Calgary Cup The Calgary Cup was a four - team ice hockey tournament held from December 26 , 1986 to January 3 , 1987 in Calgary , Alberta , Canada . It was a preview event for the 1988 Winter Olympics , and featured the national hockey teams of Canada , Czechoslovakia , the Soviet Union and the United States . All games were held at the Olympic Saddledome . The tournament was won by Czechoslovakia , who defeated the Soviet Union 3 – 2 in the gold medal game . Canada won the bronze . Jiri Hrdina was named the tournament ' s top forward , Jaroslav Benak was named top defenceman and Evgeny Belosheikin the top goaltender . Legendary Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak was the honourary chairman of the tournament . Many future National Hockey League players played in the Calgary Cup . In addition to Hrdina , Brett Hull , Dominik Hasek , Joe Nieuwendyk , Zarley Zalapski , Cliff Ronning , Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Makarov , among others , suited up for their respective national teams . Game play . The Calgary Cup was organized as one of several " preview events " for the 1988 Winter Olympics , set to be held in Calgary ten months after this tournament . It featured the national teams of Canada and the United States , as international hockey ' s dominant powers of the time , the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia , in a round robin tournament that would see the top two teams meet in a gold medal game , and the bottom two play for the bronze . The tournament would also help the Canadian and American teams prepare for the European style of play . The tournament opened on December 27 , 1986 with the host Canadians facing the United States . The American team , which had formed only 36 hours previous , had only one full workout together prior to the game . They nonetheless shocked the Canadians , winning by a 5 – 3 score on the strength of two goals by Brett Hull . Obviously disappointed with his team ' s result , Canadian coach Dave King stated : " We ' re obviously behind the eight ball . We have to go out and beat the Czechs and Russians , I guess . That ' ll be fun . " The second game saw the Soviet Union defeat the Czechs 4 – 0 on the strength of a shutout by Soviet goaltender Evgeny Belosheikin . The goaltender , who had previously been suspended prior to the tournament for what was rumoured to be alcohol problems , earned comparisons to legendary Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak . The Czechs rebounded the next night with a 6 – 3 victory over the Canadians in a game that left the home squad feeling much better than following the loss to the Americans . The Soviets pummelled the Americans 10 – 1 in the fourth game as eight different Soviet players scored . Describing the loss , American coach Craig Patrick said the Soviets made the Americans look like " the guys who travel with the Harlem Globetrotters . At times , you can look pretty foolish . " The Soviets then defeated Canada 4 – 1 on New Year ' s Eve in a game that was tied at one heading to the third period . The Russians outshot Canada 45 – 19 in the contest . The final game of the round robin saw Czechoslovakia embarrass the United States 11 – 2 on the strength of a Jiri Hrdina hat trick . As a result , the Czechs earned a match - up against the Soviet Union for the gold medal , while Canada would face the Americans for the bronze .