From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Canada Cup, we highlight the third game of the Cup finals, one of the most historic showdowns between the Soviet Union and Canada in history.

🇨🇦 Canada 6-5 Soviet Union 🇷🇺
Canada Cup Final, Game 3
Copps Coliseum, Hamilton 🇨🇦
Tuesday, 15 September 1987

Although the history of hockey has many touchstones for any ideal of greatness, there was arguably no finer hockey ever played than in the best-of-three finals of the 1987 Canada Cup between the host nation and the Soviet Union. Of course, there have been other exceptional moments in the game.

But 1987 had it all. It featured games in the modern era, where every minute of every game could be captured on film and appreciated time and again and compared to other great modern moments; it had familiar players; it had late-game heroics; and, most of all, it featured a pure level of skill that has never been matched before or since.
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