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Home , 1987 Canada Cup, Alexei Gusarov, Brian Propp, Canada Cup, Craig Hartsburg, Dale Hawerchuk

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1987 CANADAVS.USSR 60 GRETZKY TO

1987 |

THE HOCKEY NEWS NO. 3INTERNATIONAL GAME

GREATEST GAMESOFALL-TIME

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B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES

LEMIEUX… GRETZKY TO

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B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES world. the in players hockey of squad five-man best the arguably was Fetisov Viacheslav and tonov Kasa Alexei Krutov, Vladimir Makarov, Sergei Larionov, Igor of Unit’ ‘Green famed Union’s Soviet the But Lemieux. and ky players in the world with Gretz be theteam’s biggestchallenge. identical 6-5 score – it proved to again,by – an 3 Game toriousin vic emergedultimately while And . double in 6-5 Canada bywaswon 2 Game while overtime, in 6-5 Soviets the by won was 1 Game series. hard-fought a of game deciding tender Sergei Mylnikov. Union Soviet of glove the over it fired who Lemieux, rio Ma to puck the passed Gretzky Wayne3, Game of moments ing clos the In 1980s. the of goal golden Canada’s was Lemieux” to “Gretzky final, Cup Canada E WITH SALBARRY WITH ANEASY TAP-IN. INSTEAD, ITWAS AMASTERPIECE CREATED BY TWOOFTHEBEST PLAYERS TOEVERPUTONSKATES EACH OFTHEGAMESENDEDUP6-5.FINALGOALINGAMECOULDHAVE BEENSCOREDBY LARRY MURPHY IT WAS THELAST BEST-ON-BEST SERIESBETWEENHOCKEY’S TWOPOWERHOUSE NATIONS. CANADA VERSUSTHESOVIETS. LEMIEUX… Canada had the two greatest two the had Canada It was the game-winner in the remember the 1987 and for those who have a‘GoldenGoal,’ VERY DECADE SEEMSTO ------) : players andfor fans. best hockey ever played, for these games says itwas the Everyone who remembers tournament Iever played in. Union leftwinger) VALERI down to thelastshot. You knewitwas goingto come sive firepower, and so didwe. The hadalotofoffen game. Thatwas thefun part. knew itwas goingto beahard : write abetter script. historical game. You couldn’t that Game3was goingto bea defenseman) DOUG CROSSMAN: force Game3. we were ableto pullitoffand Game 2.Itwas incredible that on thebrinkofeliminationin we gotto Game3.We were defenseman) JAMES PATRICK:

It was a crazy night. Every KAMENSKY: Iremember thinking Itwasn’t gravy that Itwas thebest

(Team Canadagoalie)

(Team Canadaleft (Team Canada

(Team Canada

(Soviet I - Gretzky, . There team. , Wayne of great leadershipon that HARTSBURG: group ready. coach to get his necessary from Team Canada a whole different level. seemed like ourgame went to When we played , itjust between Canadaand Russia. There was stillabigrivalry BRENT SUTTER: unbelievable hockey. and Canadianplayers. Itwas ate game, withthebestRussian Union center) : team inthatseries. winning andlosingfor either was suchafinelinebetween were agreat hockey team. It Canada defenseman) : like anOlympic event. was It game. the into was fan No pre-game peptalk was Itwas avery passion GREATEST GAMESOFALL-TIME There was alot TheRussians (Team Canadacenter) (Team

(Soviet -

the all-important first goal. Just out ofthegate, eagerto score don’t really needto coachthat. of gifted hockey players. You CROSSMAN: athletes inthegame. were really motivated. Thebest They were easy to coach.They MIKE KEENAN: whole lotthatneedsto besaid. and theircountry, there’s nota to doanything for eachother want to winandare willing of guys like guys that, who seman) : we hadto do. to beleaders.We knewwhat thing becausewe allknew how PROPP: say before thegame. was alotthecoacheshad to being ready. Idon’t thinkthere We talked aboutthegame and captains oftheirown teams. were somany guys thatwere 1987 CANADAVS.USSR Both teams come charging Whenyou have agroup

THE HOCKEY NEWS Mike didn’t say any There were alot (Team Canadadefen (Team Canadacoach)

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| 1987 CANADA VS. USSR

26 seconds into the game, Krutov sets up Makarov to give the Sovi- BIG RED MACHINE ets a 1-0 lead. Krutov was ‘The Tank’ on the ’s top line along with PATRICK: Makarov and Larionov, one of the best scoring units in history. Krutov, Makarov and Larionov had incredible speed CROSSMAN:and puck movement. left winger)

