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( Canada ) shooting towards Vladislav Tretiak ( USSR ) during a game of the Summit Series]] The Summit Series was the first competition between full-strength Soviet and Canadian national Ice Hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September of 1972. Canada won the series four games to three, with one tie. Summit Series has become the most popular it is known as ''La Série du Siècle'' -- The Series of the Century, and in Russian ''Суперсерия СССР — Канада'' -- USSR-Canada Superseries. INTRODUCTION The Series was played at a time when only amateurs were allowed to play in the Olympic Games . The Soviet players, who had Olympic experience, were amateurs by strict definition only, as they were elite players playing hockey full-time in their native country and given other titular professions (e.g. Army officer's commissions) to maintain the amateur ruse for Olympic eligibility. Team Canada featured the country's best professional NHL ers, who by virtue of this status were ineligible for Olympic competition. The eight-game series consisted of four games in Canada , held in Montreal ( Montreal Forum ), Toronto ( Maple Leaf Gardens ), Winnipeg ( Winnipeg Arena ) and Vancouver ( Pacific Coliseum ) and four games in the Soviet Union , all of them held in Moscow ( Palace Of Sports, Lenin Central Stadium ). The series was played at the height of the Cold War . Intense feelings of nationalism were aroused by the contest in both Canada and the Soviet Union, partly as a result of the Cold War that was ongoing between Canada's close ally the United States and the Soviet Union, with Canadians believing they were fighting for the western capitalist world, and the Soviets playing for their communist world. The series proved to be an emotional roller-coaster and an unforgettable, electric moment in sports history because of the Soviet team's strong showing which was unexpected in Canada, and the intrigue of watching Team Canada's amazing comeback broadcast from Moscow in grainy, halting transmissions with players' names displayed on screen using the Cyrillic alphabet. The games showcased many great Russian players such as Valery Kharlamov , Alexander Yakushev and Vladislav Tretiak against the stiffest competition they had ever faced, and they revealed the exceptional leadership of the great scorer Phil Esposito and the unsung heroics of solid NHL veterans like Paul Henderson and Gary Bergman . Canada's Bobby Orr , the most dominant NHL player at the time, was named to the team but did not play because of a knee injury. Bobby Hull , another dominant player, was selected for the team by coach Harry Sinden , but was ruled ineligible to play because of his defection from the NHL to the rival World Hockey Association . Alan Eagleson , a player agent and the future head of the National Hockey League Players Association , was involved in forming the Canadian team. He was also considered to be responsible for the decision to exclude Hull and other WHA stars. GAME 1 In Game One, held in Montreal on September 2, Phil Esposito scored for Canada after just 30 seconds of play. When Canada took a two-goal lead six minutes in, Canadian spectators and pundits alike felt that pre-series predictions of a rout had been proven correct. The hard-working Soviets staged a comeback, though, tying the score before the end of the first period. In the second period, Valery Kharlamov scored twice, giving the Soviets a two-goal lead. Bobby Clarke scored to bring Canada within one, but the Soviets pulled away with three more goals in the third and won 7-3. The Canadian players later commented on the superior physical conditioning of the Soviets, as well as their disciplined and relentless playing style. This general scheme—of the Canadians playing well initially but declining near the end of the game due to insufficient physical conditioning—was to be a common feature of the series. Another difference was that the Soviets stayed in peak physical condition all year round, while the Canadians had a summer offseason and relied upon the last-minute training camp to get back in shape. GAME 2 Game 2 was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto . Team Canada came back strong in Game Two, with Tony Esposito taking over goaltending duties from Ken Dryden . The game included an historical shorthanded goal from Peter Mahovlich in the third period which seemed an impossible goal to make. The goal put Canada up 3-1 and they never looked back. Team Canada won the game 4-1 and tied the series. GAME 3 Game 3 was held in Winnipeg . Team Canada held leads of 3-1 and 4-2, but had to settle for a 4-4 tie. GAME 4 Team Canada played poorly in Game Four in 's famous emotional outburst went out on 