Canada - Soviet Series - Part 2

Since there was such a positive response to my first post on the historic Canada - Soviet hockey series of 1972, I decided to expand my commentary and break up the last 4 games into 2 separate posts. This post will cover Games 5 and 6 in Moscow. The next post will cover Games 7 and 8, and some additional thoughts/observations on the series overall.

If you haven't read Part 1, you can read it here.

Game 5 – Moscow – Soviets lead series 2-1-1

· Originally, the series was going to be played in different cities in the Soviet Union like what was done in Canada, but the Soviets changed their minds on this and decided to play all of the games in Moscow. In some respects, this may have helped the Canadians as they were able to get used to the Luzhniki arena.

· The ice surface in Moscow looks like the ice you see on a pond. That’s because it’s over 2 inches thick. In contrast with that, ice surfaces in North American arena’s are less than an inch thick. The thickness of the ice surface in Russia will make for more bumpy ice.

· There are lots of technical difficulties with this broadcast. It’s shown exactly as it was to Canadians in 1972. The satellite transmission to Canada had to bounce around quite a bit before it eventually got to North America.

· It’s kind of fascinating to watch a broadcast originating from the now departed Soviet Union especially the playing of the Soviet national anthem. As it’s played, the camera pans over the faces of their heroes on the ice. There must be a lot of pressure on those guys.

· Figure skaters from Soviet youth programs deliver flowers to all of the players before they are introduced. Apparently that is a tradition in international hockey. As the players are introduced to the fans, Phil Esposito trips over the broken stem of one of the flowers and he falls to the ice. It’s a moment that lightens the entire atmosphere. Esposito the showman takes a bow to diffuse his embarrassment. Many of the Canadian players cited Esposito’s fall as a key in relieving their tension before the game.

· Canada is playing their best game of the series thus far. The two warm-up games in Sweden have helped to cement this collection of players into a team.

· J.P. Parise gives Canada a 1-0 lead late in the first period. Parise’s not usually a guy you look to for goals so it’s a huge bonus when he scores. The period ends with Canada on top.

· Canadians off to a quick start in the second – Bobby Clarke scores to make it 2-0. The Soviet crowd is getting a little restless. I don’t think this is what they expected after their boys did so well in North America.

· The up and down nature of this game is great to watch. This is the best game to watch so far from a fan’s perspective. The video problems are clearing up too.

· Paul Henderson puts Canada up 3-0 midway through the second. The Canadians need to stay on top of these guys though.

· Early in the third, the teams trade goals. Soviets score their first to cut the lead to 3-1, but Paul Henderson retaliates with a brilliant goal to give Team Canada a 4-1 lead. The Soviet crowd is starting to whistle at their heroes. They are not happy!

· Uh-oh, Soviets are playing much better and have just scored two goals in eight seconds to close the gap to 4-3. The television replay of the first goal had barely finished when the live feed showed Shadrin beating Tony Esposito on the far side. The crowd is roaring in approval. It’s 4-3 for Canada at the 10-minute break (teams switched ends in international hockey in those days).

· Canadians are reeling now. Bobby Clarke takes a penalty and the Soviets tie up the game on the power play. The good play of the first two periods has slipped away into a desperate defensive effort.

· The collapse/comeback is complete. The Russians score their fifth and take a 5-4 lead with just over 5 minutes to go. That’s the way it ends. Canada’s best performance of the series is turned upside down into a crushing defeat.

· One note on Tony Esposito – this guy is good. I didn’t get much of an opportunity to see him play in the 70’s and often thought of him just as Phil’s brother, but he showed me in this game why he is in the hall of fame. Frankly, he looks more in control and poised than Ken Dryden does.

Game 6 – Moscow – Soviets lead series 3-1-1

· This is a must win game for Canada. In fact, they need to win the remaining three games in order to take the series.

· Ken Dryden is back in goal. That’s a bit surprising after the Vancouver performance.

· A couple of interesting notes from the pre-game ceremonies. It was a stirring moment to hear 3,000 Canadian fans singing Oh Canada – an obvious emotional moment for the players.

· You can tell who the Soviet stars are from the volume of the ovation from the crowd: the goalie, Vladislav Tretiak and winger Valery Kharlamov. To this point in the series, Kharlamov has been the best player on the ice. He’s a strong skater with exceptional puck control. It’s too bad Bobby Orr couldn’t play; it would have been nice to see those 2 matched up.

· The game starts and the Canadians have turned up the intensity with a rough start. They are going after everyone and are really mixing it up after the whistle. It looks like goon hockey a little bit.

· Dryden has been tested a couple of times early in the first and he looks more comfortable. Perhaps he feels less pressure playing in Moscow.

· This game is really showing the contrast in styles of play. The Soviets are much more of a control, passing team. Canada has a lot of individual flair and speed. There are several players on the Canadian side that are faster skaters than anyone on the Soviet team.

· Another fascinating thing about watching these games from the Soviet Union is the graphics in the Cyrillic alphabet. When I was in high school, I was intrigued by their alphabet and decided to learn it. My wife just called me a geek for doing that. She’s probably right.