There were a lot We knew there was of butterflies, and when they a lot of hockey to be played. scored, it was like, “Uh oh, we’re We just had to make sure we SUTTER:getting off to the wrong start.” stayed disciplined and weren’t in the box all night. It We didn’t get the was early enough in the game start we wanted. We were that we felt like we could get playing a great team, which we LARRYback into MURPHY: it. (Team Canada were, too. It was one of those- defenseman) series where the games were so tight. We had to keep plug We were down but gingAlexei away Gusarovand plugging and away.Fetisov not out. We were an explosive, each score to give the Soviets a offensive team. The ability to commanding 3-0 lead eight min- score was there. We had to utes into the first period. score, obviously. We couldn’t get ourselves down any farther. - : (Team Canada right Pressure was building. Sense winger) of urgency was building. We stages of Game 3 wasn’t work them, and they didn’t quite knew we had the personnel to ing. So I wasn’t hesitant, nor know how to handle it. Viktor The Russians just came do it, so all was not lost. But was I throughout my career, Tikhonov, the Soviet Union’s - out flying. I don’t think we COFFEY:something had to change. - to make adjustments quickly- coach, continued to look over were playing that bad, but we from the bench. In this case, at our bench with a puzzled ex were down 3-0 at the start of Kudos to Mike Keen those different line combina FUHR:pression as the game went on. KAMENSKY:the game. an as the coach. We were down tions generated a different 3-0 before people were even style of play and a different set Once we made it 3-1, we We came into the in their seats. Mike was always of tactics that the Soviet Union knew we had a chance. That’s first period very focused. The known for being ‘ Hook’ wasn’tOne readyof those for. tactics pays the biggest thing, we just had Canadian team was a little bit and pulling the goalie. But he off immediately when Tocchet PROPPto trust that we had a chance. loose at the start of the game. kept Grant Fuhr in there. And breaks through for Canada. He HARTSBURG:That’s why we went up 3-0. Grant just played incredible the slams in a rebound off Murphy’s : When Tocchet scored KEENAN:rest of the game. at the 9:50 mark of the first the first goal, that gave us a They took period on the power play. MURPHY:little hope. advantage of some mistakes Grant gave the team and jumped up early. I don’t a great deal of confidence. In TOCCHET: The thing was to get think anybody panicked. We fact, if it wasn’t for Grant, we’d the puck on the net. Battle. Get knew we had the people on our probably be down by more Mike put me out on everything we could get at the team that could score and get than three. He had given us the power play, and honestly, I net. Jump on rebounds. That us back into it. We just couldn’t so many great games, it didn’t thought he was out of his mind. was the result of hard work, - fall any further behind, and we even cross my mind that I The players that we had on that hard pressure in the offensive CROSSMAN:didn’t after the first period. FUHR:should remove him. bench, Gretzky, Lemieux, and zone. That goal was the begin he puts me out there? I was FUHR:ning of it. The Soviets came The KEENAN:pretty nervous. in knowing each other. The played a similar style, where We knew we were going chemistry was there. They’ve sometimes we gave up some What we wanted to to score goals. It was just a been playing together for years early goals, but at the end of do was be unpredictable. The matter of when. When you put in international tournaments. the day I knew the guys could unpredictability of putting that much talent together, you They had a bond there, they score goals. If I gave up three, Rick Tocchet on the power know you’re not going to go knew where each other was I just tried not to give up that play, making many different scoreless. We knew we would- without even looking. We fourth one. That’s the biggest changes in terms of tactics and get one, and if we got one, then were totally different. Our thing, try not to give that one line combinations, I think that we’d probably get two. Every talentteam chemistry level of our had team to come was so up so the guys have a chance to was something that the Soviet- body still had confidence, and together in four weeks. But the KEENAN:get us back in the game. Union team didn’t deal with that’sA little the overbiggest five thing. minutes later, very well. They were accus at 15:23 of the first period, Toc-

