*1547. Холодная война на льду

[Николай Озеров]

Ken Dryden was the top goalie of the 1970s. The highly intellectual Dryden appeared as if from nowhere in 1971 just in time to magically carry the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup - the first of 6 championships in 8 years in the National Hockey League. 258 NHL wins vs. only 57 losses and 5 Vezina trophy wins ensured his status as the best goalie of that decade and perhaps of all time.

However Dryden seemed to struggle against international competition, namely the Soviets. Phil Esposito once called a Ken Dryden a "damn octopus" because of his hulking size and quick arms and legs. For much of the series Dryden looked like a fish on land. He was clearly outplayed by Tretiak and at times his partner Tony Esposito.

Dryden had the unfortunate task of playing game one against the Soviets. His goaltending style was to cut down the angles by challenging the shooter and making the most of his immense size. But the Soviets used their cute offense consisting of sudden criss-crossing passes and shifty movement to make Dryden move around and lose his angles, and thus make him look silly at times. Backup Tony Esposito benefited from his bird's eye view on the bench to notice this and he was able to make adjustments to his game when he got the call in games 2 and 3, and stayed further back in his net and avoided challenging the shooter.

"I have been very fortunate to have played on six Stanley Cup winning teams in Montreal," wrote Dryden in Brian McFarlane's book Team Canada 1972: Where Are They Now. "But nothing in hockey ever brought me so low or took me so high. And nothing meant so much."

In an interview with the Globe and Mail in 1997, the always philosophical Dryden looked back upon the series saying that "a feeling comes before a thought comes. The feeling is a mixture of pain, satisfaction and mostly relief. And in retrospect, a sense of gratitude of having had that as an experience."

Although he is one of the NHL's all time greats, Dryden is also known as a best selling author. His book "The Game" is a legendary hockey book, but it was not his first published effort. Face-Off At The Summit - a 1973 book published by Little Brown - is an interesting look at the series through the eyes of one of the key competitors.

[Николай Озеров]

[Николай Озеров]

[Николай Озеров]

[Николай Озеров]

http://manhattanrollerhockeyleague.c...87-canada-cup/
The 1972 Summit Series

On September 2nd, 1972 the Canada – USSR Summit Series started when Game 1 was held at the Montreal Forum to begin one of the most dramatic series of hockey games ever played. What continued through seven more games held in three other arenas in Canada and four games played at the Luzhniki Ice Palace in Moscow was a battle for hockey supremacy and nationalistic pride fought in the icy shadow of Cold War geopolitical brinkmanship. Team Canada won the series 4-3-1 with an exciting Game 8 victory but the Soviet Union’s unexpectedly strong play in the tournament earned them the respect of both NHL players and fans.

Team Canada assembled in Toronto and started training camp on August 13. Sinden named four co-captains: Phil Esposito, Frank Mahovlich, Stan Mikita and Jean Ratelle. The team trained for three weeks in Toronto, and arrived in Montreal on August 31 for the first game. The team held a practice on September 1 at the Forum. The unheralded line of Bobby Clarke, Ron Ellis and Paul Henderson impressed in camp, enough to earn a place in the starting lineup for game one.

The Soviets named 31 players for its roster on August 11. The roster included four goaltenders led by 20-year-old Vladislav Tretiak, Olympic and two-time world champion. The defense was led by Alexander Ragulin, who had played in three Olympics and nine world championships. The team was a veteran team with only a handful of players to make their national team debut. Several players were named provisionally, depending on their performance in the Sovietsky Sport tournament being held during August. Boris Kulagin, coach of Krylia Sovietov, was named the assistant coach. Among the forwards, the team did not name Anatoli Firsov, regarded as the “Bobby Hull” of the Soviets, who had reportedly spoken out against his new coach. Most of the players named were from the Soviet “Red Army” team HC CSKA Moscow, the team managed by former national coach Tarasov.

