The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional or amateur.

[1] In a combined effort from Doug Fisher of Hockey Canada and Alan Eagleson of the NHL Players' Association,[1] plans for such a tournament soon began.

After successful negotiations with hockey officials from the Soviet Union in September 1974, Eagleson began arranging the Canada Cup tournament, which debuted in 1976.

Lemieux dramatically scored the championship-winning goal on a 2-on-1 pass from Gretzky in the final minutes of the deciding game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Canada Cup trophy is shaped like half of a maple leaf and is made of solid nickel (120 pounds (54 kg) worth).

Donna Scott (Queen's University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1985) designed the cup, citing as her inspiration Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon album cover.

Feeling this was unsportsmanlike, Canadian fans led by George Smith of Winnipeg, Manitoba raised money to produce a duplicate trophy to give to the Soviet team.