Everyone else: "Let me pick a cool and interesting Zoom background." Jesse: KITCHEN.

They didn’t raise the pick because they didn’t need to. The goalies were standing up so the bottom was easier to score on.

My biggest take away: Man Lemieux was an AMAZING player. Raw talent there is absolutely no match. Skating, strength, dangles, his shot was unmatched especially for the time, passing, iq. Holy moly really makes me appreciate 66 a lot more

When Mario and wayne are on a 2 on 1 you might as well just skate to the bench

In 1987, Hasek vas 22 and it was still 3 years before his NHL debut. He was basically a rookie at that tourney (3.33 GAA and 0.894 Sv%)

Jessie’s loaf is looking exceptionally dry

Just by watching them that tournament i was credited with 14 points and finished third on the team in scoring.

Hard to ignore Lemieux’s physical gifts holy hell. The reach, RH shot, the creativity, the finishing, the IQ. Just a freak show

7:57 they chirp the dman for falling but that Canadian player in the shot definitely hooks him up for sure, didn't realize that was part of this play until this video and the angel given, only ever seen this goal from a different view. Can even see him tug his arms on his stick for the quick hook into the body.

People talk about Lemieux's winning goal and Gretzky's pass, but what about Lemieux's play at own blue line to feed Gretzky after faceoff. Amazing players

The creativity of the Soviets was actually really impressive too - you are only watching the Canadian perspective :) The top lines on both teams are both incredibly legendary.

For the young folks, here are a few considerations to consider: 1) back in the day, in a Olympic Team Canada Facility, they had the state of the art, VO2 MAX testing facility in the world, that the greatest athletes would fly in to be tested on. At the time, there were only 2 athletes in that era that tested beyond the machine's ability to test i) Miguel Indurain (5 time Tour De France Winner) and ii) Wayne Gretzky. Let that sink in and what it implies. Wayne had the lung & recovery capacity beyond most people on earth including everyone in the NHL. 2) Clutch & Grab. The 6foot 170# Wayne you are watching played in the hardest physical era in NHL history. You could at the time, legally, put your stick on an opponent's hip and legally hook him while he was trying to get away. You could also legally take someone's head off on the ice (look up Scott Steven's hits) - but that didn't matter because no one could touch him. If you took away clutch and grab, and put the best VO2 max hockey athlete in history, and leading point getter, in a league where you couldn't hook him legally, good fvcking luck trying to stop him. Yes the goalies weren't as good, but in 'today's game, you would not get the puck off him until he got off his 2 minutes shift that he never tired while skating 3) Ask yourself this, how many points would McJesus or OV or Matthews get if they had #99 as their center in today's NHL - and how many would Gretzky get? The answer if you are honest is that #99's points wouldn't change and McDavid / OV / Matthews would be putting up 150+ point seasons 4) #99 still got more points that #66 in that 1987 tournament - even though the two of them scored almost half the teams points 5) #99 stepping on to the ice in today's non clutch & grab & slash & two line pass NHL - he would fvcking destroy the leaguge just as he did in his time

“How were the goalies so bad?!” *Grows up with sports training and basic concepts in biomechanics* Yeah, that shit didn’t exist back then.

Hey Bardown, how about drafting an all-time starting lineup from every province/region in Canada, and then put them through a bracket? You may have to separate Ontario the way they do for curling, or perhaps group the maritimes, etc. (i.e. Maritimes + NL, Quebec, GTA Ontario, the rest of Ontario, Prairies, Alberta, BC...).

No, boys. G. Backup is the goat

Give Gretzky the same gear same training... in this day and age

Gretzky was ahead of his time, back then there was no extra training and limited offseason training they were also using wooden sticks, Gretzky's vision and hockey IQ would hold up in today's NHL and he probably would have been better because of the amount of training they do nowadays and how light the stick and equipment are.

