Canada Cup 1987 Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Cache is not at coordinates above, but is within 3
kilometres.
Mario Lemieux knew
all about pressure. There was pressure to help resurrect the
Pittsburgh Penguins after they drafted him in 1984. There was
pressure to win scoring titles and Stanley Cups. And there was
pressure to to elevate his game and deliver a quality of
hockey worthy of comparing him to his on-ice counterpart,
Wayne Gretzky.
The first chance to relieve such pressure came at the 1987 Canada
Cup, a tournament that many believe delivered as much drama and
excitement as the historic 1972 Summit Series.
The first thing that made this event so special was the fact that
hockey fans could finally see Gretzky and Lemieux play together on
the same team (and later, the same line). The 1987 tournament not
only featured The Great One and The Magnificent One, but also stars
in their prime or at the edge of their prime. Fellow three-time
Stanley Cup champions Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr and
Paul Coffey joined Gretzky in the lineup, as well as Doug Gilmour,
Dale Hawerchuk, Larry Murphy and Ray Bourque.
By comparison, the Soviets iced the other big favourite in the
tournament. Larionov, Makarov and Krutov were all at the height of
their game, and were complimented with future NHLers that included
Valeri Kamensky, Anatoli Semonov, Andrei Lomakin, Igor Kravchuk,
Alexander Semak, Alexei Gusarov and Sergei Nemchinov.
That being said, the round robin was a two-horse race between
Canada and the Soviets. Canada finished atop the round robin
standings with a 3-0-2 record, edging the USSR by just one point.
The Soviets handed third-place Sweden a 4-2 loss in the semifinal,
while Canada downed Czechoslovakia 5-3.
The final showdown between the two teams was a classic
confrontation that kept the entire country on the edge of their
seats. For the first time in Canada Cup history, the best-of-three
series went the distance while providing high-scoring games that
are rarely seen today.
The first game in Montreal saw the Soviets edge Canada 6-5 in
overtime on a goal by Semak. The final two games were played in
Hamilton, providing fans with perhaps the greatest hockey ever
played. In Game 2, Canada jumped out early with a 3-1 lead, but
watched it vanish as the teams went into extra time with five goals
apiece. It was at that point that Lemieux stepped up, scoring at
10:01 of the second overtime period to force a third and deciding
game.
That momentum didn't catch on in the early going in Game 3, as
Canada fell behind 3-0 and 4-2. They mustered enough offence to
rally for a 5-4 lead in the second period, and the Soviets replied
with an equalizer in the third.
The stage was then set for one of the game's most memorable goals.
With just over a minute left in the game, Gretzky, Lemieux and
Murphy broke in with a three-on-one. Gretzky slipped a beautiful
pass to Lemieux, who fired the puck past Soviet goaltender Sergei
Mylnikov to give Canada its third Canada Cup
championship.
Decode the following to acquire the coordinates to the
cache:
HATCHER ANDERSON KUCERA GILMOUR
RUNDQVIST BARRASSO FETISOV SUMMANEN
HOUSLEY ROCHEFORT ALBELIN M.LEMIEUX
The cache is a 1 liter lock & lock and contains an assortment
of hockey-themed items, lots of good stuff for kids interested in
hockey. Initial cache items include two
mcfarlane.com player miniatures, hockey cards,
hockey tape, classic NHL jersey playing cards, a keychain, Team
Canada fridge magnet, and mini NHL team pucks. There are no FTF
prizes, but some of the items are better than others.
Trade fairly!
Do not overstuff the cache, it causes
leaking and will likely damage the items already in the cache
(especially the McFarlane miniatures).
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abegu fvqr bs genvy, oruvaq gur gerr gung vf tebjvat ng n fyvtug natyr. Gur pnpur vf pbirerq jvgu onex. Eruvqr nf lbh sbhaq vg.