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30 for 30 on Soviet Hockey: Were Canadians thugs?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Feb 9, 2015.

  1. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    One of the many, many memories I have of Lake Placid is as all of Eruzione's teammates bunch up with him on the medal stand, Vladimir Krutov is seen in the background with such a perplexed look on his face. Krutov was really young then (IIRC, about 20) and died a couple of years ago. It's my understanding he died shortly after being interviewed for Red Army.
     
  2. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    I hadn't seen it, so can someone describe what the USSR's reaction to the players when they came home from the Olympics? Were they treated poorly, ostracized, or punished, or was it just a ho-hum reaction?
     
  3. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    The reaction was far, far from ho-hum. Some fans were so shocked they questioned whether the Soviet players were drunk. Seriously.
     
  4. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I was sort of intrigued by the Russians talking about the crappy housing and conditions they were provided at Lake Placid. That's a little factual tidbit you don't hear when the story of the 80 Olympics is told from the American perspective.

    Seriously, we used a federal prison as our Olympic Village, housing the athletes in inmate cells? Think that would pass muster with the IOC today?
     
  5. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    It was Soviet Russia. Broadcast ends you.
     
    Gutter and Songbird like this.
  6. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    Back to the Summit Series. Lots of clips on youtube. Here's one:



    When the Commies took it to the Canucks it became rather a big deal to the Canucks. They took it out on their team and Esposito gave it back in that interview. I am far, far from a fan of Esposito, so don't try to put a Fan Buoy label on me.

    (Insert Fenian's Fan Buoy pictures here)

    Last week I was dethatching the house and was going through newspapers and magazines I had kept through the years. Found some Summit Series coverage in the local MN paper. Front page of the sports section at times. One piece also gave a date and time the next game would be on the local NBC affiliate. I don't remember watching the games, but I am sure I would have, given I was knee-deep in hockey at the time. One of the many memories that have oozed out of my mellon, I guess.

    Saw a clip on youtube where Dryden said basically both teams won. The Canucks won the series, but the Commies proved that they could hang with anyone, and that was a win for them.

    Reminds me, I need to put all those newspapers and magazines in recycling this week. Boxes and boxes, sad. Carry on.
     
  7. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

  8. MTM

    MTM Well-Known Member

    Very small sample size, but when we were in Russia in 2006, I mentioned the game to our guide, a large, Brezhnev eye-browed former KGB officer, and he glared at me and said the USA got lucky.
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2015
  9. SnarkShark

    SnarkShark Well-Known Member

    Bobby Clarke was a dirty piece of shit on the ice?! I am shocked by this development!
     
  10. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    If this loss barely mattered to them why did they use it as an opportunity to allow Tekanov to purge older players from the roster in favor of a youth movement and tell him to do what is necessary to make sure it doesn't happen again? Someone is full of shitsky.
     
  11. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    It's been long enough.

    The true story can be told about 1980.

    Viktor Tikhonov was a double agent. That's why he pulled Vladislav Tretiak, giving the Yanks the opening they needed to advance.
     
    Songbird likes this.
  12. Sea Bass

    Sea Bass Well-Known Member

    If Bobby Clarke had never learned how to lay a two-hander on somebody, he'd have never made it out of Flin Flon.

    His quote, not mine.
     
    Machine Head likes this.
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