84 canada cup

[crobro]

was in my opinion the best canadian team ever produced.it was more of a team then a collection of stars.two thirds of the team was oilers and islanders players.the semi against the soviets is still to this day the greatest canada -russia game ever.

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[Big Phil]

was in my opinion the best canadian team ever produced.it was more of a team then a collection of stars.two thirds of the team was oilers and islanders players.the semi against the soviets is still to this day the greatest canada -russia game ever.

I'll agree with you on one thing, the Can/Rus semi is on a very short list of mine of the best games ever. But a poll was done on here recently and on paper the 1984 team is not considered the best team Canada has ever had, not close to 1987 IMO.

It was a good team, don't get me wrong, but there were areas that they lacked. In goal Peeters was coming off a Vezina the year before and was arguably the best goalie in the game at that time. But Lemelin and a young Fuhr weren't the best backups in the world. Fuhr three years later really hit his stride but he was green in 1984. Overall the goaltending was not very good in 1984. There was not really a true #1 goalie. Peeters to his credit had a pretty good game in the semi vs. the Russians but that was it.

The results of Canada's games didn't help either. Yes I know early on there was animosity between the Oilers and Isles but they tied the Americans, lost to the Swedes and Russians, pretty convincingly too. And probably should have dominated the Swedes a bit better in the finals. Oh well, they won, but Canada has had better teams. 1976 and 1987 just for the Canada Cups. I also think the 2002 and 2010 Olympic teams were better.

 

[shazariahl]

Game 2 of the 1987 Canada Cup final was my favorite Can/Russia match up at the Canada Cup. Amazing game.

 

[VMBM]

I've said it a zillion times before; the semi-final game was the best performance by Team Canada vs. USSR in a clutch game ever. The odds were so heavily against them... they had a poor round-robin (2-1-2 record, eg. 3-6 loss to the Soviets), and USSR even without Fetisov were beating everyone. Yet Canada, if anyone, dominated the game and were fully deserving winners, biased officiating* or not. It was one the rare times when I've seen the '80s Soviet team look a bit disorganized, even KLM; great penalty killing & forechecking by Team Canada.

However, when you look at the team on paper and the whole tournament, I would say that it was rather the weakest CC team they had between 1976 and 1987, one great timely performance notwithstanding.

* I don't think there was any chance USSR was getting a PP opportunity in the OT (like CAN got), but it wasn't really something that decided the game

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I'll agree with you on one thing, the Can/Rus semi is on a very short list of mine of the best games ever. But a poll was done on here recently and on paper the 1984 team is not considered the best team Canada has ever had, not close to 1987 IMO.

It was a good team, don't get me wrong, but there were areas that they lacked. In goal Peeters was coming off a Vezina the year before and was arguably the best goalie in the game at that time. But Lemelin and a young Fuhr weren't the best backups in the world. Fuhr three years later really hit his stride but he was green in 1984. Overall the goaltending was not very good in 1984. There was not really a true #1 goalie. Peeters to his credit had a pretty good game in the semi vs. the Russians but that was it.

The results of Canada's games didn't help either. Yes I know early on there was animosity between the Oilers and Isles but they tied the Americans, lost to the Swedes and Russians, pretty convincingly too. And probably should have dominated the Swedes a bit better in the finals. Oh well, they won, but Canada has had better teams. 1976 and 1987 just for the Canada Cups. I also think the 2002 and 2010 Olympic teams were better.

I went to Montreal to see two games in that tourney, the U.S-Canada game and Soviets-Czechs. The Soviet's game was 3-0 , Canada's was 4-4 and took about an hour longer to play. The U.S.-Canada game had more icings and offsides in the first 10 minutes than the whole Soviet-Czech game.

 

[greatgazoo]

That '84 team had Charlie Huddy and Randy Gregg on it...as much as I am an Oilers fan, that makes me chuckle and shows just how biased Glen Sather was at the time when he picked the team.

 

[Big Phil]

I've said it a zillion times before; the semi-final game was the best performance by Team Canada vs. USSR in a clutch game ever. The odds were so heavily against them... they had a poor round-robin (2-1-2 record, eg. 3-6 loss to the Soviets), and USSR even without Fetisov were beating everyone. Yet Canada, if anyone, dominated the game and were fully deserving winners, biased officiating* or not. It was one the rare times when I've seen the '80s Soviet team look a bit disorganized, even KLM; great penalty killing & forechecking by Team Canada.

However, when you look at the team on paper and the whole tournament, I would say that it was rather the weakest CC team they had between 1976 and 1987, one great timely performance notwithstanding.

