"The plan was to watch all eight games – four played in Canada and the four played in Moscow – all the way to the Henderson goal, even if we all silently agreed that we’d probably not make it. After all, it would amount to about 16 hours of hockey – great hockey, yes, but still – and we didn’t get started until 6 p.m.
But at six, there we were, with a bowl of poutine in our hands, with the national anthems and the player introductions on the screen in front of us. These were the idols of my generation, and the (player) generation before me: Boris Mikhailov with his nose, Vladimir Petrov and his helmet without the strap, Valeri Kharlamov and his quick hands, Alexander Maltsev, the flashy number 10, and Vladislav Tretiak, the lanky goalie on the CCCP side.
For us, especially for me and the teammate-turned-chef, the Soviet players were the big stars, the idols, the ones that dominated our hockey world. Every spring in the World Championships, they would pound Finland through the cracks in the ice, and we’d be sitting at home, considering a 6-1 loss a great accomplishment. During the Summit Series, even the one replayed in that living room in Helsinki in 2008, my friend, the old teammate, now chef-and-ref, still cheered for the Soviets." Full story
Recently a number of NHL legends met in Kingston for the Syl Apps golf tournament. Wayne Cashman was there, and Patrick Kennedy of the Kingston Whig-Standard was there to record his memories of the 1972 Summit Series:
Cashman and Hull also played for Canada in the famous 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union.
Cashman played just two games, notching an assist in each. In civvies, he watched his team's embarrassing 5-3 loss in Vancouver that concluded the Canadian segment of the eight-game series. The fans booed the home team mercilessly, earning a stern reprimand from Phil Esposito in a memorable post-game, on-ice interview beamed across the land.
Afterwards Cashman remarked to a reporter: "I think the guys realize this is serious."
After a shocking loss in Montreal and a less than impressive effort in Winnipeg, it was becoming obvious that Canadian fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with the results. That would be hammered home by the end of the night. Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum played host to Game 4, but it would not be a friendly venue for Team Canada.
Canada, playing without defensive standouts Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard due to injury, got into penalty trouble early. Bill Goldsworthy, inserted into the lineup because of his energy and physical play, was too exuberant and was penalized twice in the opening six minutes. The Soviets made full advantage of their excellent special teams. Two power-play goals by Boris Mikhailov gave the powerful Soviets a commanding 2-0 lead early
From that point on it was the Vladislav Tretiak show. Tretiak, quickly becoming a hero in Canada even though he was the star of the enemy team, stopped 38 of 41 shots, including 21 in the final period.
Gilbert Perreault scored a beautiful goal to get Canada on the board. It was ironic that it was Perreault who scored such a wonderful goal in Vancouver, as Perreault almost became a Vancouver Canuck a couple years earlier.
But after Perreault's goal the Soviets answered with two second period goals of their own. Vladimir Petrov set up Yuri Blinov for a nice goal on a two-on-one break. Later in the period Vladimir Vikulov capitalized from the slot while Team Canada's defenders were hopelessly out of position.
Canada played pretty well in the third period, but most of their 21 third period shots were from far out. Two goals by Dennis Hull and the goat earlier in the game Bill Goldsworthy surrounded Vladimir Shadrin's mid-period tally.
The 5-3 score was actually flattering to Canada on this night. Alan Eagleson honestly admitted "We stunk the joint out."
A crowd of 15,570 Vancouver fans echoed the rest of Canada's sentiments as they routinely booed Team Canada. At the conclusion of the game, Team Canada was booed right off the ice, which led to Phil Esposito's famous emotional outburst on national television.
"To the people across Canada, we tried. We gave it our best. To the people who booed us, geez, all of us guys are really disheartened. We're disillusioned and disappointed. We cannot believe the bad press we've got, the booing we've got in our own building.
"I'm completely disappointed. I cannot believe it. Every one of us guys -- 35 guys -- we came out because we love our country. Not for any other reason. We came because we love Canada."
Espo was in disbelief that Canadians would boo their players and that he assured Canadians that the players were giving "150 percent" and acknowledge the Soviets as a great team with great players.
This speech seemed to light a fire under Team Canada and the whole country. It helped to jell a team of players who were together for only a few weeks, and who were enemies during the NHL season. Team Canada went to the Soviet Union as a team. And 3,000 boisterous and proud flag waving Canadian fans accompanied them.
Special thanks to regular reader Pierre for making me aware of this: From IIHF.com's website:
"ZURICH – The international ice hockey community was saddened by the death of Viktor Kuzkin, who died on Wednesday (June 24th, 2008) at the age of 67 near Sochi, Russia. The cause of death was heart failure in relation with a diving accident in the Black Sea."
Originally a forward, Viktor Kuzkin became the star defenseman of Soviet hockey in the 1960s, most often paired with Vitaly Davydov. Those Soviet teams ended up winning three Olympic gold medals (1964, 1968 and 1972) and eight world championship gold medals in 9 tournaments. In 169 international games Kuzkin contributed 18 goals.
In the Soviet top league he helped CSKA Moscow win 12 national titles, contributing 70 goals in 530 league games.
In 2005 Kuzkin was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame for his many contributions to hockey in his lifetime. After nearly 2 decades as a player he became a coach in Japan as well as an assistant coach with CSKA Moscow under legendary head coaches Konstantin Loktev and Viktor Tikhonov.
North Americans will best associate Kuzkin as the Soviet captain of the 1972 Summit Series team that shocked Canadian NHLers.
