Rendez-vous '87 was an ice hockey exhibition series between the Soviet national ice hockey team and a team of all-stars from the National Hockey League, held in Quebec City. It replaced the NHL's all-star festivities for the 1986-87 NHL season. The Soviet team was paid $80,000 for their appearance in Rendez-vous '87, while the NHLers raised $350,000 for the players' pension fund.
Rendez-vous '87 was designed as a follow-up to the Challenge Cup series in 1979, hoping that the team of NHL all-stars could beat the Soviet team, unlike before. To this end, the series was a two-game affair instead of a three-game affair in 1979. The two-game series took place during five days of festivities starting on February 9, 1987 and finishing on February 13. The series was very successful, with some, including Wayne Gretzky, calling for more international hockey, especially between Canada and Russia, the two top powers of hockey at the time.
Game 1
Among one of the few things that did not change over the years was the biased officiating that showed its ugly head in the first game. The Soviet referee, Sergei Morozov, had called one penalty on the Soviet team the entire game, despite numerous violations on the Soviet part. Despite this, the NHL all-stars managed to squeak out a 4-3 victory, thanks to the line of Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Esa Tikkanen.
NHL All-Star Roster
- Head Coach : Jean Perron, Montreal Canadiens
- Assistant Coaches : Michel Bergeron, Quebec Nordiques and Bob Johnson, Boston Bruins
- #3 D Mike Ramsey, Buffalo Sabres
- #4 D Rod Langway, Washington Capitals
- #5 D Rick Green, Montreal Canadiens
- #6 D Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins
- #8 D Ulf Samuelsson, Hartford Whalers
- #9 LW Glenn Anderson, Edmonton Oilers
- #10 C Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg Jets
- #11 C Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers
- #14 RW Kevin Dineen, Hartford Whalers
- #15 RW Esa Tikkanen, Edmonton Oilers
- #16 RW Michel Goulet, Quebec Nordiques
- #17 RW Jari Kurri, Edmonton Oilers
- #19 LW Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils
- #20 C Dave Poulin, Philadelphia Flyers
- #24 D Doug Wilson, Chicago Blackhawks
- #25 D Chris Chelios, Montreal Canadiens
- #28 RW Tomas Sandstrom, New York Rangers
- #31 G Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
- #32 RW Claude Lemieux, Montreal Canadiens
- #66 C Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
- #99 C Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers (Captain)
USSR Roster
- Head Coach : Victor Tikhonov
- #2 D Viacheslav Fetisov, Red Army (Captain)
- #4 D Igor Stelnov, Red Army
- #5 D Vasily Pervukhin, Moscow Dynamo
- #6 D Mikhail Tatarinov, Moscow Dynamo
- #7 D Alexei Kasatonov, Red Army
- #8 D Alexei Gusarov, Red Army
- #9 RW Vladimir Krutov, Red Army
- #11 C Igor Larionov, Red Army
- #12 D Sergei Starikov, Red Army
- #13 F Valery Kamensky, Red Army
- #14 D Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, Moscow Dynamo
- #15 LW Andrei Khomutov, Red Army
- #16 RW Sergei Svetlov, Moscow Dynamo
- #18 C Alexander Semak, Moscow Dynamo
- #19 RW Mikhail Varnakov, Gorky Torpedo
- #20 G Evgeny Beloshikin, Red Army
- #22 LW Sergei Priakhin, Soviet Wings
- #24 LW Sergei Makarov, Red Army
- #27 C Viacheslav Bykov, Red Army
- #29 LW Yuri Khmylev, Soviet Wings
- #30 C Anatoli Semenov, Moscow Dynamo
Scoring Summary
- Final Score: NHL All-Stars 4, USSR 3
- NHL All-Stars Goal: Kurri (Gretzky, Tikkanen) 5:23 1st
- NHL All-Stars Penalty: C. Lemieux 10:30 1st
- NHL All-Stars Penalty: Bourque 15:34 1st
- NHL All-Stars Penalty: Hawerchuk 12:28 2nd
- USSR Penalty: bench (served by Kamensky) 14:37 2nd
- NHL All-Stars Penalty: Anderson (M. Lemieux) 17:00 2nd
- USSR Goal: Kasatonov (Makarov) 18:42 2nd
- USSR Goal: Bykov (Khomutov, Starikov) 2:03 3rd
- NHL All-Stars Goal: Dineen (Hawerchuk, Poulin) 7:03 3rd
- USSR Goal: Semenov (Tatarinov, Varnakov) 8:04 3rd
- NHL All-Stars Penalty: Tikkanen 8:18 3rd
- NHL All-Stars Goal: Poulin (M. Lemieux, Wilson) 18:45 3rd
- Shots On Goal : NHL All-Stars 11-9-7-27, USSR 5-9-10-24
- Referee : Sergei Morozov
- Linesmen : Ray Scapinello,
Game 2
Perhaps complacent about the Game 1 victory, the Soviet team managed to match the NHL shot for shot and hit for hit, and, like the NHLers did in Game 1, won the contest 5-3 despite the referee being from "the other team". After the game, tournament MVP [[Wayne-Gretzky.html" title="Ron Finn]
Perhaps complacent about the Game 1 victory, the Soviet team managed to match the NHL shot for shot and hit for hit, and, like the NHLers did in Game 1, won the contest 5-3 despite the referee being from "the other team". After the game, tournament MVP [[Wayne Gretzky">Ron Finn]
Perhaps complacent about the Game 1 victory, the Soviet team managed to match the NHL shot for shot and hit for hit, and, like the NHLers did in Game 1, won the contest 5-3 despite the referee being from "the other team". After the game, tournament MVP [[Wayne Gretzky and Viacheslav Fetisov exchanged hockey sweaters as part of the hockey tradition.