* I don't think there was any chance USSR was getting a PP opportunity in the OT (like CAN got), but it wasn't really something that decided the game

No it wasn't, thank God. Gretzky had a point blank chance to score on the powerplay but was thwarted. In reality that was a penalty that would have caused mayhem on the HFboards if it were called today under that context. Hate to say it, but Anderson dove on the hook a little too much. Oh well, it didn't matter anyways.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

What bugged me most about the 84 Canada Cup?

Trottier and Resch on Team USA and Peter Stastny on Team Canada. Something just wasn't right with that.

Never forgave Trottier for that.

 

[Haberdashery]

It depends on how you define "ever produced."

Was it the best team on paper? Not even close to the 1976 lineup I don't think.

Did they win anything more than the 1976 team? Nope... and just like '76 they didn't even face the Soviets in the final.

the most exciting game EVER was the Canada Russia series Game 8...then you can talk about the OT games in 1987 and the semi-final in 1984...... all had incredible suspense.

What made the 1984 win so special was the play by Coffey and then the subsequent goal 20 or so seconds later....almost hit the ceiling.

 

[Big Phil]

What bugged me most about the 84 Canada Cup?

Trottier and Resch on Team USA and Peter Stastny on Team Canada. Something just wasn't right with that.

Never forgave Trottier for that.

That really never made sense to me either. Trottier had been in the USA since 1975 playing in NYI. He was born and raised in Canada and that same country was the reason he was in the NHL and yet he never helped Canada do anything internationally. He was on the Challenge Cup team and the 1981 Canada Cup team. He sure would have helped in 1984. But yeah that was a weird, weird situation in 1984. Stastny should have never been on Canada either. Love him, but that was a mistake. How would Canadian history have looked back had Stastny, a Czech, scored the overtime goal vs. the Russians?

 

[redbull]

What bugged me most about the 84 Canada Cup?

Trottier and Resch on Team USA and Peter Stastny on Team Canada. Something just wasn't right with that.

Never forgave Trottier for that.

I had somehow forgot that, or blocked it out somehow.

I know trotts was hurt that season and bossy had played the bulk of the season with b.sutter and tonelli - that line remained together in the Canada cup team.

Brett hull eventually did the same thing, playing for the US team.

Stastny on Canada was very strange.
I remember Stastny talking about how important Canada had become to him - made sense at the time, seems odd looking back.

 

[Big Phil]

I had somehow forgot that, or blocked it out somehow.

I know trotts was hurt that season and bossy had played the bulk of the season with b.sutter and tonelli - that line remained together in the Canada cup team.

Brett hull eventually did the same thing, playing for the US team.

Stastny on Canada was very strange.
I remember Stastny talking about how important Canada had become to him - made sense at the time, seems odd looking back.

And it is really nice that he thinks that way about Canada, I have heard him talk about that in interviews. But this is why I am glad the IIHF is a little more stingy about this type of stuff now. If I was upset about Trottier and especially Hull it would be hypocritical of me not to disagree with the Stastny thing

 

[doktor2d]

How would Canadian history have looked back had Stastny, a Czech, scored the overtime goal vs. the Russians?

Stastny was/is a Slovak, not a Czech. Pretty big difference. (Not for your question, but in general.)
As I've said on other threads, I'm Canadian of Scottish decent, but it's always foxed me why the Czech Republic inherited the Czechoslovakia history in hockey.
Stastnys were Slovak. So was Dzurilla (1976). Obviously more Czechs were on those teams than Slovaks, but how can one nation start with zero and another inherit someone else's accomplishments.

 

[crobro]

trottier played for the us thru a loophole

he held a north american indian status card and was in essence a dual citizen

 

[Big Phil]

Stastny was/is a Slovak, not a Czech. Pretty big difference. (Not for your question, but in general.)
As I've said on other threads, I'm Canadian of Scottish decent, but it's always foxed me why the Czech Republic inherited the Czechoslovakia history in hockey.
Stastnys were Slovak. So was Dzurilla (1976). Obviously more Czechs were on those teams than Slovaks, but how can one nation start with zero and another inherit someone else's accomplishments.

Well, I guess he was technically - now. At that time the country hadn't separated and he was and always will be a Czech in my eyes, not a Slovak. I guess I am part of the notion that lumps him as a Czech

 

[Big Phil]

trottier played for the us thru a loophole

he held a north american indian status card and was in essence a dual citizen

I know his reasoning was that USA had done a lot for him and wanted to show his appreciation. I still don't get it though. His roots were Canadian, he grew up there and had only spent 9 years in the USA. The thing is, he was good enough to play for Canada in 1984. It wasn't like Tony Esposito in 1981 or Resch in 1984 or Deadmarsh (pick a year). I have a hard time believing that Glen Sather doesn't pick Trottier on his team just because he is an Islander.

