THE SUMMER OF 1972 WAS A GOOD TIME IN MY LIFE. I was coming off a very solid season with the Maple Leafs, and Eleanor and I were looking forward to a trip overseas. An auto parts company, AP Parts, that I was doing some work for in the off-season was taking us and twenty-five other couples on a European river cruise down the Rhine River. It sounded like a fun trip, and Eleanor and I were looking forward to it.
Well, we wound up travelling overseas, of course, but to the Soviet Union – and it certainly was no vacation.
I guess I should first provide a little background on how much the Russians were dominating in world hockey at that point.
Canada had always been the power in international hockey, of course, as it was our country’s national game. As the years went on, a few things happened. First, European nations started playing the game a lot more and a lot better. Their game emphasized speed and skill with less focus on physicality, and playing on the bigger ice surfaces over there certainly helped.
The second thing that happened was that in both the world championships and the Olympics, Canada sent only amateur players, not professionals. The Soviet Union was producing great players, many of whom could – and should – have played in the NHL. In the days of the Iron Curtain, however, that wasn’t possible.
So the Russians took over on the international scene, as their top players wound up playing against our amateurs in all the major events, which was hardly fair to Canadian hockey.
The Russians were great players, make no mistake about that, and they were really improving as a hockey nation. That, combined with the fact that Canada didn’t send its best players to international competition, led to the Soviet Union dominating world and Olympic competition from 1956 until 1972.
From 1920 until 1963, Canada usually sent the most recent Allan Cup championship teams. Following the 1963 world championships, Father David Bauer founded the Canadian National Team to take over that role. Canada withdrew from official International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) events in 1970, and the national team program was suspended after we were refused permission to use even semiprofessional players at the world championship.
It was against this backdrop that hockey officials in Canada and the Soviet Union decided to play a “super series” that would pit the best players Canada had to offer against the best players from Russia in an eight-game series that would take place in September 1972.
So much has been written and said about that series over the years, and justifiably so. It was a huge deal back then, all across the country. As players in the National Hockey League, we knew what was at stake and we knew what an honour it would be to play in that series. It was the first time that the best players in the Soviet Union would play the best players from Canada in an international series, so we were all pretty pumped about it. We really wanted to finally put those Ruskies in their place!
But honestly, I didn’t think it would be much of a series. The best players in the world were from Canada, we all believed that. I certainly did. And it’s not that I thought the Russians weren’t any good. We knew they were good. But I thought we’d win just because of all the firepower we had. I thought we would overwhelm them. There was no way any team was going to beat us. We were all pretty confident of that.
I thought they might tie one game, or maybe win once, but I felt that if we didn’t win at least seven games it would be a travesty. And I wasn’t the only person in the country who was thinking that either.
It was the job of head coach Harry Sinden and his assistant, John Ferguson, to pick the team, and they had a lot of options to choose from. I felt I’d at least get invited to the camp, after scoring thirty-eight goals the year before. I always took care of myself in the summer, was always in shape, and after some initial reservations cancelled our holiday cruise so I could attend Team Canada’s training camp.
Early that summer I got a letter officially inviting me to camp, so I was ready to go. I knew it would be tough to make that team, as almost everybody who was invited was an all-star. We had incredible firepower up front. Phil Esposito, Jean Ratelle, Stan Mikita, Red Berenson, Gilbert Perreault, Marcel Dionne, and Bobby Clarke were the centres – how is that for depth! Frank Mahovlich, Pete Mahovlich, Rod Gilbert, Yvan Cournoyer, Mickey Redmond, Vic Hadfield, and Rick Martin were all high-scoring wingers, and our defence corps included names like Brad Park, Bill White, Pat Stapleton, Guy Lapointe, Don Awrey, Rod Seiling, Gary Bergman, and Serge Savard. We also had plenty of other solid players on defence and up front who could fill a variety of roles, and Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, and Eddie Johnston gave us very solid goaltending.