Along with their regular training, Bobrov had the Soviet players take boxing lessons in preparation for the series. The Soviets arrived in Montreal not long before the series, on August 30. Staying at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the team began two-a-day workouts at the St. Laurent Arena the next day. They were already acclimatized to the time zone as the team had been training on Montreal time for two weeks before travelling there. They brought 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.
Team Canada’s Phil Esposito pursued by Soviet players during the 1972 Summit Series

The NHL website offers information about the Summit Series here as part of a 40th anniversary tribute done in 2012r and a great documentary made in 2006 can be found here. Another great source of information is the Summit In 1972 site. Scores and descriptions from the games and links to recaps and video links can be found below.

1972 SUMMIT SERIES

Games / Locations / Dates Results / Recap and Video Links
Game 1: Montreal / Montreal Forum / 9/2/72 USSR 7 – Canada 3 Part 1 Part 2
Game 2: Toronto / Maple Leaf Gardens / 9/4/72 Canada 4 – USSR 1 Part 1 Part 2
Game 3: Winnipeg / Winnipeg Arena / 9/6/72 Canada 4 – USSR 4 Part 1 Highlights
Game 4: Vancouver / Pacific Coliseum / 9/8/72 USSR 5 – Canada 3 Highlights
Game 5: Moscow / Luzhniki Ice Palace / 9/22/72 USSR 5 – Canada 4 Highlights
Game 6: Moscow / Luzhniki Ice Palace / 9/24/72 Canada 3 – USSR 2 Highlights
Game 7: Moscow / Luzhniki Ice Palace / 9/26/72 Canada 4 – USSR 3 Highlights
Game 8: Moscow / Luzhniki Ice Palace / 9/28/72 Canada 6 – USSR 5 Highlights Highlights

Game One

Game one was held in Montreal in a very warm Montreal Forum on September 2 before 18,818 fans. The gamesmanship between the teams started before the first face-off. Canada was assigned the home team for all games in Canada, while the Soviets would be the home team in Moscow. The Soviets would not release their lineup until they had seen their opponents’, the opposite order, considering they were the visitors. The official scorer had to return to the Soviets’ dressing room and demand the lineup. To Sinden, he wanted to put the Ellis-Clarke-Henderson line on against Valeri Kharlamov’s line. The Soviets did not start Kharlamov’s line and Sinden named Phil Esposito’s line for the opening face-off.

The move paid off as Phil Esposito scored for Canada after just 30 seconds of play, knocking a puck out of the air behind the Soviets’ goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. But even after a few minutes, Sinden felt the Soviets were coming on and having no difficulty getting through Canada’s defense. Henderson scored after six minutes to give Canada a two-goal lead on a face-off win by Clarke, the only advantage that Team Canada had, in Sinden’s estimation. To Canadian spectators and the media, the second goal gave the appearance that the pre-series predictions of a rout had been proven correct. But the Soviets got over any awe of the NHLers and scored two goals to tie the score before the end of the first period. Yevgeni Zimin scored on a pass from behind the net, and Vladimir Petrov scored a short-handed goal on a Soviet two-on-one break, with Petrov potting the rebound. According to Sinden, the Canadian players had lost their poise, “running all over the ice” to establish their hitting game, while the Soviets used an unexpected tactic, that of the long pass, to break a man out of their defensive zone. The Canadian defense was also dropping to the ice to block shots, while the Soviets only skated around the defense to get a good shot. Although Tretiak had given up the two Canada goals on the first two shots, he recovered later in the period to make a couple of magnificent saves off Esposito at point-blank range.According to Esposito, “at Christmas time, it would have been 4–0 for us.”

In the second period, Kharlamov scored on a great individual effort to put the Soviets ahead. Kharlamov deked Don Awrey, skated around him, faked a back-hand shot on Dryden, but scored on the fore-hand. Kharlamov scored a second goal to give the Soviets a two-goal lead at the end of the second period. By the end of the second period, the temperature in the Forum had reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sinden made changes for the third period. He benched Awrey and the Jean Ratelle line, going with three lines. In the third, Clarke scored to bring Canada within one. The Canadians attempted to get the equalizer, and Yvan Cournoyer put a puck off the post, but the Soviets broke out afterwards and Boris Mikhailov scored on the counter-attack to restore the two-goal lead with six minutes to play. Mikhailov skated across the Canadian net about 20 feet out, lured Dryden away from the net, then back-handed the puck into the net between his legs. The strategy of three lines had left the Canadians exhausted by then and the Soviets scored twice in the final minutes to finish with a 7–3 victory.

