On Saturday night, a new chapter in Vancouver’s sports legacy was written as the city welcomed the FIFA Men’s World Cup for the first time, with BC Place hosting Australia vs. Türkiye in the first of seven matches over the next month and a half. In one of the first upsets of the tournament, the Socceroos stunned heavily favoured Türkiye 2-0 in front of over 52,000 fans.

Vancouver’s history on the world stage of sports is nothing new, especially when it comes to hockey. Since the beginning of the modern NHL era and the arrival of the Canucks, the city has hosted some of the greatest international hockey teams to play the game. From the Summit Series to the Olympics, now is a time to explore Vancouver’s legacy as one of hockey’s most storied hosts.

In the 1950’s and 1960s, the Soviet Union became the international powerhouse of hockey. Canadians believed that was only the case because the IIHF and the Olympics forbid professional players from competing. So in 1972, Hockey Canada and the USSR agreed to an eight-game exhibition series between the NHL’s best Canadians and the Soviets, with the final game of the Canadian leg at the Pacific Coliseum on September 2, 1972. After the first three games in Canada left the teams tied at one win, one loss, and one tie, Game 4 in Vancouver had a lot on the line before the teams headed to Russia.

Things started badly for Canada when Boris Mikhailov scored twice in the first period, both on the power play. The Canadians would cut the lead in half early in the second when Gilbert Perreault redirected a puck behind the goal line, off of Soviet defender Valery Vasiliev and behind goalie Vladislav Tretiak. But the Russians quickly put the game out of reach with goals from Yury Blinov and Sergei Vikulov before the middle frame ended. A pair of third period goals from Bill Goldsworthy and Dennis Hull proved too little too late, and the Soviets skated to a 5-3 win.

By the end of the game, Vancouver fans, expecting world-class Canadian hockey and receiving anything but, booed Team Canada off the ice. That led to Phil Esposito’s famous postgame speech criticizing fans’ negative reactions. His teammates didn’t see what he said, but somewhere between Esposito’s rant and the wake-up call from Vancouverites, the message rang through. Canada would go on to win three of the next four in Moscow, taking the series and punctuating one of the country’s most storied sports moments.

You probably already knew the story of the ’72 Summit Series. Did you know there was a second one two years later?

In 1974, they did it all over again, only this time featuring Canadian players from the upstart World Hockey Association instead of the NHL. And once again, both teams sported a 1-1-1 record heading to the Pacific Coliseum.

This time, Vancouverites were treated to a much closer contest. Valeri Vasiliev and Gordie Howe traded goals in the opening five minutes, Bobby Hull scored a hat trick, and Frank Mahovlich scored just like he had in 1972. But the Russians matched them every step of the way, with goals from Boris Mikhailov and three different Alexanders: Yakushev, Maltsev and Gusev. The two sides battled to a 5-5 draw, the second of three games that would end in a tie. This Canadian WHA outfit would fare much worse across the pond than their NHL counterparts, going winless in Moscow and losing the series 4-1-3.

After the success of the Summit Series, Soviet club teams would spend the next decade-plus travelling across the pond to play a series of exhibition games against NHL squads called the Super Series. The Canucks hosted five such games, posting a 3-2 record and the fourth-best winning percentage among NHL teams against Soviet competition.

Among the highlights was Curt Ridley’s pair of wins against Spartak Moscow in 1977 and Dynamo Moscow in 1979, future Canucks goalie Arturs Irbe making two appearances for different teams, and the first time a young kid named Sergei Fedorov played on Vancouver ice. Little did he know his brother would get knocked out by Kevin Bieksa someday.

Another legacy of the Summit Series came to life in 1976, when the Canada Cup was born. A joint venture between the IIHF, Hockey Canada, and the NHL Players Association, this tournament would take place every 3-5 years, just before the NHL season in September, and feature true best-on-best international hockey.

Across all five tournaments, Vancouver hosted exactly two games: a September 6, 1984, contest between Canada and Sweden and a game between the Swedes and Czechoslovakia four days later. Perhaps attendance is why Vancouver never got another Canada Cup assignment; only 9,450 showed up to the Pacific Coliseum to watch Sweden beat Canada 4-2, and a dismal 2,438 were on hand for another 4-2 Swedish win over the Czechoslovakians.