We wouldn’t have such stars as Bobby Hull, J.C. Tremblay, Gerry Cheevers, or Derek Sanderson because they had all jumped to the World Hockey Association, and we were missing the legendary Bobby Orr, who tried to play but couldn’t due to a knee injury. But when players like Johnny Bucyk and Dave Keon couldn’t even merit an invitation to training camp, there was no reason not to think we would have a tremendous team that could beat anybody in the world.
One of the toughest things we had to watch at the Summit Series was Bobby Orr’s attempt to play for Canada. Orr was the greatest defenceman of his era by far, a game-changer. He controlled the pace of hockey games, he could do everything, and we were all hoping against hope that he’d be able to play for us.
He came to training camp, but it became evident pretty quickly that he was in too much pain and couldn’t function after all the crippling knee injuries and surgeries he’d had.
There’s no doubt that Bobby was devastated. And it was tough to see him sitting in the stands, watching us, knowing that he couldn’t get out there. And after our loss in game one, let me tell you, we were all saying, “Where’s Bobby Orr? We could really use him now!”
It might have been a very different series with him in the lineup – we’ll never know. But we do know what a shame it was that Orr couldn’t have taken part in such a historic event. You had to feel for him – and feel for us for not being able to use him against the Russians.
I was pleased that my teammate and linemate with the Maple Leafs Ron Ellis was also there. We knew how to play together, and when they put us on a line with Bobby Clarke, we seemed to hit it off together as a unit. We were kept as a line right from the very start.
We came to training camp dead serious, and the three of us were ready to play. We worked our tails off and realized very early in the camp that, while we were long shots to form one of the top lines, we were going to make the team and contribute. We felt we were the best line at camp in the early going. We were fast, we could all hurt you offensively, and were responsible defensively as well. We might have started as the fifth, sixth, or even seventh line, but we came there with a purpose and we wanted to prove we could play with the best players in the world.
It was obvious at camp that some of the other guys weren’t as prepared and didn’t take it as seriously as we did. Everybody on Team Canada was a star on his own team, and some of them were being asked to fill roles and do things they weren’t used to doing. And some would be asked to play only sparingly and sit out some games because we had such a large roster. It was management’s feeling that we needed a lot of players because we were playing in the off-season and some guys wouldn’t be in the greatest shape, so everyone would end up getting a chance to play.
It didn’t work out that way, as some guys didn’t get to play at all. We all had to adapt and learn to play together in a hurry. The only line that played together on a regular basis in the NHL was the Rod Gilbert–Vic Hadfield–Jean Ratelle unit, so the rest of us had to find at least one new linemate and try to make it work quickly. Ron and I were really lucky – our line clicked early in the camp, while other combinations struggled.
We were the only line that stayed together for all eight games in the series. We had such great players at that training camp and on our roster, so for us to have stayed together for the entire series was an amazing thing. But really, looking back on it now, I can see how we were able to do it. First of all, Paul and I were friends and we’d played together for several years by then and were comfortable together. With Team Canada, they picked Bobby Clarke to play on the line with us and he was the kind of player that fit with Paul and me perfectly. In a lot of ways he was just a younger version of Norm Ullman, a great playmaker and tenacious forechecker who would do anything to win. Paul and I didn’t have to change our game one bit against the Russians thanks to pairing us with Bobby Clarke, so it really did work out for the best for us. We were a real line right from the get-go.
Despite the problems in managing such a large roster, I think if we had to do it all over again we’d have picked the same guys. Maybe some guys didn’t work quite hard enough to merit playing time, or maybe some guys just couldn’t find the right linemates. Whatever the case, you are always going to have some issues when you have that many stars all together. They picked the right players for this huge assignment, no doubt in my mind.
In the Red–White game, I scored twice and Clarke scored once in a 5–3 win for our team that really cemented us as one of the top lines as the series drew near. The series would open at the Montreal Forum, and we felt as ready as we could be.
How wrong we were about that.
In the dressing room at the Forum before game one, we were like caged animals. We were so pumped up it was crazy. Everyone in the country had been talking about this series for so long that we were at a fever pitch, eager to finally get at it.
We charged out onto the ice and the place was electric. We couldn’t wait to get going and run all over the Russians and prove Canadian hockey superiority once and for all. We were all tired of the Russians claiming to be better and beating Canadians at other international events because we didn’t send our best players.