"As captain, my job was to inspire my teammates both on the ice and off. But in this series that wasn't necessary. Everyone understood we were playing the most important tournament of our lives."
The merited master of sport, Kuzkin, who was said to be an avid diver, died in Sochi, Russia, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
One of Canada's top players was deliberately left off the Team Canada roster for the 1972 Summit Series. Bobby Hull had jumped to the World Hockey Association, and the NHL decided there was no way he would be included on Team Canada.
Hull would be forced to watch in the stands in his new hometown of Winnipeg on September 6. He, like the rest of Canada, wondered which Team Canada would show up: The one that bombed in Montreal, or dominated in Toronto?
The answer was both. Canada probably should have won the game, but they blew two two-goal leads during this game. It became obvious that this team was not yet in good enough condition or playing as a cohesive unit.
Despite out-shooting the Russians 15-9 in the first period, Team Canada only led by a 2-1 margin. Canada played very well in the first period, led by Jean-Paul Parise's goal just 1:54 into the game. Vladimir Petrov answered back for the Soviets, but Jean Ratelle tapped in a wonderful pass from Yvan Cournoyer to give Canada the lead after one.
Canada was playing a very physical game, however Wayne Cashman was being watched closely. He made his presence felt in Game 2 so much that he was all the Russians would talk about after the game. They didn't appreciate the physical liberties he took on them, nor did they appreciate the referees failure to enforce the rules. In this game, he wasn't being allowed to use his usual tricks.
A wild second period saw the Soviet's secret weapon unveiled. In what amounted to the Russian version of the "Kid Line," the Russians dressed Yuri Lebedev, Alex Bodunov and Viacheslav Anisin for the first time. The trio represented the future of Soviet hockey, and they contributed hugely to the tie in Winnipeg.
Canada opened the second period scoring thanks to Phil Esposito. Valeri Kharlamov answered with a short handed goal only to have Paul Henderson restore the impressive 2 goal lead.
Cue the Kid Line.
At 14:59 of the second period, Yuri Lebedev deflected a Valeri Vasiliev point shot. Then at 18:28, the talented Alexander Bodunov took a nice centering pass from Viacheslav Anisin to tie the game at 4.
"They put out that young line we hadn't seen before and they dominated us," said coach Harry Sinden.
The third period featured no scoring and relatively few shots. But the period wasn't nearly as close in terms of territorial play. The Canadians tired noticeably in the third period and were lucky that the Soviets didn't display more of a killer instinct.
Canada redeemed themselves nicely in Game 2, thanks largely to a couple of brother acts, and a radically different game plan.
Canada's arrogant thoughts of easily crushing their communist counterparts had backfired, meaning they simply had to win this game to restore confidence in the Canadian people and themselves. In that sense, Game 2 was the most important game of the series for Canada.
And win they did. They held the upper hand on the Soviets most of the night, but had significant trouble beating the skinny 20-year-old goalie Vladislav Tretiak.
After a scoreless first period, Phil Esposito, who was quickly establishing himself as the undisputable leader of Team Canada, opened the scoring in the second period. Yvan Cournoyer used his blazing speed to make the Russian defense look slow on an early power-play marker in the third period, but the Big Yak, Alexander Yakushev, pulled the Soviets to within one just 4 minutes later on the feared Russian power-play unit.
Yakushev's goal was the only one that would get by Chicago Blackhawks goaltending great Tony Esposito. Phil's brother had replaced Ken Dryden in the Canadian nets for this game. It was a good move as Esposito played well and adapted better to the Soviet's criss-crossing offense.
On the same power play, Pete Mahovlich scored on what was perhaps the most remarkable individual effort of the series. With Canada killing a penalty, the lanky "Little M" picked up a Phil Esposito clearing attempt just inside the center line. Faking his patented slapshot, Mahovlich deked a Soviet defender and drove in alone on Tretiak. He faked a forehand shot, went to his backhand, and while falling on top of Tretiak managed to slip the puck into the net by using his impressive long reach. To this day Tretiak is puzzled as to how the puck made it past him, as he knows he played the shot perfectly.
Peter's amazing solo rush awed the Soviets. Big brother Frank Mahovlich teamed up with Czechoslovakian-born Stan Mikita a little more than two minutes later to cement the win. Mikita stole the puck behind the goal and centered to the unchecked Big M, who one-timed a shot off of the post and behind Tretiak.
Led by Phil Esposito's inspiration and Tony Esposito's stellar goaltending, and Pete and Frank Mahovlich's heroic goal scoring, all was well in Canada again.
The Canadians were successful because they played the simplest of game plans. They dressed a more physical lineup and focussed on a fierce forechecking game as well as a tight defensive game. The players were willing to listen to their coaching staffs after being stunned and humiliated in game one. The arrogant NHLers didn't believe that what happened could happen in Game 1, and after it did they were all very attentive to their coaches advice. By doing so, they restored their pride.
"They were more respectful of us in the second game," said Soviet captain Boris Mikhailov. "They understood we could play good hockey. They played very well, a very physical game. We had not seen such a style of game."
It was supposed to be a cake walk for Canada. The Soviet amateurs would be crushed by Canada's top professionals. Oh, we'll show them just how good Canadian hockey really is. Sure, they could beat our amateur teams that were made up of mill workers and car salesmen, but this was going to be different.
Everything was going according to the script when Canada scored on the first scoring chance of the game just 30 seconds into the action. Phil Esposito, who seconds earlier enthusiastically won the ceremonial faceoff, potted a Frank Mahovlich rebound past a flopping Russian goalie named Vladislav Tretiak.
