Game 8, Sept. 28, 1972 How do I describe the importance of Game 8 to a young Canadian hockey fan? Let’s try this: remember when Sydney Crosby scored in overtime to beat the U.S. and give Canada the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, 2010? Well, it was like that, only
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In This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 6: Winning ugly
Game 6, September 24, 1972 The days between games were almost as agonizing as game days. In the two days between games, pretty much all I could think about was the upcoming game. On game days, I was almost sick from worry. This would have been a pretty good excuse
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72: The ugly Canadians visit Sweden, and getting ready for Moscow
So, where were we? Ah, yes. Team Canada left the “friendly” confines of home with just one win in four games, and the disapproval of Canadian (actually Vancouver) hockey fans still ringing in their ears. The series, expected to be an 8-0 romp for Canada (the pessimists pegged it at
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 4, Vancouver: Can you feel the love? No?
Game 4, Vancouver, Sept. 8, 1972 After the debacle in Montreal, no doubt many Canadian hockey fans consoled themselves by thinking, “Well, at least it can’t get any worse than that.” It could. And did. The Vancouver game, the fourth in seven nights for the still beer-bellied, out-of-synched Canadians, would
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 3, Winnipeg. The forgotten game.
Game 3, Winnipeg, Sept 6, 1972 First, you may be wondering … why Winnipeg? Why not Edmonton, or even (God forbid) Calgary? As hard as it may be to believe, at the time Winnipeg had the biggest and best arena on the prairies. Like I said in the beginning, this
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 1: A look back at our darkest hockey day.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Canada-Russia series of 1972, I went back and watched, via time machine (or maybe DVD), Game One from Montreal, played Sept. 2. Here is my report. It was a Saturday, the last one before school began again for the fall. At least there
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72. Why it mattered.
It’s 40 years ago today that Canada and Russia faced off in Montreal to start the most gut wrenching, confidence shattering, depressing and joyous sporting even in Canadian history, and one of the most epic in the history of sports anywhere (you heard me, Super Bowls and World Series’). It
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