The colorful history behind the current World Cup of Hockey 1976: In the Beginning... The 1976 Canada Cup was the first 'open' international hockey tournament where the top six hockey nations could enter teams regardless of professional or amateur status. Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Soviet Union, Sweden and the USA took part with Canada defeating the Czechoslovakia 6-0 and 5-4 (OT) in the best-of-three final. ++ After Canada's 11-2 defeat of Finland on the opening night, the Swedish media described the Canadian victory as 'unconvincing'. So high was the level of expectations on a NHL-stocked Team Canada. ++ Prior to the Sweden vs. Canada game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on September 7, a sell-out crowd gave Swedish defenseman B?je Salming a three-minute standing ovation as the popular Leaf was introduced. No Canadian player was close to being celebrated in such a manner when the home team was introduced. ++ The Soviet Union's 'experimental' team in 1976 was led by rookie coach Viktor Tikhonov, while a young defenseman by the name of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, 21, played in his first ever tournament for the Soviets. Nearly 30 years later, Bilyaletdinov is the head coach of the Russian team for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, while the 74-year old Tikhonov was released from his coaching duties following Russia's 10th place finish at the 2004 IIHF World Championship in the Czech Republic. ++ One of Scotty Bowman's three assistant coaches on the 1976 Team Canada staff was Don Cherry. ++ There were so few US-born players in the NHL back in 1976 that the American coaching staff had to select bodies from the WHA and from minor leagues to fill out the 25-man roster. Team USA head coach Bob Pulford (a Canadian) could only muster 17 US-born NHLers for his historic tournament. ++ Bobby Orr, on bad knees which would force him into retirement only two years later, still managed to make the tournament All Star Team and was named Canada's MVP. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1981: Soviets Back on Track after Lake Placid Disaster The 1981 edition was the only Canada Cup that was not won by the host country. On September 13, the Soviet Union defeated Team Canada, 8-1, in the one-game final at the Montreal Forum. The relatively unknown Sergei Shepelev had three goals for the Soviets as the sell-out Forum crowd of 17,043 could not believe their eyes. ++ Mike Liut was in the net for all eight Soviet goals. ++ The win confirmed the Soviet's overwhelming superiority of the hockey world in the early 80s. The 8-1 drubbing came only four months after the same team defeated Sweden 13-1 in the deciding game of the 1981 IIHF World Championship - in Sweden. ++ Wayne Gretzky led the 1981 tournament in scoring as a 20-year old. He would also win the scoring title in the 1984, 1987 and the 1991 tournaments. ++ The 1981 Team USA featured seven miracle makers from the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid; defensemen Bill Baker and Ken Morrow and forwards Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Mark Johnson, Steve Christoff and Rob McClanahan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1984: Soviets Silenced By Canada After not having lost a single game since the 1980 Lake Placid defeat to the Americans, the Soviets took their four-year unbeaten streak to the 1984 Canada Cup. The Soviets waltzed easily through the round-robin stage, defeating Canada 6-3 and posting a 5-0 record with a 22-7 goal differential. ++ The Soviet's streak ended abruptly on September 13 in the one-game semi-final against Canada in Calgary when Mike Bossy scored the winner at 12.29 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win and a place in the final against Sweden. This was the first time that a Soviet national team played in a sudden-death overtime game. ++ Canada defeated Sweden 5-2 and 6-5 to claim its second Canada Cup title. ++ Former Czechoslovak national team player Peter Stastny played for Canada with limited success. Stastny, who defected to Canada in 1981, had one goal and two assists in eight games. ++ The 1984 Canada Cup saw several nationality changes. Goaltender Chico Resch, who represented Canada in the 1976 tournament and forward Bryan Trottier, who skated for Canada three years earlier, now wore USA jerseys. ++ West Germany replaced Finland in the 1984 Canada Cup. One of the German forwards was Franz Reindl, who is the coach of Team Germany in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. ++ Chris Chelios, who six months prior to his first Canada Cup, made his international debut with the US Olympic team in Sarajevo 1984 at the age of 22. Twenty years later, Chelios will defend the World Cup title that he and Team USA won in 1996. The defensive stalwart also played for the USA in the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups as well as in the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games. This makes the 42-year old Chicago native one of the greatest international performers ever for USA Hockey. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987: Canada and Russia's Cold War Continues The 1987 Canada Cup featured what is generally acclaimed as probably the best three-game series ever in international hockey. Canada and the Soviet Union paced each other to three 6-5 games, with the Soviets winning game one at Montreal while Canada won games two and three in Hamilton. ++ Games 1 and 2 went to overtime and Canada scored the tournament winner with 1:26 left in Game 3. This will forever be remembered as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux's banner tournament. With 99 and 66 on the same line, they combined for 39 points in nine games finishing one and two in tournament scoring. ++ The 1987 Canada Cup was the end of a great 15-year era of Canadian vs. Soviet rivalry, which started with the 1972 eight game Summit Series between the two hockey super powers. As the last Canada Cup was played in 1991, things were not the same anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1991: New Decade, New Rivals In the 1991 tournament, the Soviet Union finished fifth, while Canada and the U.S. headed for the best-of-three final. Canada swept the finals, 4-1 and 4-2, but the successful American campaign was a sign of things to come. Craig Patrick, Herb Brooks' assistant on the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning team, was the GM for Team USA. ++ Wayne Gretzky again landed on top of the scoring race with 12 points in seven games and this would the last time he won an international tournament as a player. ++ Finland achieved its biggest Canada Cup success by reaching the semi-final, where the US team was too strong: USA ?Finland 7-3. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996: Goodbye Canada Cup, Hello World Cup The Canada Cup was history in 1996, replaced by the first World Cup of Hockey. The World Cup adopted an eight-team format with Slovakia and Germany added to the top six with games played in both Europe and North America. ++ USA earned its first major international victory since 1980 by defeating Canada in the best-of-three final. The Canadians won game 1 in Philadelphia 4-3 when Steve Yzerman got the winner in overtime, but the U.S. bounced back winning both the remaining games 5-2 in Montreal. ++ The U.S. victory was emphatic as goalie Mike Richter was named tournament MVP, Brett Hull led all scorers with 11 points in seven games and Richter, Hull, Chris Chelios and John LeClair were named to the All Star Team. ++ The biggest surprise was reigning IIHF World Champion Czech Republic finishing last in the European group, after losing all games, among them 7-1 to Germany. ++ Despite the final loss, Canada boasted by far the best Canada Cup/World Cup record with a 33-6-8 win-tie-lost record for 72 points and four tournament wins. Soviet Union/Russia was second with 20-4-13 for 44 points and one tournament victory, while USA was third with 19-3-15, 41 points and one tournament win. These were the only countries with a positive record since 1976. Szymon Szemberg, IIHF.com