· Another difference about the arenas in the USSR is that there is no glass around the boards. There is only netting at each end of the ice. The puck can rebound in unexpected ways off of this netting.

· The game is being played with a good tempo in the first period. There are very few whistles. The referees for this game are from West Germany and they aren’t very good. They will be a source of controversy later in the series.

· Red Berenson just stepped on to the ice. College hockey fans may know him as the current head coach at the University of Michigan. It’s funny that he is wearing a white helmet and the only other player on Team Canada wearing a helmet, Paul Henderson, has a red one.

· Phil Esposito gets called for a marginal infraction, however he decides to completely deck someone afterwards and gets a double minor. Espo is fired up for this one.

· Things are getting tense in the crowd. The militia have moved in on the Canadian fans and have ejected some of them. The players are looking into the crowd with concerned faces.

· Dryden makes a huge save in the final minute of the period to keep the score level at zero. Period ends 0-0.

· Soviets score early in the second to take a 1-0 lead. A slap shot from the blue line beats Dryden. The Soviets use the slap shot a lot more than the Canadians were led to believe.

· Bobby Clarke and Gary Bergman are really roughing it up now behind the Soviet net. The Russians are looking at them like they are from another planet. It’s kind of funny to see the cultural difference in hockey societies.

· Canadians are putting a lot of pressure on Tretiak now and forcing him to come up with good saves. He robs Esposito right in front on a power play, but he can’t stop Dennis Hull from scoring a little later off of a rebound. Game is tied at 1 and the play is very exciting at this point in the game.

· The Canadian crowd is roaring as Yvan Cournoyer has given Canada the lead on a nice feed from Red Berenson. It’s amazing how the 3,000 fans from Canada can drown out the noise of the much larger Russian audience.

· Paul Henderson scores Canada’s third goal 15 seconds later. That’s three goals in about a minute and a half. This goal was a bad one for Tretiak.

· On that note, let’s talk about Tretiak. Before the series started, the Canadian press figured he would be a sieve. They poked fun at his “bird cage” mask which of course became standard in the NHL some years later. Once play started, everyone realized this guy could play, but that caused people to swing a little too far in the other direction when assessing his talent. Tretiak was a good goalie, but he was not the best goalie in the world as the Herb Brooks character in the movie Miracle stated. This Henderson goal showed that he was subject to giving up bad goals just like other goalies. Also, isn’t it interesting that as great as the Soviet hockey system was, it never produced another goalie who came close to Tretiak’s level?

· An ugly incident just occurred on the ice although it wasn’t captured on video and the announcers didn’t see it. Bobby Clarke has just viciously slashed the Soviets best player, Valery Kharlamov, in the ankle. Kharlamov doesn’t know it yet, but the ankle is fractured and his effectiveness in the series is over. The sad thing about this incident is that Clarke did this intentionally under orders from assistant coach, John Ferguson. Ferguson knew that Kharlamov was killing them and they couldn’t contain him. He obviously knew his players psychological makeup as well when he selected Clarke for the job. Not everyone in hockey is cut out for a hatchet job, but Bobby Clarke was. There’s ample discussion of this topic in the book and quite frankly, it’s a little disheartening to read. For me, the incident puts a stain on the series.

· Canadians are starting to draw a lot of penalties now. They’re playing well defensively and keeping the Soviet passing game in check. That ends quickly when the Soviets score a power play goal to cut the Canadian lead to 3-2.

· Canadians are now forced to kill a 2 man advantage for the USSR. Esposito took a 5 minute high sticking call for cutting Alexander Ragulin’s face. Period ends with Canada leading 3-2.

· Third period is supposed to be starting, but the Canadian team isn’t on the ice. The Soviets skate around for several minutes waiting for them. Some of them are doing drills. After about a five minute wait, Team Canada emerges from the dressing room. No explanation was ever given by Foster Hewitt, our play-by-play announcer.

· Kharlamov is really hobbled. When he is waiting for a face-off, he actually lifts his lame foot off of the ice so as not to put pressure on it. There was also a shot of him limping into the bench area. Every time he touches the puck, he quickly passes it to a teammate. He can’t make any moves whatsoever and it’s having an effect on his line’s performance. They can’t get their passing game going without his ability to skate and elude defenders while carrying the puck.

· For the first time in the series, I can clearly hear the new chant that the Canadian fans have coined: “Da Da Canada, Nyet Nyet Soviet”. Very clever indeed.

· Ken Dryden has put in a very solid effort in net in this game. I’m impressed that Sinden stuck with him given his atrocious performance in Game 4. Dryden was still a young goalie at this time in his career. In the spring of 1971, he came out of Cornell to help the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup, so the 1971-72 season was his first full campaign with Montreal.

· Remember Jimmy Chitwood from the movie Hoosiers? Peter Mahovolich looks just like him, just taller.

· The Soviets can’t get their game in gear in the third period and the game ends 3-2 for Canada. The Canadian players celebrate enthusiastically. They know they are still alive in the series. After this game, Team Canada management will insist that neither of the 2 West German referees be allowed to work again in the series. Keep that in mind when we get to Game 8.