The Four Nations Has That 1996 Feeling

The 1996 World Cup is something that all Americans remember. From the time the puck dropped in Philly and how the rink just had the seats put in time to get the game off, to the eventual win. Last night’s Canada-USA game had that feeling but we are in the infancy stage of this tournament re-boot.

Former Flyers GM Paul Holmgren remembered it well.

“I know there were still guys in the locker room area. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the big hot tub in there. Billy Guerin and Keith Tkachuk were in there and they were synchronized swimming. They were still doing the finishing touches. The first game was great. We had a good crowd of close to 20,000 people. From my standpoint, I was working for the Flyers back then. We had guys from Canada. Guys from the U.S. It was a great game.”

This tournament has been a success. No matter how it turns out, none of the big powerhouses are eliminated, so anything can happen. That’s important to remember. 

Having the game in Montreal was a no-brainer. The atmosphere was supercharged and electric for a lot of different reasons that would take a book to explain.

Sending a message on the first shift is something that happened back in 1996 too. 

“What I remembered most is how loud they booed Eric Lindros when he was introduced in the first game and even louder in the first Final. It was unbelievable. I remember in the first game of the Final I had Joel Otto pitted against him for the first face-off. I kind of asked Otto on the first face-off, don’t worry about it just give him a cross-check and we’ll see what happens," said Ron Wilson the coach at the time. "Literally, all hell broke loose at that point. Lindros took a step back like ‘What are you doing?’. We kind of sent a message that first shift that we were here. It really meant a lot to us to beat Canada and to win the World Cup.”

It worked once, it could work again for Team USA.