Heroes of the Canada Cup and World Cup of Hockey

Originally written for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey Program

By Lucas Aykroyd

Nobody would deny that hockey is a team game. But success in a short, intense international tournament can sometimes hinge on a brilliant individual performance. Whether you’re talking about setting the stage for things to come or actually clinching a championship, this pattern has emerged more than once in World Cup history.

Some players never perform better before or after those heaven-sent 60 minutes alongside their fellow countrymen. For others, stepping up in this tournament simply adds another jewel to the many sparkling achievements of their careers.

If any of the six men you’re about to read about described the following performances as “the best game I ever played,” who would dare to dispute it with them?

Vladimir Dzurilla
Czechoslovakia 1, Canada 0
September 9, 1976
Montreal Forum, Montreal

Canadian journalists were surprised to see Vladimir Dzurilla playing in goal for Czechoslovakia in this round-robin clash. Jiri Holecek, named the top netminder at the 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1976 IIHF World Championships, had started all three previous CSSR games. Why wouldn’t coaches Jan Starsi and Karel Gut come back with him?

“We were not surprised because Dzurilla always played better against North American teams than European teams,” said Czech teammate Jiri Bubla. “It was because of his style. Dzurilla kept himself square to the shooter and would skate out to challenge.”

That’s not to say the 5-10, 205-pound Bratislava native wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of facing Canadian scoring aces like Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, and Phil Esposito. In fact, Dzurilla said he “felt like a soldier in the front line about to face bayonets” when he heard he would be starting. But the 34-year-old met the challenge, stopping all 29 Canadian shots for a thrilling shutout win. Having narrowly outdueled his counterpart, Rogatien Vachon, Dzurilla got a standing ovation from the knowledgeable Montreal fans.

“That 1-0 loss is on my list of the top ten games I’ve ever played in,” said Montreal defenseman Larry Robinson, who also praised Dzurilla’s efforts.

Dzurilla was between the pipes again six days later when Canada and Czechoslovakia went to overtime in the deciding game of the 1976 Canada Cup. Although he finally surrendered the winning goal to Darryl Sittler, Dzurilla’s fame was secured.

With three Olympic and ten World Championship medals, Dzurilla never left a senior IIHF tournament without some hardware. He was recently voted the Slovak Athlete of the Century. Tragically, this always-smiling legend died of a heart attack in Dusseldorf, Germany at age 53 in 1995.

Sergei Shepelev
USSR 8, Canada 1
September 13, 1981
Montreal Forum, Montreal

The USSR’s 1981 Canada Cup team included veterans like Alexander Maltsev and Valeri Vasiliev, who had keyed the USSR’s global dominance in the 1970’s, as well as fresh talents like Sergei Makarov and Viacheslav Fetisov, who would lead the nationals through the 1980’s. But Sergei Shepelev was truly a “man of the moment” when he scored a hat trick in the most crushing Russian triumph ever over Canada.

Coming off a 28-goal season with Spartak Moscow, plus six tallies at the 1981 IIHF World Championships, Shepelev had suddenly emerged as one of the better Soviet forwards. Noted for his great skating and elaborate stickhandling, the Sverdlovsk-born center didn’t always adhere to Viktor Tikhonov’s system as rigorously as the national team head coach would have liked. Yet Shepelev, 25, formed a potent troika with Spartak teammates Victor Shalimov and Sergei Kapustin.

The final game was tied 1-1 midway through the second period when Shepelev picked up a loose puck with traffic in front of the Canadian net and backhanded it past goalie Mike Liut for the eventual game-winner. He finished off a power play set-up from Kapustin just over five minutes later, and dashed Canada’s comeback hopes with a goal 1:39 into the third period.

“He was incredible in the final game,” admitted Wayne Gretzky. “He beat guys to the outside on two goals.”

Shepelev wound up with three World Championships and one Olympic gold medal to his credit, but couldn’t crack the national team again after the 1984 Canada Cup. Today, he is the head coach of Spartak.

Kent Nilsson
Sweden 9, USA 2
September 12, 1984
Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton

Kent “Magic” Nilsson had arguably more pure talent than any other NHL player in the early 1980’s. For instance, during practice the Swedish center could line up ten pucks at center ice and hit the crossbar eight or nine times. He also invented the famous one-handed scoring move that Peter Forsberg would borrow for the winning goal in the shootout against Canada’s Corey Hirsch in the 1994 Olympics.

While some questioned Nilsson’s intensity, he brought all his talent to bear in the semi-final win that vaulted Tre Kronor into the 1984 Canada Cup finals. Picking up a goal and four assists, he completely flummoxed the Americans, who had future Hall of Famers like Bryan Trottier, Joe Mullen, and Chris Chelios, and had defeated Sweden 7-1 in the tournament opener. Nilsson was on the ice for seven Swedish goals, including a hat trick by Hakan Loob and two goals by Thomas Steen.