“I was stunned by their performance” was Sinden’s assessment.Former Montreal Canadiens‘ coach Claude Ruel commented that the Soviets’ forwards were one of the most finely honed units he had ever seen. “They are always moving, never standing around, they head-man the puck as well as anyone has ever done — and they always seem to be in the right place.”According to Canada’s goaltender Ken Dryden: “We didn’t play our game at all. After they tied it up, we started playing a panic type of game. Sometimes there were five men going for the puck at once.”At the end of the game, Team Canada accidentally snubbed the Soviets by returning to the dressing room directly without shaking hands with the Soviets after the game.

Game Two

The second game was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Sinden sat out several players from the first game, including Don Awrey, Red Berenson, Ken Dryden, Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, Mickey Redmond and Rod Seiling. Hadfield took the benching hard, as he was from the Toronto area and felt he was being embarrassed in front of his home town. On defense, Serge Savard, Pat Stapleton and Bill White were added. On offense, Stan Mikita, Wayne Cashman and J. P. Parise were added. Tony Esposito took over goaltending duties. Sinden’s changes were to get “the diggers into the game and try to grind the Russians down. We had went for speed and quickness in our first lineup, yet the Russians were still faster and quicker.”

Team Canada responded to their previous defeat with strong play in this game. The first period was scoreless, but the Canadians used the period to intimidate the Soviets with hard body checking, especially from Cashman, Bergman, Peter Mahovlich and Parise, to throw the Soviets off their game. In the second period, the first goal of the match was again scored by Esposito, this time from a feed from his regular Bruins’ linemate Cashman, who had retrieved the puck deep in the Soviets’ zone after colliding with the Soviets’ defenseman Vladimir Lutchenko. In the third period, Yvan Cournoyer wheeled around Alexander Ragulin and beat Tretiak. Yakushev got the Soviets on the board after team-mate Yevgeni Zimin missed on a break-away. Lyapkin pounced on the rebound and fed it out front for Yakushev to bury the puck behind Esposito. Peter Mahovlich then scored a remarkable shorthanded goal, in which he deked both the Soviet defender 1-on-1, then Tretiak to give Canada a two-goal lead. Frank Mahovlich finished the scoring on a feed from Mikita, who had circled around a Soviets’ defenseman. Team Canada won the game 4–1 and tied the series.

The Soviet coaches blamed the loss on the refereeing. Bobrov complained that the pair of American referees, Frank Larsen and Steve Dowling, let the Canadians get away with everything. After the game, the head of the USSR Hockey Federation, Andrei Starovoitov, charged the door of the officials’ dressing room and kicked chairs over. The pair of referees, scheduled to referee game four in Vancouver, were replaced by the pair who had refereed game one and game three, Gord Lee and Len Gagnon. Team Canada agreed to the request by the Soviets to change referees, apparently not aware of Starovoitov’s tantrum after game two.

Game Three

Game three was held in Winnipeg on September 6. After the second game, the Soviets said that they had strayed into playing too much of the Canadian style, as individuals, and promised to return to their team style for the third game. Canada went with the same lineup as game two, with the exception of Ratelle replacing Bill Goldsworthy. Team Canada held leads of 3–1 and 4–2, but the Soviet side responded and the game ended in a 4–4 tie. Canada took the lead only 1:54 into the game on a goal by J. P. Parise, but Petrov replied short-handed at 3:16 to tie the game. Petrov stole the puck from Frank Mahovlich and broke away and deked Tony Esposito to score. After a strong forecheck by the Canadians on the Soviets in their zone, Ratelle scored to put Canada ahead 2–1 after the first. Wayne Cashman dug the puck out of a scrum in the corner to feed the puck to Phil Esposito who scored to put Canada ahead 3–1. On another Canadian power play, Kharlamov was circling behind the Canadian defense and received a pass to put himself on a breakaway. Kharlamov deked Esposito to score the Soviets’ second short-handed goal. Paul Henderson scored seconds later to restore the two-goal lead, on an individual effort. The Soviets’ “Youngster’s Line” of Yuri Lebedev, Vyacheslav Anisin and Alexander Bodunov then scored two goals to tie the game at 4–4 after two periods.

