links

• Canada Versus the Soviet Union The heyday of the battle for world hockey supremacy (1972-1987)