International Hockey is back for the first time since 2016.

On Wednesday, Team Canada defeated Team Sweden in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in a tight affair, with an overtime goal from Mitch Marner. This is the first time since 2016 that there’s been a “best-on-best” tournament, albeit missing the likes of Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrňák, and Alexander Ovechkin.
Well, the good news is that National Hockey League players will also attend the 2026 Olympics, with Russia’s fate yet to be decided. <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/nhl-announces-2028-world-cup-of-hockey-and-plans-for-more-international-play">The league also announced the 2028 World Cup of Hockey</a>, which the National Hockey League will run itself.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Gary Bettman officially announces the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
Olympics and World Cup are going to rotate every two years starting in 2026 Olympics, 2028 WCH, 2030 Olympics, 2032 WCH, etc.
Locations TBD, bids will be solicited by NHL/NHLPA.
&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href="https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1889817111922630893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’ll look at the history of the World Cup of Hockey.
<h2>1976 Canada Cup</h2>
Before the tournament was known as the World Cup of Hockey, the tournament was called the Canada Cup. From 1976 until 1991, there were five tournaments held under this name. The first Canada Cup tournament was held in 1976 in Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal, Winnipeg, Québec City, and Philadelphia.
It featured six teams, Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR (Russia plus other Soviet nations). Canada took home the Gold Medal, defeating Czechoslovakia in the best of three. Winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player was Bobby Orr while USSR’s Viktor Zhluktov took home the scoring title.
<h2>1981 Canada Cup</h2>
The next Canada Cup was held in 1981 in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montréal, and Ottawa consisting of the same six teams from the tournament five years prior. Canada once again made the finals but lost 8-1 to the USSR in a single game for the Russians to take home their first Gold Medal at the tournament. 
The leading scorer of the tournament was the Oilers’ Wayne Gretzky while Soviet netminder Vladislav Tretiak took home the Most Valuable Player.
<h2>1984 Canada Cup</h2>
Three years later, the third Canada Cup (this time sponsored by Labatt) took place in seven cities: Halifax, Montréal, Calgary, London, Vancouver, Buffalo, and Edmonton. Moreover, West Germany replaced Finland and Canada once again took home the Gold Medal thanks to a 5-2 and 6-5 win over Team Sweden. 
Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Gretzky, Charlie Huddy, Kevin Lowe, and Mark Messier were the Oilers that played for this team, with Gretzky scoring a tournament-leading 12 points. However, New York Islanders forward John Tonelli picked up the MVP.
<h2>1987 Canada Cup</h2>
The 1987 Canada Cup was hosted in seven cities: Calgary, Hartford, Hamilton, Regina, Sydney, Montréal, and Halifax. It’s widely regarded as one of the best tournaments that featured best-on-best, as Team Canada and the USSR played three games in the final that ended in a final score of 6-5. 
In the first game, the USSR scored in overtime to take the series lead, before <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-O28XCeFY&amp;ab_channel=MikeMatthews">Mario Lemieux scored a double-overtime goal</a> to send the series to three games. With just a minute and 26 seconds left in the game, Lemieux scored the Gold Medal-clinching goal.
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Mario Lemieux Ultimate Winner in Game 3 of 1987 Canada Cup Final (Sept. 15, 1987)" width="1333" height="1000" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6kIR5IU4LAk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
This was the only time Gretzky and Lemieux, two generational talents, played on the same line. It sort of parallels the 4-Nations Face-Off, as this is the first time Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid have played together. Gretzky’s 21 points led the tournament and he took home the tournament’s MVP.
<h2>1991 Canada Cup</h2>
The 1991 Canada Cup was the final under the name of the Canada Cup. Canada refused to lose in this tournament, winning six of the eighth games and tying the other two. In the finals, they faced Team USA in a best of three, defeating them 4-1 in the first game and 4-2 in the second game to win their fourth Gold Medal in five tries.
Gretzky no longer played for the Oilers as he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. However, the Oilers still had four players represent them at the tournament: Mark Messier, Steve Smith, Bill Ranford, and Finland’s Esa Tikkanen.
Although Gretzky once again led the tournament with 12 points, it was the Oilers netminder, Bill Ranford, who took home the tournament’s MVP.
<h2>1996 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
The 1996 World Cup of Hockey was the first one under the World Cup of Hockey banner. It also expanded from the usual six teams to eight teams. One reason for that was because Czechoslovakia split up, meaning that Czechia and Slovakia both existed. The eight teams participating in the tournament were the United States, Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Czechia.
Moreover, it was the first time that the tournament wasn’t held exclusively in North America. While three Canadian cities held games (Ottawa, Vancouver, Montréal), the tournament was also played in Europe as Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia all had a host city.
Canada once again made the finals, memorably defeating Team Sweden in the dying seconds of the second overtime period. They won the first game of the finals against the USA but fell in the final two games, including allowing four goals in the remaining 200 seconds of the third game. The scoring leader of the tournament was Brett Hull while netminder Mike Richter won the tournament’s MVP.
The Oilers had five players in the tournament, as well as head coach Glen Sather. Curtis Joseph played for Team Canada, Jiří Šlégr played for Team Czechia, Zdeno Cíger and Miroslav Šatan played for Team Slovakia, and Doug Weight played for Team USA.
<h2>2004 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
The 2004 World Cup of Hockey was hosted in six nations, Canada, United States, Sweden, Helsinki, Finland, Germany, and Czechia, and featured the same cast of nations in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Canada went undefeated in the tournament, beating Team USA, Team Russia, and Team Slovakia in the round-robin stage. They knocked off Team Slovakia in the quarterfinals, followed by a 4-3 win against Team Czechia in the semifinals, setting up a Gold Medal match against Team Finland. Thanks to Shane Doan’s goal early in the third period, Team Canada was able to take home their first Gold Medal at the World Cup of Hockey. If you include the Canada Cup, this was their fifth Gold Medal.
This tournament was the only time players from the National Hockey League congregated for games during the 2004-05 season, as the league entered a lockout with no NHL games being played that season.
The Oilers had four representatives at this tournament. Defenceman Eric Brewer didn’t play another game for the Oilers after the tournament, but he featured for Team Canada. Another representative for Team Canada was Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth. Radek Dvořák played for Team Czechia while netminder Ty Conklin played for Team USA.
<h2>2016 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
Lastly, we have the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. This tournament had a different format than the others, as Team Canada players and Team USA featured players over the age of 24 on the team. That was because of Team North America, who featured under-23 players on the team. 
Moreover, while Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden had teams, there was also a team named Team Europe. Team Europe featured players from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
Another change in the tournament was that it was only held in one city &#8211; Toronto. Canada won their second Gold Medal at the World Cup of Hockey, defeating Team Europe in the best of three with a 3-1 and 2-1 win.
No Oilers played for Team Canada, but both Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played for Team North America. Moreover, Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Andrej Sekera played for Team Europe.
In hindsight, this tournament was weird, but also really cool.
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

