1996 World Cup of Hockey explained

Tourney Name:World Cup of Hockey
Year:1996
Country:Canada
Country2:Czech Republic
Country3:Finland
Country4:Germany
Country5:Sweden
Country6:United States
Dates:August 26 – September 14, 1996
Num Teams:8
Venues:9
Cities:9
Type:ih
Winners:USA
Count:1
Games:19
Goals:140
Scoring Leader: Brett Hull (11 pts)
Mvp: Mike Richter
Prevseason:1991 (Canada Cup)
Nextseason:2004

The first World Cup of Hockey (WCH), or the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, was the inaugural edition of the event, replacing the Canada Cup as one the world championships of ice hockey.

Inaugural World Cup of Hockey

The first edition of the Cup featured eight teams divided into two groups. The European Group, whose games were all played in European cities, included the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. The North American Group played in North American cities and included Canada, Russia, Slovakia, and the United States. Some of the best players in the world were missing in the tournament, some either declined invitation, such as Dominik Hašek stating "I would love to play in (the competition), but the timing is bad",[1] or because of injuries, as Pavel Bure was injured during a Russia–USA exhibition game in Detroit.

After the teams played a three-game group stage, the top team in each group advanced to the semi-finals, while the second and third place teams played cross-over quarter-finals. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were single elimination games. The championship final was a best-of-three. All playoff games were played in North America.

In the biggest surprise of the tournament, Germany defeated the Czech Republic 7–1 in the European Group, which eliminated the Czechs and sent the Germans into the quarter-finals. In the biggest game of the North American Group, the USA defeated Canada 5–3 to finish first and get a bye to the semi-finals. In the semis, they defeated Russia 5–2, while Canada beat Sweden 3–2 on Theoren Fleury's goal at 19:47 of the second overtime period, ending the longest game in international hockey history.

The tournament did see some controversy after the Canada–Russia game in Vancouver was played when Sweden's coach Kent Forsberg said he believed "Canada cheated its way to victory" through help of Canadian NHL referees that saw two goals disallowed and several controversial penalties for Russia.[2] [3] The Russian team's coach Boris Mikhailov echoed a similar sentiment after the game saying "It was the referees' victory", as Russia felt there was "biased officiating".[3] [4] [5]

In the best-of-three final, Canada won the first game, in Philadelphia, 4–3 in overtime. Then the USA recorded a memorable pair of 5–2 victories in Montreal to win the series. In the third and decisive game, the USA received spectacular goaltending from tournament MVP Mike Richter[6] and rallied from a 2–1 deficit in the third period by scoring four goals in the final 3:18 of the game. Tony Amonte scored the game-winning goal.

Venues

North American pool and playoffs
European pool

Results

Exhibition Games (incomplete list)

North American pool

Scores

European pool

Scores

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Statistics and awards

Tournament MVP

All-star team

[14]

Final standings

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Top scorers

RkPlayerGPGAPtsPIM
1 Brett Hull774114
2 John LeClair764106
3 Mats Sundin44374
4 Doug Weight734712
5 Wayne Gretzky83472
6 Brian Leetch70774
7 Paul Coffey707712
8 Sergei Fedorov53362
9 Alexander Mogilny52460
10 Keith Tkachuk751644
11 Theoren Fleury84268

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. CNN/SI - Nagano Olympics - Athlete profile: Dominik Hasek - February 3, 1998 . Sports Illustrated. 1998-02-03 . 2013-08-15.
  2. Web site: Swedish Coach Accuses Canada Of Winning Unfairly . Apnewsarchive.com . 1996-08-31 . 2013-08-15.
  3. Web site: 15th Anniversary Memories: 1996 World Cup of Hockey - Philadelphia Flyers - News . Flyers.nhl.com . 2013-08-15.
  4. "Cup Runneth Over For Canada Disallowed Goals Wreck Russians" NY Daily News by Frank Brown, August 30, 1996
  5. Web site: Swedish Coach Accuses Canada of Winning Unfairly. www.apnewsarchive.com. 13 April 2018.
  6. Book: Fleury, Theo . Theoren Fleury . Kirstie McLellan Day . Kirstie McLellan Day . . . 2009 . 133–139 . 978-1-55468-239-3 .
  7. Web site: Ľ189/14/Sports . Friends-partners.org . 2013-08-15 . 2018-10-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181028181622/http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/spbweb/times/189-190/dream.html . dead .
  8. News: Joe Lapointe . Superpowers Lace Up To Take On the World . New York Times . 1996-08-18 . 2013-08-15.
  9. News: Joe Lapointe . Matchup of Power Players . New York Times . 1996-08-29 . 2013-08-15.
  10. News: Joe Lapointe . Russians Mix and Match for World Cup . New York Times . 1996-08-25 . 2013-08-15.
  11. Web site: Canada beats U.S. in World Cup of Hockey competition . . August 21, 1996 . D5 . June 13, 2014.
  12. Web site: Spirited Victory for U.S. High Intensity: The Hits Just Keep on Coming in World Cup of Hockey Exhibition . . August 22, 1996 . 13 June 2014.
  13. Web site: Team USA routs Slovakia in last tuneup for new tournament . . August 26, 1996 . June 13, 2014.
  14. News: Canadian Press . No Canadian all-stars chosen . https://web.archive.org/web/19970412194054/http://www.southam.com/nmc/sports/shockeywcup/96sept/091896wcup.html . dead . 1997-04-12 . 1996-09-18 . 2020-02-04 .