We all have great childhood memories. And if you were interested in sports when you were a kid – chances are you were if you are reading this– you probably have some go to moments to reflect upon.
Depending on how old you are, that moment may be Joe Namath leading the Jets to Super Bowl III. It may be Hank Aaron’s 715th career home run. It may be Reggie Jackson’s three home runs in one World Series game, the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, Michael Jordan’s “shot”, Tiger’s chip at the 2005 Masters or anything Tom Brady has done since then.
For me, however, it’s all about September, 1972. It all happened 50 years ago this month. The 1972 Munich Olympics were on, and the world saw the heroics of Mark Spitz and Olga Korbut. They saw the travesty of the Soviet Union beating the Americans in what is still the most controversial Olympic basketball game ever played. And we all watched in horror as Israeli athletes were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists.
In Canada, however, the Olympics took a back seat to hockey’s “series of the century.” Canada vs the USSR. The first four games were played in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver), while the last four games were played in Moscow.
The Canada-Russia series was important because it was the first time that the internationally dominant Soviet team would play against Canada’s top professional players. The Soviet players retained amateur status as their official jobs were with the military or government.
The Idea For A Series
The Soviet Union was looking for a new challenge in hockey. They had dominated international hockey for an entire generation. The Soviet newspaper Izvestia published an article about how the Soviet Hockey Federation would be open to playing Canadian professionals. Gary Smith, a diplomat at the Canadian embassy in Moscow, saw the article. He was responsible for Canadian-Soviet sport and cultural exchanges and contacted Izvestia sports editor Boris Fedosov, and then had a meeting with the head of Soviet hockey, Andrey Starovoytov.
Before long, Canadian government officials in Ottawa got involved, and the negotiations started very quickly. The games would be played under international rules, which included two referees but no linesmen.
Eventually, Alan Eagleson got involved. He was a player agent and president of the NHL Players Association, and also a director of Hockey Canada. Players would not be paid for representing their country in the series, but there would be money going to the players union’s pension fund.
Team Canada
By the time the details were ironed out, the series would be played between the Soviet national team and a team known as Team Canada. It was the first time that a Canadian national team had ever been called Team Canada, and the name has stuck with Canada’s men’s and women’s national team for the past half century.
But some of the players still refuse to call the 1972 team by that name. The reason is that the deal only included players under NHL contracts. Bobby Hull had left the Chicago Blackhawks to sign with the Winnipeg Jets of the new World Hockey Association. Hull could not play, while Gerry Cheevers, JC Tremblay and Derek Sanderson were also ruled out. They were without NHL contracts but would soon jump to the new league.
The issue came up during the interview sessions at the autograph pavilion during the Sport Card and Memorabilia Expo in Toronto in May. Pete and Frank Mahovlich were on stage. Not far from them, Bobby Hull was greeting fans and signing autographs.
“We don’t call it Team Canada because it wasn’t truly a Team Canada,” Pete Mahovlich said. “The only way it would have been is if that man over there signing autographs would have been included,” he added, pointing at Hull.
Jeff Morris photo
In addition to Hull being absent, the greatest player in the NHL at the time, Bobby Orr, was hurt. He was with the team in camp and practiced, but his knee injury kept him out of the series.
The list of players that Team Canada coach Harry Sinden had would also need some adjustments. Derek Sanderson was not available, so he was replaced by Stan Mikita. Buffalo Sabres winger Richard Martin was added to the team in Bobby Hull’s place. Dennis Hull, Bobby’s brother, was going to quit the team over Bobby’s absence, but Bobby convinced him to play. Dallas Smith of the Bruins, who was Orr’s defense partner, had harvesting work to do on his farm. He was replaced by Don Awrey. Montreal defenceman Jacques Laperriere withdrew form the team, and he was replaced by his Montreal teammate, Guy Lapointe. Eddie Johnston relaced Cheevers and became the team’s third goalie.
The Soviet team had international stars like Valeri Kharlamov, Boris Mikhailov, Alexander Ragulin and Alexander Yakushev. Their goalie was 20-year-old Vladislav Tretiak. The Canadians scouted Tretiak once. He let in eight goals that game. The Canadian scout called him a Junior B goalie, and did not know the Russian goalie was playing the night before his wedding and was far from focused on the game. Because everyone in Canada assumed all eight games would be won by blowout scores, legendary goalie Jacques Plante met with Tretiak before the series and gave him tips on how to play the NHL players. Plante said he did so as he didn’t want the young Soviet goalie to be embarrassed.
The Series
The series began with a shocking upset. Phil Esposito scored just 30 seconds in Game 1, and it looked like the blowout was underway.
But then, things went south for Team Canada. The Soviets bounced back and took an easy 7-3 win. The entire country was in shock, as were Team Canada’s coaches.
Sinden made several line-up changes for Game 2 in Toronto, using grinders and more physical players. Tony Esposito replaced Ken Dryden in goal. Canada won the game 4-1. Game 3 in Winnipeg was a 4-4 tie, and then Game 4 was another Soviet win by the score of 5-3.
