1976 Olympics: if NHL players could play

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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Malmö, Sweden
How would the teams look like?

For Canada i would go with:

Johnny Bucyk - Phil Esposito - Gordie Howe
Bobby Hull - Gilbert Perreault - Guy Lafleur
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Lanny Mcdonald
Pete Mahovlich - Marcel Dionne - Jean Pronovost

Denis Potvin - Brad Park
Bobby Orr - Serge Savard
Larry Robinson - Guy Lapointe


Ken Dryden
Rogatian Vachon
 

Hoser

Registered User
Aug 7, 2005
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The roster would have looked essentially the same as the 1976 Canada Cup roster.
 
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JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Leach Clarke Barber
Hull Lemaire Lafleur
Perreault Ratelle Cournoyer
P. Mahovlich

Savard Potvin
Park Vadnais
Robinson Lapointe

Vachon/Esposito

I leaned toward chemistry as the team wouldn't have a lot of opportunity to gel (the Canada Cup would be a few months later) and a lot of the top Canadians played together anyway. I went with the LCB line because Clarke is a must and this was probably the strongest line he ever played on. Lafleur was quite possibly the best Canadian forward so he's a must, and the hope is that the inclusion of Lemaire (I think that he was healthy enough) allows him to perform better than he would at the Canada Cup. Hull rounds out that line as an upgrade on P. Mahovlich because he's too good not to select. Perreault is another player that has to be selected. I think that Perreault makes the transition to wing, as he did at the 1981 Canada Cup and some points in the Summit Series, pretty easily. The French Connection line wouldn't be a terrible choice here, but I wanted Ratelle as he had a strong year and was a smart and dependable centre. I thought about several options for the final RW spot, but I went with Cournoyer even though he was on the downswing at this point. I like his elite skating and think that he was a good fit for international hockey. Provides good experience as well. Pete Mahovlich is a great utility player in my eyes. Can fit in on the Lemaire line, can play wing or centre, has great size and was a pretty good skater, was a good player internationally. Puts a lot on the table and takes pretty much nothing off. I recognize that I left a lot of talent off the team, with Esposito and Dionne being the biggest names. Neither impressed me at the Canada Cup and (unlike Lafleur) they play centre. I think that Esposito in 1976 was actually a pretty far cry from Esposito in 1972, and Dionne would have been selected if there had been room for 12 forwards.

With Orr out Potvin is the star defenceman, and I wanted Savard with him as the best defensive player on the team to provide cover. Park missed the end of the season that year but played in the playoffs, so I think he was good enough to go. Vadnais was a good skater and I needed another defenceman, so there he is. I know that Robinson wasn't so good at the Canada Cup, but I like his size and his teammate Lapointe is an automatic pick.

I went with Vachon and Esposito as goalies. Parent wasn't healthy and I don't like Dryden's play against international opposition. Go with whichever goalie looks better.
 
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reckoning

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Jan 4, 2005
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Looking for differences between a hypothetical '76 Olympic team and the actual Canada Cup one. As already mentioned, Orr wouldn't be available, but Dryden and Park would be.

Two players on the CC team that probably wouldn't make the Olympic one would be Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald. The 75-76 season was the year they both emerged as star players, but with the team being chosen a couple of months before the tournament midway through the season, they likely wouldn't have been considered at that point. Neither player was picked for the All-Star Game that year.
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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To be honest, not a lot of difference from the 1976 Canada Cup team. Things such as Park being available and not being injured but the possibility of Orr not being available. Sittler had a good previous couple of years, and even if the team is picked in December my guess is that he still gets picked as he would be on pace for a great year. But the thing about McDonald I am guessing he isn't picked as this was his breakout year and there was no evidence in 1975 that he'd become a bona fide sniper. So I guess someone like Rene Robert would fit in nicely ahead of him considering he was a cut in the 1976 Canada Cup team.

So my team looks a bit like this:
Hull-Dionne-Lafleur
Barber-Clarke-Leach
Martin-Perreault-Robert
Sittler-Esposito-Cournoyer
P. Mahovlich

Orr-Vadnais
Potvin-Park
Robinson-Savard
Lapointe

Vachon
Parent
Dryden
 

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
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Malmö, Sweden
Team Sweden imo:

Leif Holmqvist
Christer Abrahamsson
Curt Larsson

Lars Erik Sjöberg - Mats Waltin
Börje Salming - Stig Salming
Thommie Bergman - Thommy Abrahamsson

Inge Hammarström - Ulf Nilsson - Anders Hedberg
Dan Labraaten - Mats Åhlberg - Dan Söderström
Willy Lindström - Kent Nilsson - Tord Lundström
Mats Lindh - Hardy Nilsson - Juha Widing
 

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