Canadians usually blame Mike Liut for the 1-8 loss in the Canada Cup final of 1981. But was he really that bad in that game?
The way I see it the last two Soviet goals (scored by Golikov and Skvortsov) were soft goals. The rest of the goals were scored either from breakaways or from prime scoring areas.
1-0: Larionov scores from a great pass from Krutov in front of Liut's goal. Nothing Liut can do.
2-1: Fetisov passes the puck to the slot. Bourque tries to clear but is checked by Shepelev who scores with a backhand shot. Liut is completely screened. Liut had no time to react.
3-1: Kapustin feeds Shepelev on the slot and Shepelev has lots of time to shoot a perfect hard shot to the upper right corner. Only someone like Dominik Hasek in his prime would have been able to make a save on that shot.
4-1: Shepelev steals the puck from Bourque, passes it to Makarov who passes it back to Shepelev. Shepelev is allowed to walk all alone to the prime scoring area. Shepelev blasts a hard wrister to the right bottom corner of the goal. Only a fantastic save would have saved that goal.
5-1: Canada is on the PP and Gretzky makes a horrible rink wide pass that is intercepted by Krutov. Krutov faces Lafleur one on one and fakes a shot. Lafleur ducks and allows Krutov to skate past him to face Liut alone. Krutov wrists a hard shot past Liut.
6-1: Soviet Union is on PP. Kasatonov sends Larionov to a breakaway with a great, hard, long and accurate pass. Larionov beats Liut one on one with a hard wrister.
7-1: Golikov beats Robinson one on one and beats Liut with a backhand shot. Liut should have made a save since Golikov's shot was from a small angle and Liut was not screened.
8-1: Vasilyev sends Skvortsov and Khomutov to a two on one situation against Potvin. Skvortsov doesn't pass to Khomutov but instead shoots a wrister to beat Liut. Liut was not screened and probably should have had this one.
Liut was not the reason Canada lost this game. Even if Liut had stood on his head he would not have been able to win this game for Canada. Canada made too many individual errors and allowed Soviets to prime scoring areas too often.
Quite surprisingly the worst Canadian defensemen in this game were Denis Potvin and Ray Bourque, while lesser known defensemen like Barry Beck and Craig Hartsburg fared a lot better. Especially Bourque made a lot of individual errors and was solely responsible for the 2-1 goal scored by Shepelev.
For the Soviets Tretyak was great in the first period, but in reality he did not have to make too many game savers. Tretyak had to make a few game savers against Dionne and Bossy in the first period, but after that Canada did not generate many dangerous situation in the Soviet end.
An unknown centerman Sergei Shepelev was the hero for the Soviets in this game. The line from Spartak Moscow - Sergei Kapustin, Shepelev and Viktor Shalimov - could have been the best line in the world for those few years it played together (1980-1983). Shepelev scored natural hat trick, three straight goals (2-1, 3-1 and 4-1).
The way I see it the last two Soviet goals (scored by Golikov and Skvortsov) were soft goals. The rest of the goals were scored either from breakaways or from prime scoring areas.
1-0: Larionov scores from a great pass from Krutov in front of Liut's goal. Nothing Liut can do.
2-1: Fetisov passes the puck to the slot. Bourque tries to clear but is checked by Shepelev who scores with a backhand shot. Liut is completely screened. Liut had no time to react.
3-1: Kapustin feeds Shepelev on the slot and Shepelev has lots of time to shoot a perfect hard shot to the upper right corner. Only someone like Dominik Hasek in his prime would have been able to make a save on that shot.
4-1: Shepelev steals the puck from Bourque, passes it to Makarov who passes it back to Shepelev. Shepelev is allowed to walk all alone to the prime scoring area. Shepelev blasts a hard wrister to the right bottom corner of the goal. Only a fantastic save would have saved that goal.
5-1: Canada is on the PP and Gretzky makes a horrible rink wide pass that is intercepted by Krutov. Krutov faces Lafleur one on one and fakes a shot. Lafleur ducks and allows Krutov to skate past him to face Liut alone. Krutov wrists a hard shot past Liut.
6-1: Soviet Union is on PP. Kasatonov sends Larionov to a breakaway with a great, hard, long and accurate pass. Larionov beats Liut one on one with a hard wrister.
7-1: Golikov beats Robinson one on one and beats Liut with a backhand shot. Liut should have made a save since Golikov's shot was from a small angle and Liut was not screened.
8-1: Vasilyev sends Skvortsov and Khomutov to a two on one situation against Potvin. Skvortsov doesn't pass to Khomutov but instead shoots a wrister to beat Liut. Liut was not screened and probably should have had this one.
Liut was not the reason Canada lost this game. Even if Liut had stood on his head he would not have been able to win this game for Canada. Canada made too many individual errors and allowed Soviets to prime scoring areas too often.
Quite surprisingly the worst Canadian defensemen in this game were Denis Potvin and Ray Bourque, while lesser known defensemen like Barry Beck and Craig Hartsburg fared a lot better. Especially Bourque made a lot of individual errors and was solely responsible for the 2-1 goal scored by Shepelev.
For the Soviets Tretyak was great in the first period, but in reality he did not have to make too many game savers. Tretyak had to make a few game savers against Dionne and Bossy in the first period, but after that Canada did not generate many dangerous situation in the Soviet end.
An unknown centerman Sergei Shepelev was the hero for the Soviets in this game. The line from Spartak Moscow - Sergei Kapustin, Shepelev and Viktor Shalimov - could have been the best line in the world for those few years it played together (1980-1983). Shepelev scored natural hat trick, three straight goals (2-1, 3-1 and 4-1).
