World Cup

The World Cup was an international tournament staged annually from 1972 to 1974. The 1972 edition was co-hosted by Bloomington and Colorado Springs, while the latter two tournaments were held exclusively in Colorado Springs.

The initial concept of the tournament was to bring together both the finalists from the IIHF European Cup and the amateur champions of Canada (Allan Cup winners) and the United States. The two European Cup finalists from 1971 participated in the first tournament, although this idea was abandoned for the subsequent editions.

The Buick Stephen Minneapolis squad that participated in the 1972 tournament was assembled using American university players. For 1973, the Soviet team was composed mostly of CSKA Moscow players, but also utilized some reinforcements. The Alberta Tigers were a team made up of junior players from the province. In 1974 the Soviet national team played as "Moscow".