1976 Canada Cup
After the Summit Series of 1972 and 1974, the NHL and NHLPA decided to broaden the scope of the competition, inviting to the tournament a number of hockey countries and allowing each invited country to send the best possible team they could muster. To live up to this ideal, the Canada Cup (unlike the 1972 Summit Series) would allow players from the WHA to participate. This first of five such Canada Cup tournaments would take place during the first two weeks of September 1976.
The 1976 tournament is considered by many to have hosted the best Canadian team ever to step on the ice.
Rosters
Canada
Forwards and Defense: Bill Barber, Bobby Clarke, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Bob Gainey, Danny Gare, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Guy Lapointe, Reggie Leach, Peter Mahovlich, Richard Martin, Lanny McDonald, Bobby Orr, Gilbert Perreault, Denis Potvin, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt, Darryl Sittler, Carol Vadnais, Jimmy Watson
Goaltenders: Gerry Cheevers, Glenn Resch, Rogatien Vachon
Coaches: Scotty Bowman, Don Cherry, Bobby Kromm, Al MacNeil
Czechoslovakia
Forwards and Defense: Josef Augusta, Jiri Bubla, Frantisek Cernik, Milan Chalupa, Miroslav Dvorak, Bohuslav Ebermann, Ivan Hlinka, Jiri Holik, Karel Holy, Frantisek Kaberle, Milan Kajkl, Oldrich Machac, Vladimir Martinec, Jiri Novak, Milan Novy, Frantisek Pospisil, Jaroslav Pouzar, Pavel Richter, Vladimir Sandrik, Bohuslav Stastny, Marian Stastny, Peter Stastny, Sandrik Vladimir
Goaltenders: Vladimir Dzurilla, Jiri Holecek
Coaches: Karel Gut, Jan Starsi
Finland
Forwards and Defense: Tapio Flinck, Matti Hagman, Hannu Kapanen, Veli-Pekka Ketola, Pertti Koivulahti, Tapio Koskinen, Tapio Levo, Harri Linnonmaa, Lasse Litma, Kari Makkonen, Timo Nummelin, Lasse Oksanen, Esa Peltonen, Jouni Peltonen, Pekka Rautakallio, Matti Rautiainen, Seppo Repo, Heikki Riihiranta, Jouni Rinne, Timo Saari, Juhani Tamminen, Jorma Vehmanen
Goaltenders: Antti Leppanen, Markus Mattsson, Jorma Valtonen
Coaches: Lasse Hiekkila, Carl Brewer
Sweden
Forwards and Defense: Mats Ahlberg, Thommie Bergman, Per-Olov Brasar, Lars-Erik Eriksson, Roland Eriksson, Lars-Erik Esbjors, Inge Hammarstrom, Anders Hedberg, Bjorn Johansson, Dan Labraaten, Willy Lindstrom, Tord Lundstrom, Lars-Goran Nilsson, Ulf Nilsson, Stig Ostling, Borje Salming, Stig Salming, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Jan-Olov Svensson, Mats Waltin, Juha Widing, Kjell-Arne Wikstrom
Goaltenders: Hardy Astrom, Goran Hogosta, William Lofqvist
Coaches: Tommy Sandlin, Bengt Ohlson
USA
Forwards and Defense: Fred Ahern, Curt Bennett, Harvey Bennett, Dan Bolduc, Rick Chartraw, Mike Christie, Lee Fogolin, Robbie Ftorek, Alan Hangsleben, Steve Jensen, Mike Milbury, Lou Nanne, Joe Noris, Bill Nyrop, Gerry O'Flaherty, Doug Palazzari, Craig Patrick, Mike Polich, Gary Sargent, Dean Talafous, Warren Williams
Goaltenders: Mike Curran, Pete LoPresti, Robert Raeder
Coaches: Bob Pulford, Harry Neale
USSR
Forwards and Defense: Boris Alexandrov, Sergei Babinov, Helmut Balderis, Valeri Belousov, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Alexander Golikov, Alexander Gusev, Sergei Kapustin, Vladimir Kovin, Vladimir Krikunov, Alexander Kulikov, Viktor Kuznetsov, Yuri Lebedev, Vladimir Lutchenko, Alexander Maltsev, Vladimir Repnev, Viktor Shalimov, Alexander Skvortsov, Valeri Vasiliev, Vladimir Vikulov, Viktor Zhluktov
Goaltenders: Vladislav Tretiak, Mikhail Vasilenok, Viktor Zinger
Coaches: Viktor Tikhonov, Boris Mayorov, Robert Cherenkov
Round Robin Standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Team Canada
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 8 |
| File:Czechoslovakia flag.png Team Czechoslovakia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 7 |
 Team USSR
|
