Flap on a far more important matter:
Unifying a nation and a team
By Kevin Allen, USA TODAY
Canadian commerce was halted, schools were closed and life stood still
from
Vancouver to Halifax on the morning of Sept. 28, 1972. Team Canada's
Paul
Henderson became a national icon by scoring a series-clinching goal
with 34
seconds left in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series with the Soviet hockey
team. (Related item: Where are they now?
<http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/2002-09-16-summit-sidebar.htm> )
<http://images.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/_photos2/2002-09-16-summit.jpg>
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif> Paul Henderson
starts a nation's celebration in 1972.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
By Frank Lennon, AP
Team Canada's ability to shut down the Soviets wasn't nearly as
impressive
as its ability to shut down the Canadian nation.
"My dad worked in a machine shop," recalls NHL player agent Don Meehan,
who
was a law student at the time. "They had 3,500 people in his shop, ran
three
shifts 24 hours and nothing ever changed that. But I can remember my
dad
telling me the shop basically stopped for that game."
Just as American baby boomers know where they were when President
Kennedy
was assassinated in 1963 and when Neil Armstrong stirred up moon dust
in
1969, Canadians over 40 all know where they were when Henderson poked
the
puck past world-class goalie Vladislav Tretiak.
That the 30th anniversary is being marked by expansive media coverage
in
Canada speaks to the magnitude of the event. The accomplishment hasn't
lost
its luster. If anything, time has allowed Canadians to romanticize and
appreciate the importance of the win in their culture.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif> Summit
Series glance <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
The 1972 Summit Series was considered a defining moment in Canadian
hockey
history as NHL stars rallied to edge the Soviets in an eight-game
series. A
look back:
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 1, Sept.
2,
Montreal, 7-3 Soviets: The Soviets score four unanswered goals to erase
a
2-0 Canada lead, then shock Canadian fans with three late goals.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 2, Sept.
4,
Toronto, 4-1 Canada: Phil (goal, assist) and Tony Esposito (20 saves)
lead
the way.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 3, Sept.
6,
Winnipeg, 4-4 tie: Vladislav Tretiak makes 34 saves as Canada twice
blows
two-goal leads.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 4, Sept.
8,
Vancouver, 5-3 Soviets: Boris Mikhailov scores twice; fans boo Team
Canada.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 5, Sept.
22,
Moscow, 5-4 Soviets: Soviets score five goals on 11 shots in the third
period for a commanding 3-1-1 series lead.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 6, Sept.
24,
Moscow, 3-2 Canada: Bobby Clarke slashes Valeri Kharlamov. Paul
Henderson
scores the eventual game-winner.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 7, Sept.
26,
Moscow, 4-3 Canada: Henderson beats two defensemen to score the
game-winner
while being tackled.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/bullet.gif> Game 8, Sept.
28,
Moscow, 6-5 Canada: Facing a must-win situation - a tie would give the
Soviets the tournament on goal differential - Canada prevails on
Henderson's
second rebound with 34 seconds left.
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
<http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>
"As big as the 1980 U.S. Olympic triumph was in the U.S. - and it was a
defining moment in sports history - the 1972 win was even bigger in
Canada,"
says Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke. "You have to
understand
the relative space that hockey occupies in the fabric of the culture.
Hockey
isn't a sport in Canada. It's a cult."
The irony of the 1972 Summit Series celebration is that none of the
participants, or even the organizers of the eight-game tournament,
realized
its potential importance.
Phil Esposito, crucial to Canada's success, almost decided not to play
because he thought it was going to be a friendly All-Star game. He and
his
brother, Tony, selected as one of the Canadian goaltenders, had a youth
hockey school, and they didn't want to lose the revenue to train for an
exhibition series against Soviet players.
"I didn't know who the Russians were, and I could have cared less,"
Phil
Esposito recalls.
But it took only one game for the players to understand this wasn't an
All-Star tournament. This was communism vs. democracy and more
important,
Canadian hockey vs. Soviet hockey.
"The Cold War was at its height," says Canadian player Pete Mahovlich.
"It
was our lifestyle against their lifestyle. Who could win this hockey
game
had the better lifestyle."
To appreciate the triumph further, remember that Canadians held 99% of
NHL
jobs at that point.
Every small Canadian town has a hockey rink, and every Canadian parent
has
stories about taking children to practice before the sun comes up. The
only
heat in a Canadian rink is the steam rising off the coffee of proud
parents
watching their sons and daughters carrying on a tradition that gives
the
country part of its identity.
The celebration that followed Canada's victory in Moscow was said to be
the
most boisterous day for Canadians since the end of World War II.