Team Canada assistant coach Ferguson felt that the Canadians had gotten over-confident. “I was fooled again. I felt that after we had taken a 3–1 lead, the final score might be something like 7–1. But those two short-handed goals. When you score one shorthanded goal it can turn it all around. But two? That’s almost fatal.” According to Tim Burke of the Montreal Gazette, both goaltenders, Tony Esposito and Vladislav Tretiak, reached great heights, or the outcome could have been 10–10. Tretiak was making an unexpected start for the Soviets. The Soviets had planned to start Viktor Zinger, but he was reported to be ill before the game.The Soviets coach Bobrov complained about the refereeing and the play of Wayne Cashman, stating that “if that game had been played in Europe, he would have spent the whole game in the penalty box.”

Summit Series Kharlamov

Game Four

Game four was played in Vancouver. Team Canada was surprised to find that the crowd booed Canada during the warm-up and cheered louder for the Soviets during the game’s introduction. The game started with two consecutive penalties by Bill Goldsworthy and Boris Mikhailov scored power play goals on both penalties to give the Soviets a 2–0 lead. Goldsworthy, who had started in place of Wayne Cashman, wanted to replace Cashman’s truculence, but only hurt his team and was criticized privately by Sinden. In the second, Gilbert Perreault scored on a Soviet own-goal to get Canada within one goal, but Blinov scored less than a minute later to restore the two-goal lead. Rod Gilbert scored a questionable goal that was disallowed and Canada’s protests went unheeded. To Sinden, that was the turning point of the game, and the result could have been different had the goal been allowed, although Sinden admitted that it was “a beating.” Vikulov scored to put the Soviets ahead 4–1 after two periods. In the third, Goldsworthy made partial amends to get Canada to 4–2, but Shadrin scored to put the game out of reach. Dennis Hull scored in the final minute to make it closer, but it was too late.

Sinden had changed the lineup and the Canadian goals were all scored by players Sinden had inserted in place of players who had played in Winnipeg. Still, Sinden felt that changing the lineup had been a mistake. According to Sinden, Ken Dryden, who had replaced Tony Esposito, did not have a good game; he was shaky and Tretiak was great. According to Conacher, the Soviets used cross-ice passing in the attacking zone, a tactic that caused problems for Dryden. Serge Savard missed the game after fracturing his ankle in practice.


Team Canada was booed off the ice at game’s end. Responding to the negative public and media reaction in light of the expectation for an overwhelming Team Canada sweep of the series, Phil Esposito made an emotional outburst on Canadian national television:

“To the people across Canada, we tried, we gave it our best, and to the people that boo us, geez, I’m really, all of us guys are really disheartened and we’re disillusioned, and we’re disappointed at some of the people. We cannot believe the bad press we’ve got, the booing we’ve gotten in our own buildings. If the Russians boo their players, the fans… Russians boo their players… Some of the Canadian fans—I’m not saying all of them, some of them booed us, then I’ll come back and I’ll apologize to each one of the Canadians, but I don’t think 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 like hell. I mean, we’re doing the best we can, and they got a good team, and let’s face facts. But it doesn’t mean that we’re not giving it our 150%, because we certainly are.

I mean, the more – everyone of us guys, 35 guys that came out and played for Team Canada. We did it because we love our country, and not for any other reason, no other reason. They can throw the money, uh, 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 it’s fair that we should be booed.”

Brad Park and Frank Mahovlich also criticized the booing. According to Park: “We get nothing — not a dime for this. Brother, I’m sick”. Other players were more sanguine. Dryden didn’t lash out at the fans. “I’m disappointed, but I can understand it. The fans wanted us to do real good, and they’re frustrated we didn’t. I didn’t think I deserved to be booed. Tretiak frustrated us, but I guess I didn’t frustrate them enough.”

After the fourth game, the series went on a two-week hiatus. The Soviets returned to Russia and continued playing in an ice hockey tournament. The Canadians took a few days off, then traveled to Sweden for a pair of exhibition games before arriving in Moscow.

