Canada Cup '87 Revisited

Many consider the 1987 Canada Cup to be the best hockey tournament ever played, and for good reason. The games were hotly contested; a rare best-on-best battle for hockey supremacy, and the political and social climate of the age was reflected on and off the ice. The Cold War was still icy and the NHL's European invasion was still in its early stages, so many of the best players in the tournament were relative unknowns in North America, which added to the intrigue.

Many names were known internationally, however, and some were even feared. The Soviet's Big Red Machine was powered by the world reknowned KLM Line (Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov) and star defender Vyacheslav Fetisov. The Swedes had speed in Kent Nilsson and Mats Naslund. The Finns had Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen. The Americans had four future Hall of Famers (Joe Mullen, Pat LaFontaine, Rod Langway, Phil Housley), five if you count soon-to-be elected Chris Chelios. And the relatively lesser-known Czechs introduced the world to a wildly unorthodox goaltender named Dominik Hasek. Meanwhile, the Canadians were so stacked it was scary; Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Dale Hawerchuk, Ray Bourque, Grant Fuhr and an emerging new star by the name of Mario Lemieux were just the headliners. Canada was so deep there was no room on the roster for future Hall of Famer Scott Stevens. When the Canadians clashed with the Soviets in an epic three game final, the hockey world stood still and held its breath, exhaling only after Gretzky found Lemieux one last time.

The stirring three-game final between Canada and the Soviet Union will be replayed on TSN. And ESPN Classic is replaying the tournament in its entirety this weekend.

A Look Back - Team Canada's Roster | Other Rosters

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