Your pick who wins: Canada '76 vs. Canada '87

[Big Phil]

If you had a choice and could see the 1976 Canadian team play against the 1987 Canada Cup team who do you think would win? In a 7 game series who wins? And why. And what players dominate?

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[Dark Shadows]

I would take the 1987 team.

 

[MXD]

Canada 76.

 

[pappyline]

I take 76

 

[Ofuzz]

The '76 team was an incredibly balanced team of players that "knew" they were elite. A perfect combination of offense and defense that will probably never be equaled again. So many Hall Of Famers. And, all this might not be popular to some, '76 goaltender Rogie Vachon was absolutely incredible while the '87 Grant Fuhr probably was the benifactor of a good team. Fuhr did give up 16 goals in the 3 game final.

I do know the '76 team played against weaker competition overall, but if they played the '87 team heads-up, I still think they were deeper and would've won. Clarke, Esposito, Gainey, Hull, Lafleur, Dionne, Orr, Lapointe, McDonald, Perreault, Potvin, Robinson, Savard, Shutt, Sittler, Barber.......all Hall of Famers. Cheevers , who didn't even get to play is in the Hall, and Vachon, who should be in the Hall was incredible.

 

[Big Phil]

The '76 team was an incredibly balanced team of players that "knew" they were elite. A perfect combination of offense and defense that will probably never be equaled again. So many Hall Of Famers. And, all this might not be popular to some, '76 goaltender Rogie Vachon was absolutely incredible while the '87 Grant Fuhr probably was the benifactor of a good team. Fuhr did give up 16 goals in the 3 game final.

I do know the '76 team played against weaker competition overall, but if they played the '87 team heads-up, I still think they were deeper and would've won. Clarke, Esposito, Gainey, Hull, Lafleur, Dionne, Orr, Lapointe, McDonald, Perreault, Potvin, Robinson, Savard, Shutt, Sittler, Barber.......all Hall of Famers. Cheevers , who didn't even get to play is in the Hall, and Vachon, who should be in the Hall was incredible.

I agree not just that but how about the non-Hall of Famers that were on that team. Martin, Pete Mahovlich, Gare, Leach. All 4 of them you would have predicted at the end of their careers to be Hall of Famers. Even with the '87 team having #99 and #66 in their prime I have a hard time seeing their defense holding up Lafleur, Perreault and Hull not to mention Orr. And a ton of others at their peak

 

[Up the Irons]

that's a good question. 76 looks more stacked on paper, but Orr and Hull were in their swan song while Gretz was at his peak and Mario was just discovering his true greatness. Robinson, Savard, Potvin, Lapointe vrs Bourque, Coffee, and (was Potvin on that one too?) the 3rd and 4th lines were probably better on 87 with Tochet and Sutter and the like, Hawerchuk. more suited for the job of stoppers.

i gotta go with 87.. 99 and 66 were just too much. plus, Fuhr beats Rogitien Vachon going away.

 

[Up the Irons]

76 was more of an allstar team. 87 was a championship team. after the debacle of the 81 cup and the Challenge Cup, Canada got smart and stop taking the top 15 scorers and started taking the best checkers aswell. so, i stand by 87, but man, the 76 team sure was stacked.

glad to see we're not mentioning 72, which would not stand a chance against either 76 or 87.

 

[Big Phil]

Why I took '76 was because of Orr. Yes this was his last hurrah but he was still the best in the world even while his knees were giving out. Hull was 37 but still pretty good. Esposito still wasnt bad either. But other than them they have such a huge collection of players that were hitting their peak. Clarke, Lafleur, Sittler, Dionne, Barber, Perreault, Mahovlich, Martin, McDonald, Shutt. Throw in Gainey as a defensive gem and that's your core of forwards. Not to mention Leach just came off a 61 goal 19-goal playoff year.

Plus the defense was sickening. Other than Orr you have Potvin, Robinson, Lapointe and Savard. That defense trumps the '87 team of Bourque, Coffey, Murphy and lower calibre players like Rochefort, Hartsburg, Crossman and Patrick.

Even with Gretzky and Lemieux in their primes I dont see the offense being as deep as the '76 team. Messier, Hawerchuk, Goulet, Gilmour, Gartner and Anderson round out the true offensive gems. But that isnt quite 3 lines and even after that Tocchet, Sutter and Propp arent quite in the elite class. With the goalies I guess you could give the slight edge to Fuhr, but that's only 1/3 positions I give the '87 team the edge to. That '76 defense would be able to beat you so many ways, its sickening.

The '87 was still deep and skilled and showed a lot of heart but Orr would put the '76 team over the top. Also while I acknowledge that the '87 team had harder competition there were no players on the '76 team with a minus in the +/- dept. On the '87 there were a few including Gretzky at -2.

 

[yada]

interesting thread as i gain more knowledge on the history i wonder others thoughts on this very topic. i usually tend to hear the 76 team as the greatest team ever assembled. 87 i usually hear about gretzky and lemiuex and lemieuxs coming out party.

 

[Up the Irons]

'i usually tend to hear the 76 team as the greatest team ever assembled.'

most stacked, yes. greatest? that's gets hazy.