DALEhigh that HAWERCHUK: it did. (Team Canada We needed to change tomed to rolling out their lines chet battles for the puck behind BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES FOCUS ON SPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES the tactics. What we employed and defensive pairings in order. up to that in the early So, that was a new concept for | 62 | THE HOCKEY NEWS GREATEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME 1987 CANADA VS. USSR |

the Soviet net and dishes it to SUTTER: PATRICK: Sutter, who bangs it towards the we made, someone on the net. Propp swats in the rebound, Things weren’t - For every great play ter. We were moving our feet. pulling Canada to within a goal. happening for guys who were We were skating better. We studs offensively. So, the grind Soviet Union would come back weren’t on our heels anymore. PROPP: ers on this team, the guys that HARTSBURG:and make a great play. CROSSMAN:We were going after them. were playing different roles I was playing a little than they would normally play Mike came into Mark Messier defensively in the first two on their own teams, started our dressing room during the would charge in and punish games. In the third game, I was clicking. Every player on this first intermission and said very their defensemen. The Soviets more open with forechecking, team was a big player on their calmly, “You’re going to be part don’t make too many mistakes. getting into the play and being NHL team. When you get into a- of the greatest comeback in They play more like a machine more active because our backs tournament like this, you’ve got Canadian hockey history.” That together. But Mark was rattling were against the wall. It made to understand and accept a dif was a huge message. Mike was that machine. I know he hit TOCCHET:a difference for me. ferent role. You’ve got to relish calm, cool and collected, and Fetisov quite a bit. They were KEENAN:it, actually. he just reinforced that we were going at it. And Rick Tocchet The crowd was going to win the hockey game. was hammering, too. That crazy after we scored our first The players were WeCanada were going was onto findthe defensivea way. coughs pucks up and gets them goal. Then, Mike put us back very open-minded and were for most of the first period but TOCCHET:unsettled. out there. Me and Proppy, willing to accept any role that finds its groove in the second. we knew our roles. We were PROPP:was given to them. - Hartsburg levels Yuri Khmylev at When we hit the ice, fourth-line guys on this team. the Soviet Union blueline, firing I just felt the sudden urge to be We did what we had to do out I hit the Russian defen up his teammates. really physical, because I knew there, with Brent Sutter, and seman, and then I went to the that’s what the team needed. caught some good momentum front of the net. From there, the SUTTER: Fetisov and all those guys needed to be hit. And that was That hit that Hartsy something a couple of us liked made was probably a turning PATRICK:doing in that series. point, where things started CROSSMAN:happening for us. The way we had to play the Soviets was to Craig had knee - be aggressive and physical and hip problems in his career, and bring the energy to the and to do what he did was tre forecheck.Playing inspired hockey, Team mendous. He was throwing his Canada battles its way back to body out there. He knew that’s within one goal. Gretzky, in his what he had to do to win. He “office” behind the opponent’s wasn’t holding anything back. net, passes the puck out to Mur- He was representing Canada. phy, who streaks in from the MR. VERSATILITY point to the faceoff dot, then un- Sutter was a scoring star with the loads a rocket past Mylnikov for NHL’s Islanders, but he embraced Canada’s third goal at 9:30 of the the role of fourth-line on second period. an ultra-talented Team Canada. MURPHY:

- HARTSBURG: When you’ve got with the puck, going our way. On that shift, we puck deflected off (the defense There were a lot you feel confident that he’s wanted to get the puck in deep, man’s) side. Luckily for me, I of players in that second period- going to make something cycle it, get the puck to the was able to hit the deflection that found a way to raise their happen. If you were open and net, and make things happen. into the net. We still had to game and add an emotional lev were a good option, he was PROPP:That’s exactly what we did. come from behind. We had to el to the team. Not just Lemieux going to get the puck to you. I TOCCHET:keep pressing. and Gretzky, look at Tocchet was just waiting for it, and it It was a physical game. and Sutter. It was a lot of guys came to me. I had time to look Since we were down by a It brought life to the who found a way to contribute, CROSSMAN:and then just fired away. - couple of goals, we had to force team and the building went not just on the scoreboard. it a little bit more. We were crazy. We knew our role was to Everyone had to find a way to We had the tal very physical in the corners addThe some Soviets energy strike to again, the team. with a change the momentum of that ent. One shot, and it’s in the PATRICK:and behind the net. tally by winger game, and at the end of it, our net. We had that type of ability. late in the first period at 19:32, to top players came through when I was never in fear that we Sutter and Tocchet, regain a two-goal edge. Through SUTTER:it really counted. could not score. We had such and guys like them, went in- one period, the Soviet Union - gifted Less shooters than two on minutesour team. later,

BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES FOCUS ON SPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES heavy on the forecheck and leads 4-2. The momentum of - Crossman rushes deep into the were physical, caused turn everything changed. The tim overs and crashed the net. ing to make those hits was bet GREATEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME THE HOCKEY NEWS | 63 | | 1987 CANADA VS. USSR

Soviet zone and picks up the About four minutes later, puck in the corner, then dishes it at 15:32 of the second period, - to Hawerchuk. Hawerchuk fires a shot on net, got cut off, then ended up Soviets were playing tight which is blocked by Mylnikov, wrapping it around and stay on Gretzky and Lemieux. We HAWERCHUK: then goes hard after his own CROSSMAN:ing with my rebound. couldn’t expect them to score rebound. Sutter checks a Soviet every goal. It was good that I remember Union defender, which allows Sutter was our line got its mojo going in getting the puck behind the net Hawerchuk to collect the puck throwing his body around like that game. We played a lot. and thinking, “Am I going to try for a wraparound attempt that he always does. He’s a Stanley Keenan just kept throwing us to jam this in?” All of a sudden, is again blocked by the Soviet Cup winner. He knew what he out there because he knew we Brent opens up in front pretty had to do to win. There was wereThe rolling. first 12 minutes of the good. I made a pass to him, and just a great will to win. third period pass by without in- SUTTER:he makes a great shot. cident. No penalties, no goals. It appears Canada may do the Dale ended up with improbable and hold the So- the puck, and he fed it to me. I viets scoreless for a second was 10 feet off the strong-side- straight period. Then Alexan- post, and I wanted to shoot it der Semak ties the game at high. Their goalie had a ten 12:21 of the frame, setting up dency to go down. I was able to a tense final seven-and-a-half get enough of it, because it was- minutes of hockey. kind of a scrum, to get it up over his shoulder. It was obvi FUHR: ously a big goal for our team at - theSutter’s time. shot ties the game Every save you make 4-4 at 11:06 of the second, and so when it’s tied 5-5 is an impor far, most of Canada’s goals have tant save. That’s a given in a come from the “grinders.” wide-openCanada icesgame the like puckthat. with 1:36 left in regulation, giving the SUTTER: Soviets a faceoff deep in the Ca- nadian zone. Instead of thinking In that game, I was defensively at a crucial moment, able to help out offensively. We Keenan does the opposite. were the so-called grinders on- the team. On a team like that, COFFEY: you have to have guys in cer tain roles. That was our role for In today’s game, if it’s our team. But Tocchet, Brian tied 5-5, who are they putting and I scored. We were the guys out for a faceoff in their own who played on the third and zone? So-called defensive PATRICK:fourth lines of that team. guys. That’s the problem with the game today. It’s so Sutter was the top overcoached. But not Keenan. center on the Islanders, but He puts me and Murph at the he wasn’t on Team Canada. point. We had Brent Sutter Guys like Tocchet, Propp and and Mark Messier, two of the Sutter had different roles on- greatest faceoff men to ever our team. Those guys were play the game, taken off the the checking guys. I remem ice, and then Keenan throws ber those guys being super- SUTTER: - Hawerchuk, Lemieux and FOCUS ON MARIO effective the last two games of Gretzky out there. The Soviets tried hard to shut KEENAN: the series. We were the check KEENAN: down Lemieux, seen here being ers, the guys who had to go and The Soviets didn’t checked by Anatoli Fedotov, Hockey is a game create the energy and do the put their strongest unit on but it didn’t last forever. of momentum, and us coming things that you need to do for the ice then, which was a back from the three-goal deficit HAWERCHUK:your team to have success. surprise. I was very surprised- HAWERCHUK:turned momentum in our favor. they didn’t have Larionov out- - goalie. But Hawerchuk’s third I was playing there. That’s not an indict We’re really try finally gets past Mylnikov and left wing on a line with Sutter ment on their style of rotat rolling now. We’ve got momen gives Canada its first lead of the as center and Tocchet on the ing personnel, but I think it tum. That was a combination of game, 5-4. right side. We were the bump- was something they probably our line doing a lot of yeoman and-grind line. Mario and - momentumacknowledged and and the learned person - work in their end, grinding HAWERCHUK: Wayne took care of a lot of the at that point. I felt we had the

them down, and finally getting a power move to the net, and scoring throughout the tourna BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES the result. Then we scored I tried to make ment, but in Game 3, our line nel to go on the attack and be again right after. had a really strong game. The offensively aggressive. | 64 | THE HOCKEY NEWS GREATEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME 1987 CANADA VS. USSR |

