1987 Canada Cup

1987 Canada Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Canada
Dates	August 28 -September 15, 1987
Teams	6
Venue(s)	7 (in 7 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Canada (3rd title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	138 (6.9 per match)
Scoring leader(s)	Wayne Gretzky (21 pts)
MVP	Wayne Gretzky

The 1987 Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, Ontario, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team Canada.

The final three-game series of this tournament between Canada and the Soviet Union is considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history. At the time, Soviet 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 them exhibit their skills head-to-head against the best of the National Hockey League (NHL). While many fans may have rooted against the Soviet team, few 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.

Rosters

See also: 1987 Canada Cup rosters

Canada

Forwards and defense: Dale Hawerchuk, Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Glenn Anderson, 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, Alexei Kasatonov, , Anatoli Fedotov, Igor Kravchuk, Yuri Khmylev, Vladimir Krutov, Andrei Lomakin, Igor Larionov, Valeri Kamensky, Andrei Khomutov, Sergei Svetlov, Alexander Semak, Sergei Nemchinov, Sergei Makarov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Anatoly Semenov
Goaltenders: Vitali Samoilov, Sergei Mylnikov, Evgeny Belosheikin
Coaches: Viktor Tikhonov, Igor Dmitriev

Round robin standings

Team	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	DIF	PTS
Canada	5	3	2	0	19	13	+6	8
Soviet Union	5	3	1	1	22	13	+9	7
Sweden	5	3	0	2	17	14	+3	6
Czechoslovakia	5	2	1	2	12	15	–3	5
United States	5	2	0	3	13	14	–1	4
Finland	5	0	0	5	9	23	–14	0

Game scores

Round-robin

Friday, 28 August 1987 18:00 MDT

Canada

4–4 ( 2–2, 1–1, 1–1 )

Czechoslovakia

Olympic Saddledome, Calgary Attendance: 8,458

	Grant Fuhr	Goalies	Dominik Hašek
		1–0 1–1 1–2 2–2 3–2 3–3 4–3 4–4
	4 min	Penalties	10 min
	40	Shots	36

Friday, 28 August 1987 20:00 EDT

Finland

1–4 ( 0–0, 0–1, 1–3 )

United States

Civic Centre Coliseum, Hartford

	Kari Takko	Goalies	John Vanbiesbrouck
	T. Jutila (R. Helminen) – 58:29	0–1 0–2 0–3 0–4 1–4	29:17 – P. LaFontaine (N.Broten)
	12 min	Penalties	16 min
	23	Shots	40

Saturday, 29 August 1987 12:00 MDT

Sweden

5–3 ( 3–1, 1–2, 1–0 )

Soviet Union

Olympic Saddledome, Calgary Attendance: 3,055

	Peter Lindmark	Goalies	Evgeny Belosheikin	Referee: Mike Noeth (USA)
		0–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 3–2 3–3 4–3 5–3
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	20	Shots	14

Sunday, 30 August 1987 20:00 EDT

Finland

1–4 ( 0–2, 1–2, 0–0 )

Canada

Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Attendance: 9,624

	Kari Takko	Goalies	Grant Fuhr
		0–1 0–2 0–3 1–3 1–4
	18 min	Penalties	12 min
	40	Shots	54

Monday, 31 August 1987 12:00 CST

Soviet Union

4–0 (2–0, 1–0, 1–0 )

Czechoslovakia

Agridome, Regina Attendance: 5,477

	Sergei Mylnikov	Goalies	Dominik Hašek
	19 min	Penalties	24 min
	27	Shots	23

Monday, 31 August 1987 20:00 EDT

United States

5–2 ( 1–0, 3–1, 1–1 )

Sweden

Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Attendance: 4,474

	John Vanbiesbrouck	Goalies	Peter Lindmark
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	30	Shots	28

Wednesday, 2 September 1987 13:00 ADT

Soviet Union

7–4 ( 3–3, 3–0, 1–1 )

Finland

Halifax, Halifax

	Sergei Mylnikov	Goalies	Kari Takko
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	37	Shots	22

Wednesday, 2 September 1987 12:00 CST

Czechoslovakia

0–4 ( 0–0, 2–4, 2–0 )

Sweden

Agridome, Regina

	Dominik Hašek	Goalies	Peter Lindmark
	14 min	Penalties	18 min
	26	Shots	28

Wednesday, 2 September 1987 20:00 EDT

United States

2–3 ( 1–0, 0–2, 1–1 )

Canada

Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Attendance: 17,026

	John Vanbiesbrouck	Goalies	Grant Fuhr	Referee: Karl-Gustav Kaisla (FIN)
	28 min	Penalties	12 min
	30	Shots	40

Friday, 4 September 1987 14:00 ADT

Czechoslovakia

5–2 ( 2–0, 2–0, 1–2 )

Finland

Centre 200, Sydney Attendance: 4,500

	Dominik Hašek	Goalies	Kari Takko (40:00) Jarmo Myllys (20:00)
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	35	Shots	22

Friday, 4 September 1987 20:00 EDT

Soviet Union

5–1 ( 2–0, 1–1, 2–0 )

United States

Civic Centre Coliseum, Hartford Attendance: 14,838

	Sergei Mylnikov	Goalies	Tom Barrasso	Referee: Vladimír Šubrt (TCH)
	6 min	Penalties	19 min
	27	Shots	20