By the 6:32 mark Canada upped the score to 2-0 when Paul Henderson wired a hard, but seemingly harmless shot to Tretiak's far side. Tretiak looked awkward as he feebly attempted to knock down the puck.
The predicted rout was on. The party was on.
"When I got on the ice," remembered Rod Gilbert in Scott Morrison's excellent book The Days Canada Stood Still, "it was already 2-0. Before I played my first shift it was 2-0, so I'm sitting on the bench saying, 'Let me on. Let me score my goals.' I figured it was going to be 15, 17-0, and I wanted to score a few goals."
Gilbert's thoughts at that point were the common thoughts of almost every Canadian watching the game, and certainly of all the players playing in it. It was a feeling that Canadians not only shared during those opening minutes, but during the entire training camp and since the day the tournament was announced. For that matter, Canadians felt that confident about their hockey dominance ever since the Soviets arrived on the international hockey scene in the 1950s.
Those thoughts were abolished forever before the night was over.
The Soviets settled their nerves after falling behind early. They began to play their game of wonderful passing and skating. The overconfident Canadians eased up, and, as the initial awestruck feeling eased away, the Soviet players took full advantage.
Evgeny Zimin, a miniature speed demon, took a pass from gigantic Alexander Yakushev and bulged the twine behind Ken Dryden at 11:40. Before the period was over the Soviets scored a back-breaking goal while killing a Canadian power play. The great Vladimir Petrov scored as he easily tapped a Boris Mikhailov rebound past a hapless Dryden.
The score was tied at 2. The Soviets went on to simply dominate the second half of the period. They mesmerized the unsuspecting Canucks with their precision playmaking, effortless skating, and intricate and inventive offense.
"I remember walking into the dressing room after the first period and talking to Yvon Cournoyer," Marcel Dionne said in The Days Canada Stood Still. "He just looked at me and said, 'You can't believe their strength and conditioning.'"
The Soviets continued to impress their opponents and the increasingly quiet Montreal Forum faithful in the second period. Specifically the electrifying Valeri Kharlamov impressed the most. Considered by many to be the greatest Soviet player of all time, Kharlamov scored twice in the middle frame. His explosive speed and scoring ability made him a household name in Canada after that fine period of play.
The rout was still on, but definitely not as predicted.
The Canadians had a brief moment of hope in the third period when Bobby Clarke, who was named Canada's best player in this historic game, scored to make it 4-3. The Canadians came out and played their best hockey in the opening 10 minutes of that third period, creating several scoring chances only to be foiled by the amazing Tretiak. The scouting reports were wrong about Tretiak -- not only could he stop the puck, but time would prove he was one of the all-time greats.
The Soviets were able to withstand the Canadian onslaught by playing a patient defensive game. They waited for good opportunities to counter attack against the tiring Canadians, and when they did arrive, they capitalized. Mikhailov and Zimin scored 57 seconds apart to put the game out of reach by the 14:29 mark. Yakushev added one final blow late in the period.
Everyone was surprised by how good the Soviets were -- including the Soviets themselves. They came to Canada largely believing all the hype about how Canada's professionals would easily defeat the "amateurs" from Russia
The Russians used their advantages to their fullest extent. They were a team in the truest sense of the word. They had been playing and practicing together for months, not weeks like the Canadian players, and it showed. They were also incredibly better conditioned -- they trained year round, while the Canadians enjoyed their summers of beer and golf and relied on training camp to get back into playing shape.
72 Complete: The Ultimate Collector's Edition of the 1972 Summit Series is an 8 disc box set, including all eight games and an original documentary feature film on the series. This box set includes a bonus game Canada vs. Sweden and bonus material such as video footage of Hall of Fame inductions, reunion dinners, and Where were you in '72?
Like an actor who can never escape being stereotyped by a famous role, Paul Henderson lives part of each day in September 1972.
It's been nearly two generations since the 64-year-old Henderson scored arguably the most famous goal in hockey to win the Canada-Soviet Summit Series, but it seems neither fans nor Henderson himself tires of the subject.
"It continues to amaze me, the mystique of 1972," said Henderson,
Henderson however struggled upon his return to the NHL. Prior to the tournament he was known simply as a good two-way hockey player - he patrolled his wing with diligence and little fanfare. Suddenly he was a hero of a superstar's stature. It wasn't easy for him to live up to the new expectations and the demands for his time and attention.
Despite Canada's domination of the junior hockey Super Series, the tournament was a success at the gate and on television.
The event worked so well that Hockey Canada wants to do it again, or at least is looking into reprising the tournament next summer, with Canada playing the United States.
A tournament next year could be shortened to six games, with perhaps the start pushed up to avoid a conflict with programming such as NFL telecasts and the U.S. Open.
But would USA Hockey be able to find three U.S. markets that would fill an arena for hockey during the summer? The answer seems to be yes. The strategy would be to use venues close enough to the border to attract Canadian fans.
Sam Gagner still shivers when he steps onto the ice in a Canadian city and hears the deafening roar of approval of nationalist fans.
“The coaches helped us so much to become better players,” he said. “Playing in front of the whole country [on television] has been incredible.”
Canadian coach Brent Sutter noted the series served its purpose in honouring players from both countries who participated in the storied Summit Series 35 years ago. The eight games took on additional significance with Paul Henderson's incredible winning goal in the eighth game in Moscow, capping a Canadian comeback.
