1974 Summit Series

1974 Summit Series
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Canada 3 4 5 5 2 2 4 2 1 Soviet Union 3 1 8 5 3 5 4 3 4
Location(s)	Canada (1–4) Soviet Union (5–8)
Dates	September 17 – October 6, 1974 (1974-09-17 – 1974-10-06)
Summit Series

The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the series 4–1–3, with Canada's lone victory coming at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. A significant difference from the previous series was that Canada's roster was selected from the World Hockey Association instead of the National Hockey League.

The top scorers of the Soviet team were Alexander Yakushev (5 goals, 3 assists), as well as Vladimir Petrov (2 goals, 6 assists), and Valery Kharlamov (2 goals, 5 assists). On the Canadian side, Bobby Hull (7 goals, 2 assists), Ralph Backstrom (4 goals, 4 assists), Gordie Howe (3 goals, 4 assists) and André Lacroix (1 goal, 7 assists) led in points.

Organization and preparation

Negotiations for the event started at the 1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, when Andrey Starovoytov of the Soviet Union approached Jack Devine and Gordon Juckes of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association regarding another series. Initially the event was to be six-games, but it was later extended to eight. Team Canada players were paid C$6,000 each for participating in the event.

The Series

Canada

In Canada, a full hall gathered for the first training session of the USSR national team, and the players of the WHA national team, led by Bobby Hull, were among the spectators. Tickets for the matches of the Canadian part of the series were sold out a few months before it began. In Quebec, they were drawn in a lottery — people paid two dollars for a chance to get a pass to the game; out of two million who bought a lottery ticket, only 15 thousand got to the match. In Winnipeg, ten-dollar tickets were sold before the game for 20 denominations.

The first game ended in a draw (3–3). Frank Makhovlich on a break-a-way, was stopped by Tretiak in the last minute.

The second game was played with the advantage of the Canadians. Petrov's goal at the beginning of the third period was not counted by Canadian referee Tom Brown, who later admitted the mistake and apologized.

In the third game, the Soviet national team took a convincing revenge (8–5). Don McLeod defended the Canadians' goal; after this game, there were no more substitutions for Gerry Cheevers. Cheevers sat out the third game since his father was gravely ill in hospital.

In the first period of the fourth game, Bobby Hull scored a hat trick. After the first period, the hosts led 5–2, but the USSR national team pulled out a 5–5 draw, ending the Canadian part of the series with 17:17 points.

USSR

Before the Moscow part of the Series, the Canadian national team played two friendly matches in Helsinki and Gothenburg, defeating the Finns and the Swedes 8–3 and 4–3, respectively. The Canadians arrived in Moscow on September 27; about three thousand Canadian fans also arrived. Tickets cost from 10 to 50 rubles (though there were no tickets at the box office; they were distributed among organizations). However, people, hoping for an extra ticket, were on duty at the Luzhniki Stadium continuously, right up to the last game of the series.

Due to the injury of Alexander Yakushev, Lebedev and Bodunov now played with Shadrin, and Anisin — with Maltsev and Vikulov. The Anisin—Maltsev—Vikulov trio opened the scoring in the first game, and then Maltsev realized the majority. The game ended 3–2.

The sixth game (5–2) featured an increased number of penalties taken by Team Canada. The Canadians received 33 penalty minutes per game (while the Soviets received 9). Mark Howe met Petrov harshly; in retaliation Vasilyev thoroughly crushed Bruce MacGregor. This game was overshadowed by the post-game fight between Rick Ley and Kharlamov. The latter left the ice with his face covered in blood. Many Soviet hockey players refused to shake hands with their rivals. The next day, Boris Kulagin said that "the players who inflicted injuries on Soviet hockey players deserve to be suspended from matches." The Canadians apologized; the incident was hushed up. At the same time, the Canadian side expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing.

In the seventh game, the most correct of the series, the Soviets played four units for the first time under Kulagin. As in the previous game, the Soviet national team often played "kickback", giving the initiative to the guests. Instead of Maltsev, who was injured, Sergey Kapustin, who showed great promise, came out, and began the attack, which Anisin turned into a goal. Hull scored a goal at the same time as the final siren, giving the guests a chance for a draw, but referee Brown didn't count the goal.

In the last game, Kulagin gave the opportunity to play to those who until then had been sitting in reserve. The game ended 3–2. The Soviet national team won three of the four Moscow games, tying the other.

Aftermath

In an interview with Soviet Sport, Boris Kulagin critically urged not to overestimate the importance of the Soviet victory: "This series showed that our best players surpass Canadian professionals in the sum of all the components that make up hockey. But let's think about one detail: we are stronger than the top 20-25 players, and if we take 50 or 100 hockey players on each side? I'm afraid that perhaps no one will give a definite answer. And I urge both coaches and players to roll up their sleeves so that in a few years any major league club team can safely go on the ice against any foreign team. And not just "calmly go out", but win!"

Games

USSR Wins Series 4–1–3

• September 17: Canada 3–3 Soviet Union played in Quebec City, Quebec
• September 19: Canada 4–1 Soviet Union played in Toronto, Ontario
• September 21: Canada 5–8 Soviet Union played in Winnipeg, Manitoba
• September 23: Canada 5–5 Soviet Union played in Vancouver, British Columbia
• October 1: Soviet Union 3–2 Canada played in Moscow
• October 3: Soviet Union 5–2 Canada played in Moscow
• October 5: Soviet Union 4–4 Canada played in Moscow
• October 6: Soviet Union 3–2 Canada played in Moscow

Scoring leaders

1. Bobby Hull (7g, 2a, 9pts)
2. Alexander Yakushev (5g, 3a, 8pts)
3. Ralph Backstrom (4g, 4a, 8pts)
4. Gordie Howe (3g, 4a, 7pts)
5. Valeri Kharlamov (2g, 5a, 7pts)
6. Vladimir Petrov (1g, 6a, 7pts)
7. André Lacroix (1g, 6a, 7pts)
8. Boris Mikhailov (4g, 2a, 6pts)
9. Mark Howe (2g, 4a, 6pts)
10. John McKenzie (2g, 3a, 5pts)

Broadcasting

As with the original Summit Series in 1972, CBC and CTV split the coverage, with CTV carrying Games 1, 3, 6 and 7, while CBC aired Games 2, 4, 5 (?) and 8. CTV produced the telecasts. Johnny Esaw called the games for CTV, while Don Chevrier called the action for CBC. Howie Meeker was the colour commentator for all games. Both Esaw and Chevrier conducted intermission and post-game interviews during the games either one did not do play-by-play for. In the Soviet Union, coverage was orchestrated by the Ministry of Telecommunications. The first 4 games of the broadcast also featured the Gamerecorder which was the first statistics computer used in professional sports and a print of the Gamerecorder has now been accepted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Legacy

In honour of the 45th anniversary of the Series, a gala evening was held at the Moscow Hockey Museum; the event was attended by Canadian Ambassador Stefan Joben.

See also

• 1972 Summit Series
• List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players
• Canada Cup
• Super Series
• Aggie Kukulowicz, Canadian-born Russian language interpreter for the series

External links

• The Summit in 1974
• Hockey Hall of Fame 1974 WHA vs USSR
• Canada Versus the Soviet Union The heyday of the battle for world hockey supremacy (1972–1987)