HAWERCHUK: on Lemieux but is hooked by Hawerchuk at the red line, falling Messier was on here, and the other guy would at the blueline. he lost a stride, he wouldn’t be the ice, but he was pretty tired. go there. It’s crazy. But it’s a gettingCanada back has in thea play.3-on-1 with Mike told me to go change for credit to Mike Keenan. Mike HAWERCHUK: Gretzky, Lemieux and Murphy. him. So, I went out there with had the uncanny ability to let Igor Stelnov is the lone defender. Gretzky and Lemieux, and I SUTTER:you play. I was going said to Wayne, “Do you want to up ice with their centerman, TOCCHET: take the draw?” He said “No.” Mike rolled the dice Bykov. He was trying to get Then I said to Mario, “You want on the faceoff to do something back into the play, and I was When we got to take this faceoff?” and he different on the draw, and it just interfering with him a little possession of it, I remember said, in French, “No, no, that’s HAWERCHUK:worked to perfection. bit, which was kind of allowed thinking, “Jeez, this could be an my wrong side.” So, I guess I at the time. I didn’t want him odd-man rush.” And when you was taking the draw for the Just before the to get back in and break up the see 99 and 66 on an odd-man COFFEY:first time that game. draw, I told Mario that I was PROPP:odd-man rush. rush, their conversion rate is just going to tie up their center, prettyMurphy high. drives hard to the net. In today’s game, that which means for that winger to We might have gotten Stelnov falls to try to prevent a wouldn’t happen. There’d come in and try to pick up the away with a hook. It was like pass from Gretzky to Murphy. But be something drawn up, and puck. It couldn’t have worked the playoffs, the refs don’t call Gretzky drops the puck back to one player would have to go outWhile any better. Hawerchuk ties up So- HAWERCHUK:too much. Lemieux, who blasts it past the MASTER CRAFTSMAN viet center in glove of Mylnikov and into the The genius of Gretzky allowed the faceoff circle, Lemieux picks That hooking net. Canada takes a 6-5 lead with him to generate space for his up the loose puck, goes around was going on the whole time in 1:26 remaining. teammates. When he wasn’t a Soviet defender to break out that era. You could hook a guy scoring, he was playmaking. of the zone, then passes up to for one stride, and then you’d CROSSMAN: Gretzky. Bykov is bearing down let go. As soon as I put my stick on Bykov a little bit, he flopped That wrist shot. down, probably thinking that if My god, that was awesome. BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES

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TRIPLE CROWN Winning the was it’s fun. Once you have a lead, the middle leg of a glorious and there’s only a minute- stretch for Gretzky. He also won and-a-half left in the game, it the in ’87 and ’88. becomes awesome. That’s the COFFEY:fun part of it.

You’re not playing on borrowed time now, you’re KAMENSKY: COFFEY: pass?” And he looks me in CROSSMAN:playing on your time. - the eye and said, “We’ll never I love Larry Murphy, know.”The game isn’t over yet. Can- I was partnered and Wayne Gretzky played and I don’t think there’s any ada still must contain USSR’s with in unbelievable in that series and body that anticipated that play deadly offense for 86 seconds. more of a defensive pairing. I’m- HARTSBURG:in the whole tournament. better, but for him to beat me That is easier said than done, as thinking, “Oh my lord, now I’m up the ice? Nobody beats me the Soviets are always a threat. going to go out in the last min We were all TOCCHET:up the ice. (laughs) ute to protect the lead.” I didn’t pretty much prepared to go TOCCHET: want to be scored on, playing to overtime. And then the two I actually thought PROPP:for my country. - greatest players of our time get Mario was going to pass it Before the last five an odd-man rush. Watching again, but he had that corner minutes, I didn’t play that Crossman and Roche that last goal from the bench, labeled and put it top-shelf. much. But Mike put me in the fort aren’t mentioned a lot, but it was almost surreal how that- Gretzky to Lemieux, you had last minute to protect the lead. arethose the guys defensemen did a really who good were job happened. That goal almost the greatest passer giving it to I was really nervous, again, but of playing defensively. Those blew the roof off of Copps Coli one of the greatest players of MURPHY:you’re in the moment. MURPHY:seum. It was pretty amazing. all-time. Good things are going steady and really helped us KAMENSKY:to happen. We all knew what TOCCHET:win the games. For sure, I knew the Russians were capable of, Wayne was going to pass to We played open of course. There was a lot of I remember Mike Mario. That was the play. But - hockey. We did not stop that clock-watching on our side. It yelling to us when we went I thought for sure Mario was to play defensively. We play was just a case of not giving on the ice, “Don’t back off.” We going to pass to me. I was a vi like we play. We played attack them anything. Don’t cough up didn’t. We forechecked. We able option, so their hockey, and Canada did, too. It the puck. Get it out of our end. stayed on the Russians, so they had to be concerned about was 6-5, almost an even score. It was a nail-biter. That clock didn’t get a chance on net. The me also. I didn’t factor on the COFFEY:But they won and we lost. FUHR:couldn’t run fast enough for us. crowd was absolutely bonkers.- scoresheet for that goal but It was the loudest building I’ve

