1976 Canada Cup
 |
|
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |
 Canada
|
| Dates | September 2–15, 1976 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Venue(s) | 6 (in 6 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
Champions 
|
Canada (1st title)
|
Runner-up 
|
 Czechoslovakia
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 125 (7.35 per match) |
| Attendance | 244,970 (14,410 per match) |
| Scoring leader(s) |
 Viktor Zhluktov (9 pts)
|
| MVP |
Bobby Orr
|
|
1981 →
|
|
The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2–15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City, Canada as well as in Philadelphia, United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup tournaments held between 1976 and 1991. It was organized by Alan Eagleson and sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League (NHL). It was a six-team, round robin tournament with a best-of-three final between the top two teams. Canada finished atop the standings and defeated Czechoslovakia in the final in two consecutive games. Bobby Orr was named the most valuable player of the tournament, and Viktor Zhluktov was the leading scorer.
The Canada Cup was the first true best-on-best world championship in hockey history as it allowed any player to represent their team regardless of amateur or professional status. Consequently, it marked the end of Canada's six-year boycott of the IIHF. The success of the event paved the way for greater use of professional players in the World Championship and Winter Olympics.
The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) had complained for years that Team Canada faced a competitive disadvantage in international tournaments as it was restricted from using its best players, who were professionals in the National Hockey League (NHL), while European teams masked the status of their best players. The issue came to a head in 1970 when International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Bunny Ahearne reneged on a promise to allow each team to use up to nine professional players at the 1970 World Championship. In response, the CAHA withdrew Canada from all international competition until the IIHF gave it the right to use its best players as the European teams could.
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