International competition is supposed to all be about sportsmanship and good competition, but there was clearly no love lost between these two hockey rivals during the 1996 World Cup!
During the opening game on August 31 at Philadelphia’s CoreStates Center, things got going early right after the opening face-off. U.S.A. forward Bill Guerin shoved Canada’s Eric Lindros, leading Canadian forward Keith Primeau (still a member of the Detroit Red Wings) to take on Guerin. Meanwhile, U.S.A.’s Keith Tkachuk took on Canada’s Claude Lemieux.
U.S.A. would win the contest by a 5-3 score, and would eventually go on to capture the World Cup title over Canada.
