Seeing as we're coming up on the 30th anniversary of the greatest moment in sports history, I thought I'd share with you a little bit of what has become Canadian folk lore. A take passed from father to son every year, a series reveered as the greatest in hockey's history and a goal which will be re-enacted by millions of kids on millions of frozen ponds across Canada. I ask that those of you who know the story and the outcome do not share it with others and I think it would be a cool idea if everyone who doesn't know just wait for my posts to find out how things unfold.
Firstly, for those who don't understand of what importance hockey is here in Canada let me explain a little. When our Olympic mens team set out in both 1998 and 2002 the only thing you could hear on the radio was debate over whether we would win gold. Not could we - would we. It's not possible that a Canadian team could ever be considered less than favourites to be the best. That would be simply unthinkable. We're Canada and we are hockey. Anything less than gold is, literally, a grave disappointment. Our junior team (in the World Junior Championships with players who have less than 40 games of NHL experience and are under 23 years of age) won 5 years in a row during the nineties and hasn't won gold since. We've won silver and bronze and both tournaments were considered huge failures. There is a frozen pond or outdoor rink within every square mile in Toronto and Toronto is the most Americanized city in Canada. During the months of winter when the frozen rink right outside my school is active, I go to about 2 periods a day at max. My teachers know where I am. Just as they know where the other 30 boys who are out there are. They never yell at us and they never try and argue with us because they know we're simply going to play hockey. Students can walk into the VP's office and say they were late because they slept in and the secretary will say that's never a good enough excuse. I walk in and say I was late because I wanted to play hockey and they'll smile and say something like "you should come to school, not play hockey!" in a very joking manner. My school's varsity team practices weekday mornings. Every morning 22 of us are late to class because we went home to shower and clean up and get dressed. Every morning the office let's us in late and only us. Not one other sports team is allowed to be late because of practice. My family has avoided trips because of my hockey. I can get caught doing something stupid and my parents will threaten to kick me out of everything and ban me from everything but kicking me out of hockey is as unthinkable an act as killing me. Every year around March when the outdoor rink shuts down I go through a period of depression and withdrawl. During winter break at school there's about 4 hours of the day I can legally spend at the outdoor rink (there are three age groups; 12 under, 13 to 17, 18 over). I usually spend about 9-10. I'll go and play in my age group and at the start of winter when I was 15 I begun to hang around and play with some of the regulars who were older. After gaining their respect I became allowed to play in the older age group. I can sit on the bench now and watch as a 17 year old kid gets kicked off the ice by a guy on my team who knows my age. Hockey is ritual in Canada. It is a tradition and nothing short of a religion. To quote Roch Carrier "I lived at three places, my home, my school and the rink".
The year is 1972. Canada invented hockey. Canada is the undisputed kings of hockey. While the majority of NHL (National Hockey League) teams are located in the US, the vast majority (8 years later, it would still be 85% Canadians in the league) of players are Canadian born and trained. To consider any other nation capable of defeating our best players in hockey is a laughable act. We've never been tested and every one of the greatest players in the game has been Canadian.
Or, so we think.
The Soviet Union's major sport was soccer; however, they were quickly beginning to love the sport of hockey. Areas of Moscow and other parts of Russia were frozen during the winter so young boys could skip out on school and go play hockey 6 hours a day (much the same as their Canadian counterparts). The Soviet Union had looked at Canadian hockey and begun to develope their own theories on the game. The Canadians played with grit and determination, preffering to win through bumping and grinding our way to the goal. Of course, we had all the talent we could want in players such as Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard and Bobby Hull over the years. That said, each one of these players was still known to throw a check, drop the gloves or do whatever else was necessary to win. The Russians figured we were playing the game all wrong. Canadian teams (that is, NHL teams which had about 21 Canadians and maybe 2 Americans) usually had a few star players and liked to set up a system to be rewarded because of these players. The Soviets decided their hockey would be much like their political system; every one worked as a team. It didn't matter how much better a player you were than your linemate, you were going to fit into the team mold and you were going to play by the coachs plan. Every Soviet player was capable of playing more than one position. If one guy got out of place, another would cover for him. The Soviets also worked on creativity on the offense, a skill which seems lacking in many Canadian players today (though that's another debate). The Soviets were told in junior to score. After all, that's how you win games. The Soviets were fast becoming a powerhouse, and we didn't have a clue.
