Let’s hope NHL rule changes open up World Cup as well.

This past week has marked the anniversary of a pair of significant yet contrasting goals scored by Team Canada in international competition.

It was eighteen years ago on September 15 that Mario Lemieux converted a two-on-one from Wayne Gretzky with 86 seconds left in the third period to lift Canada to a 6-5 win over the Soviet Union to clinch the 1987 Canada Cup. That goal stands today as one of the most defining and indelible moments in Canadian sport.

Meanwhile, from the “I can’t believe it’s already been a year” department, we remember that it was Shane Doan who put the puck past Mikka Kiprusoff 34 seconds into the third period to help clinch the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in the deciding game played on September 14.

Two goals – both of the game-winners leading to a celebration plastered in red and white, and both of them coming in Ontario rinks (Super Mario’s goal at Copps Coliseum, with Doan making history at Air Canada Centre). That’s where the similarities end.

Lemieux’s goal has always been…and will always be…remembered throughout the ages. It was a point in time where many Canadians knew where they were when they watched the goal, even nearly two decades later.

Doan’s goal? Well, in the indifferent oration of Bart and Lisa Simpson, “Meh”.

Credit is due where necessary and there’s certainly no doubting that Shane Doan will remembered for his game-winning heroics that clinched the 2004 World Cup of Hockey for Canada, enabling his country to go 6-0 – the first time in tournament history that a team has gone undefeated.

At the same time, the short-lived celebration that played itself out at ACC 366 days ago pales when compared against the historical markers scored by Lemieux, Sittler in 1976 (also on September 15), and some guy named Henderson in, what year was it again? How does that Hip song “Fireworks” start…”If there’s a goal that everyone remembers, it was back in....” ’72!...yeah that was it!

At a recent TMLfans event, one of our younger message board members remarked about Lemieux’s 1987 goal being the most historic and memorable moment of his childhood. I seriously doubt that, for school age kids of today, Shane Doan’s goal will be mentioned in the same breath 10 or 15 years from now.

So how can it be that two goals that stood up as game-winners for the nation of hockey’s birthplace have two completely separate places in the annals of history?

A pair of reasons are obvious. First, look at the goal scorers. In ’87, it was GRETZKY and LEMIEUX for gosh’s sake! #99 and #66 are undoubtedly two of the greatest (…the rest of this sentence has been deleted because it can’t possibly contain any superlative that you have never heard before!). Secondly, an examination of the respective opponents and the period in history at which both games took place obviously tilts the importance in favour of 1987. The first game, during a decade when the Cold War still loomed, was between Canada and the USSR, historic rivals since the first Summit Series. Having Canada clash against Finland in 2004 was hardly the same thing. Shoot, we can’t even blame softwood lumber tariffs…or ANYTHING…at the Finns.

However, above all else, what made the 1987 victory far more exhilarating for Canadian hockey fans was that it sealed the win for a tournament that was simply fun to watch. It was free-wheeling open-ice hockey where Gretzky, Krutov, Lemieux, Makarov, Messier and Larionov could showcase their talents. The 1987 Canada Cup final was a best-of-3 affair in which all three games finished by a 6-5 score. In the third and deciding game the Soviets vaulted to a 3-0 lead before Canada reeled off four straight markers. There were ties at 4-4 and 5-5 before Mario stepped up with 86 seconds left. Oh, and for good measure, Game 1 went into overtime and Game 2 was decided in double OT.

The 2004 World Cup of Hockey?

19 games. One lead change. For the ENTIRE tournament.

By the time the lockout halted hockey, seventeen years after Lemieux’s historic tally, the NHL had reverted into a defensive-oriented, obstruction-filled league with a mediocre on-ice product. Sadly the inevitable trickle-effect carried over to the international stage, where – rather than have a tournament-clinching game going down to the wire – it was instead decided by the host and eventual winning team protecting the lead for 19 minutes and 26 seconds. Shane Doan never had a chance of his goal being in the echelon of those scored by Lemieux, Sittler and Henderson.

The NHL is banking that their new rule changes will open up the game for the players. Let’s hope that the initiative is successful, for the sake of the 82 regular season games and Stanley Cup playoffs, and also for future Canada / World Cup competitions.