New Bardown video! As Jesse would say, “LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Imagine if Lemieux and Gretzky played in an era where you weren't hooked or slashed or crosschecked on almost every shift. And if they played in an era when the red line is taken out as far as offside is concerned. And if they could have used the flexible sticks the players use now. Over 1200 goals each for sure. Both were injured so much by the dirty play which wasn't called in the eighties and nineties. In this era of 'basketball' hockey, if Ovechkin exceeds 894 goals there has to be an asterisk beside it in the record book.

When Jagr was 44 years old in 2015-16 he scored 66 points... this ranked him as 22nd highest scorer. He was 5 points back from Ovechkin who was 15th. In his twenties Jagr was dominated by Gretzky and Lemieux.

Guys, those were highlights of Gretzky and Lemieux. That USSR team had a few legends on it, as did Team Sweden. Most games Canada played were pretty close. All three final games ended 6-5 (of which two in OT).

Mario and Gretzky is going to be the greatest op duo

There’s no question that Lemieux is flashier than Gretzky. Yet, that he is better than Gretzky because he has smoother moves is generally the opinion of folks who are - in my opinion - casual hockey fans. My aunt lives in The Soo, and I’ll never forget what she said about watching Gretzky while playing junior for the ‘Hounds’: “You’d never even know he was on the ice, till the goal light came on. “ like, he was never flashy, he just sees where the other 11 players are going to be before they get there, and perhaps, before even they know they will be there. When you have that kind of super power, you don’t really need to be flashy. All you have to do is flick your wrist. Seems like such a simple thing to do that essentially makes everyone else on your team a star. A casual fan is looking to be wowed as in a show of fireworks. But people who know better, who’ve perhaps spent years playing themselves - and let’s face it, in Canada, that last stipulation doesn’t even rule out half the population - understand what the real worth of Gretzky is, even when compared to someone like Lemieux (not there is anyone else LIKE Lemieux). I would take Gretzky personally, just because I am not good at scoring goals, and Gretzky can make a goal scorer out of anyone, even me :-)

Hi guys ! Nice to see you reactions. I LOVE your videos BUT I GOTTA SAY SOMETHING TO YOU. There's some points to clarify with you (but in particular for Jesse), it's been 33 years - so equipment has change a lot : Goalies sitck in 2020 weights almost half of Gretzky's TITAN stick - Thoses guys (Gretzky and Lemieux were 2 of the ONLY 4 dominants playersin the whole history of hockey with Howe and Orr) - There's was hooking, grabing, thoses players were still playing with concussions (not like, upper body for a broken nail) - Gretzky manage 3 goals and 18 assists for 21 points in 9 games I believe and Lemieux had 11 goals and 7 assists for 18 points. Gretzky got the MVP. Also when people dare say : " Imagine Crosby, Ovi or McDavid in thoses days" it's like saying Imagine Gretzky in 1950 .... Same thing. The difference is a big fact that Crosby , Ovi and McDavid has been or will be the best players of their era, but not dominant player.... I mean the pourcentage of points vs the others greats players in their time. Ex: (2017-18) McDavid 108 pts & Giroux 102 pts = Mcdavid is at 106% of the leading scoring or Crosby best season in 2006-2007 with 120 pts & Joe Thornton 114 pts= Crosby is 105% VS Gretzky any of his 10 first season (1981-82) Gretzky 212 pts vs Bossy 147 pts = 144% !!!!!! And with my last point - ANY GOALTENDERS of theses days wouldn't go on the ice without mask and barely equip (like in 1960) and DARE block a Bobby Hull slapshot - this guy records 118 mph. Even Carey Price and company wouldn't be in the body of Terry Sawchuk one second with 400 stiches, 60 bones chip remove from his elbow, broken jaw and list goes on and on .... Though they are unbelievable atlhetes theses days (though they suffer from lack of constancy baby crying contract problem- NOT ALL but a lot), they're in better shape, stronger, faster & they're still skates head down ... they wouldn't go on the ice play with the same rules in thoses 1980-1990's . Can you imagine Scott Stevens, Eric Lindros hitting any of thoses players with the equipment back in the days. Concussion over concussion - no replay in different angle to complaint and review. Today, when the guy barely jump 1 inch from the ice it's suspension - thoses old days, they used to jump not only with their elbow, also glove and stick of wood in the face - but they we're still keep playing always. By the way that was Hasek he's been drafted in 1983 but start playing later about 27-28 years old. Last point, Gretzky and Lemieux and others has been greatests inspiration/idol and the most influentials players (with Howe and Orr) for 2 generations (1980-1999) of players like Sakic, Jagr, etc... then Yzerman, Sakic, Forsberg we're the idols of Crosby, Kane, Malkin's generation. It's simply evolution of any sport.

