Leafs, Stars Attempted No Soviet player made a bigger
impression during the opening game of the series than Valeri Kharlamov.
At top speed he danced around NHL all star defensemen. All night long he
made the likes of Don Awrey and Rod Seiling look like practice pylons.
He scored twice and was the talk of Montreal.
The following day, as the
team's headed to Toronto to play game 2, he became the talk of Toronto.
Not because of his play, but because of a statement made by Toronto
Maple Leaf's owner Harold Ballard which was quickly written off as a
publicity stunt. Ballard had let it be known that he supposedly had
offer Kharlamov $1 million to play for the Maple Leafs that season.
However nobody, as with many of Ballard's antics, took the stunt
seriously and it was quickly dismissed.
The Minnesota North Stars made
a similar stunt a couple of weeks later. However at least they had the
brains to make it look a little more truthful.
The North Stars were sending
their president, Walter Bush, to Russia to observe the historic series
and also to participate in a meeting of international amateur hockey
people in Vienna, Austria. As the trip began Bush, a lawyer and shrewd
hockey man, let it be known that he was going to approach the Soviet
government about the possibility of Kharlamov being released to play in
the NHL.
"The only possible way to
do it would be through the Russian government," explained Bush.
"Kharlamov, as a hockey player, technically belongs to the
government. I'm going to talk to those people and see what can be
done."
When asked if he'd pay $1
million for Kharlamov, Bush replied "I don't think the price would
anywhere near that high."
"The main thing I want to
stress is that we're after the best hockey players in the world,
wherever they happen to be. Hockey has become an international
game."
And in that subtly slipped-in
statement lies the truth about Bush's comments about acquiring the
Soviet star. He was telling his fan base back in Minnesota that the
Stars were serious about getting the best players available and would go
to all lengths to do it. He, like Ballard, was hoping such stunts would
spur hockey interest - particularly among those who would pay for
tickets to NHL games.
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