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." This lit a fire under Team Canada and the whole country. SWEDEN During a two-week hiatus, the Canadians played two exhibition games versus the Swedish national team on September 16 and September 17 at the Hovet arena in Stockholm . Canada won game one 4-1; the second game was a 4-4 tie. The second game included an outburst from both teams, which resulted in Wayne Cashman getting his tongue cut open, requiring 50 stitches and forcing him to miss the rest of the Summit Series, although he stayed with the team. The first exhibition game also introduced Canada to two West German referees who would figure prominently in Games 6 and 8 of the remainder of the series. Team Canada was heavily criticized by the Swedes for its "criminal"-style play during the two games. The games in Sweden, however, helped bring Canada together as a team and focused them for the final four games. GAME 5 Team Canada went to the Soviet Union for the final four games as a team, accompanied by 3,000 proud Canadian fans. Team Canada players Vic Hadfield , Rick Martin , and Jocelyn Guevremont left the team and all went home for various reasons. On September 22, in Game Five in Moscow, Canada led 4-1, but ended up losing the game 5-4. Team Canada was now faced with the hard fact that with three games remaining in the series, the Soviets were ahead by two victories. To add to the Canadian struggles, Gilbert Perreault left team Canada to focus on Buffalo Sabres training camp, along with teammate Rick Martin. GAME 6 Game Six was a Canadian 3-2 victory. The Canadians complained that the German referees (first seen in the Swedish exhibition games) were biased, since Canada was handed 31 penalty minutes during the game, while the Soviets only received four 1. This game also saw the most controversial play of the entire series. In the second period, Bobby Clarke deliberately slashed Valery Kharlamov 's ankle, fracturing it. Years later, John Ferguson, Sr., an assistant coach with Team Canada, was quoted as saying "I called Clarke over to the bench, looked over at Kharlamov and said, 'I think he needs a tap on the ankle.'" Kharlamov was the Soviet's best player; although he played the rest of the game, he missed Game Seven and was largely ineffectual in Game Eight. (In 1976, Bobby Clarke's Philadelphia Flyers would play an Exhibition against a Soviet squad, where Kharlamov was involved in another controversy after being pummelled by the Flyers Ed van Impe, which caused him to lie prone on the ice for a minute and led the Soviet team to leave the ice in protest.) GAME 7 Canada won Game Seven by the score of 4-3, with Paul Henderson scoring the winning goal late in the third period on a strong individual effort. The game also featured one of the most disgraceful plays in hockey history. During the third period, a small scuffle broke out between Canada's Gary Bergman , and Russia's Boris Mikhailov , in which the Soviet captain commited a cardinal sin in hockey, using his skate as a weapon, kicking Gary Bergman two times before the battle ended. GAME 8 Heading into Game Eight, each team had three wins and three losses, with one tie. Only a win in Game Eight would deliver victory in the series. Canada just about shut down for the game on September 28 , with many watching it at work or school. In the game itself, Canada took a number of questionable early penalties (which wasn't surprising to Canada, as they were the same referees who were apparently biased in Game 6.) The game was delayed after a marginal call against Jean-Paul Parise , and emotions boiled over. Parise nearly swung his stick at the referee and got a match penalty. Sinden threw a chair on the ice. Despite the penalties, the score was 2-2 after the first period, but the Soviets pulled ahead 5-3 after two. Things looked grim for Team Canada. During the second intermission, goalie Ken Dryden was reported to have thought, "If we lose this one, I'll be the most hated man in Canada." But the Canadians came out roaring in the third period, and Phil Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer scored to even it up. After Cournoyer's goal, Alan Eagleson (seated across the ice from the Team Canada bench) caused a ruckus in the crowd because the goal light had not come on. As he was being subdued by the Soviet police, the Canadian players headed over, Peter Mahovlich actually going over the boards to confront police with his stick. Eagleson was freed and the players 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. At that point, with the score tied 5-5 and the series tied 3-3-1, a member of the Soviet delegation unexpectedly informed Canada that, if the score and the series remained tied, the Soviets would claim victory on goal differential. Then, with just 34 seconds remaining in the game, Paul Henderson , in perhaps the most famous moment in Canadian sports history, scored for Canada, jamming in a rebound behind Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak . 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.2. Canada held on for the win in the game and thus the series. Almost all Canada erupted in celebration; it was truly a memorable moment for the country. In the Soviet Union, many people thought that their country would have won if the Canadians had not fractured the ankle of their best player. In addition to the eight games against the Soviets and two against the Swedes, the Canadians also played an exhibition game against Czechoslovakia . The game took place on September 29 at the Sportovní Hala , and ended in a tie. LEGACY The success of the 1972 Summit Series would lead to the development of the Canada Cup hockey championships. It also led to regular series "Soviet clubs vs the NHL ", known as the Super Series , that also were held since 1976, as did the Canada Cup. As time passed, the significance of the series grew in the public consciousness, and the term "Summit Series" became its unofficial accepted name. In Canada today, the Summit Series remains a source of much national pride, and is seen by many as a landmark event in Canadian cultural history. Marcel Dionne was the last active player from the Canadian roster. He retired in 1989 as a member of the New York Rangers . In 2005, the team was honoured, en masse, as members of the Canadian Sports Hall Of Fame . On April 9-10, 2006, the , a film which details the 1972 Summit Series. Henderson's goal in 1972 has been described as "the goal that everyone remembers" by the Canadian rockers The Tragically Hip in their song "Fireworks" from their album Phantom Power . The song describes the national eruption of celebration over the goal. The hit CTV show Corner Gas paid homage to the series in the fourth season episode "The Good Old Table Hockey Game". ROSTERS Canada Forwards (and Position) Phil Esposito (C), Frank Mahovlich (LW), Peter Mahovlich (C), Bobby Clarke (C), Gilbert Perreault (C), Yvan Cournoyer (RW), Paul Henderson (LW), Ron Ellis (RW), Bill Goldsworthy (RW), Stan Mikita (C), Wayne Cashman (RW), Vic Hadfield (LW), Jean Ratelle (C), Marcel Dionne (C), Rick Martin (LW), Jean-Paul Parise (LW), Red Berenson (C), Rod Gilbert (RW), Dennis Hull (LW), Mickey Redmond (RW). Defencemen Serge Savard , Guy Lapointe , Gary Bergman , Bill White , Rod Seiling , Dale Tallon , Jocelyn Guevremont , Brian Glennie , Pat Stapleton , Don Awrey , Brad Park . ( Bobby Orr was also on the roster, but did not play due to injuries.) Goaltenders Tony Esposito , Ken Dryden , Ed Johnston . Coaches and Managers Notes Paul Henderson remains best known for scoring the winning goals in the sixth, seventh and eighth (deciding) games of the 1972 Summit Series. He also would have had the game winning goal in Game 5 as well; however, Canada could not hold their 4-1 lead and lost 5-4. Only seven Canadians played in all eight games: Phil Esposito, Clarke, Cournoyer, Henderson, Ellis, Bergman, and Park. In goal, Tony Esposito and Dryden each played four games. Team Canada defenceman Savard has a unique claim to fame — Canada won or tied all five games in which he played, but lost all three games in which he sat out. Soviet Union Forwards Boris Mikhailov , Vladimir Petrov , Yury Blinov , Valery Kharlamov , Alexander Yakushev , Yevgeni Zimin , Vyacheslav Starshinov , Vladimir Vikulov , Yevgeni Mishakov , Alexander Maltsev , Vladimir Shadrin , Yuri Lebedev , Alexander Volchkov , Vyacheslav Anisin , Alexander Bodunov , Alexander Martynyuk , Viacheslav Solodukhin . Defencemen Valery Vasiliev , Alexander Ragulin , Viktor Kuzkin , Vladimir Lutchenko , Gennadiy Tsygankov , Yuri Lyapkin , Yuri Shatalov , Aleksandr Gusev , Vitaly Davydov , Yevgeny Paladiev . Goaltenders Vladislav Tretiak , Victor Zinger , Alexander Sidelnikov , Alexander Pashkov . Coaches Head Coach: Games Game 1: September 2 , 1972 , Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Game 2: September 4 , 1972 , Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Game 3: September 6 , 1972 , Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Game 4: September 8 , 1972 , Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Game 5: September 22 , 1972 , Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow, USSR Game 6: September 24 , 1972 , Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow, USSR Game 7: September 26 , 1972 , Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow, USSR Game 8: September 28 , 1972 , Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow, USSR Canada wins series 4-3-1 SEE ALSO
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