I don't think you guys understand just how elevated Gretzky was. His hockey awareness was so sublime, he literally made it look that easy.

Bardown realising Lemieux's better than Gretzky

Jesse's logic 66 99 Gotta be a 69

They're chirping Dominic Hasek at the beginning of the footage and don't even realize it.

My family moved to Canada several months after this event so I didn't know anything about it. I didn't really pay attention to hockey until the Canucks went to the finals in 1994. I really paid attention when Mogilny was traded to the Nucks in 1995. That was the year (95-96) when Lemieux came back and tore up the league. Even though this was before the Internet, I at least knew enough about hockey to know that Lemieux and Gretzky could be only compared to each other. The only thing I knew about the 87 Canada Cup at that time was when my Grade 9 Social Studies teacher, who played hockey in the Czech Republic, mentioned the score being 6-5, 6-5, 6-5 and it was the best hockey he ever saw. I didn't know anything else about it. Then in the summer of 96, CBC was advertising the upcoming World Cup by showing all the great Canadian moments of the past. When they showed the Gretzky to Lemieux goal, my jaw dropped. "Those two were on the same team??!!" I was just stunned by it. It'd be kinda like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain had been on a Dream Team in '64 if pros were allowed to play then.

There everything was unreal not just their passing! That Canadian team was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, national team ever assembled!

Unreal teamwork from The Great One and Super Mario!! Beautiful stuff!!

Respect the Andrew Raycroft shoutout

Goaltending has come a long way, but if it was as easy as we claim it was NOW, why didn’t every player own like Gretz did? Can’t take anything away from the guy, legends be legends!

Gretzky's 'shot' at 2:27 is actually a shot-pass. He's playing the bank off the goalie's pads with a shot at that height. He would do this often and is a lost art in today's nhl. Same can be said at 3:10. That's not a shot. It's a pass off the end boards. I love when people say he wouldn't stand up in today's NHL. Give him today's training, skates, composite stick, 2-line pass, tag-up offside rules, and no hooking or head hunting? He would destroy today's NHL.

So is Gretzky the reason for Mario’s bad back..?

I remember years ago, when Gretzky was on the Rangers,with Mark. There was talks about Mario coming to NY but, as we all know that didn't happen and can't picture that ever happening

Jesse looks like grownup version of Ash Ketchum who fell in love with hockey

Love hockey but they are, literally, forgetting its history here! Technology evolved alongside the style of play; as masks and gear got better, more goalies used the butterfly position. As the stick got lighter, the forwards got smaller and shots got faster. Training, nutrition, coaching, and the works has all become truly professional. Respect the history and the fact that legends set themselves apart via their creativity and skill. There are very few who do this in each generation.

Goalie pads changed. Earlier they soaked up water and got so heavy the goalie couldn’t move. It wasn’t until the 90s that the material changed and that allowed Roy to revolutionize the position with the butterfly.

Gretzky had incredible hands, vision, hockey IQ, etc., but there's a reason he told Mario early in the tournament to stop deferring to him and shoot the puck. Lemieux is the most-talented goal scorer to ever play the game. He "only" scored 690 career goals, but he might have scored 900 if it wasn't for his health issues, lack of support early in his career, and the nature of the NHL game during some of his prime years. He had a rare combination of shot (both power and accuracy), hands, and reach.

I sat down and watched the whole series a few years ago. I was stunned that Gretzky got tournament MVP. Mario carried the team and scored ALL the important goals.

