1974 Summit Series

The 1974 Summit Series was the second competition between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players. It used 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. The series was proposed and promoted by the World Hockey Association to draw national attention to the league. Therefore the Canadian roster was selected from the World Hockey Association instead of the National Hockey League.

The Soviets won the series 4–1–3. The series included a game-six fight and game-seven disputed goal, but after the first four games in Canada, Dick Beddoes concluded: "Canada must have a great deal of admiration for Team 74. They did much better than the skeptics expected ... They have played good and entertaining hockey against a younger Russian team".

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 each paid C$6,000 for participating in the event.

Team Canada prepared for the series by playing exhibition games against an all-star team of players from the Western Hockey League. They played five games:

September 5, 1974 - Team Canada 7-2 win vs Western Hockey League All-Stars in Medicine Hat (attendance 5115)
September 6, 1974 - Team Canada 6-5 win vs Western Hockey League All-Stars in Brandon, Manitoba
September 8, 1974 - Team Canada 2-3 loss vs Western Hockey League All-Stars in Calgary (attendance 8000)
September 10, 1974 - Team Canada 6-1 win vs Western Hockey League All-Stars in Saskatoon
September 12, 1974 - Team Canada 8-0 win vs Western Hockey League All-Stars in Edmonton

Prior to the series the Soviet team played two games against the Finland men's national ice hockey team as part of the 1974 edition of the Izvestia Cup tournament:

September 10, 1974 - Team Soviet 8-1 win vs Finland in Moscow
September 13, 1974 - Team Soviet 4-3 win vs Finland in Moscow

Players

Team Canada 1974 had three veterans of the Summit Series; Paul Henderson, Frank Mahovlich, and Pat Stapleton. Additionally the team had two legends, Bobby Hull and the 46-year-old Gordie Howe who played with his sons Mark Howe and Marty Howe.

Paul Shmyr played on defence, along with five-time Stanley Cup champion J.C. Tremblay. The goaltender was two-time Stanley Cup champion and future Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers.

The main criticism of the Canadian player selections is that they were older and seemingly near the end of their careers.

The Soviet team was composed of Olympic and World Champion gold medalists. Three players became Hockey Hall of Fame inductees: Vladislav Tretiak, Valeri Kharlamov and Alexander Yakushev. Additionally, several Soviet all-stars had played in the 1972 Summit Series, including Vladimir Petrov, Boris Mikhailov, Alexander Maltsev, Valeri Vasiliev and Yuri Lebedev.

Series summary

In Canada

The first training session of the USSR national team drew a full arena of spectators, including the players from the WHA national team, who were led by Bobby Hull. Tickets for the Canadian games sold out months in advance. In Quebec, the tickets were drawn in a lottery. People paid two dollars for a chance to get a ticket to the game; out of two million who bought a lottery ticket, only 15,000 got a ticket. In Winnipeg, $10 tickets were sold before the game for double their value.

Game one

The first game was played before an "emotional" full house at the Colisée de Québec, home of the Quebec Nordiques. The final result was a 3–3 tie. Canadian coach Billy Harris said he was "satisfied" with the result, and Soviet coach Boris Kulagin concurred, saying it was "an interesting and exciting game" and "We too are satisfied with the outcome tonight."

The star of the night was Bobby Hull, the perennial all-star who had been banned from the 1972 Team Canada because he had recently signed with the WHA. He scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with only 5:12 left. He stated, "Never been so tight before a game in my life, not even a 7th game of a Stanley Cup final." Hull was named the Canadian MVP of the game.

The game ended on a disappointing note for Frank Mahovlich, who had a clean breakaway on Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak with 36 seconds remaining, only to shoot the puck less than inch wide of the net: "I was trying to put the puck up high" he explained "But Tretiak's body was twisted like a pretzel ... So I hammered the puck past the post. He made his move. I made mine, and he beat me."

Game two

Just like in 1972, the second game was played at Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd and the Canadians triumphed with a 4–1 victory. Ralph Backstrom opened the game with his first of four series goals (and 8 points), leading the Soviets coaches and players to say he was one of Canada's best players.

One controversial event occurred two minutes into the third period. Vladimir Petrov's shot clearly scored hitting the back crossbar and quickly bouncing out of the net, and the red light went on. However, Canadian referee Tom Brown, and his linesman, over ruled the goal claiming he did not see the puck. Coach Kulagin, who admitted the goal would not have changed the final result, was highly critical of Brown and demanded he be replaced for the next game. Brown later admitted his mistake and apologized.

Canada had a power-play during the final 1:04 due to Vladimir Lutchenko's holding penalty, and then Harris pulled the goalie McLeod for an extra skater, but they could not score.

Game four

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 Soviet national team pulled out a 5–5 draw, ending the Canadian part of the series with 17:17 points.

Legacy

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In honour of the 45th anniversary of the Series, a gala evening was held at the Moscow Hockey Museum on October 7, 2019; the event was attended by Canadian chargé d’affaires ad interim Stéphane Jobin.

Notes

References

External links

40th Anniversary of the 1974 Summit Series
Hockey Hall of Fame 1974 WHA vs USSR
Canada Versus the Soviet Union The heyday of the battle for world hockey supremacy (1972–1987)
1974 WHA Canada-Soviet Summit Series Celebrates 50th Anniversary