Game Five

Team Canada arrived in Moscow for the final four games at the Luzhniki Ice Palace, accompanied by 3,000 Canadian fans. Not long after starting practices in Moscow, Team Canada players Vic Hadfield, Rick Martin and Jocelyn Guevremont left the team and went home for various reasons. Team Canada used its practice-time in the Dvoretz Sporta to learn the differences of the Russian rinks. While there had been concern about the wider ice surface, what was most strange to the Canadian players was the fish-netting draped at the ends above the boards. The netting was strung tight and a slap-shot to the netting could ‘catapult’ the puck back as fast as the original shot.

Game five was held on September 22. Luzhniki was filled to its 14,000 capacity, including Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin and Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny and a large contingent of the military in dress uniform. The 3,000 Canadian fans were given seats, but a second group, of 150 Canadian sports figures, were unable to get seats. The players marched out to the rink for the game to loud cheers, and accompanied by the song “Cowards Don’t Play Hockey”. During the pre-game introductions, Jean Ratelle, captain for the night, was given the traditional gift of bread. The players were all given red and white carnations. Phil Esposito was given flowers, but he slipped and fell on a flower stem, landing on his back.Esposito recovered to laugh at his pratfall, and bowed to the delight of all of the spectators.

In the game, Parise scored the only goal of the first period, and Clarke and Henderson scored in the second to give Canada a 3–0 lead into the third period. Blinov scored for the Soviets at 3:34 and Henderson scored at 4:56 to restore Canada’s lead. Anisin scored on a deflection at 9:05 to start a run of four straight goals by the Soviets, who won 5–4.According to Bobby Clarke, “we’re not a defensive club, yet we tried to play defensively.”

Despite the loss, all Canadian fans present sang “O Canada” as Team Canada left the ice. The cheering of the Canadian fans was unknown at Soviet hockey games. The Russian newspaper Pravda noted wryly that the roof of the arena had withstood the loudness of the cheering and had remained in place.

Team Canada was now faced with the daunting task of having to win all three remaining games to win the series. To add to the Canadian struggles, Gilbert Perreault left Team Canada for home to focus on getting into shape for the upcoming NHL season. Perreault had played in game five, practiced with the team the day after, and then asked to return home.

Game Six

Game six was a Canadian 3–2 victory. There was no scoring during the first period. Lyapkin scored the first goal at 1:12 of the second period, but the Canadians’ confidence did not waver.The Canadians caught the Soviets in a lapse and scored three goals in a one-and-a-half-minute span to take a 3–1 lead. Hull flipped a rebound over Tretiak to tie the score after Gilbert had capitalized on a Soviet giveaway. Cournoyer scored on a set-up from behind the net by Berenson. Fifteen seconds later, Henderson scored what turned out to be the winning third goal on a thirty-foot slap shot. Yakushev scored late in the second on a power play to finish the scoring.

According to Montreal Gazette sports editor Ted Blackman, Canadian players Ken Dryden and Brad Park turned in their first big games of the series. Dryden ended a personal losing streak to Soviet teams dating back to his amateur career and two previous games in the series. In his opinion, the Canadian penalty-killing unit of Serge Savard, Peter Mahovlich, Bill White and Pat Stapleton was “brilliant” as it held the Soviets to one power play goal despite the disadvantage in penalty minutes. Savard himself was recovering from a fractured ankle during the series.According to commentator Brian Conacher, Team Canada had adjusted its game to not play “dump and chase” but instead retain possession in the offensive zone. The strategy led directly to Henderson’s winning goal on an interception of an errant Soviet pass. According to Conacher, “for the first time, the Soviets had opened the door a crack and Team Canada had rushed through like a freight train.”

Following the game, the Canadians complained that Josef Kompalla and Franz Baader, the German referees of the match (the same ones who refereed a controversial Canada-Sweden game), were biased, since Canada was handed 31 minutes in penalties during the game, while the Soviets only received four minutes. Phil Esposito complained that one goal by the Soviets was directly the result of the referee dropping the puck while he was talking to a teammate. The Canadians gave the pair the nickname of “Badder and Worse.”

