The first World Cup of Hockey ( WCH), or ''1996 World Cup of Hockey'', replaced the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...

as one of the premier championships for

professional ice hockey Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States in Pennsylvania and Michigan and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice ...

Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey''

The first edition of the Cup featured eight teams divided into two groups. The European Group, whose games were all played in Europe, included the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

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 Bot ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and

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 countries, Nordic c ...

. The North American Group played in North American cities and included

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 to ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Some of the best players in the world were missing in the tournament, some either declined invitation, such as

Dominik Hašek Dominik Hašek (, ; born January 29, 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who mostly played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders of all time, Hašek also played for ...

stating "I would love to play in (the competition), but the timing is bad", or because of injuries, as

Pavel Bure Pavel Vladimirovich Bure (russian: Па́вел Влади́мирович Буре́, ; born March 31, 1971) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played the right wing position. Nicknamed "the Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bu ...

was injured during a Russia-USA exhibition game in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. After the teams played a three-game group stage, the top team in each group advanced to the semi-finals, while the second and third place teams played cross-over quarter-finals. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were single elimination games. The championship final was a best-of-three. All playoff games were played in North America. In the biggest surprise of the tournament, Germany defeated Czech Republic 7–1 in the European Group, which eliminated the Czechs and sent the Germans into the quarter-finals. In the biggest game of the North American Group, USA defeated Canada 5–3 to finish first and get a bye to the semi-finals. In the semis, they defeated Russia 5–2, while Canada beat Sweden 3–2 on

Theoren Fleury Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author, and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of t ...

's goal at 19:47 of the second overtime period, ending the longest game in international hockey history. The tournament did see some controversy after the Canada-Russia game in Vancouver was played when

's coach

Kent Forsberg Kent Forsberg (born 12 September 1947) is a Swedish ice hockey coach. He has coached Modo Hockey of the Elitserien and, between 1995–1998, the Swedish national team. He is the father of former NHL player Peter Forsberg. Coaching career Forsb ...

said he believed "Canada cheated its way to victory" through help of Canadian NHL referees that saw two goals disallowed and several controversial penalties for Russia. The Russian's coach

Boris Mikhailov Boris Mikhailov may refer to: * Boris Mikhailov (Comintern), representative of the Communist International to the US in 1929-30 * Boris Mikhailov (photographer) (born 1938), fine art photographer * Boris Mikhailov (ice hockey) (born 1944), former ...

echoed a similar sentiment after the game saying "It was the referees' victory", as Team Russia had felt there was "biased officiating". In the best-of-three final, Canada won the first game, in Philadelphia, 4–3 in overtime. Then the USA recorded a memorable pair of 5–2 victories in Montreal to win the series. In the third and decisive game, the US received spectacular goaltending from tournament MVP

Mike Richter Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire career with the New York Rangers organization, and led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1994. He also represented the Un ...

and rallied from a 2–1 deficit in the third period by scoring four goals in the final 3:18 of the game. Tony Amonte scored the game-winning goal.

Rosters

Venues

;North American pool and playoffs * Corel Centre –

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, Canada *

CoreStates Center The Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and t ...

–

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, U.S. * General Motors Place –

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, Canada *

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

–

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, U.S. *

Molson Centre Bell Centre (), formerly known as Molson Centre (), is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montr ...

–

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Canada ;European pool * Garmisch Olympia Stadium –

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Ob ...

, Germany *

Globen Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockho ...

–

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, Sweden *

Helsinki Ice Hall Helsinki Ice Hall ( fi, Helsingin jäähalli, sv, Helsingfors ishall) is an indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. The arena has a seating capacity of 8,200. History Helsinki Ice Hall has been the home arena of HIFK of Liiga since its cons ...

–

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland * Sportovní hala –

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic

Results

Exhibition Games (incomplete list)

*Russia 5–4 Finland (Moscow) *Sweden 2–3 Russia (Stockholm) *Germany 2–4 Russia (Landshut) *Canada 4–4 Russia (Calgary) *United States 4–6 Russia (Detroit) *United States 1–3 Canada (Vancouver) *Canada 5–7 United States (San Jose) *Slovakia 4–7 Canada (Edmonton) *Slovakia 2–9 United States (Providence)

North American pool

Scores

*August 29, Vancouver: Russia 3–5 Canada *August 31, Montreal: Slovakia 4–7 Russia *August 31, Philadelphia: Canada 3–5 United States *September 1, Ottawa: Canada 3–2 Slovakia *September 2, New York City: Russia 2–5 United States *September 3, New York City: United States 9–3 Slovakia

European pool

Scores

*August 26, Stockholm: Germany 1–6 Sweden *August 27, Helsinki: Finland 7–3 Czech Republic *August 28, Helsinki: Germany 3–8 Finland *August 29, Prague: Sweden 3–0 Czech Republic *August 31, Garmisch: Czech Republic 1–7 Germany *September 1, Stockholm: Finland 2–5 Sweden

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

*September 5, Montreal: Germany 1–4 Canada *September 6, Ottawa: Russia 5–0 Finland

Semifinals

*September 7, Philadelphia: Canada 3–2 Sweden (2OT) *September 8, Ottawa: Russia 2–5 United States

Finals

*September 10, Philadelphia: Canada 4–3 United States (OT) *September 12, Montreal: United States 5–2 Canada *September 14, Montreal: Canada 2–5 United States

Statistics and awards

Tournament MVP

All-star team

*Goaltender:

*Defence:

Calle Johansson Carl Christian "Calle" Johansson (born 14 February 1967) is a Swedish former assistant coach with the Washington Capitals and former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1987 and 2004, ...

;

Chris Chelios Christos Kostas Chelios (born January 25, 1962) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was one of the longest tenured players in the National Hockey League, and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion—one with the Montreal ...

*Forwards: Brett Hull;

Mats Sundin Mats Johan Sundin (; born 13 February 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), retiring in 2009. Originally drafted first overall in 1989, Sundin played ...

;

John LeClair John Clark LeClair (born July 5, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. With the Flyers, LeC ...

Final standings

Top scorers

*Leading Goaltender:

Curtis Joseph Curtis Shayne Joseph (né Munro; born April 29, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. Nicknamed "Cujo", Joseph was immediately recognizable on the ice for his masks featuring a snarling dog, drawing inspiration fro ...

(2.31 GAA)

References

External links

Southam Newspapers' 1996 World Cup of Hockey pageLCS Hockey's 1996 World Cup of Hockey page
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup World Cup of Hockey 1996–97 in American ice hockey 1996–97 in Canadian ice hockey 1996–97 in Czech ice hockey 1996–97 in Finnish ice hockey 1996–97 in German ice hockey 1996–97 in Russian ice hockey 1996–97 in Swedish ice hockey August 1996 sports events September 1996 sports events Recurring sporting events established in 1996

Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey''

Rosters

Venues

Results

Exhibition Games (incomplete list)

North American pool

Scores

European pool

Scores

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Statistics and awards

Tournament MVP

All-star team

Final standings

Top scorers

See also

References

External links