How about a little respect for the great one. You guys are brutal

*Nobody else going to comment on Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey being on the same team* ? That's the Gretzky and Lemieux of defencemen right there.

Guys, at 2:13, that is Claude Lemieux (from Montreal Canadians) who scored, and note that Mario was also on the same line with Gretzky.

And yes - olympics 100% for sure. Crosby, McDavid, Mackinnon - holy crap that's stacked.

Not even joking, my dad was the waterboy for Canada’s team in their Banff training camp. I have Gretzky’s stick from it

Hašek was 22 in this video playing for the TJ Tesla Pardubice in Czech Republic. Meanwhile at the 1998 OG in Nagano he had GAA 0.97 and SVS% .961 conceding just 6 goals out of 155 shots.

Nobody filming in the stands. Crowds going nuts. ❤ it

All time Goalie Rankings 1. Andrew Raycroft 2. Dominik Hasek 3. Ondrej Pavelec

For the goaltending: don't forget that NO ONE stopped hard shots with their torso or else a team would go through three goalies a game. It was either glove or blocker high, legs low.

"I wOuLd MaKe iT iN tHe NhL BaCk tHeN" no you won't. If it was so easy, why didn't everyone score 200 and 199 points like Gretzky and Lemieux? They would dominate today too, if you think their skill wouldn't have been adjusted, you're crazy. And Lemieux actually looks like he doesn't even need adjustment, just throw him the same he was in his prime in today's NHL and he would still spank the league.

I just can't help but think Patrick Roy's butterfly style forced the entire NHL to learn how to lift the puck.

I love this one so much just because of Eric being here.

Saying McDavid would dominate is a bit tough considering you'd have to imagine him wearing that old equipment, playing with 2 line passes and having to deal with the less open play because of the hatchet defending teams would play.

They were insane

Gotta love the denigration of the greats of a different era, saying they couldn't compete today. Throw these guys in their primes now with the knowledge we have now about nutrition, conditioning, and recovery and they'd still dominate. And that doesn't even include the improvements in equipment. Could you imaging Gretzky or Lemieux with a composite stick like Ovi uses?

The best 3 games in hockey history,

sure they werent as good as they are now, but the training, the nutrition, the development where not where they are today, The comforts and travel is much easier today as well. Goaltending is horrendous yes, but the sticks were made of wood, the skates and equipment were way heavier and not as advanced, and the refs never called anything. you had to play through hooking, holding, elbowing, blind side hits, and gretzky did not have all the powerplays that they do now either. Gretzky was supper smart. Maybe he wouldnt dominate the way he did today, but given all the extra tools at his expense he would have made use of it and still been the best player to ever play.

It's difficult to appreciate Gretzky from afar like this, because he isn't bigger or faster than anyone else. His moves are more subtle, his shot pretty average, maybe below average on a team like this. But somehow at the end of the night, like on many nights during an unparalleled career -- he's at the top of the leaderboard. Most points in this tournament. He was, in my opinion, Canada's best player in games 1 and 2. He didn't have a virtuoso performance in game 3 because he was still exhausted after the number of minutes he played in game 3, but perfect execution on the series winner. Voted as the best player in the tournament, the MVP. Again. By those who know. Gretzky doesn't dazzle like Connor McDavid or Lemieux dazzles. He's the first to the puck, he finds his linemates when no one else can, he makes the whole line better by orchestrating the play to make the goals look easy. Just look at every goal he's involved with in Game 2. On some goal scoring plays it seems like he's only incidentally involved. But lesser players wouldn't have managed to get the puck, lesser players wouldn't have gotten it to where the puck needed to be. This group says Gretzky is ordinary and average. But at the end of the night, Gretzky has 5 points. This happened night after night in the NHL. You watch the game and you wonder, did Wayne even do anything? And then you look at the scoreboard and he made 5 assists. Phil Esposito once said, "If Gretzky is so overrated, how come no one else is doing what he's doing?" Gretzky only passes the eye test if you know what to look for. So yes, he looks ordinary -- but he isn't.

Corwin is shocked when Gretzky saucer passes Lemieux.

