Post by Jazz on Jul 23, 2004 2:18:03 GMT -5
A World Cup for the ages[/u][/color]
By Robert Picarello | NHL.com | July 20, 2004
Unforgettable.
If you're looking for one word to describe the 1996 World Cup of Hockey tournament, that's the one that best describes the tourney in which the hockey world's elite players went nose-to-nose for global bragging rights.
An encore will be tough, but eight nations are gearing up for the 2004 World Cup that will commence play on Aug. 30, 2004.
The United States, the defending champion of the 1996 tournament and 2002 Olympic silver medalist will be joined by 2002 Olympic gold medal-winner Canada, Russia and Slovakia in the North American pool. The Czech Republic, winners of the 1998 Olympic gold medal, Finland, Germany and Sweden will compete in the European pool.
The first World Cup of Hockey was a huge success. NHL fans got to see some great summer hockey that included players from all over the League and globe representing their respective countries. The World Cup was born of a rich tradition of international hockey competition that has included the 1972 Summit Series, the Challenge Cup in 1979, Rendez-Vous '87, and a series of Canada Cup Tournaments, last played in 1991.
In the '96 World Cup, the U.S. defeated Canada, 2-1, in a thrilling three-game final series, which featured one game in Philadelphia and two in Montreal.
Before those two teams got to the championship round, they had to hurdle some tough global battles in the opening rounds. Canada opened up the World Cup against Russia on Aug. 29, 1996 in Vancouver. They played a nail biter that saw the Canadians take a 3-1 lead after the first period, only to see the Russians roar back and tie the contest with two tallies in the second. Colorado's Joe Sakic broke the deadlock 52 seconds into the final session and Theo Fleury finished off the scoring to give Canada the hard-fought 5-3 victory.
The United States, which turned out to be the only undefeated team in the North American Pool, opened up against Canada and edged their Northern neighbors, 5-3, in Philadelphia. The Americans opened the scoring when John LeClair beat Martin Brodeur off a feed from Tony Amonte and Bryan Smolinski.
Once again, Canada didn't have an easy go in their semifinal matchup with Sweden.
Canada roared back to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room after the first when Wayne Gretzky scored on the power play at 9:53 and Mark Messier followed up his teammate with a tally at 18:38.
But the U.S. came out storming in the second and got goals from Doug Weight and Scott Young to give them a 3-2 edge going into the third. In the third, Brett Hull stepped up and potted two more goals for the U.S. en route to the 5-3 victory. Gretzky scored the final goal for Canada in the game and Hull finished as the contest's top scorer with two goals and two assists.
The U.S. won its next two games in convincing fashion, beating Russia, 5-2, and routing Slovakia, 9-3. With their unblemished record in the North American pool, the Americans earned a bye to the third round. The teams with the next best records in their pools, advanced to the second round.
While Canada finished second in the North American Pool, the team didn't have such an easy time advancing. The Canadians survived a close call, as they were nearly eliminated by a winless Slovakia squad on Sept. 1 in Ottawa. Slovakia took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but Fleury's second goal of the World Cup, followed by Steve Yzerman's first, got Canada the 3-2 win and a berth into the next round.
Russia finished the opening round with a 1-2 record, winning their only game against Slovakia, 7-4, on Aug. 31 in Montreal.
Amonte's title-sealer came only 43 seconds after the U.S. tied the score off Hull's seventh goal of the competition.
Like the U.S., Sweden also ran the table in its pool, going 3-0 in the opening round. They began the tourney with a 6-1 bashing of Germany on Aug. 26 in Stockholm and followed that up with a 3-0 shutout of the Czech Republic on Aug. 29 in Prague. The Swedes closed out their first round run with a 5-2 win over Finland on Sept. 1 in Stockholm, earning a bye to round three.
Finland was the second-best team in the European pool, finishing Round 1 with a 2-1 record. The Finns beat the Czech Republic, 7-3, on Aug. 27 and won their second game the next night, 8-3 over Germany. Both games took place in Helsinki. Finland lost its only game in the round to Sweden.
Germany was the final team in the European pool to qualify for the second round. The Germans went 1-2 in the opening round, with their only win coming off a 7-1 rout of the Czech Republic, which went winless in the tournament, on Aug. 31.
The first quarterfinal game matched Canada against Germany in Montreal. What looked like a blowout on paper with the Canadians outshooting the Germans, 43-16, and winning by a 4-1 margin, was actually a nip-and-tuck affair. Germany kept the game close all the way until Trevor Linden scored a fluke goal with just over three minutes left in the second period to give Canada a 3-1 lead. Rod Brind'Amour finished off the scoring for Canada 3:05 into the third.
