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Super Series '76: |
Super Series '76
The National Hockey League never really supported
the idea of the 1972 showdown between Russia's best and Canada's best. They
didn't like the fact that their assets - the players - were being used in a
series they had little control over. There was even a movement by some American
NHL owners to not allow their players to play in the games. However it quickly
became apparent that there was little the owners would be able to do to stop the
series thanks to the Alan Eagleson led NHLPA. In the end the owners hammered out
the best deal they could get for themselves.
The NHL went looking for ways to capitalize on the
commercial success of these early games against the Soviets. The Soviets packed
NHL buildings to capacity, which generated a lot of revenue for the owners not
only in ticket sales but also food and souvenir purchases, as well as television
and radio rights and commercials.
Although the NHL's bottom line is always their
bottom line, their objections weren't entirely profit-driven - or at least it
wasn't spun that way in promotion of their own series. They felt the 1972 Summit
Series was not the best way to showcase their players. There was a growing
sentiment that a truer test of hockey supremacy could be to face the Soviets
against NHL club teams in mid-winter. The idea was that that way the Russians
would have to face top NHL players in prime game shape and with teammates that
they played with regularly. The NHL was highly critical of the hastily put
together 1972 Team Canada featuring a brief training camp and unfamiliar line
combinations.
The NHL originally planned on a series in the
1972-73 season. Details were leaking out as the 1972 Summit Series was winding
down, however no final deal could ever be reached.
That changed in the summer of 1975. Soviet
negotiators and NHL governors met in Montreal in June 1975 and after three deals
had an agreement.
The agreement became known as Super Series '76. Just
after Christmas 1975 two Soviet teams - Moscow Central Red Army featuring a
couple of additions from Moscow Dynamo, and the Wings of the Soviet, featuring 5
national team members from Moscow Spartak - would arrive for an 8 game series
against the NHL.
The opening game was a convincing 7-3 Red Army
victory in one of hockey's holiest shrines - Madison Square Gardens, home of the
New York Rangers. The Rangers had the unfortunate task of being the first team
to faceoff against the Russians. The rest of the NHL was using this game as it's
first real look at them for scouting purposes. The Rangers never had that
advanced knowledge and, despite opening the scoring just 17 seconds into the
game, were smoked!
"They (the Soviets) are like a team of Yvan
Cournoyers, with Gordie Howe's hit," said Rangers defenseman Doug Jarrett,
an first hand admirer of the speed and strength of the Soviets.
The following night the Wings of the Soviet pulled
off a similarly convincing victory in Pittsburgh. The Wings jumped out to a 5-0
lead early in the second period en route to a 7-4 win. The game was significant
for NHL teams as Pittsburgh employed a heavy forechecking system in the second
half of the game which produced great results - outscoring the Russians 4-2.
Unfortunately it was too little too late for the Penguins on that night.
The Montreal Canadiens took note of Pittsburgh's
success and employed it in their game against the Red Army on New Year's Eve
1975. To say there was great anticipation for this game is almost an
understatement, as the two greatest club teams in the world were about to
faceoff for the first time. And hockey fans on either side of the political
drawing line were treated to what many call the greatest hockey game ever
played. The Canadiens doggedly pursued not only the Soviet puck carrier but all
of his opponents, and the strategy seemed to work. The Habs outplayed the
Soviets thoroughly, and outshot them 38-13. But the headlines the following day
would read "Canadiens good, but still can't beat Russians" as the
Soviets managed to earn a 3-3 tie.
The Buffalo Sabres were the next opponent for the
Wings. They perfected the Montreal game plan and earned a memorable 12-6
victory! The Sabres plugged up the neutral zone and physically zeroed in on the
Soviet defensemen with great success. The French Connection line of Gilbert
Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin had a field day with the frazzled Soviets,
while gigantic defenseman Jerry Korab rocked any Soviet intruder into the
Buffalo zone. The biggest difference between the Wings and the Red Army was the
goaltending. Alexander Sidelnikov tended the nets for the Wings, and often
backed up Red Army's great Vladislav Tretiak on the national team.
Three nights later the Wings, who were kept under
heavy seclusion by their coach following the humiliating loss, attempted to
redeem themselves against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks employed the same
physical game plan against the Soviets, but ultimately that plan backfired as
they drew several costly penalties. The Soviets would capitalize on their
extra-man advantages, winning 4-2
The Red Army returned to action on January 8th
against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins fired 19 shots in the first period alone,
but could not beat Tretiak who was again stifling NHL shooters. He was so good
in this game that Bruins' coach Don Cherry admitted "Tretiak is
incredible." After two periods the game remained tight, but the Soviets
pulled away in the third to win 5-2.
The Red Army win meant the Soviet's could celebrate.
The win gave them a 4-1-1 record with 2 games remaining, meaning the Soviets had
won the 8 game showdown. But there was still two very important hockey games
remaining.
The Wings finished their series by playing against
the up-and-coming New York Islanders. The Isles were a couple of years away from
their NHL dynasty years, but were still a top NHL team in 1976. They were
unfortunate not to get a win against the Soviet Wings. The Isles didn't seem to
get untracked offensively in this game - they sported the most feared power play
in the NHL but could only muster 1 goal on 8 opportunities against the Wings.
That would prove to be the only goal they would score. Their defense had a
strong game, but a couple of "flukey" goals by the Soviets gave them
another victory, this time by the score of 2-1.
The final game saw the Red Army - the best team
outside of the NHL - suit up against the Philadelphia Flyers. While many will
say that Montreal was still the best team in the NHL at the time, the fact is
the Flyers were the two time defending Stanley Cup champions and thus earned the
right to call themselves the NHL's best.
The Soviets had already handily won the series
against the NHL, but the Flyers were determined to make sure the Soviets
wouldn't defeat the Stanley Cup champions under any circumstance. The Flyers
roared out in typical Broad Street Bully fashion - physically punishing, often
by bending or outright breaking the rules, any Soviet in sight.
The Flyers dominated the opening period, and were
very disciplined. But late in the period defenseman Ed Van Impe tried to
decapitate Soviet superstar Valeri Kharlamov with a vicious elbow. The Soviets
protested what they felt was a deliberate attempt to injure, and actually left
the ice for a period of time. They would return, but never re-emerged as the Red
Army team we grew to hate and secretly love. The Flyers dominated the game - out shooting
the Soviets 49-13 and outscoring them 4-1.
Other than the Van Impe incident, the Flyers had
represented the NHL valiantly as the Stanley Cup champions in one of the most
memorable and talked about games in hockey history. They saved the NHL some
prestige in an otherwise disappointing 2-5-1 tournament. They even went as far
as to proclaim themselves as the undisputed world hockey champions.
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