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.