Team NHL '87 Personal Impressions

 

I had the opportunity to watch these games on VHS in September 2003. It was a great chance to relive some hockey and hockey players of the past. Posted below are some brief comments I noted while watching the series 16 years later.

The most obvious thing I notice when watching Team NHL is Wayne Gretzky. The ESPN commentators actually say Gretzky wasn't overly effective, particularly in game one, but he was by far the best player on the NHL side in my opinion. Almost every shift featured Gretzky setting up a potentially dangerous scoring play, or so it seemed. That being said, I noticed Gretzky was on the ice for more than a couple of the Soviet goals.

One thing I found odd was the defensive pairings with the Gretzky-Kurri-Tikkanen line in game one. Coach Jean Perron wanted the steady veterans Rod Langway and Rick Green out with Gretzky in game one, presumably to make up for any defensive shortcomings created by the offensive risk-taking Oilers. Though Langway and Green were great, their lack of offensive game might have hurt Gretzky's line, who of course were used to someone like Paul Coffey acting as a 4th forward.

I found that pairing odd, and noticed in game two Ray Bourque and Doug Wilson were paired with the Gretzky line. Gretzky played better in game two, according to ESPN, though I thought he was impressively fine in game one.

Kudos to the Team NHL coaching staff. They put together a great game plan and had the team performing surprisingly well under the circumstances. Jet-lagged players who battled each other all season flew in, practiced just a couple of times, and took on the cohesive, well trained Soviet National team. Realistically, Team NHL was at a huge disadvantage. The coaches deserve much of the credit.

Here's some commentary on each of the players:

Comment
Wayne Gretzky Always seemed to create a scoring chance on every shift. It was
a true treat to watch him and Jari Kurri in their prime again.
Mario Lemieux Mario just came back from a knee injury prior to the series, and 
it obviously was bothering him. Mario was not super.
Doug Wilson Bare-headed defenseman teamed well with Ray Bourque.
Jari Kurri Like I said earlier, a true treat to watch him and Gretzky again. I
rediscovered just how great a player Kurri is
Dave Poulin One of my all time favorites, his hustle was a joy to watch
Raymond Bourque Why was he wearing number 6 I kept wondering
Glenn Anderson Good but not exceptional performance. Great skating ability 
showed even against the Soviets
Dale Hawerchuk As in all international events Hawerchuk downgraded his play to
that of a selfless grinder. Great respect for him for doing so.
Mark Messier He crushed Bykov with one hit, but other than his hulking size, he
wasn't overly noticeable.
Kevin Dineen Really gritty performance. Typical Kevin Dineen. Lucky he didn't
get a couple of penalties, especially with Russian ref in game one.
Esa Tikkanen A real surprise for me. I remember Tik as a premier shadow, but
I forgot what a complete player he was. Very underrated player.
Michel Goulet Fan favorite in Quebec. Never had any chemistry with linemates
Mario and Claude Lemieux.
Mike Ramsey Typical steady performance from Ramsey. I barely noticed him out
there, which is a compliment.
Rod Langway There seemed to be some controversy that he and fellow-oldie
Green were on the team. But they were perhaps the best defensive
unit for the NHL.
Rick Green See above. Of all the players on the team, Green was probably the
one guy I didn't realize was on the team. Its obvious why he was.
Ulf Samuelsson  A young Samuelsson didn't get a lot of ice time, but didn't look
out of place.
Chris Chelios Chelios was on the third defense pairing, and didn't get as much ice time
as we've come to expect from him. He didn't particularly stand out.
Kirk Muller Young, gritty forward compliment Messier and Anderson well, though
I still think Goulet should have been on that line.
Claude Lemieux Claude was up to his usual tricks!
Tomas Sandstrom  Honestly, I don't think I noticed him. He must have had very little ice time.
Normand Rochefort Local hero almost scored on an incredible set up from Gretzky. He
still doesn't know how he missed it. It could have been a turning point
in game 2.
Grant Fuhr (G) Fuhr played well for the most part. But the most obvious thing was how
much goaltending has changed in the following few years. A goalie using
80's mechanics couldn't play in the minor leagues nowadays.

Did Not Play: Clint Malarchuk (G), Ron Hextall (G), Tim Kerr (RW)