“The Slash”

During game six, Valeri Kharlamov was targeted by Team Canada for attention. According to Conacher, “every time they get a chance, they’re taking him for a rough ride along the boards.” Kharlamov was the target of numerous bodychecks by Brad Park. Things started to heat up in the second period. Kharlamov had knocked down Bobby Clarke, who in retaliation, rubbed Kharlamov’s face with his glove to raise Kharlamov’s temper and the two exchanged punches. Bergman then stepped in and bumped into Kharlamov and harassed him all the way back to the bench. Peter Mahovlich later elbowed Kharlamov, who retaliated by dumping Mahovlich to the ice.

Summit Series SlashIn an incident missed by the referees, Clarke deliberately slashed Kharlamov’s already sore ankle, injuring it and according to reports, fracturing it. Kharlamov skated over to the Canadian bench and yelled at the Canadians, before limping off the ice to the dressing room. The referees realized that they had missed the incident and gave Dennis Hull a slashing penalty, during which Yakushev scored. On his injured ankle, Kharlamov returned to play and very nearly scored on Dryden during a power play later in the second period. The incident was widely reported and condemned by the Soviet press. Kharlamov himself believed that “Bobby Clarke was given the job of taking me out of the game.” The slash was apparently done at the instigation of assistant coach John Ferguson. “I remember that Kharlamov’s ankle was hurting pretty bad. I called Clarke over to the bench, looked over at Kharlamov and said, ‘I think he needs a tap on the ankle.’ I didn’t think twice about it. It was Us versus Them. And Kharlamov was killing us. I mean, somebody had to do it.” Canadian journalist Dick Beddoes asked Clarke about it later at a team reunion, calling it a “wicked two-hander”, to which Clarke replied “Dick, if I hadn’t learned how to lay on a two-hander once in a while, I’d never have left Flin Flon.” In a 2006 interview with the Russian Sport Express, Clarke states that he was unaware of Kharlamov’s sore ankle at the time and does not recall Ferguson telling him to target the ankle. Further, that Kharlamov used stick work on him, and Clarke’s slash was in retribution for Kharlamov’s actions: “we were going for the puck together, he pushed me with the stick, then turned around and skated away. I caught up with him and hit him on the leg, not thinking at all where and how I hit.” “I could hit them on the leg, but don’t forget that they did the same things to me. I am all for fairness, so the players who play tough hockey have to be prepared to get the same thing back. And I was ready for that. Soviet hockey had no fights so the players used other methods to get the point across. Like a little bit of ‘stick work’ here and there, you know. And I personally don’t mind this. I am a tough player and I respect toughness in others. But if I am poked with a stick I will do the same. We just had to adapt to the new ways of doing things, that’s all.”

On the thirtieth anniversary of the series, Henderson called the incident “the low point of the series”, but would later apologize to Clarke. In his 2007 book, Conacher wrote that “from the broadcast booth I was shocked and disgusted when I saw Clarke viciously chop at Kharlamov’s left ankle.” He noted “that emotionally these games had clearly gone beyond sport for Team Canada and had truly become unrestricted war on ice. Media opinion is divided on the effect it had on the outcome of the series. The controversy and admissions that have come forth throughout the years have led some to the belief that the incident could be considered a form of cheating. Kharlamov, who had been one of the Soviets’ best forwards, missed game seven, when the Soviets could have clinched the series and while he did play in game eight, he was not at 100% and did not score. In Clarke’s opinion, there were other factors for Team Canada’s turnaround in Moscow: “In Moscow we played much better than in Canada. We were almost equal to the Soviet team physically by then, we passed much better, we shot the puck much better, we became faster and played better on defence. Besides, when you have nothing to lose, it is easier to play. And after the fifth game we had nothing to lose.”