“As a Canadian, I remember the Summit Series very well,” Sutter said. “It was a very unique occurrence, and for these kids, it also was special to wear the Canadian jersey.”
VANCOUVER (CP) - Going undefeated in the junior hockey Super Series with Russia was a matter of heart and honour.
''It was just our heart,'' Stefan Legein said Sunday after Canada watched the Russians lose their composure and surrender five power-play goals in a 6-1 victory.
The result left the Canadians with a 7-0-1 record in the series staged to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series with the then Soviet Union. Canada won the final three games in Moscow to capture that series 4-3 with one tie.
The tie against Canada may quiet the criticism Russia's junior hockey team is getting at home, but there are rumblings that changes in that country's hockey system are looming.
Russian sports minister Viacheslav Fetisov, a former NHL player and decorated Russian national team player, told the financial publication Kommersant prior to Friday's game that youth hockey needs a revamp and that a wider net has to be cast for talent.
Sound familiar? When Canada finished out of the medals at the 1998 Olympics, which was the first year NHL players were involved, the question was asked across the country: What's wrong with our hockey?
Joe's Note: In some ways this Super Series may be the best thing that has happened in Russian hockey since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Russian hockey, for many reasons, has been in disarray for quite some time.
The goal of winning every game of the Super Series is gone for Canada's junior hockey team, but going undefeated is still a possibility.
Canada pulled out a 4-4 tie against Russia on Friday in Game 7 in a see-saw battle in which the hosts twice had to come from behind to get the point and sit 6-0-1 heading into Sunday's final game in Vancouver (Sportsnet, 8 p.m. ET).
It is now a legendary piece of Canadian hockey folklore. Following a terrible game against the Soviets in game 4 in Vancouver, a game in which the Vancouver fans booed Team Canada loudly and routinely, Phil Esposito decided to speak his mind.
"For the people across Canada, we tried. We gave it our best. For the people who booed us, jeez, all of us guys are really disheartened and we're disillusioned and we're disappointed in some of the people. We cannot believe the bad press we've got, the booing we've gotten in our own buildings. If the Russian fans boo their players like some of the Canadian fans - I'm not saying all of them - some of them booed us, then I'll come back and apologize to each and every Canadian. But I don't they will. I'm really, really, I'm really disappointed. I am completely disappointed. I cannot believe it. Some of our guys are really really down in the dumps. We know - we're trying. What the hell, we're doing the best we can. They've got a good team and let's face facts. But it doesn't mean that we're not give it our 150 per cent because we certainly are...
"Everyone one of us guys, thirty-five guys who came out to play for Team Canada," Esposito continued, "we did it because we love our country and not for any other reason. They can throw the money for the pension fund out the window, they can throw anything they want out the window - we came because we love Canada. And even though we play in the United States and we earn money in the United States, Canada is still our home and that's the only reason we come. And I don't think its fair that we should be booed."
Johnny Esaw, the broadcaster doing the interview, knew he had something special, and was more than willing to let Phil talk as long as he wanted. All along a few fans heckled from the safety of seats above, angering Esposito to a scary new level.
"I was so mad I felt like ramming my stick right down his throat. That's when I realized we were in a war, man." Esposito remembered years later "That's when I realized we were in a war, man. This isn't a game. This is a war and we'd better get ourselves together."
Esposito's rant was the turning point in the series. It fired up his teammates who would go on to reverse all the wrongs of the games and Canada, and would make a dramatic and heroic comeback in Moscow that a nation would remember and cherish forever.
Esposito's speech is probably the most famous example of a hockey figure using the media to fire up his team. While his was entirely impromptu, it is a somewhat common ploy by coaches or captains to have a speech along those lines once a season or so.
Wayne Gretzky even used a similar type of speech to create a everyone-hates-Canada atmosphere to anger his players onto victory in the 2002 Olympics. Gretzky's speech was instantly compared to Espo's, bringing Espo and memories of the 1972 Summit Series back to life yet again.
After a shocking loss in Montreal and a less than impressive effort in Winnipeg, it was becoming obvious that Canadian fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with the results. That would be hammered home by the end of the night. Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum played host to game four, but it would not be a friendly venue for Team Canada.
Just over a year ago, Gagner was cut from Canada's under-18 hockey team after an unimpressive selection camp.
The London Knights forward is now one of the best forwards on Canada's under-20 team in its Super Series against Russia.
Heading into Friday's Game 7, Gagner led the team in scoring with five goals and six assists, but that's not the biggest change in his game in the last year because he's always had considerable offensive talent.
One of Canada's top players was deliberately left off the Team Canada roster for the 1972 Summit Series. Bobby Hull had jumped to the World Hockey Association, and the NHL decided not to include him on Team Canada.
So Hull was forced to watch in the stands in his new hometown of Winnipeg on September the 6th, 1972. He, like the rest of Canada, wondered which Team Canada would show up: The one that bombed in Montreal, or dominated in Toronto?
The answer was both. Canada probably should have won the game, but they blew two two-goal leads during this game. It became obvious that this team was not yet in good enough condition or playing as a cohesive unit.
Brandon Sutter has only two games left in which he can turn around and see his father standing behind his bench.
After two seasons together with the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels and this current eight-game Super Series between Canada and Russia, Sutter and son are about to part ways as coach and player.
An unlikely hero gave Canada a spark Wednesday night in the junior hockey Super Series with Russia.
Fourth-line grinder Dana Tyrell scored his first point of the series, a goal that propelled the Canadians past Russia 4-1 and pushed the team's record to a perfect six wins and no losses in the eight-game set.
