Canada Cup (ice hockey)
The Canada Cup was an ice hockey tournament held from 1976 to 1991 , the successor of which is the World Cup of Hockey .
description
Although the Canada Cup was only held five times, it was still considered particularly prestigious. Since the competitions - in contrast to the annual World Cup - did not coincide with the NHL play-off games in spring , the North American national teams were usually able to bring their best professional players to bear. Especially in view of the global political tensions at that time , the encounters between hosts Canada and the former world champions from the Soviet Union always had a high prestige value. In 1976, however, the Soviets only sent a B team to the tournament, while in 1991 the Soviet ice hockey team was in the process of being rebuilt and the collapse of the Soviet Union was already being clearly felt in sport. Overall, Canada was able to win the tournament four times, the team of the USSR finished the competition victorious only once (1981) - however with a clear 8: 1 final victory over the "maple leaves". They were able to return the favor six years later when they defeated the "Sbornaja" in three finals in 1987 in best-of-three mode, with the referees' decisions being at least controversial.
idea
The idea for the Canada Cup came from Alan Eagleson , who had already organized the Summit Series .
Others
Since his debut in the Canada Cup in 1981, the exceptional Canadian player Wayne Gretzky has occupied the top spot in the points classification at the end of every tournament . Only in the first edition in 1976, Viktor Schluktow (USSR), a player other than Gretzky was crowned top scorer . The Canadian Ice Hockey Federation planned a new edition of the competition for 2005, which should take place from August 31 to September 4, 2005 in connection with the Česká Pojišťovna Cup of the Euro Hockey Tour . Due to the lockout in the National Hockey League , this tournament was canceled in early June 2005.
winner
year | winner | finalist | MVP | Top scorer |
---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Canada | Czechoslovakia | Bobby Orr | Viktor Schluktow |
1981 | USSR | Canada | Vladislav Tretyak | Wayne Gretzky |
1984 | Canada | Sweden | John Tonelli | Wayne Gretzky |
1987 | Canada | USSR | Wayne Gretzky | Wayne Gretzky |
1991 | Canada | United States | Bill Ranford | Wayne Gretzky |
literature
- Stephan Müller: International Ice Hockey Encyclopaedia: 1904 - 2005 . Books on Demand, Norderstedt, Germany 2005, ISBN 978-3-8334-4189-9 .
- Joe Pelletier, Patrick Hounda: The World Cup of Hockey - A History of Hockey's Greatest Tournament . Warwick Publishing, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2003, ISBN 1-894622-51-0 .