Mario was still dominating in the early 2000s. He would have been a monster today. Gretzky still would have had insane vision and great elusiveness like he had back then. He'd be faster and stronger. 36 year-old Thornton was PPG a few years ago and he could barely skate so to say Gretzky still wouldn't be the same dominant force is foolish.

When are you rebroadcasting and will it be on KZfaq?

That would be so scary if Gretzky and lemxue

Probably one of the very few times Gretzky was cheered for in Calgary

Gretzky would dominate to nearly that extent today. The improvement in today's game is a generalized phenomenon of coaching, systems, fitness, and technique. Because of those things all players today perform somewhat better than they would have in the 80's. But if you bring an 80's player forward to now, you would also have to give them the benefit of those improvements. Why would they be exempt from them? They couldn't play now and somehow completely ignore all the systems, coaching and fitness. Gretzky was way ahead of his peers in the 80's and if he played now, that relative difference would hold because Gretzky would improve along with them. He couldn't be the only one that didn't improve. That's cherry picking the cohort and leaving the subject behind.

I'm a aggressive bear leaguer for over 2 decades and having seen this- with admittedly a couple beers in me- i'm confident i could crack that lineup! 4th liner but still...

The fact this team dominated so much and still cut Stevy Y, Roy and cam Neely says a lot.

It's obviously wrong to say Gretzky would not dominate in this era and McDavid would back then. The approach to the training and the equipment has changed so much, we have no idea what would have happened if they swapped places and Gretzky grew up in this day and age.

And for Jesse... Gretzky would dominate. You can't teach the stuff that made him great. He saw the ice like no other. Knew where everyone was and used all his senses to hone in on the target he wanted his pass to go to. Hell... He didn't use a visor for very long, because he said that he couldn't hear players as good with it.

The thing about saying Gretzky wouldn’t be the best in today’s NHL, is that it’s not necessarily factoring in that he would’ve been training the same way today’s players are, and would probably develop his own skills further than he did at the time. He might still have that instinct for the game that made him stand out.

Love the Zlatan pic in the bottom left background. Notice the Barca jersey is absent lol, probably appropriate since he hated it there

I agree about the best jersey. There's something about the big maple leaf being asymmetrical that I like.

I watched the Canads vs Soviet Union game with my grandpa, remember it like yesterday. Lemieux was a force to be reckoned! IMO the most impressive player to ever play in the NHL ever.

I think we’re all missing the real MVP on that team... Doug Crossman

The first comment was “E” by ecks dee,

gretzky's got a sick ringette world championship style celly

The thing I don’t get when people knock Gretzky is that all these players were in their prime when Gretzky was towards the end of and eventually out of his prime: Jagr Lindros Forsberg Bure Sakic Fedorov Sundin Selanne Kariya There are many more but I think I’ve made my point. Gretzky outscored all of these guys somehow but apparently today wouldn’t be so great? Markus Naslund averaged 16 goals and 21 assists per 82 games from age 20 to 25 when Gretzky was in the league (in 315 games). When Crosby and Ovechkin were in the league Naslund played roughly the same amount of games as he did when Gretzky was in the league (327). During this “era” Naslund averaged 26 goals and 34 assists per 82. Now I’m no math wiz but I dunno maybe players didn’t suck that much during Gretzky’s era. Nick Lidstom played 7 full seasons while Gretzky was in the league. He won a grand total of 0 Norris trophies during that time. After Crosby and Ovechkin entered the league, Lidstrom won 4 Norris trophies in 7 FULL SEASONS. Again, I’m not a math wiz, but I dunno. Peter Forsberg averaged 106 points per 82 when Gretzky was in the league and this is when Peter was a monster. Well past his prime and injury riddled “Foppa” averaged 92 points per 82 after Crosby and Ovechkin entered the league. Joe Sakic - 101 points per 82 games IN HIS PRIME on stacked teams for a lot of the years. After Crosby and Ovechkin - 88 points per 82 in 4 seasons, two of which the team missed the playoffs and the other two finishing 6th and 7th. Not much of a drop off considering he was between the ages of 36 and 40. I mean I could go on really but there’s no point. There was a ton of overlap between the time that Gretzky retired and Crosby/Ovechkin (today’s widely considered GOATS) entered the league. The human race didn’t drastically evolve all of a sudden and start producing vastly superior, super human athletes compared to those of a decade earlier. Guys who came up in the 80s and 90s weren’t scrubs completed to today. A lot changed, mostly equipment. It started with the goalie equipment and evolved outwardly from there. Goalies started wearing considerably larger, and more importantly vastly superior equipment in terms of shape and especially weight in the late 90s. You can see that almost all the same goalies started putting up better numbers during this time. “Pundits” today make it sound like a 33 year old Patrick Roy suddenly discovered “ohh so that’s how you play the angles” and his save percentage shot up after that. Really? So it had little to do with the fact that his equipment was now 1/5th of the weight it had previously been and didn’t retain water while folding outwardly (the pads) to face the puck while in the butterfly. Use your heads just a little it’s allowed. It’s getting old now. No, your generation isn’t physically super human compared to all prior gens, give it a rest. You don’t have to believe everything your television says to you.