Game Seven

Canada won game seven by the score of 4–3. In the first period Phil Esposito scored two goals around a pair by Yakushev and Petrov, ending the first period tied 2–2. The second period was scoreless. In the third, Gilbert put Canada ahead, but Yakushev scored again to tie the score at three. At 17:54, Henderson fooled Soviet defender Tsygankov with a pass through Tsygankov’s feet, then skated around Tsygankov to pick up the puck and break in on Tretiak. As Henderson shot and scored, Tygankov tripped Henderson and Henderson did not see his shot go in. The goal light went on and off quickly and Team Canada rushed onto the ice to congratulate Henderson before there was any doubt raised about the goal. The Soviet coach Bobrov publicly blamed the loss on Tsygankov. After the game, Henderson commented about the goal as the “one that gave him his most personal satisfaction ever.”

The game also featured a controversial incident: During the third period, a small scuffle broke out between Canada’s Gary Bergman, and the USSR’s Boris Mikhailov, in which the future Soviet captain used his skate as a weapon, kicking Bergman two times before the fight ended. Czech referee Rudy Bata and Swede referee Ove Dahlberg officiated the match, and it was announced that the German referee pair of Josef Kompalla and Franz Baader had been sent home and Bata and Dahlberg would referee the final match, in exchange for a promise that Bergman would not publicly berate the Soviets’ coach Bobrov.

Game Eight

Controversy ensued when the Soviets wanted to back out of the refereeing agreement. The Soviets wanted to include the German pair of referees, originally scheduled for the game. Eagleson threatened to pull Team Canada from playing the eighth game. In a compromise, Kompalla refereed along with Bata instead of Baader. The ill will spilled over into the presentation of a totem pole as a gift from Team Canada. The pre-game presentation was cancelled by the Soviets, but restored on the insistence of Team Canada. According to Coach Sinden, Eagleson stated that they “were going to take this totem pole and bring it to center ice and they’ll have to take it or skate around it the whole game.”

Heading into the eighth and final game, each team had three wins and three losses and one tie, but the Soviets were ahead in goal differential by two goals. In Canada, much of the country enjoyed an unofficial ‘half a day’ holiday, with many students in Toronto being sent home the afternoon of the game, while many others watched the game at work or school. In Montreal’s Central Station, 5,000 fans gathered around ten TV sets to watch the game.

Team Canada took a number of questionable early penalties. With two Canadians (White and Peter Mahovlich) off, Yakushev scored to give the Soviets the lead 1–0. The game was delayed after a mistaken call against J. P. Parise, (he was called for interference, but Parise admitted later he was guilty of cross-checking) and emotions boiled over. Parise was called for a misconduct for banging his stick on the ice, and when he saw the misconduct called, he dashed across the ice with his stick raised. Parise nearly swung his stick at Kompalla and got a match penalty. Sinden threw a chair on the ice. Some writers have commented that the incidents resulted in the rest of the game being refereed capably.

After Parise’s penalty was served, it was Canada’s turn to go on the power play, and Esposito scored his sixth goal of the series to tie it at 1–1. The teams exchanged power plays before Lutchenko scored a power play goal on a slap shot to put the Soviets ahead 2–1. Brad Park then scored his only goal of the series at even strength to complete some pretty passing between Dennis Hull and the Rangers’ team-mates of Ratelle, Gilbert and Park to tie the score. The period ended with the teams tied 2–2.

In the second, the Soviets started with a quick goal by Shadrin after 21 seconds. The last ten minutes saw two goals from the Soviets: Yakushev scoring his seventh of the series followed by Vasiliev on the power play to put the Soviets ahead 5–3 after two periods. White had countered for Canada midway through the period. It was one of few moments for Canada to cheer as the Soviets played an excellent period. The other was a goal-saving play by Esposito who stopped a shot by Yury Blinov who had faked goaltender Dryden out of position and had an empty net to shoot at. Blinov was denied by Esposito who stopped the puck with his stick on the goal line. Blinov and the crowd had prematurely celebrated the apparent goal, and Blinov shook his head in disbelief.
Sinden told the players to try to get one back quickly, but play tight defensively and not allow the game to get out of hand. Don’t gamble until after the half-way point if need be. Esposito scored to put the Canadians within one. The tension rose at the rink, and extra soldiers were dispatched for security. It was matched on the ice as Gilbert and Yevgeni Mishakov had a fight. Foster Hewitt noticed: “You can feel the tension almost everwhere!”