Canada failed to execute Wednesday the way they had the first five games of the series. While they outshot the Russians 42-17, they struggled to put the puck in the net, and let several 5-on-3 power-play opportunities slip through their fingers.
Harry Sinden selected 35 players for Team Canada 1972. Yet he knew he did not have the absolute best Canadians available to him.
As is often pointed out, Team Canada was only allowed to select National Hockey League players. Up until this time it was always argued Canada would destroy the Soviet national team if they could use their top NHL talent.
By the time the showdown finally happened however, the NHL did not necessarily possess the top Canadian players any longer. A rebel major league known as the World Hockey Association emerged and began raiding NHL rosters.
In order to secure NHL approval to use NHL talent in this exhibition series, the NHL insisted no WHA converts were to be allowed to play. This was to be a NHL-only Team Canada.
This meant such league jumpers as Gerry Cheevers, J. C. Tremblay and Derek Sanderson were ruled ineligible to play in the series. And most damning loss of all: "The Golden Jet" Bobby Hull.
Hull was undoubtedly missed by Team Canada 1972. He was just too important of a player to be able to replace with someone else. Team Canada might not have done a whole lot better with him in the lineup, but to say they didn't miss the quite possibly the best player in Canada would be insane.
But what about the other WHAers? Did Canada really miss their presence?
Undoubtedly Cheevers, Tremblay and Sanderson were very good players who in theory should have helped any team they played for. Cheevers style of goaltending might have been better suited against the Russians than Ken Dryden's. Sanderson's grit and faceoff ability would have been nice. And Tremblay's puck moving skills from the blueline certainly wouldn't have hurt.
As good these guys were, they were not irreplaceable like Hull. Cheevers likely would have been the third goalie anyways. Sanderson's grit was picked up by several players who might not have made the team if WHA players were allowed to contribute - players like J. P. Parise, Bobby Clarke and even Paul Henderson. And Tremblay's skates were filled adequately with the likes of Pat Stapleton or Bill White.
Outside of Hull, Team Canada 1972 didn't really miss the WHA players who were ruled ineligible. In fact their absence allowed several "lesser-knowns" the opportunity to thrive and contribute greatly to the team.
Tidbit - If LW Bobby Hull was allowed to play, presumably another LW would have lost his spot on the teams. That left winger easily could have been Paul Henderson. He was "on the bubble" as far as making the team at the beginning of training camp and was one of the players who worked his way into the lineup with a great camp. Likely with the training camp he had he still would have made the team. But still, can you imagine a 1972 Summit Series with Bobby Hull but without Paul Henderson?
"I think it's because there was still Communism in the Soviet Union and they were the evil empire," said Dennis Hull. "We were supposed to win easy and they came in and crushed our bubble in Canada and maybe made us feel that we weren't the greatest hockey players in the world. Then the series went on and we got more together as a team. For us to go into Moscow and to win three of the four games was really special.
"If a Hollywood scriptwriter had written anything like that, who was going to believe it?"
This game may go down in history as The Pounding In The 'Peg. Brent Sutter's boys, donning the retro jerseys from 1972, took their history lessons to heart and laid a lickin' on those Russkies, yet again.
It was a different story 35 years ago, when the Soviet team won Game 4 of the Summit Series 5-3 to take a 2-1-1 lead going into the last four games. Though the Soviets went on to lose by one game, the series exposed the Canadians, who had never played a full-strength Soviet squad before, to a completely new style of play.
The Super Series feels more like a hockey lesson for Russia than a matchup of equals. Coach Sergei Nemchinov said as much on Saturday.
"I think it was a good lesson for our team," Nemchinov told the news agency though an interpreter.
"They were a real team today, but it could be really hard to outplay such a disciplined team as Team Canada is. We need to make fewer mistakes and then, probably, we will achieve success."
Here we are sweltering in the August heat and what are Canadians watching? Hockey.
The so-called Super Series between Canadian and Russian juniors, an event with bogus tie-ins to the 35th anniversary of the original Summit Series, is drawing bigger audiences than anyone expected.
Wednesday morning's fog bowl in Ufa (the capital of Bashkortostan, if you didn't know) drew 181,000 viewers to Rogers Sportsnet. More amazingly, another 257,000 tuned in for a prime-time rerun.
The day's 438,000 total would top the average CFL, NFL or Blue Jays game.
Exhibition game vs. Sweden (Sept 16) Exhibition game vs. Czechoslovakia (Sept 29)
As you can see, Erle is missing a ticket stub from game 3 in Winnipeg. If you have one for sale, be sure to contact Erle Schneidman. I get the impression he'd be willing to meet your asking price.
It wasn't supposed to be this lopsided. Canada's junior team was expected to arrive in Russia and try to gut out a couple rusty, jet-lagged wins in the first four games of the Super Series before going home for the second half. Instead, Canada swept all four games. The visitors controlled every game with the exception of the opening period of Game 1 on Monday in Ufa, where Canada fell behind 2-0 early.
It was supposed to be a cake walk for Canada. The Soviet amateurs would be crushed by Canada's top professionals. Oh, we'll show them just how good Canadian hockey really is. Sure, they could beat our amateur teams that were made up of mill workers and car salesmen, but this was going to be different.
Everything was going according to the script when Canada scored on the first scoring chance of the game just 30 seconds into the action. Phil Esposito, who seconds earlier enthusiastically won the ceremonial faceoff, potted a Frank Mahovlich rebound past a flopping Russian goalie named Vladislav Tretiak.