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff and the first game was finally underway. Phil Esposito was so charged up that he won that ceremonial faceoff and almost fired the puck all the way back into our own end, that’s how much the juices were flowing!
And the start of the game went according to the script we had planned. Esposito scored just thirty seconds into the game, swatting a shot past Vladislav Tretiak, and at 6:32, Clarke got the puck to Ellis off the draw and he dropped it to me. I slapped a quick shot low just inside the post and beat him again, and we were up 2–0.
I’m sure the entire country was going nuts. The Forum sure was! And I’m positive that most fans and media thought this series was going to be a joke, that the Canadians were going to run all over the Russians in a rout. But those of us on the ice with that 2–0 lead knew even then that this was going to be a long series – we saw a tsunami in the background and it was coming right at us.
These Russians were good! They were so composed. We thought they’d just be awestruck by us and collapse, but they weren’t the least bit fazed even being down by two goals so quickly. They just kept coming – their physical conditioning was unnerving.
And they scored soon after to get right back into the game. They just kept coming in droves, and looking back on it now, we had expended too much energy in the dressing room before the game. Also, we were nowhere near the physical shape needed to play against this well-oiled machine. Right from the start, we realized their physical conditioning was vastly superior to ours.
How bad was it? It was like getting into a fight and becoming so tired that you couldn’t throw another punch if you’re life depended on it. We would come back to the bench and be so out of breath it was hard to have a conversation. We knew the game was slipping away from us and it was – and it did. We wound up losing the opener by a 7–3 score.
The gory details are well known: we got hammered. And in stunned silence in the Forum the game ended, and we knew now that this series was going to be anything but a cakewalk. What a terrible feeling that was.
The country was stunned – absolutely stunned – after that opening-game loss, but there was little time to stew over it. Two nights after that debacle, we were back at it with a chance to even up the series and make amends. Game two in the series was played at Maple Leaf Gardens, and for obvious reasons I was really looking forward to it. I would be playing in front of my mother and other family and friends in the Leafs’ home arena, and we were all looking forward to this game to right the ship in this series.
There was a lot of nervousness, too, because we knew there were going to be changes to the lineup; there had to be. We needed to be a lot more defensive than we were in game one, and we needed to be grittier.
And frankly, some of the guys we had out there just couldn’t keep up. Out went Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield, Rod Seiling, and Don Awrey; in went Wayne Cashman, J.P. Parise, Stan Mikita, Bill Goldsworthy, and Serge Savard. Tony Esposito replaced Ken Dryden in goal.
The pressure was really on, of course, but we were a lot more composed for that game. There was more of a sense of professionalism in the room before the game, that we had a job to do, and come hell or high water, we were going to do it.
It was another tough game, going back and forth, but it was a much more solid one from our standpoint. We started well and outplayed the Russians in the opening period, but the game was still scoreless after the first twenty minutes.
We didn’t get discouraged by that and stayed patient. Phil Esposito finally scored a goal from the slot on a delayed penalty at 7:14 of the second period to open the scoring, setting off a great celebration on the ice and in the stands. Getting the first goal in that game was crucial for us; it really lifted our spirits.
Yvan Cournoyer then used his blinding speed at 1:19 of the third period to breeze past the Russian defence and snap a shot past Tretiak to give us a 2–0 lead, and we were all feeling much better. But when Alexander Yakushev slipped a rebound past Tony Esposito four minutes later, the heat was on again – especially after Pat Stapleton took a penalty right after that.
It was then that Peter Mahovlich scored one of the most beautiful and important short-handed goals in hockey history. He took a pass from Espo and made a great move on a Russian defenceman before deking Tretiak to complete a remarkable individual effort and make it a 3–1 game. It was such a terrific play that we all leapt off the bench to congratulate him as the Gardens crowd went crazy.
Frank Mahovlich later scored to make it 4–1, and we had the win we so desperately needed. We knew by now that the series was going to be a real dogfight, but at least we were back to square one and we had a real sense of relief in the dressing room.
