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 of 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", 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. 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"."Cup Runneth Over For Canada Disallowed Goals Wreck Russians" NY Daily News by Frank Brown, August 30, 1996
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 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.
Rosters
Venues
North American pool and playoffs Corel Centre – Ottawa, Canada CoreStates Center – Philadelphia, U.S. General Motors Place – Vancouver, Canada Madison Square Garden – New York City, U.S. Molson Centre – Montreal, Canada
European pool Garmisch Olympia Stadium – Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Globen – Stockholm, Sweden Helsinki Ice Hall – Helsinki, Finland Sportovní hala – Prague, Czech Republic
Results
Exhibition Games (incomplete list) Russia 5–4 Finland (Moscow) Sweden 2–3 Russia (Stockholm) Germany 2–4 Russia (Landshut) Canada 4–4 Russia (Calgary) United States 4–6 Russia (Detroit) United States 1–3 Canada (Vancouver) Canada 5–7 United States (San Jose) Slovakia 4–7 Canada (Edmonton) Slovakia 2–9 United States (Providence)
North American pool
Scores August 29, Vancouver: Russia 3–5 Canada August 31, Montreal: Slovakia 4–7 Russia August 31, Philadelphia: Canada 3–5 United States September 1, Ottawa: Canada 3–2 Slovakia September 2, New York City: Russia 2–5 United States September 3, New York City: United States 9–3 Slovakia
European pool
Scores August 26, Stockholm: Germany 1–6 Sweden August 27, Helsinki: Finland 7–3 Czech Republic August 28, Helsinki: Germany 3–8 Finland August 29, Prague: Sweden 3–0 Czech Republic August 31, Garmisch: Czech Republic 1–7 Germany September 1, Stockholm: Finland 2–5 Sweden
Knockout stage
Quarterfinals September 5, Montreal: Germany 1–4 Canada September 6, Ottawa: Russia 5–0 Finland
Semifinals September 7, Philadelphia: Canada 3–2 Sweden (2OT) September 8, Ottawa: Russia 2–5 United States
Finals September 10, Philadelphia: Canada 4–3 United States (OT) September 12, Montreal: United States 5–2 Canada September 14, Montreal: United States 5–2 Canada
Statistics and awards
Tournament MVP Mike Richter
All-star team Goaltender: Mike Richter Defence: Calle Johansson; Chris Chelios Forwards: Brett Hull; Mats Sundin; John LeClair
Final standings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Top scorers RkPlayerGPGAPtsPIM1 Brett Hull7741142 John LeClair7641063 Mats Sundin443744 Doug Weight7347125 Wayne Gretzky834726 Brian Leetch707747 Paul Coffey7077128 Sergei Fedorov533629 Alexander Mogilny5246010 Keith Tkachuk75164411 Theoren Fleury84268
Leading Goaltender: Curtis Joseph (2.31 GAA)
See also World Cup of Hockey List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players 2004 World Cup of Hockey International Ice Hockey Federation Summit Series National Hockey League
Notes
References
External links Southam Newspapers' 1996 World Cup of Hockey page Toronto Star's 1996 World Cup of Hockey page Canoe Sports' 1996 World Cup of Hockey page LCS Hockey's 1996 World Cup of Hockey page