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The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer
Alan Eagleson Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarment, disbarred Canadians, Canadian lawyer, ice hockey, hockey Sports agent, agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler, and he was the ...
, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as
professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
or
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
. It was sanctioned by the
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...
,
Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
and the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
.
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
won the tournament four times, while the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
captured the championship once. It was succeeded by the
World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nati ...
in 1996.


History

Due to
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) players' ineligibility in the
Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
and the annual
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, both amateur competitions, Canada was not able to send its best players to top international tournaments. While the top players in Europe qualified as amateurs, all the best Canadian players competed in the professional NHL or
World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
. Following the
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1974 Summit Series The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the ...
, in which Canadian players from the NHL and WHA competed against the top players from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, there was interest in a world hockey championship where each country could send its best players. In a combined effort from Doug Fisher of
Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
and
Alan Eagleson Robert Alan Eagleson (born April 24, 1933) is a disbarment, disbarred Canadians, Canadian lawyer, ice hockey, hockey Sports agent, agent and promoter. Clients that he represented included superstars Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler, and he was the ...
of the
NHL Players' Association NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United States and Canada. The association r ...
, plans for such a tournament soon began. After successful negotiations with hockey officials from the Soviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. Eagleson would later plead guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars of Canada Cup proceeds. Taking place in the NHL off-season, it was the first international hockey tournament in which the best players, professional and amateur alike, from the best ice hockey nations in the world could compete against one another. Six teams competed in each edition. In addition to Canada and the Soviet Union,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
were regular competitors (with the exception of
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
replacing Finland in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
). The tournaments, held every three to five years, took place in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n venues. Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, four were won by Canada, while the Soviet Union won once, in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. Canada won the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976, defeating recent 1976 World Championship gold medalists Czechoslovakia in the best-of-three final. The clinching game was won by a 5–4 score with
Darryl Sittler Darryl Glen Sittler (born September 18, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1970 until 1985 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings. He was ...
scoring the game-winner in overtime. Five years later, the Soviets won their first and only Canada Cup with an 8–1 win over Canada in the one-game final. The Canadians then re-captured the championship in the third edition of the tournament in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
. After Canadian
Mike Bossy Michael Dean Bossy (January 22, 1957April 15, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. He spent his entire NHL career, which lasted from 1977 to 1987, with the Islanders, and ...
scored an overtime game-winner to defeat the Soviets in the semi-finals, Canada won their second Canada Cup in a victory over Sweden in the final. The
1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Labatt 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, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team ...
was particularly noteworthy as
Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
and
Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006, and he assumed ownership of the f ...
, widely considered two of the greatest hockey players of all-time, joined as linemates on Team Canada to capture the country's third championship. All three games in the final between Canada and the Soviets ended in 6–5 scores, with two games going to overtime. Lemieux dramatically scored the championship-winning goal on a 2-on-1 pass from Gretzky in the final minutes of the deciding game at
Copps Coliseum FirstOntario Centre (originally Copps Coliseum) is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. History Hamilton was lef ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
. The final Canada Cup was held in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
with Canada defeating the United States in the tournament's first all-North American final, for their third straight championship and fourth overall. Five years later, the Canada Cup was replaced by the
World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nati ...
in
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
.


Trophy

The Canada Cup trophy is shaped like half of a
maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
and is made of solid
nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
( worth). It was refined by Inco Ltd in Sudbury Ontario, commissioned by D. Scott McCann (at the time President of Teledyne Canada). Donna Scott (Queen's University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1985) designed the cup, citing as her inspiration
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's ''
The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' album cover. It is on display at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General in Ottawa.


Controversy

The 1981 win by the Soviet Union caused controversy when Canadian officials found the trophy in the Soviets' luggage and announced that the trophy would not actually go home with the winning team. Feeling this was unsportsmanlike, Canadian fans led by George Smith of
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Manitoba raised money to produce a duplicate trophy to give to the Soviet team.Canada Cup Controversy - CBC News: The National
$32,000 was raised. Three weeks later the trophy was presented to the Soviet Union's ambassador Vladimir Mechulayev in Winnipeg. Most of the companies that made the trophy did the work for free and almost all of the money raised went to
minor hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...
in Winnipeg and
Winkler, Manitoba Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745, making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Stanley, about one hundre ...
.


Competitions


All-time results table


See also

*
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
*
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...
*
Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...
* List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players *
1972 Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...
*
1974 Summit Series The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the ...
*
World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nati ...
*
Ice hockey at the Olympic Games Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France. The women's tournam ...
*
Super Series '76-77 Super Series '76-77 was an ice hockey tournament, which saw the team from HC CSKA Moscow, also called the "Red Army" in English (as all players were superficially members of the Soviet Army), touring North America to play against teams from the Wo ...
*
Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on the NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception w ...
*
CHL Canada/Russia Series The CHL Canada–Russia Series is an annual junior ice hockey exhibition tournament, held between a select team of Russian players and all-star teams representing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Western ...
*
2007 Super Series The 2007 Super Series (russian: Суперсерия 2007; french: 2007 Super Série) was an eight-game Under-20 ice hockey challenge between Russia and Canada. The series was won by Canada, who shocked the Russians with seven wins and one tie ...
* NHL Challenge *
Rendez-vous '87 Rendez-vous '87 was a two-game international ice hockey series of games between the Soviet Union national ice hockey team and a team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League, held in Quebec City. It replaced the NHL's All-Star festivities ...
* Victoria Cup * List of KHL vs NHL games * List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players * List of international games played by NHL teams


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Canada Versus the Soviet Union: The Heyday of the Battle for World Hockey Supremacy (1972-1987)
{{Canada Cup World Cup of Hockey Finals venues Ice hockey tournaments in Canada International ice hockey competitions hosted by Canada