 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Canada |
| Venue(s) | 6 (in 6 host cities) |
| Dates | September 2–15, 1976 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  | Canada (1st title) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 125 (7.35 per game) |
| Attendance | 244,970 (14,410 per game) |
| Scoring leader(s) |  Viktor Zhluktov (9 pts) |
| MVP | Bobby Orr |
The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup tournaments held between 1976 and 1991, organized by Alan Eagleson, and sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League (NHL).
The six-team, round robin tournament ended with a best-of-three final between the top two teams. Canada finished atop the standings and defeated Czechoslovakia in the final in two consecutive games. Bobby Orr was named the most valuable player of the tournament, and Viktor Zhluktov was the leading scorer.
The Canada Cup was the first true best-on-best world championship in hockey history as it allowed any player to represent their team regardless of amateur or professional status. The hockey was both exciting and entertaining, with one of the games being declared "best game of all time" by fans. Bobby Orr and Lanny MacDonald both claimed that winning the Canada Cup was more important to them than their Stanley Cup wins. Consequently, it marked the end of Canada's six-year boycott of the IIHF. The success of the event paved the way for greater use of professional players in the World Championship and Winter Olympics.