1991 Canada Cup

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1991 Canada Cup
Tournament details
Host country Canada
Venue(s)8 (in 8 host cities)
DatesAugust 31 – September 16, 1991
Teams6
Final positions
Champions  Canada (4th title)
Tournament statistics
Games played19
Goals scored113 (5.95 per game)
Scoring leader(s)Canada Wayne Gretzky (12 pts)
MVPCanada Bill Ranford, Canada,[1][2]

The 1991 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played in August and September 1991. The finals took place in Montreal on September 14 and Hamilton on September 16, and were won by Canada. The Canadians defeated the USA in a two-game sweep, to win the fifth and final Canada Cup. The tournament was replaced by the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

Of the five Canada Cup tournaments, this is the only one in which a team went undefeated; Canada compiled a record of six wins and two ties in eight games. The first tie was a stunning 2–2 result with underdog Finland on the opening day of the tournament, who got spectacular goaltending from Markus Ketterer.[citation needed] Finland surprised many by finishing in third place in the round robin; the first time they had ever qualified for the semi-finals in the history of the Canada Cup. The Americans were also very strong, as they iced their best international line-up to date.[citation needed] They went a perfect 5–0 against European competition in the tournament while losing three times to Canada.

The team representing the USSR was relatively weak compared to past tournaments. It did not have many of its top stars due to severe political turmoil at home, with many players declining to play for the team or purposely left off the roster (such as Pavel Bure and Vladimir Konstantinov) for fears of defection. [3] It was not known until weeks before the start of the tournament that they would even send a team. This was the final major senior event in which a team representing the USSR would play.

Game 1 of the final is best remembered for the check on Wayne Gretzky by American defenseman Gary Suter, which knocked the Canadian captain out of the tournament and forced him to miss the first month of the NHL season.[citation needed] Game 2 was tied until late in the third period when Steve Larmer scored the tournament winner on a short-handed breakaway.

Rosters[edit]

See 1991 Canada Cup rosters

Standings[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Canada 5 3 2 0 21 11 +10 8
 United States 5 4 0 1 19 15 +4 8
 Finland 5 2 1 2 10 13 −3 5
 Sweden 5 2 0 3 13 17 −4 4
 Soviet Union 5 1 1 3 14 14 0 3
 Czechoslovakia 5 1 0 4 11 18 −7 2

Results[edit]

Round-robin[edit]

August 31, 1991Canada 2–2 Finland
August 31, 1991United States 6–3 Sweden
August 31, 1991Czechoslovakia 5–2 Soviet Union
September 2, 1991Canada 6–3 United States
September 2, 1991Sweden 3–2 Soviet Union
September 2, 1991Finland 1–0 Czechoslovakia
September 5, 1991Canada 4–1 Sweden
September 5, 1991United States 4–2 Czechoslovakia
September 5, 1991Soviet Union 6–1 Finland
September 7, 1991Canada 6–2 Czechoslovakia
September 7, 1991United States 2–1 Soviet Union
September 7, 1991Finland 3–1 Sweden
September 9, 1991Canada 3–3 Soviet Union
September 9, 1991United States 4–3 Finland
September 9, 1991Sweden 5–2 Czechoslovakia

Playoff round[edit]

Semi-finals[edit]

September 11, 1991United States 7–3 Finland
September 12, 1991Canada 4–0 Sweden

Final (best of three)[edit]

September 14, 1991Canada 4–1 United States
September 16, 1991Canada 4–2 United States

Leading scorers[edit]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Wayne Gretzky  Canada 7 4 8 12 2
Steve Larmer  Canada 8 6 5 11 4
Brett Hull  United States 8 2 7 9 0
Mike Modano  United States 8 2 7 9 2
Mark Messier  Canada 8 2 6 8 10
Paul Coffey  Canada 8 1 6 7 8
Craig Janney  United States 8 4 2 6 4
Jeremy Roenick  United States 8 4 2 6 4
Mats Sundin  Sweden 6 2 4 6 16
Al MacInnis  Canada 8 2 4 6 23

Top Goalie: Bill Ranford, Canada (1.75 GAA)

Trophies and awards[edit]

Tournament champion[edit]

Tournament MVP[edit]

All-star team[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Ranford gives net results and earns MVP honors". pqasb.pqarchiver.com.
  2. ^ "Backchecking: Ranford caps off a dynasty". thehockeynews.com. May 9, 2010. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  3. ^ "Russians regroup on other side of the red line?". espn.com. February 14, 2002.
  4. ^ "Ranford gives net results and earns MVP honors". pqasb.pqarchiver.com.
  5. ^ "Backchecking: Ranford caps off a dynasty". thehockeynews.com. May 9, 2010. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2012.

External links[edit]