“There are some people who view that as the greatest Swedish hockey performance of all time, since all the best players were there,” said Swedish journalist Peter Westermark, adding, however, that most of his compatriots still see the 1994 Olympic gold as tops.

Alhough Nilsson would tally another four points in the second game of the finals, it was too little, too late as Sweden tried to rally from a 6-1 deficit against Canada but ended up losing 6-5. However, Nilsson would taste victory in 1987 as a Stanley Cup champion with Edmonton. He still works for the Oilers as their European scout.

Wayne Gretzky
Canada 6, USSR 5
September 13, 1987
Copps Coliseum, Hamilton

To anyone who hasn’t seen this game, anything said about it would sound like hyperbole. So brace yourself. Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player who ever lived, calls it the “greatest game ever” and “the greatest game I ever played.”

And it wasn’t the third and deciding game of the Canada Cup, where the Great One made a drop pass to Mario Lemieux for the winning goal with 1:26 left in the final period.

Instead, it was Game Two, the double overtime thriller where Canada rallied to tie the series at one game apiece. Gretzky played about 50 minutes that night and earned five assists, setting up Mario Lemieux’s three goals.

Perhaps his most dazzling moment came at 16:32 of the middle frame, when 99 and 66 broke in two-on-one against Russian defenseman Vasili Pervukhin and goalie Evgeny Belosheikin. Gretzky fed Lemieux a perfect cross-ice pass and Lemieux wired it high into the net, with Belosheikin totally helpless.

In his 1990 autobiography, Gretzky revealed two amusing facts about this classic performance. First, he was so exhausted during the first overtime that he involuntarily wet his pants. Second, he didn’t actually intend to pass the puck across the crease to Lemieux for the double OT goal–it was a flubbed shot.

Markus Ketterer
Canada 2, Finland 2
August 31, 1991
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

Playing superb hockey doesn’t always guarantee your place in the headlines. Markus Ketterer may have backstopped the Finnish national junior team to its first-ever world championship in 1987 and won a domestic title with TPS Turku in 1991, but the 24-year-old netminder was a little-known quantity to most observers when he made his Canada Cup debut versus the Maple Leaf. Yet his performance would help Finland to its best results in tournament history.

Entering this game, the Canadians had cumulatively outscored Finland 24-3 in their three previous tournament meetings (1976, 1981, 1987). So they were surprised by Ketterer’s prowess, as he stopped 42 out of 44 shots with an effective stand-up style. Only Luc Robitaille and Brendan Shanahan managed to beat him as Finland secured the tie.

“Ketterer made difficult saves look like he was just picking off warmup shots,” said Finnish hockey writer Lauri Tarkkonen. “Thus, some people felt he was lucky that the opposition for some reason always hit him in the chest or put it into his glove.”

Janne Ojanen, the ex-New Jersey Devil forward, was named Finland’s player of the game for his two-goal contribution. But the Buffalo Sabres liked what they saw of Ketterer and selected the Helsinki native in the fifth round of the 1992 NHL Draft.

Ketterer never achieved NHL glory, although he spent two seasons with Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester. But he did have another career highlight, putting Finland into the finals of the 1992 World Championships with his brilliance in a penalty shootout against Czechoslovakia. He retired in 1999 due to back problems. Ketterer, who holds a degree in economics, works in the Finnish business world nowadays.

Mike Richter
September 14, 1996
Montreal Forum, Montreal
USA 5, Canada 2

The greatest American goalie of all time peaked internationally with his exploits in this World Cup final. Overall, Mike Richter stopped 102 out of the 109 shots he faced in the three games versus Canada, and he reserved his best for the deciding match, where he famously stoned Vincent Damphousse on a breakaway.

Totally besieged by power forwards like Eric Lindros and Mark Messier, Richter kept the Stars and Stripes flying high in the second period with 21 saves. Finally the 29-year-old Pennsylvania-born netminder got some respite when the USA shooters scored four goals in the final stanza.

After the game, Richter was named tournament MVP and received a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. “It’ll take a few days for it to sink in,” the New York Ranger veteran told reporters. “It seems funny now that the tournament is over. It’s too bad it had to end. I’d like to see this competition going all year.”

More Impressive Individuals

September 7, 1976: The Soviet Union’s Viktor Zhluktov earns a tournament record six points (four goals and two assists) in an 11-3 waxing of Finland.

September 9, 1976: Finland’s Lasse Oksanen scores two third-period goals, including the winner, as Finland rallies from a 4-1 deficit to beat Sweden 8-6.

September 6, 1984: Goalie Peter Lindmark makes 29 saves in a 4-2 win as Sweden defeats Canada on North American soil for the first time since the 1962 World Championships in Colorado Springs, USA.

September 16, 1991: Steve Larmer’s breakaway goal gives Canada its third straight Canada Cup title in a 4-2 win over the USA, as Larmer enjoys a three-point night.

September 7, 1996: Mats Sundin gets just one assist but puts in an unforgettable, physical performance as Sweden falls 3-2 to Canada in a double-overtime semi-final clash.