The Speech
After the game in Vancouver, the Team Canada players were booed. Many of the players took it personally, as none were being paid to play and represent Canada. Phil Esposito was interviewed on national TV in Canada and one of the most memorable and passionate speeches in Canadian hockey history.
“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.
“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. I mean, the more – everyone of us guys, 35 guys that came out and played for Team Canada. We did it because we love our country, and not for any other reason, no other reason. They can throw the money, uh, for the pension fund out the window. They can throw anything they want out the window. We came because we love Canada. And even though we play in the United States, and we earn money in the United States, Canada is still our home, and that’s the only reason we come. And I don’t think it’s fair that we should be booed.”
Off To Moscow
The Canadian team played a couple of exhibition games in Sweden, which are important in NHL history. As a result of these games, the Toronto Maple Leafs developed interest in Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom. They signed with the Leafs at the end of the 1972-73 season, opening the door for many Europeans to jump to the NHL and WHA.
In Moscow, Team Canada bounced back. They had gelled as a unit on and off the ice. They no longer expected to go in and put up big numbers and easy wins.
Game 5 looked like it was going to be a win, as Team Canada led 4-1 with just over nine minutes left to play. The Soviets scored four unanswered goals to win 5-4 and take a 3-1-1 lead in the series.
But after that, it was all Canada. Ken Dryden went back in goal and played very well. Paul Henderson scored his first of three straight game-winning goals. Canada won 3-2. The big moment of the series, however, was a slash by Bobby Clarke that fractured the ankle of Soviet star Valeri Kharlamov. It was later revealed that Team Canada assistant coach, former NHL tough guy John Ferguson, suggested to Clarke that perhaps Kharlamov needed a tap on his sore ankle. Clarke didn’t think twice.
Kharlamov continued to play on his fractured ankle.
Game 7 was also a classic. Canada won 4-3 with Henderson scoring the game-winner again. Gary Bergman was injured when he was kicked twice in an unprotected part of his calf by Boris Mikhailov.
Henderson scored the winning goal again, and suddenly the series was tied 3-3-1 and all of Canada was engaged in the biggest series in hockey history.
Canada Stands Still
September 28, 1972, was more of less a national holiday. Televisions were brought into school classrooms and gymnasiums. Stores and businesses closed for the afternoon. Until the final of the Canada-US Gold Medal game in 2010, it was the most-watched sporting event in Canadian history. And the only reason that the 2010 had a larger audience was the growth of the country combined with the fact that the game was played in the early afternoon or morning in North America instead of prime time.
The game was one of the most thrilling and memorable in hockey history. With 34 seconds remaining and the score tied at 5-5, Paul Henderson scored the most important goal in Canadian hockey history. Canada won the game 6-5 to win the series 4-3-1.
The Soviets, however, still claim they won the series, as they outscored Team Canada 34-32 over the eight games.
1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Hockey
The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee hockey set came out in three series. In the first, there was an insert set which was NHL All-Star Player Crests. The cards had a punch out head shot of an NHL player. The punch out part was in the shape of the NHL shield logo. There were also punch out cards featuring NHL logos.
The cards could be licked and stuck to surfaces. My mom was not a fan because after my first few packs, the mirror in my bedroom was destroyed and my dresser was in not much better shape.
The second series, however, featured a one-per-pack insert set of Team Canada cards. The cards featured a floating head shot with a Canadian flag and a Soviet flag in opposite corners. The set was a natural considering the amount of attention the Canada-Russia series had garnered several months earlier, but the relatively quick turnaround was something the card world really hadn’t seen before.
Of all the gimmicky cards that appeared as inserts in that era, including booklets, logo stickers and the aforementioned punch out cards, this is the one insert set that really has had legs in the hobby. With the anniversary of the series this year, graded and non-graded versions of the cards were in many display cases and garnering a lot of attention at the Spring Expo.
The 28-card set set includes 13 Hall of Famers, but you can still find ungraded versions less than $10 each. There are two uncorrected errors: Yvan Cournoyer’s first name is spelled with an “o” instead of an “a” and Jean-Paul Parise is missing the hyphen.
The backs have a short player bio in French and English along with the player’s stats from the Canada-Russia series.
The third series of O-Pee-Chee cards in 1972-73 were all WHA players.
One thing I have always found interesting is that, at least for hockey, this is the first true insert set that is a card set. Technically, it’s not. They were designed as stickers. But to me, this insert set changed the playing field and really set the stage for other inserts and short printed subsets in various sports.
Related Stories:
1975-76 O-Pee-Chee Hockey: Traded Cards Come Into Style
Stickers and More: The History of Early Hockey Inserts
Drafts, Trades and Head Transplants: Guy Lafleur’s Domino Impact On 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee Hockey
Everything’s Bigger at the Fall Sport Card Expo, Now Underway in Toronto
Hot Start: Collecting the Original Atlanta Flames
Phil Esposito’s Rookie Card a Slightly Confusing but Underrated Hobby Gem
The Big M: A Guide to Collecting Frank Mahovlich
1963-64 Parkhurst Closes Chapter in Hockey Card History
