30 Years Ago 1972

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Paul Henderson made hockey history by scoring the series-winning goal against the Soviet National team back in 1972. The team was comprise solely of NHL professionals, which compromised the team's level of talent.

However, of those NHLers there was a strong core of Montreal Canadiens who played on that team as well. Frank and Peter Mahovlich, Ken Dryden, Ivon Cournoyer, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard.

Frank Mahovlich scored only one goal in the six games he faced the Soviets, but could have had many more if not for a young 20-year-old Russian goaltender, Vladislav Tretiak.

Pete Mahovlich also scored only one goal, but it turned out to be the series' only shorthanded goal. The Little M danced around Evgeni Paladiev and deaked goaltender, Vladislav Tretiak to score a goal that is still talked about today.

Ken Dryden didn't exactly have the start he had hoped for in Game one losing 7-3. However, Dryden didn't exactly have the support of his defensemen either. They were exhausted after only one period. Dryden did however, find his form for Game 8 and backstopped Canada in their final-game victory.

Ivon Cournoyer played all eight games against the Soviets and scored three goals throughout the series. His game-tying goal in Game 8 was crucial. An intense competator, Cournoyer was the only Canadian invited to Moscow for the Russians' 30th commemoration ceremonies.

Guy Lapointe played seven games for Team Canada and almost declined the invitation as he and his wife were expecting their first child was due in the month of September. However, Lapointe missed the Czechoslovakian exhibition game as his son was already 2 days old.

I often wondered why Serge Savard never played in all eight games of the series. Savard actually reported to camp not fully recovered from a serious injury and the games he missed were necessary for him to heal. Savard continually reminds his once-teammates that he never played a losing game against the Russians; four wins and a tie.

It's important that we remember this historic hockey series not as humbling experience to an over-confident hockey nation such as Canada, but as a revolution in hockey all over the world.

And though the likes of Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Derek Sanderson, JC Tremblay, and Gerry Cheevers would have made a significant difference in the outcome of the series, the fact remains that they did not play. In fact, the players who defended our national identity weren't the best we could have iced, but this is irrelevant. They were there.

This is the 30th anniversary of that historic series, a series that started out as an exhibition hockey tournament and ended up as a war between players and ideologies; a series that changed the look of hockey forever.

Cheers.

[Mike_Anton]

Who could forget sitting in class as a 10 year old I was at the time and seeing the class just erupt when Henderson scored.

I actually was out of the country for most of that series. I cam back to see the last two games. I was so disappointed thinking I would miss the series but more so thinking Canada would lose.

I also remember feeling so proud because there were so many Montreal Canadiens on the team.

[BCHab]

Game 8 was something else! Terrific hockey. I've been following the replay of the series on NHL Classic. It seems that the Montreal players, except Cournoyer, were not the among the best on the team despite their number and the odd Savardian spinorama.

IMO, the Esposito line made things happen everytime they were out there, particularly after the Vancouver game. The Ellis-Clarke-Henderson line also played great, in-your-face hockey. Judging by how the Russians scored most of their goals, I'm not sure Cheevers or any other goalie playing in the league would have been better than Dryden or Esposito. Cheers

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Mike_Anton said:

Who could forget sitting in class as a 10 year old I was at the time and seeing the class just erupt when Henderson scored.

I actually was out of the country for most of that series. I cam back to see the last two games. I was so disappointed thinking I would miss the series but more so thinking Canada would lose.

I also remember feeling so proud because there were so many Montreal Canadiens on the team.

Thanks Mike. Of the six Habs on the team, Cournoyer was the only one to have played all eight games. Lapointe played in seven, as did Pete Mahovlich.

I was actually at home watching the game with my mother when Henderson popped the winner. I had broken my wrist while at school playing football the day before. Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

BCHab said:

Game 8 was something else! Terrific hockey. I've been following the replay of the series on NHL Classic. It seems that the Montreal players, except Cournoyer, were not the among the best on the team despite their number and the odd Savardian spinorama.

IMO, the Esposito line made things happen everytime they were out there, particularly after the Vancouver game. The Ellis-Clarke-Henderson line also played great, in-your-face hockey. Judging by how the Russians scored most of their goals, I'm not sure Cheevers or any other goalie playing in the league would have been better than Dryden or Esposito. Cheers

Actually the only Hab I expected more from was Frank Mahovlich. He had his chances but Tretiak was there all the time. Also, I think Frank only played in six games in the series. I wish I hadn't seen him in Game four in Vancouver. He actually sat on Tretiak in order to keep him going back to the net, which drew a chorus of boos from the Canadian "faithful." It was the booing the led to Phil Esposito's address to the nation. It didn't work at first; Team Canada flew off to Sweden without any fan support whatsoever.

Pete Mahovlich was by far one of the team's best penalty killers. He was also a consistent physical force as he bowled over quite a few Russians during that seris.

Though they were -2 for the series, Harry Sinden said of both Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard, "... I wish I could have played them all game because they did so many things right. Savard almost didn't make the roster, but John Ferguson was insistant to Sinden; you don't want to leave Serge Savard out of your lineup. Check out Game two in Toronto and see how noticable Savard was; he practically dominated at times.

Cournoyer, well, he was at his prime and never gave up. All of his goals were timely. Game two; winner, Game six; tying goal, and Game eight; tying goal.

Thanks. Cheers.

[habwest]

Nice post.

But I have a question. How come this is locked up top while the update on our prospects, which I'll bet is of much more ongoing interest to the majority of our membership including myself, isn't?

Could somebody with the authorization look into doing that please? I think that it would be appreciated.