Corwins face after Gretzkys saucer pass😂😂

The second best 99 to the best 66 almost every goal 🙌 👏 👌 🎉

NHL players in the Olympics would be insane. Canada Having McDavid and Crosby, US having Kane and Matthew's, Russia having Ovi and Tarasenko. It would be incredible

I hope you do more highlight watches

They played together in the 97 All Star Game.

Even back then everyone knew that what set Gretzky apart was his vision. In today's game he would be scoring less (like everyone else) but he would still be the best or one of the best. If you don't think so ask Mario Lemieux what he thinks.

Talk about a dream team. #99 and #66.

Let’s go canada

The one and only time they played on the same team... Not including the all star games when they also played on the same team ... 😅 The games definitely evolved since the 80s.

1972 is best ever. Yzerman should have been on the 87 Canada team.

this video pissed me off

I love Corwin wearing a $150 crewneck like it’s nothing

Yooo this is good

Just wonder who is playing centre and who is playing the wing or they just play together on PP

The one goal that didn't make the vid was Mario's double OT winner in game 2, that sent us to game 3 (from Gretzky)

99's dominance in goal scoring was 40 years wayne scored 200 more goals in his first 10 seasons then both mario and ovi for an avg of 20 goals more per season. let alone the suter hit in the canada cup where he avg 180 plus per season to less than 100 after 91 which brought his ppg and gpg crashing down

Love the blue hockey pants.

Tech changed a lot of the game. Stiffer boots meant faster acceleration. Better steal means better glide and cornering. Lighter more responsive sticks meant faster shots, more control. Padding in equipment got way lighter and more breathable. Sports drinks with electrolytes came around. Goalie's pads are now made out of lighter material that doesn't get bogged down by water. Goalie's padding that was way more light. Remember Arthus Irbe? He was amazing and he had the same pads re stuffed almost every year. That's just not a thing now. Response time exercises for goalies became a thing. Summer training was not a thing back then. Look at Danny Briere. He said at the beginning of the season he'd be rocking a 95 flex stick and by the end of the playoffs he'd be down to an 80. Also goalies now do stretches that literally make their knees bend in abnormal ways just to do the butterfly. Butterfly is not "do-able" with a normal body. There's no comparing now to then because if we didn't have then we wouldn't have now. I bet the first hockey player who said he wasn't a smoker got laughed at by everyone.

#1 all the pucks were along the ice lmao, #2 weiner looked PISSSSSSSST when mario lifted him rofl.

In my opinion players raised alot less often back then because goalies wouldn't do proper butterflies (or any at all) so shooting low pucks has a higher chance to go in then raised ones.

this is why lemeiux had back problems...😂

You kiddies won't see a better series than the 87 final three games.Maybe Motreal-Red Army dec/31/75 or Flyers-Red Army Jan/12.76

Imagine if Lemieux missed the final shot and Larry Murphy got the rebound. History changes.