With the win, Canada qualified to face off against undefeated Sweden in the semifinals which would take place in their backyard in Ottawa.
The other quarterfinal matchup had Russia going up against Finland in Ottawa. The Russians smoked the Finns 5-0, off solid goaltending and goals from five different players. Andrei Trefilov stopped all 27 shots he faced and Dimitry Yushkevich, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Gonchar, Andrei Nikolishin and Andrei Kovalenko all scored for Russia.
Richter stopped 31 of the 33 shots the Russians took, while Hull netted two goals.
With their win, the Russians drew their heated-rivals, Team USA, in the semifinals, a contest to be played in Philadelphia.
Once again, Canada didn't have an easy go in their semifinal matchup with Sweden. The Canadians appeared to be cruising along with a 2-0 lead off goals by Eric Lindros in the first and Scott Niedermayer in the second. But the Swedes found their scoring touch in the locker room between the second and third periods and tied the score in the third. Tommy Albelin and Michael Nylander brought Sweden back from the dead and sent the game into overtime. As a matter of fact, the semifinal contest needed two overtimes to determine a winner.
Unfortunately for the Swedes, they couldn't put the final nail in Team Canada's coffin. Seconds after Johan Garpenlov hit the crossbar behind Curtis Joseph, Fleury potted the game-winner at 19:47 of the second OT, sending his team into the World Cup Finals.
In the other semifinal matchup, the United States downed Russia, 5-2, off great goaltending by Mike Richter and some timely scoring by Hull. Richter stopped 31 of the 33 shots the Russians took, while Hull netted two goals. The U.S. staged an early 2-0 lead when Pat Lafontaine beat Trevilov just 26 seconds into the contest and Hull got his third goal of the tournament with just 15 seconds left in the first.
Early in the second Sergei Berezin got his team on the board off a feed from Alexei Yashin at 9:06, cutting the U.S. lead to 2-1. But that's as close as Russia would get. Amonte scored his first goal of the tournament less than a minute later and Hull finished off the second period scoring with a short-hander. Sergei Zubov added a goal in the third for Russia, and Mathieu Schneider finished off the game's scoring when he tallied a goal at 13:57 for the United States.
For his stellar efforts Mike Richter was named the MVP of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
Continued....
By Robert Picarello | NHL.com | July 20, 2004
Unforgettable.
If you're looking for one word to describe the 1996 World Cup of Hockey tournament, that's the one that best describes the tourney in which the hockey world's elite players went nose-to-nose for global bragging rights.
An encore will be tough, but eight nations are gearing up for the 2004 World Cup that will commence play on Aug. 30, 2004.
The United States, the defending champion of the 1996 tournament and 2002 Olympic silver medalist will be joined by 2002 Olympic gold medal-winner Canada, Russia and Slovakia in the North American pool. The Czech Republic, winners of the 1998 Olympic gold medal, Finland, Germany and Sweden will compete in the European pool.
The first World Cup of Hockey was a huge success. NHL fans got to see some great summer hockey that included players from all over the League and globe representing their respective countries. The World Cup was born of a rich tradition of international hockey competition that has included the 1972 Summit Series, the Challenge Cup in 1979, Rendez-Vous '87, and a series of Canada Cup Tournaments, last played in 1991.
In the '96 World Cup, the U.S. defeated Canada, 2-1, in a thrilling three-game final series, which featured one game in Philadelphia and two in Montreal.
Before those two teams got to the championship round, they had to hurdle some tough global battles in the opening rounds. Canada opened up the World Cup against Russia on Aug. 29, 1996 in Vancouver. They played a nail biter that saw the Canadians take a 3-1 lead after the first period, only to see the Russians roar back and tie the contest with two tallies in the second. Colorado's Joe Sakic broke the deadlock 52 seconds into the final session and Theo Fleury finished off the scoring to give Canada the hard-fought 5-3 victory.
The United States, which turned out to be the only undefeated team in the North American Pool, opened up against Canada and edged their Northern neighbors, 5-3, in Philadelphia. The Americans opened the scoring when John LeClair beat Martin Brodeur off a feed from Tony Amonte and Bryan Smolinski.
Once again, Canada didn't have an easy go in their semifinal matchup with Sweden.
Canada roared back to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room after the first when Wayne Gretzky scored on the power play at 9:53 and Mark Messier followed up his teammate with a tally at 18:38.
