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Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:41 am
by Murdoch
Robby has probably already done the survey and figured it out. I did look for the thread.

Sad news for hockey fans yesterday with the passing of Dale Hawerchuk due to cancer.

Dale was the cornerstone of the Winnipeg franchise throughout the eighties. He was well liked in Winnipeg to say the least.

One memory that stands out goes back to the Canada Cup series of 1987ish and the final game played at Copps Colosseum in Hamilton. Trailing 6 - 5 with only a couple of minutes left to play, at a time when the best players are on the ice, Canada executed a text book breakout out of their own zone that ended with Mario Lemieux scoring to tie the game. Might have been Mario's biggest goal ever but I think he scored three that night so it's tough to call. I would guess all of Canada was on their feet. Copps was a madhouse. Dale Hawerchuk won the faceoff to start the play and drew the second assist along with Wayne Gretzky. Pretty well sums up his status as a hockey elite. RIP.

I'm wondering who was playing defence at the time and guessing Paul Coffey was one. Wouldn't have gone wrong with Ray Bourque for the other but that's another story.

Another great hockey game was the Winnipeg Jets playing the Czechoslovakia Olympic team circa 1976. Packed house in Winnipeg and fast. Believe it was the year before the Statsny's defected. WHA Jets were early adaptors of Euro players and had some great skaters. Willy "the wisp" Lindstrom once scored five in an NHL game.

Apologize for the ramble. Condolences to the Hawerchuk family.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:23 am
by Robbie
Murdoch wrote:
Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:41 am
One memory that stands out goes back to the Canada Cup series of 1987ish and the final game played at Copps Colosseum in Hamilton. Trailing 6 - 5 with only a couple of minutes left to play, at a time when the best players are on the ice, Canada executed a text book breakout out of their own zone that ended with Mario Lemieux scoring to tie the game. Might have been Mario's biggest goal ever but I think he scored three that night so it's tough to call. I would guess all of Canada was on their feet. Copps was a madhouse. Dale Hawerchuk won the faceoff to start the play and drew the second assist along with Wayne Gretzky. Pretty well sums up his status as a hockey elite. RIP.
Hi Murdoch, I think some of the facts of that game (game 3 of the Canada Cup final in 1987 against USSR) are incorrect and four things need to be corrected for the record:

First, if you are referring to the Mario Lemieux game winning goal assisted by Gretzky, then the score was tied at 5-5 when that goal was scored.

Second, Canada led 5-4 heading into the third period, so there was no game-tying goal for Canada.

Thirdly, while Dale Hawerchuk took the face-off leading to the goal, he was not officially credited with a second assist.

Fourthly regarding the defencemen on the play, I know for sure that one of them was Larry Murphy who was part of the 3 on 1 play.

You can see that game at:


Finally, to say it's the best hockey game ever would be extremely debatable and of course, it's very subjective from a fan's point of view. I would say it's better if you classify best hockey games based on the various tournaments, be it regionally and internationally, i.e. best ice hockey game for:

1. Stanley Cup Playoffs
2. Winter Olympics
3. Ice Hockey World Championships by the IIHF.
4. Other international tournaments, such as Canada Cup followed by World Cup of Hockey.

I suppose in terms of best hockey games and most memorable ones, for sure the least popular would be the Ice Hockey World Championships. I suppose the main reason is because most of the players players for that tournament are not competing as it conflicts with the Stanley Cup playoffs. And even for the Winter Olympics, there may only be a handful of memorable games such from America's point of view they only remember 1980 Miracle on Ice and Canada may remember their gold medal winning games, but to say it's the greatest game ever might be a slight overstatement. Furthermore prior to 1998 the roster was mostly amateur and not professional and as such, the games may not be as memorable.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:09 pm
by Murdoch
Sorry Robbie, my facts were off. I was going by memory and should have looked it up. The post was about the passing of Dale Hawerchuk. My bad for getting it wrong. Seems odd they would have had that lineup on the ice in a tie game but whatever works.
.
I did make it sound pretty good though and Hawerchuk did win the draw cleanly. I saw him in the Winnipeg airport a few years ago and wanted to tell him that I remembered the play but i didn't. I believe he actually trailed a defender coming back and hooked him to give the guys ahead some space. Would have probably gotten a penalty in today's game.

Larry Murphy would have fit right in with the power lineup. His years on the west coast probably cost him in terms of name recognition but he was a very good player for many years.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:34 pm
by BC 1988
Agree Greatest Game would have to to be subjective, and depends entirely on how much importance the individual fan places on it. Personally I would vote Game 8 of Canada-USSR 1972.