It was a very satisfying win for me personally, especially in front of the home crowd. And it was really important for our team’s state of mind to be headed to Winnipeg for game three with the series tied.
That was a game we led by two goals in – twice – but couldn’t close out. It was one of those games where we were just a little too lackadaisical at the wrong times and it cost us dearly. We committed several turnovers and the Soviets pounced on them, but I really felt we should have won that game.
J.P. Parise opened the scoring for us, and after the Russians tied it, Ratelle put us ahead once again before the period ended. Phil Esposito with yet another goal made it 3–1 for Canada at 4:19 of the second period, but Valeri Kharlamov again brought the Russians back to within one. I then fired a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle just inside the left goal post to beat Tretiak to again give us a two-goal lead at 4–2, but unfortunately we allowed the Russians to creep back with two more goals before the second period ended.
The third period was scoreless, so the Russians had another point and the series was again tied. Boy, that was a frustrating night in a lot of ways. We felt we let that game get away.
The Russians were tougher than we had expected, especially Tretiak. He was playing a lot better than we’d thought he was capable of before the series, and to this point was probably as good as either of our two goalies had been. We had a lot of great goal scorers, but they were having a lot of trouble beating Tretiak.
We had one more game to play in Canada – two nights later in Vancouver – and despite the bitter disappointment of blowing the leads in game three, we felt to a man that if we could win this game we’d be in pretty good shape.
The coaching staff thought it was a pivotal game as well, making more changes to try to avert another collapse. Dryden was brought back in to replace Tony Esposito, who had been playing very well, and Gilbert, Goldsworthy, Dennis Hull, Vic Hadfield, Rod Seiling, Awrey, and Gilbert Perreault were added at the expense of Ratelle, Mikita, Parise, Cashman, Peter Mahovlich, Lapointe, and Savard. Those changes raised a few eyebrows, but there was pressure on the coaches to get everybody into the lineup at least once. And we had played so poorly in blowing the leads in Winnipeg, so maybe they were warranted.
That fourth game was a bad one for us. We just couldn’t seem to get anything going, and I had a really bad feeling as it went on. We were never in this one, and I felt we didn’t have any jump at all.
Goldsworthy wound up taking two minor penalties early and the Russians took advantage on the power play to lead 2–0. Perreault scored a nice goal to get us back to within one in the second period, but two more goals by the Russians restored their two-goal lead. Goldsworthy redeemed himself a little by scoring after that, but another Russian goal followed by a marker by Dennis Hull made the final 5–3 Russia, which was a flattering score for us.
It was not a good performance. We had been soundly outplayed, and worst of all, we were booed by the fans in Vancouver throughout the game – basically booed off the ice. It was a horrible ending to the game.
It was then that Phil Esposito made his famous speech to the country when interviewed on CTV after the game. Esposito was such a leader, and his leadership was never more on display than it was after that game.
“To the people of Canada, I say we tried,” Esposito said. “We did our best. We’re really disheartened, disappointed, and disillusioned. We can’t believe we’re getting booed in our own building. I’m really, really disappointed. I can’t believe it. Some of our guys are really down in the dumps. They have a good team. Let’s face facts. We came because we love Canada. I don’t think it’s fair that we should be booed.”
We of course didn’t hear Phil’s speech since we were in the dressing room. We sure heard about it later, however, and it became a rallying point for us and all Canadians, but right after that game the mood in our dressing room was pretty grim. We were embarrassed, and frankly, there was a real pity party going on. A lot of guys were moaning about the fact that they had given up their summer only to be booed off the ice. Didn’t these fans know we were trying?!
The situation was critical at that point. We were now headed to Sweden to play two exhibition games before the series would resume with four more games in Russia and we were in real trouble. We had been so engrossed in the series that I had really never even thought about the fact that in order to win the series now, we’d have to go to Russia and find a way to get this thing turned around – and we now trailed 2–1–1.
There was a lot of dissension, a lot of infighting among the guys. We were carrying a lot of players – we had to because they had all come to training camp and made themselves available – and everybody was really feeling the heat at this point.
As we went overseas, it was clear we would have to find some solutions in a hurry.