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The 1984 Canada Cup was different on
two fronts right from the beginning. Finland, who had won only 1
game in Canada Cup history to that point, was dropped from the
tournament in favour of West Germany. The German squad would go 0-4-1
but finished ahead of a disappointing Czech squad because of the
goals for statistic. Also, the 1984 tournament was played primarily
on Canada's west coast, specifically focused in Edmonton and Calgary
- a sign of the the new hockey powers out west as Montreal hosted
only 3 games and Toronto hosted none.
The tournament also marked the first
Canada Cup for the Soviets without their saving grace Vladislav
Tretiak. Despite serious concerns about new goalies Alexander
Tyzhnykh and Vladimir Myshkin, the Soviets cruised to a first place
finish in the round robin.
With the humiliating defeat of 1981,
Canada faced much pressure to dominate this tournament. However
Canada stumbled to an embarrassing 4th place finish in the round
robin. A surprising American squad placed second and Sweden finished
third.
With the Soviets playing so strongly
and the Canadians playing so poorly, it seemed impossible for the
Canadians to beat the mighty Red Army. However that was the playoff
round match up with the winner to advance to the Cup final. Despite
their poor performance, Canada had no trouble getting up to play the
Soviets. They managed to keep it close and forced over time. Mike
Bossy deflected a Paul Coffey point shot in the extra period. Canada
had done the improbable.
The Swedes embarrassed the Americans
9-2 to set up the first ever Canada-Sweden Cup finals. Canada took
the best of three final 2 games to none thanks to the play of
tournament MVP John Tonelli and the Oiler combination of Paul Coffey
and Wayne Gretzky
Listen
to Mike Bossy's famous goal
In
The Book:
Game By Game Details with
Complete Boxscores
Complete Team by Team Rosters and Stats
Scoring Leaders and Goalie Leaders
Tournament Overviews and Summaries
Tournament Award Winners
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