Canada Russia 1972 Shock and Trauma
Ahh it was forty years ago...In September 1972, Jean Beliveau one of the classiest hockey players of all time had been retired for over a year. I mention Jean Beliveau because in September 1972 Canada won the historic series against the Soviet Union but class should not be used to describe the victory. This series was incendiary, traumatic, and barbaric. It pitted Soviet athletes who were well-disciplined educated soldiers trained in a totalitarian regime versus barely educated junior-trained professional athletes raised in a capitalist regime. For Canada the series was a revelation in that we saw Canadian players we had grown up with and who we believed to be vastly superior demi-hockey gods turn into mere mortals. The once demi-gods also wilted to extreme and bizarre behaviour patterns. The first four games in Canada created severe stress for the rabid hockey fan and some went into shock. It wasn't that the Soviets won but my god how they won. They toyed with our greats, Khar