Rare footage: Olympic hockey heats up Saskatoon in 1988
Saskatchewan has played host to plenty of high-level hockey over the years, but few top the rivalry between Canada and the Soviet Union.
You wouldn’t have expected both nation's men's Olympic hockey teams to be facing off in Saskatchewan. However, Olympic hockey has been played in our province, sort of.
We found rare footage of Olympic hockey teams playing games in Saskatoon in 1988.
That year, the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team faced off against the Soviet Union and Sweden in a pre-tournament series just days before the Calgary Olympics.
The games were some of the first to be played at the new Saskatchewan Place arena in Saskatoon, known today as SaskTel Centre.
This was before NHL players paused their season to play in the Olympics, so fans saw a Canadian Olympic roster that included Trent Yawney, Marc Habsheid, and Goaltender Andy Moog.
The Soviet Union had a stacked roster that included the likes of Igor Larionov, Alexander Mogilny, and Valeri Kamenski.
Both teams lit the lamp early, each getting a goal within the first two minutes. But Canada would get two unanswered goals after that and hang onto a 3-2 victory.
One day later, Canada’s Olympic team faced off against team Sweden.
This match was also a back-and-forth battle, where the teams exchanged two goals throughout the game, with the final score being a 2-2 tie.
Canada went into the Calgary Olympics but finished off the podium in fourth place behind Sweden, Finland, and the Soviet Union.
But those rare opportunities to see Olympic hockey in Saskatchewan, gave fans plenty to cheer about, with many showing their Canadian hockey pride.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
'What have we done?' Lawyer describes shock at possible role in Trump's 2016 victory
A lawyer who negotiated a pair of hush money deals at the centre of Donald Trump's criminal trial recalled Thursday his "gallows humor" reaction to Trump's 2016 election victory and the realization that his hidden-hand efforts might have contributed to the win.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.
Police order B.C. woman who praised Hamas not to protest for 5 months, says her group
A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international co-ordinator, who was arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation, was released with an order not to attend any protests for the next five months.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.