For years, the best amateur teams in Canada were
easily able to win World Championships and Olympic gold
medals, but by the 1960s this was no longer true. Canada's
top amateur clubs found themselves unable to compete
with the Soviet Union and other top European countries
and, denied the use of professional players by the International
Ice Hockey Federation, Canada withdrew from international
competition in 1970. Canadian fans were longing to see
a series that would pit their best professionals against
the best the Soviets had to offer. In September of 1972,
they got their wish!
Most Canadians
expected the 1972 Canada-Russia series to be a one-sided
win for the NHL's best professionals. Certainly the
Soviets had dominated World and Olympic play since 1962,
but they were only amateurs. When Canada scored twice
in the opening 6:32 of game one at the Montreal Forum
on September 2, 1972 it appeared that Canadians had
been correct.
"Until
then," recalled Team Canada assistant coach John Ferguson,
"NHL players never worked on their upper-body strength
and seldom used off-ice training. Sure, a few jogged
in the summer, but, mostly, players came to training
camp and skated themselves into condition." This wasn't
enough against the supremely fit Soviets. Team Canada
lost on that hot September night and the resulting 7-3
victory by the USSR sent shock waves across Canada.
Valeri Kharlamov scored twice that night, Vladimir Petrov,
Boris Mikhailov and Alexander Yakushev had singles.
A young goaltender named Vladislav Tretiak made 29 saves.
Few Canadians knew those names at the start of September.
By the end of the month they were as familiar as Esposito,
Henderson, Cournoyer and Dryden.
Coach Harry
Sinden shuffled his lineup for game two in Toronto and
the result was a 4-1 Canadian victory, but Tretiak was
magnificent in a 4-4 tie in game three at Winnipeg.
Game four saw Team Canada take several careless penalties
en route to a 5-3 loss. Fans in Vancouver booed the
Canadians loudly, inspiring Phil Esposito to deliver
an impassioned speech in a post-game television interview:
"To people across Canada, we're trying our best . .
. We're all disappointed, disenchanted. I can't believe
people are booing us. If the Russians boo their players
like some of our Canadian fans-not all, just some-then
I'll come back and apologize." Esposito's speech marked
a turning point in the Canadian squad's evolution as
a team. "It was a war," Esposito would later say, "and
yes, hell for us whether we wanted it or not."
Canada
trailed 2-1-1 in the eight-game series and played two
games in Sweden en route to Moscow in order to get familiar
with the larger European ice surface. Three thousand
Canadian fans had arrived in Moscow and they helped
boost team morale. Especially after game five on September
22 when Team Canada let a 4-1 lead slip away in a 5-4
defeat.
"We were
having a rough time in Moscow with the lousy hotels,
phone calls to the players' rooms in the middle of the
night, the Russians snatching much of the food we had
sent over for the team, especially the steaks and beer,
and the terrible officiating by the European officials,"
recalls Harry Sinden. " But a long cheer at the end
of the first game in Moscow by the Canadian fans was
a big lift for our spirits."
Game six
produced a three-goal span within 1:23 of the second
period, with Paul Henderson's goal holding up as the
game-winner as Team Canada overcame more pro-Soviet
officiating for a 3-2 victory. Henderson was again the
hero in game seven when his goal at 17:54 of the third
period gave Canada a 4-3 victory that evened the series
at 3-3-1.
Very few
Canadians who were alive on September 28, 1972 did not
watch the game on TV or listen on radio as game eight
was carried live in the mid-afternoon. Absenteeism was
high at work places across the country and schools suspended
classes to allow students to watch the game, many of
them assembled in auditoriums or gymnasiums. The game
started badly for Team Canada, with referee Josef Kompalla
issuing fringe penalties that allowed the Soviets to
score a pair of first-period power-play goals and build
up a 5-3 lead through two. Goals by Phil Esposito and
Yvan Cournoyer allowed Team Canada to tie the game midway
through the third. In the dying moments, Paul Henderson
corralled the rebound from a Phil Esposito shot, but
his own shot was stopped by Tretiak. With 34 seconds
left, Henderson slipped his own rebound past the Soviet
netminder. Team Canada had a thrilling 6-5 victory