being in that position created I asked Mario, “What It was awesome. It’s the ever been in. It was just may B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES more options for us and more if it was me standing at that longest 90 seconds you’ll ever hem. And the clock seemed like trouble for the Soviets. post? Would you give me that have, but at the same time, it would never tick down. | 66 | THE HOCKEY NEWS GREATEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME 1987 CANADA VS. USSR |

KEENAN: for him. While Russia contin- ued to be a global hockey su- Our team was so nine. It was a great month-long perpower, it was not nearly the some of the best hockey ever- energized at that point that journeyThe 1987 I had Canada with these Cup marked guys. dominant force that it was in the played at the international we just wanted to make sure the end of a hockey era. Al- 1970s and 1980s. level. It was certainly a high we kept the shifts short and- though the Soviet Union would KAMENSKY:light of my career. dynamic, and kept pucks deep. compete in the 1991 Canada NEMCHINOV: We really locked it down de Cup, it was not the same. The The Stanley Cup fensively to preserve the lead Iron Curtain was falling fast, and Coaches in 1987final is Canada different. Cup The tournament World PROPP:and the victory. many of Tikhonov’s best players Russia and in Canada call this wasChampionship the best tournament, is different. from The could not be forced to compete game one of the best hockey It was stressful games between these two because the Russians were so KEENAN:countries. NEMCHINOV:what I remember in my career. good. Now they had to come BEST WITH BEST the from behind. We got on the ice Seeing Gretzky and Lemieux It was one of the Of course, it and just wanted to make sure create magic together, as two greatest, if not greatest, was exciting to be involved in we didn’t get scored against. It of the best players of all-time, hockey series ever played. It this tournament, with the best SUTTER:was a long 90 seconds. made for spectacular viewing. was the last time that Canada players in the world on every faced the Soviet Union (in a MURPHY:team. We had to really bear best-on-best tournament). The down. Do our job and do it drama of the competition was- It was the end right. Do it effectively. Manage- not only athletic, it of an era, that series. The the puck the right way. Don’t was also politi Soviet Union still existed. That give up time and space. Sup cal. Communism weighed heavily on it. Today port each other well. But we all and capitalism. the dynamics are so different do that stuff because we were The challenge of when it comes to international all good hockey players. You different skill sets HARTSBURG:hockey. don’t get to that stage by not of players. It was knowing how to play the game, a great example of People that I and how to play the score, how electrifying run into all over, friends and the time of the game, and the the game of hockey even strangers, they want clock. We did a great job of HARTSBURG:can be. to talk about that series. It’s shuttingTeam itCanada down. pushes hard, probably the most amazing and Mylnikov cannot get off the For series in hockey history. And to ice for an extra attacker. After a lot of us, it was- be a part of that series was an what feels like an eternity for the highlight of our SUTTER:honor for me. the Canadian players and fans careers, espe watching, time runs out and cially international Game 3 of that series Canada wins. careers. It was was probably the best hockey an amazing three game that was ever played. HARTSBURG: games to be a part And rightly so, because it was a of. It’s probably hell of a hockey game. I don’t think & anybody on the bench took a - RICK TOCCHET breath. We were all holding our breath. Every little play, wheth er it was a save or a check or a dump-out, was like the biggest play of the game at that point. That clock could not tick fast enough for us, and probably for the people in the building and everybody at home watching COFFEY:on TV in Canada.

We knew what was at stake. Because you either win it or you’re a bum. That’s just the way it is. Like the (1992) U.S. Olympic basketball team, with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. When you’re that good, you’ve CROSSMAN:got to win. B BENNETT/BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS VIA GETTY IMAGES STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES When it was over, it was a relief. I was on cloud GREATEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME THE HOCKEY NEWS | 67 |