Also, the USA had no chance of winning that tournament. They got waxed in the semi finals by Sweden. Why wouldn't he have wanted to play on the favourite team, or at least co-favourite?

 

[canucksfan]

So let me guess this straight. It was okay for Stastny to play for Canada, but it was not right for Trottier to play for the U.S.?

On the topic the 81' Canada team on paper looks like one of the best. The 76' team on paper would also be a good candidate as well.

 

[Scott1980]

Coffey with that great play at both ends was something. And they say couldn't play defence!

 

[Blades of Glory]

Coffey with that great play at both ends was something. And they say couldn't play defence!

That is because most people only remember him as the defensive disaster that he was in his later years. Coffey was generally pretty solid defensively when he was in Edmonton, and he was often noted for his ability to raise his defensive play significantly during important games. I like to drop this quote on people who believe that he was always bad defensively. In his prime, he was playing at a level that will never be touched again.

This was Coffey's series as much as anyone's. Everyone knew what Gretzky could do, and with seven goals and four assists in the last four games against Philadelphia, he did it. But Coffey emerged as a bona fide superstar. Despite being hampered by a sore right foot, a strained back, and a bruised right hip that had to be numbed with painkillers before the last four games, Coffey played at a level unrivaled by any defenseman since Orr. Coffey's three goals and eight assists against Philadelphia gave him 37 total points in 18 playoff games, 12 more than Denis Potvin 's previous record. Just as important, Coffey proved he could also play solid defense against strong forechecking. He constantly passed or carried the puck out of the Oilers' zone to start the team's attack, and he used his raw speed to break up the Flyers' counterstrikes. Said Gretzky after being awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as plyoff MVP, "From my heart I wish I could put Paul's name on it beside mine."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/features/si_stanley_cup/1985/

 

[Uncle Rotter]

So let me guess this straight. It was okay for Stastny to play for Canada, but it was not right for Trottier to play for the U.S.?

Would the Czechs put a defector on their team? It's not like he had a choice of teams

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

That is because most people only remember him as the defensive disaster that he was in his later years. Coffey was generally pretty solid defensively when he was in Edmonton, and he was often noted for his ability to raise his defensive play significantly during important games. I like to drop this quote on people who believe that he was always bad defensively. In his prime, he was playing at a level that will never be touched again.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/features/si_stanley_cup/1985/

And his early years. And his years in Pittsburgh.

In two years in Pittsburgh he scored 103 points with a -25 and 93 points with a -18. The worst on the team both years. What great player in his prime has a -18 for a Stanley Cup championship team?

 

[Big Phil]

So let me guess this straight. It was okay for Stastny to play for Canada, but it was not right for Trottier to play for the U.S.?

I disagreed with both aspects. Statsny surely wanted to show is appreciation to Canada but come on, the guy wasn't from Saskatchewan even though I wish he had been.

On the topic the 81' Canada team on paper looks like one of the best. The 76' team on paper would also be a good candidate as well.

I've always said the 1976 team looked the best on paper compared to any other team. I know I'll get some flack for this one (maybe) but after that a good case can be made that the 2010 Olympic team is right up there as well - on paper of course. They should have done better on the ice despite the memorable win

 

[crobro]

So let me guess this straight. It was okay for Stastny to play for Canada, but it was not right for Trottier to play for the U.S.?

On the topic the 81' Canada team on paper looks like one of the best. The 76' team on paper would also be a good candidate as well.

i recall canadas number 1 line was gilbert perrault at centre with gretzky on left wing and guy lafluer on right wing till perrault got hurt this line was crushing the opposition

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I know his reasoning was that USA had done a lot for him and wanted to show his appreciation. I still don't get it though. His roots were Canadian, he grew up there and had only spent 9 years in the USA. The thing is, he was good enough to play for Canada in 1984. It wasn't like Tony Esposito in 1981 or Resch in 1984 or Deadmarsh (pick a year). I have a hard time believing that Glen Sather doesn't pick Trottier on his team just because he is an Islander.

Also, the USA had no chance of winning that tournament. They got waxed in the semi finals by Sweden. Why wouldn't he have wanted to play on the favourite team, or at least co-favourite?

In a perfect world, using IIHF eligibility rules, Trots takes Sutter's spot and D.Savard takes Stastny's. Ironically, Sutter had a better year in 84-85 than Trots, but that took alot of people by suprise. Some bad mojo on Trots that season.

 

[VMBM]

I've seen only the semi-final game against the Russians, but there I can hardly even remember Peter Stastny; did he play mutch? (have to watch the game again sometime)