At the ten-minute mark, Sinden noticed that the Soviets had changed their style, playing defense to protect the lead, rather than pressing. However, the strategy back-fired on the Soviets. The change in tactics gave the Canadians more chances to score and Cournoyer scored to even it up.

After the Cournoyer goal, the goal judge refused to put the goal light on despite the fact that it was signalled a goal on the ice. In response, Alan Eagleson (seated across the ice from the Team Canada bench) attempted to reach the timer’s bench to protest, causing a ruckus in the crowd as he made his way to the timer’s bench. As he was being subdued by the Soviet police, the Canadian players headed over and Peter Mahovlich jumped over the boards to confront police with his stick. Eagleson was freed and the coaches escorted him across the ice to the bench. In anger, he shoved his fist to the Soviet crowd, as a few other Canadian supporters also gave the finger to the Soviets.

The Soviets continued to play defensively. Sinden speculates the Soviets were willing to accept the tie and win the series on goal differential. In the final minute of play, with Phil Esposito, Yvan Cournoyer and Peter Mahovlich out on the ice, Paul Henderson stood up at the bench and called Mahovlich off the ice as he was skating by. Bobby Clarke was supposed to replace Esposito, but Phil didn’t come off (“There was no way I was coming off the ice in that situation” Esposito said). Cournoyer picked up a puck that had been passed around the boards by the Soviets in a clearing attempt. He missed Henderson with a pass, but the Soviets mishandled the puck in the corner and Esposito shot on Tretiak.

Summit Series Henderson

Henderson, who had fallen behind the net, got up and went to the front of the net where he was uncovered. Henderson got the rebound of Esposito’s shot, shot and was stopped; but in perhaps the most famous moment in Canadian sports history, he put the rebound behind Tretiak with only 34 seconds to play. “I jumped on the ice and rushed straight for their net. I had this strange feeling that I could score the winning goal”, recalls Henderson.This play is widely known as “the goal heard around the world” and was captured on film by cameraman Frank Lennon. The picture became one of Canada’s most famous photographs. The call of the play by Foster Hewitt would become an indelible memory for millions of Canadians: “Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here’s another shot. Right in front. They score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” Canada held on for the win in the game and thus the series. Pat Stapleton picked up the puck after the game.
1972 Summit Series_Henderson

Aftermath

Team Canada arrived back in Canada on October 1. The team was mobbed by an estimated crowd of 10,000 at Montreal’s Dorval Airport. Also greeting the team was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and City of Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau. Montrealers Ken Dryden, Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer, Jean Ratelle and coach John Ferguson stayed in Montreal, while the rest of the team travelled on to Toronto. In Toronto, an estimated crowd of 80,000 attended a ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square to salute the players. The players were welcomed by Ontario Premier Bill Davis and Toronto Mayor William Dennison.

Kompalla gave an interview with newspaper General-Anzeiger after the series. “When I recall these matches, my flesh creeps. Ten more such games and I would age several years. I am very glad that I got back home uninjured.” He went on to state that the Canadians played “very crudely, purposely using foul methods that endanger the lives of their rivals.” He complained that the Canadian team threw “cucumbers and other leftovers” at his colleague Franz Baader on the flight from Moscow to Prague and harassed visitors in hotels. Bobby Hull also criticized Team Canada, stating that the fighting and gestures of the Canadian players “were a bad example to young players and diplomatically harmful.”

The Soviet coaches Bobrov and Kulagin were interviewed after the series in Sovietsky Sport. They accused Team Canada of “trying several methods to intimidate their players, though this war of nerves did not bring them success.” The coaches said they were astonished that the Canadians argued with the referees. They singled out Team Canada Assistant Coach John Ferguson for his “pugnacity”. They did compliment Team Canada on their defensive skills but felt that the Soviets were technically superior, and, but for some deplorable mistakes by their players, the Soviets would have won the series.

[Николай Озеров]

[Николай Озеров]

2

3

4

[Николай Озеров]

[Николай Озеров]

Soviet Union Valeri Kharlamov (17) celebrates, behind net after scoring the goal against

[Николай Озеров]

Soviet Union goalie Vladislav Tretiak (20) in action vs Canada at Montreal Forum. Game 1. Melchior DiGiacomo F30 )