WC.007
August 30, 2004

CANADA OPENS UP TOURNAMENT AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMPS

MONTREAL, QC – Team Canada will face off on Tuesday night (7pm ET / 4pm PT – CBC/SRC) against Team USA, the defending World Cup champions, in Montreal at the Bell Centre to open up the tournament for the two teams. USA won the World Cup in 1996; however, it is the Canadians that last won a best-on-best tournament with their gold medal win at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Both Canada and the US faced each other in the finals of the ’96 World Cup and 2002 Winter Olympics, with each team winning on the other countries home ice. The US defeated Canada in a best of three game series with the final game played in Montreal, while Canada defeated the US in Salt Lake City to capture the gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

These two teams faced each other twice in exhibition play last week in Ottawa and Columbus, OH, and each team won once, both by scores of 3-1. The game Tuesday will be played in front of a very enthusiastic sold crowd in Montreal, and with the history of these two teams, it should be hockey at its finest.