In 1972 Alan Eagleson set up an 8 game series between a collection of the NHL's greatest Canadian stars and the Soviet's national team. It was to be a simple little 8 game winning streak where Canada would once again prove it's superiority in hockey. Our team was mearly a throw together of various NHL superstars who had never really played together. They did little training and little insight into the Soviet team. After all, one scout remarked "Tretiek (Soviet goaltender, the only non-NHL player to now be in the Hall of Fame) can't stop a single puck". The Soviets, mean while, were practicing as a team 3 months ahead of time and studied film of Canadian hockey. They became nothing but a well-oiled machine in peak physical condition, while our guys were enemies every other day of the year and not in the best of shape. Of course, Canadian citizens and our players and coaches didn't know this at all.
The last point I'd like to make before posting about the first game is that the Canadian team was a collection of NHL superstars. The problem is, there was another league at the time with some of our greatest players - the WHL. The WHL had Bobby Hull (arguably the best goal scorer since Maurice Richard) and Gordie Howe (now called Mr. Hockey). Not to mention one of the top two hockey players of all time, Bobby Orr, was injured and completely unable to play. But like I said, we were still confident that there wasn't a single chance we could loose a game let alone the series.
So it all began in Montreal. Four games to be played in Canada, four in the Soviet Union. In the beginning, it was a couple of hockey games. By the end, it would never be described as anything less than a war.
The following exert is from 1972summitseries.com. The Canadian players who played in that tournament hold the rights to their story and are coming out with a DVD collection soon. You can bet I'll buy it.
Game 1:
Again I ask, please, no one spoil the story by posting further results. I will post one game of the 8 game series every day.
Oh, and in case you don't know, here's how an eight game series works: two points for a win, one for a tie. Whoever walks away with the most points wins. Not that Canadians thought it mattered - but in the case of a tie, winner is the one with most goals.
Firstly, for those who don't understand of what importance hockey is here in Canada let me explain a little. When our Olympic mens team set out in both 1998 and 2002 the only thing you could hear on the radio was debate over whether we would win gold. Not could we - would we. It's not possible that a Canadian team could ever be considered less than favourites to be the best. That would be simply unthinkable. We're Canada and we are hockey. Anything less than gold is, literally, a grave disappointment. Our junior team (in the World Junior Championships with players who have less than 40 games of NHL experience and are under 23 years of age) won 5 years in a row during the nineties and hasn't won gold since. We've won silver and bronze and both tournaments were considered huge failures. There is a frozen pond or outdoor rink within every square mile in Toronto and Toronto is the most Americanized city in Canada. During the months of winter when the frozen rink right outside my school is active, I go to about 2 periods a day at max. My teachers know where I am. Just as they know where the other 30 boys who are out there are. They never yell at us and they never try and argue with us because they know we're simply going to play hockey. Students can walk into the VP's office and say they were late because they slept in and the secretary will say that's never a good enough excuse. I walk in and say I was late because I wanted to play hockey and they'll smile and say something like "you should come to school, not play hockey!" in a very joking manner. My school's varsity team practices weekday mornings. Every morning 22 of us are late to class because we went home to shower and clean up and get dressed. Every morning the office let's us in late and only us. Not one other sports team is allowed to be late because of practice. My family has avoided trips because of my hockey. I can get caught doing something stupid and my parents will threaten to kick me out of everything and ban me from everything but kicking me out of hockey is as unthinkable an act as killing me. Every year around March when the outdoor rink shuts down I go through a period of depression and withdrawl. During winter break at school there's about 4 hours of the day I can legally spend at the outdoor rink (there are three age groups; 12 under, 13 to 17, 18 over). I usually spend about 9-10. I'll go and play in my age group and at the start of winter when I was 15 I begun to hang around and play with some of the regulars who were older. After gaining their respect I became allowed to play in the older age group. I can sit on the bench now and watch as a 17 year old kid gets kicked off the ice by a guy on my team who knows my age. Hockey is ritual in Canada. It is a tradition and nothing short of a religion. To quote Roch Carrier "I lived at three places, my home, my school and the rink".