Surprisingly tough foe
It became clear in the first three games in Canada that this was
anything
but an exhibition series.
This came as a surprise to the Canadians, whose scouts had watched
Tretiak
get trounced in a game and came home to tell coach Harry Sinden they
should
have an easy time with the Soviets.
What the Canadians didn't know, Sinden says, was Tretiak was distracted
in
that game because he was about to get married.
They learned that the Soviets, who trained year-round, were more highly
skilled than anyone had anticipated. The series stood at 1-1-1, and
when the
Canadians lost Game 4 in Vancouver, fans were so distraught they
started to
boo their players.
That set the stage for Esposito to make a speech on Hockey Night in
Canada
that is considered the turning point of the series. Miffed about the
booing,
Esposito chastised the Canadian people for not standing behind the
team.
"I didn't plan it - didn't even think about," Esposito says. "Words
just
came out."
Says Team Canada member Ron Ellis about the Esposito speech: "If other
guys
on the team would have been (asked), they would have had the same type
of
interview. But they wouldn't have had the same passion that Phil had."
The speech unified a country, and when the Canadians arrived in Moscow
for
the final four games, they found bundles of supportive telegrams
waiting for
them.
"We weren't Team Canada until Game 5," says Mahovlich.
To appreciate the situation, according to Mahovlich, it needs to be
remembered that players didn't have the same fraternal bond that
today's
players have. Most NHL players stayed on the same teams for the
majority of
their careers, and they didn't play on international teams together.
Even in
the offseason, players hung out with their teammates.
What Esposito's speech did was unify a nation and a team.
Florida Panthers coach Mike Keenan was playing at the University of
Toronto
when Esposito made his speech, but he immediately understood its
significance.
"As Canadians we sit and judge rather than stand and support," he says.
"I
think that's the difference between the American public when they go to
sporting events. Phil was asking for Canada's support."
Clarke followed orders
Once in Moscow, the Canadians turned up their performance, which was
definitely needed to beat a Soviet team that had many premium players.
"Our problem (in the first four games) was not our team, it was the
Russian
team," Sinden says.
The Soviets seemed masterful at puck possession, and their passing and
skating skill was eye-catching. "I think every single one of the
(Soviet)
players could have played in the NHL," Sinden says.
Canada didn't have Bobby Hull, J.C. Tremblay, Gerry Cheevers and Dave
Keon,
among others, because they had jumped to the World Hockey Association,
and
the agreement was between the NHL and the Soviets. Bobby Orr couldn't
play
because of injury. Then there was the booing in Vancouver and the
erroneous
scouting reports on the Soviets.
The series was rough, but the intensity was war-like in the games in
Moscow.
"Everyone did some things that we didn't normally do," Mahovlich says.
Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke, then a 20-year-old
NHL
rookie, broke the ankle of Russian great Valeri Kharlamov with a slash
in
Game 6. Assistant coach John Ferguson concedes that he asked Clarke to
do
what he could to take out Kharlamov.
"From my point of view, he was the guy we had to stop," Ferguson says,
"whether we took him out of the game or slowed him down. He was unreal.
Then
Bobby took the initiative with prodding from myself. I said, 'Bobby,
you got
to give him a little tap on the ankle. We had better stop this guy.' "
Says Clarke: "Everybody likes to talk about it, but I don't think (the
slash) had any effect on their team. He was a fast little bugger, but
Ron
Ellis shut him down pretty good after that first game."
Ferguson said the intensity level was so high that players performed
out of
character.
"Rod Gilbert was running at people, and J.P. Parise came out of his
shell,"
Ferguson says. "Those were guys that normally didn't play that way in
North
America."
The harshness wasn't restricted to Canada. In Game 7, Soviet player
Boris
Mikhailov kicked defenseman Gary Bergman, who had been one of Canada's
unsung heroes.
Many believe that the tournament wouldn't have meant as much had the
Canadians won convincingly. "The adversity just added to the story,"
Ellis
says.
Setting a precedent
By winning this tournament the Canadians established a tradition of
pride
and resiliency that still lives today. Canadians are revered for their
drive
and intensity at international tournaments, particularly their
teenagers who
play at the World Junior Championships.
Canadian national coaches always talk about the pride of wearing the
Canadian crest - a pride that was born in 1972. In the last Olympics,
the
Canadians won the men's and women's gold medals.
"As a history buff I can't say (the 1972 Summit Series) should rank
with
Canada's participation in two World Wars - that comparison shouldn't be
made," Sinden says. "But in terms of creating national pride and a
national
feeling about a resource, this ranks at the top."
Contributing: Chuck Gormley
_____
<http://images.clickability.com/pti/spacer.gif> |
