1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Canada Cup was an international series in 1987 . The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 , 1987 , and Hamilton , Ontario , on September 13 and September 15 , 1987 , and were won by Team Canada . The final three - game series of this tournament between Canada and the USSR is considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history . At the time , the USSR players were not allowed to pursue playing careers in North America , and so it was only through tournaments like this one where hockey fans could see their skills head - to - head against the best of the NHL . While many fans may have rooted against the Soviet team , they never questioned their skills . The tournament also was the only time in a meaningful contest that the two most dominant NHL players of the last quarter century , Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux , played on the same forward unit . Only three players are still active in the NHL today from that tournament : Chris Chelios , Teppo Numminen , and Claude Lemieux . Rosters . Canada . Forwards and defense : Dale Hawerchuk , Mark Messier , Mike Gartner , Kevin Dineen , Michel Goulet , Brent Sutter , Rick Tocchet , Brian Propp , Doug Gilmour , Claude Lemieux , Mario Lemieux , Wayne Gretzky , Doug Crossman , Craig Hartsburg , Normand Rochefort , James Patrick , Raymond Bourque , Larry Murphy , Paul Coffey Goaltenders : Ron Hextall , Kelly Hrudey , Grant Fuhr Coaches : Mike Keenan , John Muckler , Jean Perron , Tom Watt Czechoslovakia . Forwards and defense : Petr Rosol , Igor Liba , Jan Jasko , Jiri Kucera , Jiri Dolezal , Vladimir Ruzicka , Ladislav Lubina , David Volek , Petr Vlk , Dusan Pasek , Jiri Sejba , Jiri Hrdina , Rostislav Vlach , Miloslav Horava , Drahomír Kadlec , Ludek Čajka , Bedřich Ščerban , Jaroslav Benák , Antonin Stavjana , Mojmir Bozik Goaltenders : Petr Briza , Dominik Hašek , Jaromir Sindel Coaches : Dr . Ján Starsi , Frantisek Pospisil Finland . Forwards and defense : Timo Blomqvist , Jari Grönstrand , Matti Hagman , Raimo Helminen , Iiro Järvi , Timo Jutila , Jari Kurri , Markku Kyllonen , Mikko Mäkelä , Jouko Narvanmaa , Teppo Numminen , Janne Ojanen , Reijo Ruotsalainen , Christian Ruuttu , Jukka Seppo , Ville Siren , Petri Skriko , Raimo Summanen , Esa Tikkanen , Hannu Virta Goaltenders : Jarmo Myllys , Kari Takko , Jukka Tammi Coaches : Rauno Korpi , Juhani Tamminen Sweden . Forwards and defense : Tommy Albelin , Mikael Andersson , Peter Andersson , Jonas Bergqvist , Anders Carlsson , Thom Eklund , Anders Eldebrink , Peter Eriksson , Bengt - Åke Gustafsson , Tomas Jonsson , Lars Karlsson , Mats Näslund , Kent Nilsson , Lars - Gunnar Pettersson , Magnus Roupé , Thomas Rundqvist , Tommy Samuelsson , Håkan Södergren , Peter Sundström , Mikael Thelvén Goaltenders : Anders Bergman , Åke Lilljebjörn , Peter Lindmark Coaches : Tommy Sandlin , Curt Lindström , Ingvar Carlsten USA . Forwards and defense : Joe Mullen , Curt Fraser , Corey Millen , Aaron Broten , Kelly Miller , Mark Johnson , Bob Brooke , Wayne Presley , Pat LaFontaine , Bobby Carpenter , Ed Olczyk , Joel Otto , Chris Nilan , Dave Ellett , Mike Ramsey , Kevin Hatcher , Rod Langway , Phil Housley , Gary Suter , Chris Chelios Goaltenders : Tom Barrasso , Bob Mason , John Vanbiesbrouck Coaches : Bob Johnson , Ted Sator , Doug Wood USSR . Forwards and defense : Vyacheslav Fetisov , Alexei Gusarov , Igor Stelnov , Vasily Pervukhin , Mikhail Tatarinov , Alexei Kasatonov , Sergei Starikov , Anatoli Fedotov , Igor Kravchuk , Yuri Khmylev , Vladimir Krutov , Andrei Lomakin , Igor Larionov , Valeri Kamensky , Andrei Khomutov , Sergei Svetlov , Alexander Semak , Sergei Kharin , Sergei Nemchinov , Sergei Makarov , Vyacheslav Bykov , Gerhan Volgin , Anatoly Semenov , Mikhail Kravets Goaltenders : Vitali Samoilov , Sergei Mylnikov , Evgeny Belosheikin Coaches : Viktor Tikhonov , Igor Dmitriev Game scores . Playoff round . Semi - finals Finals ( best - of - 3 ) Three thrilling 6 - 5 games decided the ' 87 Canada Cup . In Game 1 , Canada erased a 4 - 1 second period deficit to send the game to overtime , only to lose on Alexander Semak ' s goal at 5 : 33 of the extra frame . In Game 2 , which is considered by some to be the greatest hockey game ever played , Canada led 3 - 1 after one period , but this time it was the Soviets who came from behind to tie it 3 - 3 in the second . Canada scored twice more , each time Mario Lemieux assisted by Wayne Gretzky , but the Soviets replied each time . The tying goal was a brilliant end - to - end rush by Valeri Kamensky with 1 : 04 remaining in regulation time . After a scoreless period of overtime , which featured some brilliant goaltending from Grant Fuhr , Gretzky and Lemieux hooked up for the third time of the evening at 10 : 07 of the second overtime . It was the fifth assist for Gretzky on the night and completed a hat trick for Lemieux . The euphoria from Game 2 didn ' t carry over long into the third and decisive game , however . The Soviets stunned all of Canada by scoring three times in the first eight minutes to take a 3 - 0 lead . Canada ' s grinders took over after that ( particularly Rick Tocchet , Brent Sutter and Dale Hawerchuk ) , and pulled Canada into a 5 - 4 lead after two periods . The Soviets tied it back up in the third and the game looked like it would head to overtime again . But late in the third period , Canada coach Mike Keenan sent the Gretzky - Lemieux - Hawerchuk line out to play , with a faceoff in Canada ' s end . The rest is history , as Hawerchuk tripped up Bykov , Gretzky , Lemieux and Larry Murphy rushed down the ice on a three - on - one . Young Soviet defenseman Igor Kravchuk was the only man back and he fell down when Gretzky fed the pass to Lemieux . Once again , Gretzky set up Lemieux , who fired a shot over the glove of goaltender Sergei Mylnikov with 1 : 26 remaining . The Gretzky to Lemieux play is one of the most memorable plays in Canadian hockey history . Stat leaders . Goaltender Goals Against Average . " All numbers in bold represent that was tournament high "