By the 6:32 mark Canada upped the score to 2-0 when Paul Henderson wired a hard, but seemingly harmless shot to Tretiak's far side. Tretiak looked awkward as he feebly attempted to knock down the puck.
The predicted rout was on. The party was on.
"When I got on the ice," remembered Rod Gilbert in Scott Morrison's excellent book The Days Canada Stood Still, "it was already 2-0. Before I played my first shift it was 2-0, so I'm sitting on the bench saying, 'Let me on. Let me score my goals.' I figured it was going to be 15, 17-0, and I wanted to score a few goals."
Gilbert's thoughts at that point were the common thoughts of almost every Canadian watching the game, and certainly of all the players playing in it. It was a feeling that Canadians not only shared during those opening minutes, but during the entire training camp and since the day the tournament was announced. For that matter, Canadians felt that confident about their hockey dominance ever since the Soviets arrived on the international hockey scene in the 1950s.
The Super Series is in danger of falling off the Russian map if the host team can't play its way back into the eight-game series.
Russia was facing a sweep at home by Canada heading into Saturday's Game 4 (TSN, 6 a.m. ET) after losing the first two games in Ufa earlier this week and the third in Omsk on Friday.
Hockey Canada announced that Tuesday's Game 5 in Winnipeg next Tuesday will include a special touch.
That night at MTS Centre, Team Canada will wear 1972-style jerseys to help commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.
Hockey Canada said it's the first time since that historic hockey confrontation with the Soviet Union that any of its national teams will have worn that style of jersey.
Phil Esposito's triumphant performance in the final period of the 1972 Summit Series may have een inspired by more than just a burning desire to beat the Russkies.
At least that's what a tantalizing tale from the Moscow rumour mill would have us believe. declassified records from Canada's national archives suggest a dressing room visit from a beguiling ballerina helped lift Espo's game to unparalleled heights.
Poet Andrei Voznesensky related the "amusing story" to Robert Ford, then Canada's ambassador to the Soviet Union, at a lunch about a month after the epic eight-game series.
People have been e-mailing to complain about nepotism but Team Canada head coach Brent Sutter isn't listening. He named his son Brandon Sutter assistant captain Saturday and then said he was the best two-way forward on the team. Brandon will be lined with Brad Marchand and they will be given the formidable task of trying to stop Cherepanov. But that won't be Brandon's only duties. His dad made it clear Saturday he will be seeing lots of power-play action when he will be expected to take a beating in front of the net.
Brent Sutter is a master tactician, a brilliant bench manager, a hard ass tyrant who his players would go through a brick wall for. I truly believe if Sutter can find solid success with a New Jersey team that could be weaker than it has been in some time then Sutter is a front runner for Team Canada's Olympic coach.
On the other side, we have Sergei Nemchinov. I know very little about Nemchinov coach, but I know he was a solid, even underrated NHL player. Still his bench management tactics have been to say the least odd, and this greatly magnified coaching against Sutter.
Mention Russian hockey to the average North American fan and the clubs that immediately leap to mind are the legendary Moscow-based teams, especially CSKA (the Red Army team), Dynamo and former Russian Super League club Krylya Sovetov (the Soviet Wings). In many cases, however, the real heart of Russian hockey culture is found far from Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Ufa and Omsk, the host cities for the first portion of the eight-game Super Series between the top junior players of Russia and Canada, have hockey traditions that stretch back to the period just before the former Soviet Union emerged as a dominant international hockey power.
After a very convincing Canadian victory in game 2, the Toronto Star is already looking for headlines that at this time aren't developing.
They do raise a good point though. These junior hockey players are playing an awful lot of hockey and for next to nothing. Meanwhile and much like college athletics, there's an awful lot of people making money because of them.
In the lead-up to the so-called Super Series, Canada's plans for two-a-day practice sessions in Moscow were derailed by an unlikely impediment to a hockey training camp. A heat wave, temperatures of 35C in the Russian capital, turned one of the rinks on which the Canadians were scheduled to skate to slush.
Maybe it was climate change in dastardly action. Or maybe it was nature's way of saying that the latest in a long line of attempts to turn hockey into a summer sport is as lamentable as the Stanley Cup being hoisted in late June. The Super Series, a commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Summit Series currently being contested by the best players under the age of 20 from Canada and Russia, is making a long slog of a season even longer for some of the world's most promising players.
The eight-game series pitting Canadian junior hockey stars against their Russian counterparts in an attempt to commemorate the 1972 Summit Series just hasn’t generated much interest here.
That’s no surprise to the national Russian journalists, who are outnumbered by their Canadian counterparts in Ufa.
Out since May with an ankle sprain, Jonathan Bernier showed no rust on Wednesday as he guided Canada to a convincing 3-0 win over the Russians in Game 2 of the men's junior hockey Super Series in Ufa, Russia.
"Now we've kind of got them on their heels," said Stefan Legein, one of Canada's goal-scorers. "We've got to keep our foot on the gas."
Good ol' Scott Burnside over at ESPN.com is back as that websites only serious hockey writer. Today he talks about the 2007 Super Series and the memories of 1972.
"In some ways, it is surprising [that the Summit Series has continued to endure]," (coach Dave) King told ESPN.com this week, "because 35 years is a long, bloody time. This event [the '72 series] should be well into the history of the game." Yet it's not. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
"'72 was just so, so special," Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said. "I think after 50 years, it'll still have the same footprint on the game in our country."