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 14 | 5 |
 Team Sweden
|
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 18 | 5 |
 Team USA
|
5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 3 |
| File:Finland flag large.png Team Finland | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 42 | 2 |
Game Scores
Round-Robin
| Location | Result |
|---|---|
| Ottawa, Sept. 02, 1976 | Canada 11 File:Finland flag large.png Finland 2
|
| Toronto, Sept. 03, 1976 | Sweden 5 USA 2
|
| Montreal, Sept. 03, 1976 | File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 5 USSR 3
|
| Montreal, Sept. 05, 1976 | Sweden 3 USSR 3
|
| Toronto, Sept. 05, 1976 | File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 8 File:Finland flag large.png Finland 0 |
| Montreal, Sept. 05, 1976 | Canada 4 USA 2
|
| Montreal, Sept. 07, 1976 | USSR 11 File:Finland flag large.png Finland 3
|
| Philadelphia, Sept. 07, 1976 | File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 4 USA 4
|
| Toronto, Sept. 07, 1976 | Canada 4 Sweden 0
|
| Winnipeg, Sept. 09, 1976 | File:Finland flag large.png Finland 8 Sweden 6
|
| Philadelphia, Sept. 09, 1976 | USSR 5 USA 0
|
| Montreal, Sept. 09, 1976 | File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 1 Canada 0
|
| Montreal, Sept. 11, 1976 | USA 6 File:Finland flag large.png Finland 3
|
| Quebec City, Sept. 11, 1976 | Sweden 2 File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 1
|
| Toronto, Sept. 11, 1976 | Canada 3 USSR 1
|
Final (best of 3)
| Location | Result |
|---|---|
| Toronto, Sept. 13, 1976 | Canada 6 File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 0
|
| Montreal, Sept. 15, 1976 | Canada 5 File:Czechoslovakia flag.png CSSR 4 (OT)
|
Stat Leaders
Points
| GP | G | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Zhluktov |
5 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Bobby Orr |
7 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Denis Potvin |
7 | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| Bobby Hull |
7 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| File:Czechoslovakia flag.png Milan Novy | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Gilbert Perreault |
7 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Vladimir Vikulov |
4 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Borje Salming |
5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Phil Esposito |
7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Alexander Maltsev |
5 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| File:Czechoslovakia flag.png Vladimir Martinec | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
Goals
| GP | G | |
|---|---|---|
| File:Czechoslovakia flag.png Milan Novy | 7 | 5 |
| Bobby Hull |
7 | 5 |
| Viktor Zhluktov |
5 | 5 |
| Darryl Sittler |
7 | 4 |
| Gilbert Perreault |
7 | 4 |
Assists
| GP | A | |
|---|---|---|
| Denis Potvin |
7 | 8 |
| Bobby Orr |
7 | 7 |
| Marcel Dionne |
7 | 5 |
| Guy Lafleur |
7 | 5 |
| Alexander Gusev |
5 | 5 |
Goaltending
| GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogatien Vachon |
7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.39 |
| File:Czechoslovakia flag.png Vladimir Dzurilla | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.36 |
| Vladislav Tretiak |
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Pete LoPresti |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
- minimum 120 minutes played.
Trophies and Awards
Tournament Champion
Tournament MVP
- Bobby Orr, Canada
Team MVPs
- Rogatien Vachon, Canada
- Milan Novy, CSSR
- Alexander Maltsev, USSR
- Borje Salming, Sweden
- Robbie Ftorek, USA
- Matti Hagman, Finland
All-Star Team
- Goaltender: Rogatien Vachon, Canada
- Defence: Bobby Orr, Canada; Borje Salming, Sweden
- Forwards: Alexander Maltsev, USSR; Milan Novy, CSSR; Darryl Sittler, Canada