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The ice chips were still falling from the 1987 Canada Cup when I flew to Pittsburgh to sit down with the young forward from Montreal who had helped make it the most exciting international hockey series ever played.

It seems incredible now, but Mario Lemieux was happy to sit for an hour and talk about the partnership with Wayne Gretzky that made it possible for Canada to stave off the Soviet Union during the final three-game series played in Montreal and Hamilton.

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There was plenty to talk about. Gretzky and Lemieux, playing together, combined for 29 per cent of Canada’s goals in that tournament. The final three games all finished 6-5, with the Soviets winning the first game in Montreal, Canada taking the second in two overtimes and winning the rubber match, again by 6-5.

Lemieux’s overtime goal in the second game (on an assist from Gretzky, of course) ended a game that is one of the candidates for the greatest ever. He finished the series with 11 goals, four ahead of Soviet legends Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.