The Canada Cup 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 world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional or amateur. It was sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation, Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League. Canada won the tournament four times, while the Soviet Union captured the championship once. It was succeeded by the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.
Dale Martin Hawerchuk was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Drafted first overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, Hawerchuk played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 16 seasons as a member of the Jets, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Philadelphia Flyers. He won the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 1982 and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility in 2001. Hawerchuk served as the head coach of the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League from 2010 to 2019.
Grant Scott Fuhr is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) and former goaltending coach for the Arizona Coyotes, who played for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s during which he won the Stanley Cup five times.
Sergei Viktorovich Fyodorov is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) from 2021 to 2024. During his playing career, for which he is best known for his 13 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Fedorov was primarily a centre, but occasionally played as a winger or defenceman.
Igor Nikolayevich Larionov is a Russian ice hockey coach, sports agent and former professional ice hockey player, known as "the Professor". Considered one of the best hockey players of all time, he, along with Viacheslav Fetisov, were instrumental in forcing the Soviet government to let Soviet players compete in the National Hockey League (NHL). During his career, which lasted from 1977 to 2006, he primarily played the centre position.
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 for the 1986–87 NHL season. The Soviet team was paid $80,000 for their appearance in Rendez-vous '87, while the NHLers raised $350,000 for the players' pension fund.
The 1990 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1989–90 season, and the culmination of the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins. This was a rematch of the 1988 Finals, albeit with the notable absence of Wayne Gretzky who was traded from Edmonton to the Los Angeles Kings during the 1988 off-season. The Oilers once again defeated the Bruins, this time in five games, to win the Stanley Cup.
HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. The club is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its affiliation with the Soviet Army, known as the Red Army until 1946, and the Russian Armed Forces. CSKA won more Soviet championships and European cups than any other team in history. It is owned by Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft, which is in turn majority-owned by the Russian government.
Igor Aleksandrovich Kravchuk is a Russian former ice hockey defenceman, who spent several seasons in the Soviet League and then in the National Hockey League and also competed internationally for the Soviet Union, Unified Team, and Russia.
The 1995–96 St. Louis Blues season was the 29th in franchise history. The Blues hired head coach Mike Keenan as general manager. One of Keenan's first moves was trading Brendan Shanahan to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Pronger. Late in the season, Keenan acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Los Angeles Kings, reuniting him with former Oilers such as Glenn Anderson, Charlie Huddy, Craig MacTavish, and Grant Fuhr. Fuhr was hurt in the final game of the regular season and only played 2 games in the playoffs.
The 1986 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in the Soviet Union from 12 to 28 April. The games were played at the Luzhniki Palace of Sports and the CSKA Ice Palace in Moscow, and eight teams took part. Each team played each other once, and then The four best teams then played each other once more with no results carrying over, and the other four teams played each other again to determine ranking and relegation. This was the 51st World Championships, and also the 62nd ice hockey European Championships. The reigning world champions from Czechoslovakia finished fifth, and the Soviet Union became World Champions for the 20th time, and also won their 24th European Championship. In the European Championship, only mutual games between European teams in the first round were counted. For the disappointing Czechoslovaks, this was the first time since 1967 that they had finished out of the medals, and their worst result outside the Olympics since 1937.
The 1985 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 17 April to 3 May. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once. The four best teams then played each other once more with no results carrying over, and the other four teams played each other again to determine ranking and relegation. This was the 50th World Championships, and also the 61st European Championships of ice hockey. The home side, Czechoslovakia, became world champions for the 6th time, and the Soviet Union won their 23rd European title. For the European Championship, only games between European sides in the first round are included.
The 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in West Germany from 16 April to 2 May. The games were played in Munich, Dortmund and Düsseldorf. Eight teams took part, with each playing each other once. The four best teams then play each other once more with no results carrying over this time, and the other four teams played each other again to determine ranking and relegation. This was the 49th World Championships, and also the 60th European Championships. The Soviet Union became world champions for the 19th time, tying Canada, and won their 22nd European title.
The 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Finland from the 15 April to the 29 April. The games were played in Helsinki and Tampere with eight teams playing a single round-robin, followed by the top four teams playing each other once more. This was the 48th World Championships, and also the 59th European Championships of ice hockey. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 18th time, and also won their 21st European Championship.
The IIHF Centennial All-Star Team is an all-star team of hockey players from international ice hockey tournaments. The team was chosen based on the players' "impact in international ice hockey over a period of at least a decade," with a requirement that they must have performed "at the highest possible level ."
Below are the ice hockey national team rosters of the 1981 Canada Cup.
Below are the ice hockey national team rosters of the 1984 Canada Cup.
The KLM-Line is the name given to the first lineup players of the USSR national ice hockey team and the Russian club CSKA in the 1980s. It included forwards Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov. The trio was named after the first letters of the offensive players last names. It is widely considered to be the best offensive lineup ever.
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