The Canadian junior hockey team has opened its eight-game Super Series against Russia with a win.
Brad Marchand of the QMJHL's Val d'Or Foreurs and Sam Gagner of the OHL's London Knights each scored and had an assist to lift Canada to a 4-2 win over the Russian squad.
Kyle Turris, who will play at the University of Wisconsin this season, added a goal on a penalty shot while Stefan Legein of the OHL's Niagara IceDogs opened the scoring for the Canadians.
Ilya Kablukov and Alexander Ryabev gave Russia a 2-0 lead with first-period goals.
Over in Kremlin-land, they saluted the 1972 series last week in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Moscow Spartak Cup. Most of the former Soviet players were invited to a week-long series of anniversary games, presentations and dinners.
Henderson, the Canadian hero, was not invited. Neither was Phil Esposito, the man who rallied Team Canada after fans in Vancouver booed them off the ice for losing to the "Reds." No invitation to Ken Dryden, Ron Ellis or the rest of Team Canada, either.
But through the efforts of Sevo Kukushkin, interpreter of the then Soviet team and now producer of historic hockey films, the Russian Hockey Association invited John Ziegler, former president of the National Hockey League; Aggie Kukulowicz, former interpreter for Team Canada 1972; and R. Alan Eagleson, the organizer of the Summit Series.
The burly Vancouver Giants forward has never played international hockey before, yet Lucic was named captain of the Canadian junior team Saturday for the Super Series against Russia.
The Boston Bruins draft pick will set the tone for a Canadian team that will be more jet-lagged and travel weary than Russia when the series opens Monday in Ufa
"Any time you have players on the ice wearing Russian and Canadian sweaters, you get people's attention," said Rick Chisholm, TSN's head of production and programming.
Although it hardly rises to the Cold War level of East meeting West, rivals TSN and Rogers Sportsnet will team up to co-produce the telecasts, with help from Russian television, which will shoot the four games in that country.
Sportsnet announcer Peter Loubardias and TSN analyst Pierre McGuire will call the games, with each network producing its own studio show. TSN will carry the first, fourth, fifth and sixth games; Sportsnet will have the second, third, seventh and eighth. TSN's French-language channel, RDS, will provide full coverage.
This is a first for junior hockey, and there were enough questions about its appeal to keep it out of the big markets of Moscow, Toronto and Montreal.
With three days until Game 1 of the much-anticipated Super Series, Team Canada is quickly searching for its on-ice identity.
Head coach Brent Sutter and his squad began practising Thursday for their showdown with Team Russia, and with a team loaded with star power, his first order of business is assigning everyone to their roles.
"You're taking star players from everybody's team, but star players have to be willing to make adjustments and change their roles," Sutter explained.
Its the dying days of summer, and honestly its still too early for hockey. And people with vested interests in junior hockey, such as owners, coaches, even players and sponsors weren't convinced that this tournament was necessary addition to an already taxing schedule.
After all, in the days leading to the Summit Series in 1972, there was only mild curiosity about the first meeting between the best of the Canadian professionals and the Soviet Union's so-called amateurs. It was only after the series was under way — after the Soviets took an early unexpected lead, after Phil Esposito's heartfelt plea to the country and, of course, after Paul Henderson's dramatic winning goal in the final game of the series — that the term '72 became shorthand for one of the most dramatic moments in hockey history.
It's called the gauntlet and players on Canada's junior hockey team couldn't believe they were doing it Friday.
It's a drill in which all players line up beside the boards and try to check and pin the player skating by into the boards.
So not only were the forwards and defencemen throwing hit after hit, but were taking a hit 22 times in a row when it was their turn to skate through.
Some players had never done the gauntlet in their careers, while others hadn't been put through it since they were taught how to bodycheck in novice or atom.
Head coach Brent Sutter tossed it in just before a break midway through Friday's practice. By the time the players were done with the gauntlet, they needed the rest.
"That was a throw-in. I called an audible," he said. "Drills like that get them used to taking a check and battling along the boards and paying a price that you need to pay to have success."
Awesome piece her from The Vancouver Province. Jason Botchford went in search of the infamous Intourist Hotel.
No, I was off to the Intourist, the source of so many stories from 1972, the home for Team Canada then and their ghosts now.
It's where the players were allegedly fed crow and horse steaks.
There had to be someone still there from 1972, someone who remembered the Canadians, someone who could confirm or officially kill one of hockey's greatest urban legends.
Follow his quest... Maybe Botchford would have better luck finding that Chinese restaurant Whitey Stapleton swears by.
It may not have the same significance or long-term impact that the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union had on Canadian hockey.
But as the Canadian under-20 team prepared for the eight-game Super Series between the best teenagers in Canada and the Soviet Union, Canadian hockey officials prepared their players by showing them clips of that 1972 series.
While older fans have no trouble remembering the bedlam that followed that series, many of these Canadian junior players don't know the intricacies of that event.
Londoner Drew Doughty, a defenceman with the Guelph Storm, is the second-youngest player on the Canadian team. Even though this will be his third year in the OHL, he isn't eligible for the NHL draft until June. Only Oshawa Generals forward John Tavares is younger than Doughty.
"I didn't know much about it until (Monday)," Doughty said of the '72 series that saw Canada win with a last-minute goal by Paul Henderson in the eighth game in Moscow. It was played almost 18 years before Doughty was born.
"The only thing I really know about it is that Henderson goal," Doughty said. "But they showed us the video of the series, sort of the highlights (Monday.)"
