1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Happy 40th Birthday to the Canada/Soviet 1972 Summit Series

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by JR, Sep 15, 2012.

  1. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the head's up on the telecast.

    2010 is certainly big, but the political climate was so different as was the opponent.

    BTW, isn't this the 25th anniversary of the 1987 Canada Cup? Best hockey I've ever seen. Dan Kelly's voice is in my head.
     
  2. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Best hockey ot at the very least most entertaining hockey I have seen. TSN replayed the 3 game series a few weeks back. If those games were officiated the way it is now we never would have seen 5 on 5 hockey. Messier was just vicious.
     
  3. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    One thing I'm curious about, is what was the reaction to the '72 series in the U.S.? Hockey wasn't as big a sport back then, but were the games televised in the U.S., or were they shown on tape delay, or just highlights? And, I'm assuming, Americans were rooting like hell for the Canadians.
     
  4. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Regarding this and other big stories: The media constantly build up the athletes and teams, over and over, until often it becomes too much. See: Favre, Tebow, Kobe, etc., etc. ... Then, whenever one of these demigods falls from grace, the media distance themselves immediately and blame the fans for worshiping such mortals.

    Restraint goes a long way, in good times and bad alike. We should demonstrate it more often.
     
  5. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    JR?

    I was a little kid in the States, but already a newspaper reader. In my neck of the woods, it was briefs.

    I can't imagine it being televised on any basis, other than highlights, in the U.S. I may be wrong, but I think 1972 was the first year of NBC's Game of the Week coverage in which we were eventually introduced to Peter Puck.

    For Americans who cared or even knew, I'm sure your assumption is correct.
     
  6. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    Not sure this applies to the Summit Series.
     
  7. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    In one of the endless series of oral histories that have been everywhere over the past couple of weeks, Don Cherry, coach of the Rochester Americans at the time, said he was running practice the day of the final game and had a trainer monitoring the game on the radio, presumably on station picked up from Canada.
     
  8. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I agree. Or Miracle on Ice. But I was referring to the point of being beaten over the head with it. Tebow was a good story, and he hasn't done anything wrong to this point. But who wants to hear about Tebow anymore? We were beaten over the head with Tebow stories for months on end.
     
  9. Liut

    Liut Well-Known Member

    I'm a fan of sports history, history in general, and Cold War history in particular. So for me, the Summit Series and all its subplots is fascinating and timeless. Or, maybe it just means I'm an old geezer.

    I do agree with your overall premise.
     
  10. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Not growing up with hockey, and then becoming a fan, is one reason I love flashback coverage of the Summit Series. Plus, it was a gigantic time for Canada to shine. I like it when it's not All USA, All the Time.
     
  11. JR

    JR Well-Known Member


    If my memory serves me well, other than a brief mention in the NYT after the series was over, this was a total non event south of the border. Even now, you meet American hockey fans who aren't aware of the series. It certainly wasn't televised in the US

    Someone mentioned the 1987 Canada Cup and the three game championship series against the Soviets. Each game ended 6-5. The Commies winning game 1 in OT , the Canadian game 2 in OT and then of course, in game three with the second most famous goal in Canadian hockey history.

    Like JC watched the games on TSN. Game two may be the greatest hockey game every played.



    Oh, and I agree with Huggy on the media overexposure of the series.
     
  12. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    I interviewed Dale Hawerchuk some years ago and asked him about taking the faceoff that led to Lemieux's goal. He said Mike Keenan sent him out to replace Mark Messier who was at the end of a shift and as they passed each other Messier gave him a scary look that basically said, "You better not lose this."

    You can't see it on the tape, but Hawerchuk was accused of tripping a Russian player who was trying to get back in to the play. Like a good Canadian he denied it and said the guy took a dive!
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page