But the U.S. came out storming in the second and got goals from Doug Weight and Scott Young to give them a 3-2 edge going into the third. In the third, Brett Hull stepped up and potted two more goals for the U.S. en route to the 5-3 victory. Gretzky scored the final goal for Canada in the game and Hull finished as the contest's top scorer with two goals and two assists.
The U.S. won its next two games in convincing fashion, beating Russia, 5-2, and routing Slovakia, 9-3. With their unblemished record in the North American pool, the Americans earned a bye to the third round. The teams with the next best records in their pools, advanced to the second round.
While Canada finished second in the North American Pool, the team didn't have such an easy time advancing. The Canadians survived a close call, as they were nearly eliminated by a winless Slovakia squad on Sept. 1 in Ottawa. Slovakia took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but Fleury's second goal of the World Cup, followed by Steve Yzerman's first, got Canada the 3-2 win and a berth into the next round.
Russia finished the opening round with a 1-2 record, winning their only game against Slovakia, 7-4, on Aug. 31 in Montreal.
Amonte's title-sealer came only 43 seconds after the U.S. tied the score off Hull's seventh goal of the competition.
Like the U.S., Sweden also ran the table in its pool, going 3-0 in the opening round. They began the tourney with a 6-1 bashing of Germany on Aug. 26 in Stockholm and followed that up with a 3-0 shutout of the Czech Republic on Aug. 29 in Prague. The Swedes closed out their first round run with a 5-2 win over Finland on Sept. 1 in Stockholm, earning a bye to round three.
Finland was the second-best team in the European pool, finishing Round 1 with a 2-1 record. The Finns beat the Czech Republic, 7-3, on Aug. 27 and won their second game the next night, 8-3 over Germany. Both games took place in Helsinki. Finland lost its only game in the round to Sweden.
Germany was the final team in the European pool to qualify for the second round. The Germans went 1-2 in the opening round, with their only win coming off a 7-1 rout of the Czech Republic, which went winless in the tournament, on Aug. 31.
The first quarterfinal game matched Canada against Germany in Montreal. What looked like a blowout on paper with the Canadians outshooting the Germans, 43-16, and winning by a 4-1 margin, was actually a nip-and-tuck affair. Germany kept the game close all the way until Trevor Linden scored a fluke goal with just over three minutes left in the second period to give Canada a 3-1 lead. Rod Brind'Amour finished off the scoring for Canada 3:05 into the third.
With the win, Canada qualified to face off against undefeated Sweden in the semifinals which would take place in their backyard in Ottawa.
The other quarterfinal matchup had Russia going up against Finland in Ottawa. The Russians smoked the Finns 5-0, off solid goaltending and goals from five different players. Andrei Trefilov stopped all 27 shots he faced and Dimitry Yushkevich, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Gonchar, Andrei Nikolishin and Andrei Kovalenko all scored for Russia.
Richter stopped 31 of the 33 shots the Russians took, while Hull netted two goals.
With their win, the Russians drew their heated-rivals, Team USA, in the semifinals, a contest to be played in Philadelphia.
Once again, Canada didn't have an easy go in their semifinal matchup with Sweden. The Canadians appeared to be cruising along with a 2-0 lead off goals by Eric Lindros in the first and Scott Niedermayer in the second. But the Swedes found their scoring touch in the locker room between the second and third periods and tied the score in the third. Tommy Albelin and Michael Nylander brought Sweden back from the dead and sent the game into overtime. As a matter of fact, the semifinal contest needed two overtimes to determine a winner.
Unfortunately for the Swedes, they couldn't put the final nail in Team Canada's coffin. Seconds after Johan Garpenlov hit the crossbar behind Curtis Joseph, Fleury potted the game-winner at 19:47 of the second OT, sending his team into the World Cup Finals.
In the other semifinal matchup, the United States downed Russia, 5-2, off great goaltending by Mike Richter and some timely scoring by Hull. Richter stopped 31 of the 33 shots the Russians took, while Hull netted two goals. The U.S. staged an early 2-0 lead when Pat Lafontaine beat Trevilov just 26 seconds into the contest and Hull got his third goal of the tournament with just 15 seconds left in the first.
Early in the second Sergei Berezin got his team on the board off a feed from Alexei Yashin at 9:06, cutting the U.S. lead to 2-1. But that's as close as Russia would get. Amonte scored his first goal of the tournament less than a minute later and Hull finished off the second period scoring with a short-hander. Sergei Zubov added a goal in the third for Russia, and Mathieu Schneider finished off the game's scoring when he tallied a goal at 13:57 for the United States.
For his stellar efforts Mike Richter was named the MVP of the inaugural World Cup tournament.
Continued....