The year is 1972. Canada invented hockey. Canada is the undisputed kings of hockey. While the majority of NHL (National Hockey League) teams are located in the US, the vast majority (8 years later, it would still be 85% Canadians in the league) of players are Canadian born and trained. To consider any other nation capable of defeating our best players in hockey is a laughable act. We've never been tested and every one of the greatest players in the game has been Canadian.
Or, so we think.
The Soviet Union's major sport was soccer; however, they were quickly beginning to love the sport of hockey. Areas of Moscow and other parts of Russia were frozen during the winter so young boys could skip out on school and go play hockey 6 hours a day (much the same as their Canadian counterparts). The Soviet Union had looked at Canadian hockey and begun to develope their own theories on the game. The Canadians played with grit and determination, preffering to win through bumping and grinding our way to the goal. Of course, we had all the talent we could want in players such as Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard and Bobby Hull over the years. That said, each one of these players was still known to throw a check, drop the gloves or do whatever else was necessary to win. The Russians figured we were playing the game all wrong. Canadian teams (that is, NHL teams which had about 21 Canadians and maybe 2 Americans) usually had a few star players and liked to set up a system to be rewarded because of these players. The Soviets decided their hockey would be much like their political system; every one worked as a team. It didn't matter how much better a player you were than your linemate, you were going to fit into the team mold and you were going to play by the coachs plan. Every Soviet player was capable of playing more than one position. If one guy got out of place, another would cover for him. The Soviets also worked on creativity on the offense, a skill which seems lacking in many Canadian players today (though that's another debate). The Soviets were told in junior to score. After all, that's how you win games. The Soviets were fast becoming a powerhouse, and we didn't have a clue.
In 1972 Alan Eagleson set up an 8 game series between a collection of the NHL's greatest Canadian stars and the Soviet's national team. It was to be a simple little 8 game winning streak where Canada would once again prove it's superiority in hockey. Our team was mearly a throw together of various NHL superstars who had never really played together. They did little training and little insight into the Soviet team. After all, one scout remarked "Tretiek (Soviet goaltender, the only non-NHL player to now be in the Hall of Fame) can't stop a single puck". The Soviets, mean while, were practicing as a team 3 months ahead of time and studied film of Canadian hockey. They became nothing but a well-oiled machine in peak physical condition, while our guys were enemies every other day of the year and not in the best of shape. Of course, Canadian citizens and our players and coaches didn't know this at all.
The last point I'd like to make before posting about the first game is that the Canadian team was a collection of NHL superstars. The problem is, there was another league at the time with some of our greatest players - the WHL. The WHL had Bobby Hull (arguably the best goal scorer since Maurice Richard) and Gordie Howe (now called Mr. Hockey). Not to mention one of the top two hockey players of all time, Bobby Orr, was injured and completely unable to play. But like I said, we were still confident that there wasn't a single chance we could loose a game let alone the series.
So it all began in Montreal. Four games to be played in Canada, four in the Soviet Union. In the beginning, it was a couple of hockey games. By the end, it would never be described as anything less than a war.
The following exert is from 1972summitseries.com. The Canadian players who played in that tournament hold the rights to their story and are coming out with a DVD collection soon. You can bet I'll buy it.
Game 1:
Again I ask, please, no one spoil the story by posting further results. I will post one game of the 8 game series every day.
Oh, and in case you don't know, here's how an eight game series works: two points for a win, one for a tie. Whoever walks away with the most points wins. Not that Canadians thought it mattered - but in the case of a tie, winner is the one with most goals.