International Hockey is back for the first time since 2016.



On Wednesday, Team Canada defeated Team Sweden in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in a tight affair, with an overtime goal from Mitch Marner. This is the first time since 2016 that there’s been a “best-on-best” tournament, albeit missing the likes of Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrňák, and Alexander Ovechkin.

Well, the good news is that National Hockey League players will also attend the 2026 Olympics, with Russia’s fate yet to be decided. <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/nhl-announces-2028-world-cup-of-hockey-and-plans-for-more-international-play">The league also announced the 2028 World Cup of Hockey</a>, which the National Hockey League will run itself.

https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1889817111922630893

In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’ll look at the history of the World Cup of Hockey.
<h2>1976 Canada Cup</h2>
Before the tournament was known as the World Cup of Hockey, the tournament was called the Canada Cup. From 1976 until 1991, there were five tournaments held under this name. The first Canada Cup tournament was held in 1976 in Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal, Winnipeg, Québec City, and Philadelphia.

It featured six teams, Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR (Russia plus other Soviet nations). Canada took home the Gold Medal, defeating Czechoslovakia in the best of three. Winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player was Bobby Orr while USSR’s Viktor Zhluktov took home the scoring title.
<h2>1981 Canada Cup</h2>
The next Canada Cup was held in 1981 in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montréal, and Ottawa consisting of the same six teams from the tournament five years prior. Canada once again made the finals but lost 8-1 to the USSR in a single game for the Russians to take home their first Gold Medal at the tournament. 

The leading scorer of the tournament was the Oilers’ Wayne Gretzky while Soviet netminder Vladislav Tretiak took home the Most Valuable Player.
<h2>1984 Canada Cup</h2>
Three years later, the third Canada Cup (this time sponsored by Labatt) took place in seven cities: Halifax, Montréal, Calgary, London, Vancouver, Buffalo, and Edmonton. Moreover, West Germany replaced Finland and Canada once again took home the Gold Medal thanks to a 5-2 and 6-5 win over Team Sweden. 

Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Gretzky, Charlie Huddy, Kevin Lowe, and Mark Messier were the Oilers that played for this team, with Gretzky scoring a tournament-leading 12 points. However, New York Islanders forward John Tonelli picked up the MVP.
<h2>1987 Canada Cup</h2>
The 1987 Canada Cup was hosted in seven cities: Calgary, Hartford, Hamilton, Regina, Sydney, Montréal, and Halifax. It’s widely regarded as one of the best tournaments that featured best-on-best, as Team Canada and the USSR played three games in the final that ended in a final score of 6-5. 

In the first game, the USSR scored in overtime to take the series lead, before <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-O28XCeFY&amp;ab_channel=MikeMatthews">Mario Lemieux scored a double-overtime goal</a> to send the series to three games. With just a minute and 26 seconds left in the game, Lemieux scored the Gold Medal-clinching goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kIR5IU4LAk&amp;ab_channel=MikeMatthews

This was the only time Gretzky and Lemieux, two generational talents, played on the same line. It sort of parallels the 4-Nations Face-Off, as this is the first time Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid have played together. Gretzky’s 21 points led the tournament and he took home the tournament’s MVP.
<h2>1991 Canada Cup</h2>
The 1991 Canada Cup was the final under the name of the Canada Cup. Canada refused to lose in this tournament, winning six of the eighth games and tying the other two. In the finals, they faced Team USA in a best of three, defeating them 4-1 in the first game and 4-2 in the second game to win their fourth Gold Medal in five tries.

Gretzky no longer played for the Oilers as he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. However, the Oilers still had four players represent them at the tournament: Mark Messier, Steve Smith, Bill Ranford, and Finland’s Esa Tikkanen.

Although Gretzky once again led the tournament with 12 points, it was the Oilers netminder, Bill Ranford, who took home the tournament’s MVP.
<h2>1996 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
The 1996 World Cup of Hockey was the first one under the World Cup of Hockey banner. It also expanded from the usual six teams to eight teams. One reason for that was because Czechoslovakia split up, meaning that Czechia and Slovakia both existed. The eight teams participating in the tournament were the United States, Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Czechia.

Moreover, it was the first time that the tournament wasn’t held exclusively in North America. While three Canadian cities held games (Ottawa, Vancouver, Montréal), the tournament was also played in Europe as Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia all had a host city.

Canada once again made the finals, memorably defeating Team Sweden in the dying seconds of the second overtime period. They won the first game of the finals against the USA but fell in the final two games, including allowing four goals in the remaining 200 seconds of the third game. The scoring leader of the tournament was Brett Hull while netminder Mike Richter won the tournament’s MVP.

The Oilers had five players in the tournament, as well as head coach Glen Sather. Curtis Joseph played for Team Canada, Jiří Šlégr played for Team Czechia, Zdeno Cíger and Miroslav Šatan played for Team Slovakia, and Doug Weight played for Team USA.
<h2>2004 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
The 2004 World Cup of Hockey was hosted in six nations, Canada, United States, Sweden, Helsinki, Finland, Germany, and Czechia, and featured the same cast of nations in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Canada went undefeated in the tournament, beating Team USA, Team Russia, and Team Slovakia in the round-robin stage. They knocked off Team Slovakia in the quarterfinals, followed by a 4-3 win against Team Czechia in the semifinals, setting up a Gold Medal match against Team Finland. Thanks to Shane Doan’s goal early in the third period, Team Canada was able to take home their first Gold Medal at the World Cup of Hockey. If you include the Canada Cup, this was their fifth Gold Medal.

This tournament was the only time players from the National Hockey League congregated for games during the 2004-05 season, as the league entered a lockout with no NHL games being played that season.

The Oilers had four representatives at this tournament. Defenceman Eric Brewer didn’t play another game for the Oilers after the tournament, but he featured for Team Canada. Another representative for Team Canada was Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth. Radek Dvořák played for Team Czechia while netminder Ty Conklin played for Team USA.
<h2>2016 World Cup of Hockey</h2>
Lastly, we have the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. This tournament had a different format than the others, as Team Canada players and Team USA featured players over the age of 24 on the team. That was because of Team North America, who featured under-23 players on the team. 

Moreover, while Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden had teams, there was also a team named Team Europe. Team Europe featured players from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Another change in the tournament was that it was only held in one city - Toronto. Canada won their second Gold Medal at the World Cup of Hockey, defeating Team Europe in the best of three with a 3-1 and 2-1 win.

No Oilers played for Team Canada, but both Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played for Team North America. Moreover, Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Andrej Sekera played for Team Europe.

In hindsight, this tournament was weird, but also really cool.

If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

Throwback Thursday: The history of the World Cup of Hockey

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