I was 10 years old, but still remember watching it live on TV. I would place it higher than the Olympic Men Gold medal win in 2010. I have never had a favorite NHL team win a Stanley Cup I recall seeing. (Toronto's last win in 1967 when I was 5--for some reason I remember the parade but not the game--I didn't become a hockey fan until 1970.) Of course, since 1988 I've also been a Canucks fan and they are still in the Sad Club with the Buffalo Sabres.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:37 pm
by Robbie
And this is a point that I've stated numerous times before in that overall, a local city championship brings a lot more excitement and celebrations compared to a national team win in an international tournament.

The excitement and celebrations in Vancouver when:

1. Team Canada (men and women) won the gold medal in the 2002, 2010, and 2014 Winter Olympics.
2. Team Canada won the Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey in 1976, 1984, 1987, 1991, 2004, 2016.
3. Team Canada won the gold medal in countless IIHF World Championship annual tournaments.
4. Team Canada won the gold medal in countless World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

was not even remotely close to the excitement in Vancouver when the ;canucks: made it the finals in 1982, 1992, and 2011.

Ask anybody in Vancouver if they would rather Team Canada win a championship in an international tournament or the ;canucks: win the Stanley Cup, I'd say 99.99% would choose the latter.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:55 pm
by obs
Murdoch wrote:
Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:09 pm
I believe he (Hawerchuk) actually trailed a defender coming back and hooked him to give the guys ahead some space. Would have probably gotten a penalty in today's game.
Heh heh, yeah, I was going to bring that up. You can catch a glimpse of the USSR guy going down on the far left of the screen.

I wasn't following hockey much during those years, but I think this series was Lemieux's coming out party. Before this, he had the reputation of being a floater. I vaguely recall an interview after the game, where he said, "You will see a different Mario Lemieux from now on." One of Team Canada's assets is that there's usually someone to mentor or set an example for the younger stars. Even Gretzky, who may not have needed it, said that he followed Lafleur around off the ice in 1981.

Greatest game(s):
I'll toss the 2010 Olympics gold medal game in there, simply because there was such a build-up of winning on home ice. That it was an overtime only made it more exciting.
One that gets mentioned is the New Year's Eve game between the Central Red Army team versus Montreal Canadiens in the mid-70s. No dirty play, but just pure hockey. I think Bowman said that after that game, they knew that they could play with anybody. (If you're into hockey, I recommend Dryden's book, "Bowman", along with Dryden's other books. They're available on Vancouver Public Library's ebook site.)

Ever since I moved to Vancouver, I got tired of hearing the Canucks all the time (Habs fan here), so I cheer for them to lose :D . I'll take a Team Canada gold medal over a Canucks Stanley Cup win 10 times out of 10.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:44 pm
by Sir Purrcival
There were many games that I can think of that were absolutely incredible games. Hard to pick one. Some that stand out for me.
Game 8 of 1972 Canada/Russia series
The New Years Eve game of 1976? between the Montreal Canadians and the Russians.
The entire final 3 game series of the the 87 Canada Cup
Countless WJHC games. Team Canada Semi Final 2009 (Eberle Goal Game)
2010 Olympic Game
Really too many to list.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 10:26 am
by cromartie
No, I'm sorry. This was the answer we were looking for, I'm afraid.


Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:05 pm
by OV - 54:40
Summit Series 72 - game 8 (and game one shocker ! - though not a great game for Canada - most shocking sport event i ever witnessed)

New Year's Eve - Habs vs. Red Army (Habs out-shot them by a wide margin, but the Ruskies almost won the game late)

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:41 pm
by TheLionKing
I agree the with New Year's Eve game. End to end action the entire game.

Re: Greatest Hockey Game Ever

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 2:56 pm
by BC 1988
OV - 54:40 wrote:
Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:05 pm
Summit Series 72 - game 8 (and game one shocker ! - though not a great game for Canada - most shocking sport event i ever witnessed)
Yes game one was incredible. I remember a lot about that day, I had just got home from visiting the CNE in Toronto. It looked like it was going to be a cakewalk for the NHL'ers up 2-0 in the first six minutes. Then everything collapsed. Facing 30 shots, Dryden had one of the worst games of his career, receiving no support from his defencemen. If they hadn't rebounded with the gritty game two 4-1 effort in Toronto (only allowing 21 shots with Esposito in goal) they would have been in too deep a hole to crawl out of.

With the Winnipeg game three tie, then the game four waste of a good effort in Vancouver (23 shots on Tretiak in the 3rd period), the games six-eight turnaround in Moscow was made all the more legendary.