Rarely has a sporting event aroused such enthusiasm from one end of the country to the other and left such a lasting imprint on the memory of all the players who took part in it.
From September 2 to 28, 1972, the eight-game series between the star players of the National Hockey League and the supposedly “amateur” hockey players of the Soviet Union became the forum where the supremacy of the sport was at stake. It also opposes two systems at a time of Cold War between West and East.
As we prepare to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of what has become in collective memory the Series of the Century, the majority of Canadian players who have played in this tournament persist in saying that this is the moment that most marked their lives as hockey players.
If the former Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Ken Dryden, who played four of the eight games in goal, is still fascinated by the fact that the many memories of this series still inhabit him as much, his teammate of the era Serge Savard adds that it left no amateur indifferent.
“Why did this series resonate so deeply with players, fans and all Canadians,” asks Dryden in his recent book “The Series of the Century, As I Lived It”. Because we all made it personal. »
“It’s a special event. It was really the first time that we professionals could take part in an international competition. It wasn’t the Olympics, but surely the equivalent and even better,” says Savard, who had a glorious career with ten Stanley Cup rings to his credit — eight as a player and two as general manager.
“This series marked the players, but it also marked the people. Everyone old enough to remember remembers where he was when we won Game 8, even 50 years later. »
And it’s hardly surprising since, as Dryden points out, about 16 of the 22 million Canadians were in front of their televisions to watch Game 8 live on September 28, 1972.
“September 28 was a weekday and the game was in broad daylight at home,” he says. However, the activities of millions of workers and school children have been interrupted for a hockey game. »
Yvan Cournoyer, another of the six members of the Canadian dynasty of the 1970s to have played in the series, also believes that this series has no equal.
“I had the opportunity to win 10 Stanley Cups and that’s why we play hockey. But in 1972, the series was different. She really changed hockey, she gave it a new direction, ”he notes with hindsight.
The “kings” of hockey routed
This Canada-USSR series was presented at the time as an opportunity to restore the image of Canadian hockey, eclipsed on the international scene by the Soviets from the 1954 World Championship.
And for the occasion, we brought together all the big stars of the NHL – with the exception of Bobby Orr, injured, and Bobby Hull, shunned because he had joined the new rival circuit of the WHA.
For the first time, Canadian professional players had the opportunity to compete against the Soviets and prove that they were the best. At least, that’s what most watchers believed before the series began.
Nevertheless, this team from the other side of the iron curtain was intriguing.
“Before the first match at the Montreal Forum, I told Frank [Mahovlich], “Frank, I’m really scared, we don’t know them. They won the Olympics, we don’t know what style of play they play. It worried me a lot,” recalls Cournoyer.
And he was right, as the Soviets handed them a humiliating 7-3 defeat.
“We thought we were the kings of hockey, but we quickly realized that there were others, as good, if not better than us, underlines retired journalist Gilles Terroux, who covered the entire series in 1972. The Canadians suffered a nasty thaw in the first game. »
Defining victory
Now aware of the quality of the opposition, the Canadian camp now takes its opponents seriously, offering victory (4-1) two days later in Toronto.
In the opinion of Cournoyer, author of a goal that evening, this victory was decisive for the future.
“I think it was absolutely necessary to win this game to say to yourself ‘we can beat them if we play as we can.’ »
A tie in Winnipeg and a loss in Vancouver, however, increased the pressure on Canadian players and cast doubt among fans as the series shifted to Moscow for the final four games.
“After the loss in Vancouver, not many Canadians believed in the chances of this team winning the series,” says Gilles Terroux.
Phil Esposito’s heartfelt cry to fans during his national television interview after the game in Vancouver and the 13-day period between Games 4 and 5 — planned to allow the Canadians to adjust to larger European rinks during a stay in Sweden — had a unifying effect.
“The two exhibition games in Sweden allowed us to perfect our physical condition and consolidate team spirit,” admits Yvan Cournoyer, recalling that North American players at that time did not train too much during the season. ‘summer.
“They surprised us in the first four games, but we have to admit that they were ready,” notes ex-defender Guy Lapointe, who was invited to join the team due to the absences of Orr and Jacques Laperrière. , who declined the invitation.
“On our side, we had brought together 34 players, all stars within their respective teams and some had difficulty accepting to play a more modest role. Once in Russia, everyone accepted their role and we made a much better team in the last four games. »
In fact, even if the first game at the Luzhniki Sports Palace ended in a 5-4 defeat, the Canadians showed better cohesion and, above all, played more confidently.
However, the Canadians find themselves up against the wall: they must win the last three games to win the series. And everything becomes possible when they remove games 6 and 7, each time by the margin of a goal.
The loud cheers of the 3,000 Canadian spectators who made the trip and who attend the games galvanize theirs on the ice.
“The Soviets in the stands showed their support for their team by whistling, but they were quickly buried by the cries of the Canadian supporters,” underlines Gilles Terroux.
Ken Dryden says they were shouting this rallying cry: “Da, da, CA-NA-DA!” Niet, niet, So-vi-ets! »