Friday, 4 September 1987 20:00 EDT

Canada

5–3 ( 2–2, 1–0, 2–1 )

Sweden

Forum, Montréal Attendance: 12,360

	Grant Fuhr	Goalies	Peter Lindmark
		1–0
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	23	Shots	22

Sunday, 6 September 1987 12:00 ADT

Sweden

3–1 ( 1–0, 1–0, 1–1 )

Finland

Centre 200, Sydney

	Peter Lindmark	Goalies	Kari Takko
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	21	Shots	23

Sunday, 6 September 1976 16:00 ADT

United States

1–3 ( 0–1, 1–1, 0–1 )

Czechoslovakia

Centre 200, Sydney

	John Vanbiesbrouck	Goalies	Dominik Hašek
	10 min	Penalties	12 min
	37	Shots	25

Sunday, 6 September 1987

Canada

3–3 ( 1–0, 1–3, 1–0 )

Soviet Union

Copps Coliseum, Hamilton Attendance: 17,026

	Grant Fuhr	Goalies	Evgeny Belosheikin	Referee: Mike Noeth (USA)
	4 min	Penalties	12 min
	30	Shots	36

Playoff round

Semi-finals

Location	Result
Hamilton, Sept. 8, 1987	Soviet Union 4 Sweden 2
Montreal, Sept. 9, 1987	Canada 5 Czechoslovakia 3

Finals (best-of-3)

Location	Result
Montreal, Sept. 11, 1987	Soviet Union 6 Canada 5 (OT)
Hamilton, Sept. 13, 1987	Canada 6 Soviet Union 5 (2OT)
Hamilton, Sept. 15, 1987	Canada 6 Soviet Union 5

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.

Despite the thrilling victory, Team Canada got off to a slow start in the decisive third game. 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. After the faceoff, Gretzky, Lemieux and Larry Murphy counter-attacked down the ice. Young Soviet defenseman Igor Kravchuk was the only man back and he fell down to block a pass across but Gretzky fed the pass back to 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.

Stat leaders

Points

Rk	Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	Wayne Gretzky	9	3	18	21	2
2	Mario Lemieux	9	11	7	18	8
3	Sergei Makarov	9	7	8	15	8
4	Vladimir Krutov	9	7	7	14	4
5	Vyacheslav Bykov	9	2	7	9	4
6	Ray Bourque	9	2	6	8	10
7	Valeri Kamensky	9	6	1	7	6
8	Andrei Khomutov	9	4	3	7	0
9	Viacheslav Fetisov	9	2	5	7	9
10	Anatoli Semenov	9	2	5	7	2

Goals

Rk	Player	GP	G
1	Mario Lemieux	9	11
2	Sergei Makarov	9	7
2	Vladimir Krutov	9	7
4	Valeri Kamensky	9	6
5	Dusan Pasek	6	4
6	Andrei Khomutov	9	4
7	Dale Hawerchuk	9	4
8	Sergei Svetlov	6	3
9	Rick Tocchet	7	3
10	Wayne Gretzky	9	3

Assists

Rk	Player	GP	A
1	Wayne Gretzky	9	18
2	Sergei Makarov	9	8
3	Vladimir Krutov	9	7
3	Vyacheslav Bykov	9	7
3	Mario Lemieux	9	7
6	Larry Murphy	8	6
7	Ray Bourque	9	6
7	Mark Messier	9	6
9	Viacheslav Fetisov	9	5
10	Anatoli Semenov	9	5

PIM

Rk	Player	GP	PIM
1	Chris Nilan	5	14
2	Drahomir Kadlec	3	12
3	Wayne Presley	5	12
3	Mikko Mäkelä	5	12
5	Dusan Pasek	6	12

Goaltender wins

Rk	Player	GP	Min	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
1	Grant Fuhr	9	575	32	3.34	6	1	2	0
2	Sergei Mylnikov	6	365	18	2.96	5	1	0	1
3	Peter Lindmark	6	360	18	3.00	3	3	0	1
4	John Vanbiesbrouck	4	240	9	2.25	2	2	0	0
5	Dominik Hašek	6	360	20	3.33	2	3	1	0

Goaltender Save Percentage

Rk	Player	GP	Shots	GA	Sv.%
1	John Vanbiesbrouck	4	116	9	.922
2	Dominik Hašek	6	189	20	.894
3	Sergei Mylnikov	6	170	18	.894
4	Grant Fuhr	9	298	32	.893
5	Peter Lindmark	6	152	18	.882

• minimum 120 minutes played

Goaltender Goals Against Average

Rk	Player	GP	Mins	GA	GAA
1	John Vanbiesbrouck	4	240	9	2.25
2	Sergei Mylnikov	6	365	18	2.96
3	Peter Lindmark	6	360	18	3.00
4	Dominik Hašek	6	360	20	3.33
5	Grant Fuhr	9	575	32	3.34

• minimum 120 minutes played

All numbers in bold represent that was tournament high

Trophies and awards

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

See also

• Summit Series
• Canada Cup
• World Cup of Hockey

External links

• Hockey Hall of Fame Tournament Summary
• Hockey Canada Tournament Summaries
• Canada Cup '87 – 99 & 66 perform pure magic
• Canada Versus the Soviet Union: The Heyday of the Battle for World Hockey Supremacy (1972-1987)