In 1972, Hockey’s Cold War Boiled Over

[doniceage]

Forty years later, it remains seared in the Canadian consciousness. The Summit Series of September 1972: eight games that not only changed hockey but also became a defining national event.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/sp...pagewanted=all

[centrehice]

...


"But Mikhailov also kicked Bergman in the leg during a corner scrum, bloodying Bergman."

I watched this and was incensed. I had never liked Mikhailov then, and didn't later on, he was a coward and not to be trusted at any time.

The series left Canadians loving 3 Russian Players, Kharlamov, Tretiak and Vasiliev, who just past away recently. Mikhailov was always overrated and hated North Americans. Similar to Krutov, he thought he was above being body-checked.

The refereeing was a typical Euro-Nightmare, calling penalties that were not, issuing misconducts that were not, etc.

The greatest crime was this: "Here are the Russians, trying to ballet, and cuckold their way to being the best in the World. They tried to show the World that Hockey was finesse and over-passing. It was up to Canada to show them that Hockey is a "Slam your face, outta the way, give me the puck Sport.

Had the Russians succeeded, Betman would have larger nets and no hitting in today's NHL. The Russians lost, then immediately tuned into every 3rd game, cheque-collecting, no-show nancies, with a superior attitude.

1972 was a shot to the Russian Bollocks, and they never recovered.

[RGM81]

Tretiak to this day remains probably the most popular player in Montreal to have never played a game with the Canadiens. He simply dazzled the crowds there in the Summit Series, the New Years Eve game, and beyond.

I also disagree with centrehice's comments about what victory would have meant for Russia, and what the victory did mean for Canadian hockey. The Summit Series was a huge wake-up call to Canada that the attitude the country carried would no longer be good enough to guarantee supremacy. To remain the best and consistently defeat the Russians in the future, Canada would have to work harder, become more skilled, and move towards more of a finesse game. The repugnant Philadelphia Flyers would win two straight Cups in '74 and '75 of course, but their antics against the Red Army team showed how hollow their bullying antics were. The great Canadiens dynasty of the late 70's included victory over Boston twice and the Flyers once, demonstrating that skill and speed (coupled with a fearsome Larry Robinson) could triumph over thuggish tactics. To say that the Russians never recovered from the Summit Series is facetious at best, utterly disingenuous at worst.

[centrehice]

This is complete One-Eyed Hab-loving Hogwash below......

"The repugnant Philadelphia Flyers would win two straight Cups in '74 and '75 of course, but their antics against the Red Army team showed how hollow their bullying antics were. The great Canadiens dynasty of the late 70's included victory over Boston twice and the Flyers once, demonstrating that skill and speed (coupled with a fearsome Larry Robinson) could triumph over thuggish tactics. To say that the Russians never recovered from the Summit Series is facetious at best, utterly disingenuous at worst."


Oh, no, not the repugnant Philadelphia Flyers........I laughed out loud. Take off the eye patch.


...

[RGM81]

^ This is the appropriate way to handle all differences of opinion on the Internet. ^

There's a great story on Tretiak in today's Montreal Gazette - well worth a read: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...315/story.html

Our country’s best professional hockey players, as cocky as they were skilled, had been destroyed the night before by what smug scouting reports had suggested was a rag-tag squad of outclassed amateurs from the Soviet Union.
And if you were witness to the clinical 7-3 dissection of Team Canada at the Montreal Forum on Sept. 2, 1972, you also remember the Sept. 3 anxiety attack that ran from sea to sea.
Canada ultimately would prevail, if only by the thickness of the friction tape on Paul Henderson’s stick, in this landmark eight-game Summit Series.
But in their mismatched equipment and decade-old skates, the Soviets gave the Canadians all they could handle — and much more — in a series that forever would change hockey’s global landscape.

The Soviets, backstopped by Tretiak, would win their share of games and tournaments over the coming years. But there is not a single game that was more demonstrative of hockey at its absolute finest than the Canadiens-Red Army game of New Years Eve 1975. Watch that game, enjoy it, marvel at it. Then watch the game played a few days later against the Flyers. Which type of hockey would you prefer?

[/QUOTE]

[centrehice]

I have not missed many key Hockey games since 1958. I admire the way the Russians play, but that is what happens to Sport when it is State-Funded at any cost, a bit like Australia now at every Olympics.

When you throw upwards of one million dollars per athlete, you are going to be near the best. A beer, and a bag of chips and the odd hangover is how Canada competed during this time. If you are unable to see the un-level playing field, just look at how poorly the Russian Federation was at Sport until this past year at the Olympics when again, they became State-Funded.

It's all about dollars invested. Hockey Canada still invests little compared to what others spend on the Sport. Was Canada knocked off it's perch? Yes somewhat, but I for one expected the Russians to fully win that series in 72. By position they were a better group than Team Canada, more fit, and better skaters.

I expected them to beat both Team Canada and the Flyers, but they chose to take their marbles and leave. I have no time for cry-babies in any Sport.

Flyers won 2 Stanley Cups by fore-checking their opponents to death. Employ the same tactics today and you will always win a Stanley Cup.

I really don't give a damn about what brand of Hockey I see, teams that adapt, go on to win Championships, teams that don't whine like children.