Next time, Vancouverites would show up.

After the final Canada Cup in 1991, the NHL officially got involved in the organizing process, and the tournament was reborn as the World Cup of Hockey in 1996. Vancouver would get just one game, but this time General Motors Place – then a one-year-old arena – hosted the North American pool opener between Canada and Russia.

Attendance was no longer a problem, with a sellout crowd on hand to watch Team Canada handle business against the Russians in a 5-3 victory. However, the game was not without controversy; Russian head coach Boris Mikhailov (remember him?) and third-party Swedish coach Kent Forsberg accused the referees – all Canadian – of bias for the home team, citing disallowed Russian goals and questionable penalty calls as evidence.

Both complaining teams would get their revenge in a roundabout way; in the best-of-three final, the US upset the Canadians two games to one to take the inaugural World Cup.

Normally, an NHL All-Star Game wouldn’t end up on a list like this. But with the NHL sending its players to the Olympics for the first time in Nagano the next month, they decided to reformat the all-star festivities into something with more international flair. Rather than the usual conference vs. conference game, Vancouver was the site of the first North America vs. World all-star matchup.

Back then, an NHL All-Star weekend was about as close as the city could get to a big sports festival without hosting a World Cup or an Olympics (wink, wink). The Canucks were represented by players on both sides, with Pavel Bure playing for the Worlds and Mark Messier (sorry for the mention) suiting up for the North Americans. In an unusually close and, dare I say, competitive All-Star Game, Team North America pulled off an 8-7 win in front of 18,422 at GM Place. Despite the loss, Finland’s Teemu Selanne took home the MVP honours after scoring a hat trick.

It’s also worth mentioning, as an omen of things to come, that the weekend featured an exhibition game between the Canadian women’s team and their American counterparts. Over 14,000 turned out for that game, a then record for the sport.

It wasn’t until 2006 that British Columbia would get a best-on-best competition all to itself, when the city hosted the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships for the first time. Vancouver hosted the majority of the tournament at GM Place and the Pacific Coliseum, with Kamloops and Kelowna filling out the rest of the schedule.

The tournament was highlighted by future NHL mainstays like Kris Letang and Jonathan Toews, as well as future Canucks Alex Edler, Cory Schneider and the late Luc Bourdon. The Canadians would end up dominating the tournament, going undefeated before capping it off with a 5-0 win over Russia in the final for their second of five straight gold medals.

But that was just a dress rehearsal for an even bigger tournament ahead.

THIS was the tournament every other one had been building up to. There’s no shortage of memories Vancouverites have from the 2010 Winter Olympics, but both the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments were the crown jewels of an amazing two and a half weeks.

Both Canadian teams were roaring to wins in their opening matches. Slovakia was stunning the Swedes in the quarterfinals. Shea Weber was taking a slap shot so hard that it ripped through the net behind Germany’s Thomas Greiss, and then demolished the Russians in the quarters.

Aside from one hiccup for the men in the round-robin against the Americans, both Canadian teams put on a show en route to double gold. The women’s gold-medal game made heroes of Shannon Szabados and a young Marie-Philip Poulin, while the men’s game ended the Olympics with Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal.

This game, this tournament, and these Olympics put Vancouver on the map as a legendary sports city forever.

The 2019 World Juniors represent the last time Vancouver hosted an international tournament before the FIFA World Cup. This time, Vancouver shared hosting duties with Victoria and featured current NHL stars like Nick Suzuki, Quinn Hughes and Lukáš Dostál.

But unlike the last time Vancouver hosted, the Canadians struggled and couldn’t win their group after losing to Russia in their final round-robin game. But the gut punch came in the quarterfinals against Finland, when Maxime Comtois couldn’t convert on a penalty shot in overtime, and Canucks prospect Toni Utunen put the puck past another future Canuck, Michael DiPietro, stunning the Rogers Arena crowd.

The Finns would go on to win the gold over the United States, marking their fifth World Junior title. And the next time Vancouver hosts hockey’s best, it’ll be adding to a long and rich legacy of international sports moments in the city.

What are your personal favourite stories from these events? Let us know in the comment section below!