Each of these countries brought with them different and unique styles of play, with the Cup serving as a venue for these different systems to be pitted against each other to their mutual benefit.
Each tournament served as an opportunity for scouts from the professional ranks, including the NHL, to lay eyes on some of the top young hockey talent from around the world.
Eventual NHL stars Dominik Hašek, Joe Pavelski, Paul Stastny, Olli Jokinen, Andrei Markov, Sergei Zubov, Miikka Kiprusoff, Tomáš Vokoun, James Patrick, Žigmund Pálffy, Patrik Eliáš, Mikko Koivu, Sergei Gonchar, Henrik Lundqvist, Henrik Zetterberg, and Tuuka Rask rank among the Cup's most decorated alumni.
The Viking Cup built upon Camrose’s existing decorated history of hosting hockey trailblazers.
TOURNAMENT MVPs: 1981 - Hannu Virta (TPS) 1982 - Petr Klíma (CSSR) 1983-(Brian Hermanutz) (NAIT) 1984 - Cleo Rowein (NAIT) 1986 - Mark Schultz (NAIT) 1988 - Brent Severyn (U of A) 1990 - Jamie Reeve (McGill) 1992 - Sergei Brylin (CIS) 1994 - Sergei Luchinkin (Russia) 1996 - Olli Jokinen (Finland) 1998 - Mark Hartigan (SJHL) 2000 - Rick Gorman (USA) 2002 - Jeff Tambellini (BCHL) 2004 - Tuukka Rask (Finland)* 2006 (University Pool) - Patrick Ouelette (AUC)