Ron Ellis had a special speaking engagement yesterday afternoon and the former NHL player knew exactly what he was going to say.
Ellis, who wore Canada's colours in the 1972 Summit Series against Russia, was scheduled to address the Canadian juniors yesterday afternoon before the team departed for Moscow. The times have changed, but for Ellis, the message he was given nearly four decades ago remains the same.
'BIG BAD RUSSIANS'
"Back then it was the big bad Russians, communism versus our way of life, and now a number of Russian kids play in the (Canadian Hockey League and NHL)," Ellis said. "These are all top players and goal-scorers, and somebody is going to have to do some backchecking. That's what happened with our club. We had to take on different roles.
"The line I played on with Paul Henderson and Bobby Clarke, we had to try to shut down the big line the Russians had, and my assignment was (Valeri) Kharlamov)."
Sam Gagner, one of four Canadians on the trip who played for the gold-medal winning squad last winter at the world junior in Sweden, was enthralled Monday night when the players watched a documentary of the 1972 series.
"It's not an exhibition," Gagner said. "It was called that in 1972 too, but in the video, (Phil) Esposito said it was not just an exhibition, but a war. I'm expecting this to be a battle as well."
The series will mark, presumably, coach Brent Sutter's last kick in junior. He remains owner of the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, but Sutter will turn his attention to his new job as coach of the New Jersey Devils when the series concludes.
"I had tremendous support from (Devils general manager) Lou Lamoriello and he did not want me to back out of this," said Sutter, who will coach his son, Brandon, in the series. "I'm really looking forward to coaching the Devils, but I have this to focus on first."
According to GlobeSports.com, there will be no Esposito starring in the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.
Angelo Esposito has pulled out of the commemorative 8 game match between Canada's and Russia's top junior hockey players. A groin injury has sidelined the Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick.
Though unrelated, the name Esposito was one of the few links between 1972 and 2007. Brothers Phil and Tony Esposito starred in the 1972 Summit Series.
It began Monday evening after the players congregated in a suburban hotel and watched a documentary about the 1972 Summit Series - the event the upcoming Super Series will commemorate.
Most of the players' parents aren't old enough to remember the original so they can't really be blamed for needing a bit of a history lesson.
After watching the film, they were pretty fired up.
"When Bobby Clarke slashed that guy's (Valeri Kharlamov's) ankle, that was something we all kind of turned to each other and chuckled about," feisty forward Brad Marchand said after the team's first practice Tuesday. "You really see how intense that got and how heated it was.
I can't say I agree with David Pratt, guest writer for the Vancouver Province on this one. He's one of those loud-mouth shock jocks who knows how to get rile up a crowd and get a debate going. Perhaps that's what he's doing here when he says
Henderson's legacy will outlast most of those who are in the Hall of Fame. While the Hall of Fame has let in too many weak players in my own opinion, I think they're right to keep Henderson on the outside looking in.
The Globe and Mail is gearing up for the 2007 Super Series between Canada's and Russia's top junior players. The games will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.
Brad Marchand has to break a Russian's ankle and Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson must charge the announcer's booth for the Super Series to resemble the 1972 Summit Series.
That Summit Series was about more than just hockey. It was a clash of political ideologies in a Cold War climate that no longer exists.
It would be a tall order for this Super Series of under-20 players to replicate that drama.
After all, these players were born 16, 17 and 18 years after Paul Henderson scored the iconic winning goal for Canada.
Kyle Turris didn't see the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviets. Heck, the kid -- he just turned 18 three days ago -- wasn't even born in time to watch the memorable 1987 Canada Cup.
But here he is, about to help write the next chapter in the Canada-Russia rivalry, 35 years after the initial shot was fired, and he can hardly wait.
To hear Turris, a 6-foot-2 winger from New Westminster, B.C., tell it, this particular bit of nastiness you're pretty much born with. Or, at least, you learn it faster than you can say Valeri Kharlamov.
"It's huge," Turris, chosen third overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in this year's draft, was saying from his home yesterday. "It's a big part of Canadian history, for hockey. To have a chance to carry on that tradition on the anniversary... it's going to be an experience I'll never forget."
"The kids have no memories of '72, obviously, and many of them may not have even seen the tapes," (coach Brent) Sutter said. "But they've heard their parents talk about it and their agents and their coaches and probably every adult in their life. They know about the emotion, about Henderson's goal, about how much it meant to our country.
"So we've put together a video of that series, so they can see for themselves.
"There is nothing - nothing - like pulling that Canadian jersey over your head. When you play for Canada, everybody's a fan of yours. No Oilers or Flames or Leafs or Canadiens to cheer for. Just Canada. The whole country's behind you, and that's something you can literally feel."
Vladislav Tretiak had an idea last spring. Why not stage a reenactment of the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series?
Great idea, hard to pull off.
Tretiak, the Hall of Fame goalie, initially wanted to use NHL players as part of his plan, but that idea faded and Hockey Canada and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation worked out a deal that will see Canada and Russia go head-to-head in an eight-game series starting on August 27 featuring junior players from both countries.
Russia will host the first four games in the series and the final four games will take place in Canada. It is an interesting concept, but will have a hard time recreating the drama of the original because that 1972 showdown has provided memories for the ages.
The 1972 Summit Series was the first real competition outside of the Olympics between Canada and Russia and came during the height of the Cold War. Today, international relations are different and tournaments pitting the Canadians and Russians are scheduled on every level of hockey from youth games to old-timers.
