1974 Summit Series
Encyclopedia
The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey
players. Canada
was represented by World Hockey Association
players instead of National Hockey League
players, as it had been in the 1972 Summit Series
. The Soviet team
won the series 4-1-3 over Canada. The format was the same as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow
. Canada's lone victory came at Maple Leaf Gardens
in Toronto
.
WHA players had been banned from playing in the 1972 series. Bobby Hull
, who had just jumped from the NHL to the Winnipeg Jets, had been named to the Canadian team by Harry Sinden
, but was not allowed to participate. The 1974 series was an opportunity for Hull and 46-year old Gordie Howe
to play for Canada against the Soviet team.
In 1974, the two-season-old WHA was largely composed of players scavenged from the minor leagues mixed with a few NHL stars and aging veterans. Playing on both the 1972 and 1974 teams for Canada were Paul Henderson
, Frank Mahovlich
and Pat Stapleton. The last active player from the series was Mark Howe
, who retired in 1995.
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 of the games. Both Esaw and Chevrier conducted intermission and post-game interviews during the games either one did not do play-by-play for.
In December 2006, Hockey Canada
and the Hockey Hall of Fame
approved the release of a 1974 Summit Series boxset. The original master tapes of the series were destroyed long ago, but a pirated recording was recently uncovered and donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame. With Video Service Corp, seven of the eight games of the series were released on a 4-DVD set with a 1970s Summit Series documentary
as a bonus feature. Game 5 of the series was not included in the boxset as it was mostly lost through poor television
transmission and is thought to be lost for good http://www.videoservicecorp.com/Sports/Team-Canada-1974-The-Lost-Series/. VSC was the same company that released the boxset for the 1976 Canada Cup
.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
players. Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was represented by World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
players instead of National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
players, as it had been in the 1972 Summit Series
Summit Series
The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
. The Soviet team
Soviet national ice hockey team
The Soviet national ice hockey team , was the national hockey team of the Soviet Union. The Soviets were the most dominant team of all time in international play. The team won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament between 1954 and 1991 held by the International Ice Hockey Federation...
won the series 4-1-3 over Canada. The format was the same as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Canada's lone victory came at Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
WHA players had been banned from playing in the 1972 series. Bobby Hull
Bobby Hull
Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...
, who had just jumped from the NHL to the Winnipeg Jets, had been named to the Canadian team by Harry Sinden
Harry Sinden
Harry James Sinden was the long-time general manager, coach, and president for the Boston Bruins NHL hockey team, and was the coach of Team Canada during the 1972 Summit Series...
, but was not allowed to participate. The 1974 series was an opportunity for Hull and 46-year old Gordie Howe
Gordie Howe
Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League , and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association . Howe is often referred to as Mr...
to play for Canada against the Soviet team.
In 1974, the two-season-old WHA was largely composed of players scavenged from the minor leagues mixed with a few NHL stars and aging veterans. Playing on both the 1972 and 1974 teams for Canada were Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson
Paul Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames...
, Frank Mahovlich
Frank Mahovlich
Francis William "The Big M" Mahovlich, CM is a Canadian Senator, and a retired NHL ice hockey player, nicknamed the "Big M." He played on six Stanley Cup-winning teams and is an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame.-Playing career:...
and Pat Stapleton. The last active player from the series was Mark Howe
Mark Howe
Mark Steven Howe is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League and 6 seasons in the World Hockey Association . He is the son of Colleen and Gordie Howe, and early in his career was a teammate of his father...
, who retired in 1995.
Games
USSR Wins Series 4-1-3- September 17: 3-3 played in Quebec City, Quebec
- September 19: 4-1 played in Toronto, Ontario
- September 21: 8-5 played in Winnipeg, Manitoba
- September 23: 5-5 played in Vancouver, British Columbia
- October 1: 3-2 played in MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
- October 3: 5-2 played in Moscow
- October 5: 4-4 played in Moscow
- October 6: 3-2 played in Moscow
Scoring leaders
-
Bobby HullBobby HullRobert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...
(7g, 2a, 9pts) -
Alexander YakushevAlexander YakushevAlexander Sergeyevich Yakushev was an ice hockey player for the Soviet Union.Born in Moscow, Soviet Union, Alexander Yakushev is best known to North American hockey fans as one of the stars for the Soviet team that played Team Canada in the famous 1972 Summit Series...
(5g, 3a, 8pts) - Ralph BackstromRalph BackstromRalph Gerald Backstrom is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre.-Playing career:Backstrom played junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens from 1954 to 1956, and the Ottawa Junior Canadiens from 1956 to 1958...
(4g, 4a, 8pts) - Gordie HoweGordie HoweGordon "Gordie" Howe, OC is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League , and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association . Howe is often referred to as Mr...
(3g, 4a, 7pts) - Valeri Kharlamov (2g, 5a, 7pts)
- Vladimir PetrovVladimir Vladimirovich PetrovVladimir Vladimirovich Petrov is a Soviet ice hockey player, two times Olympic Champion , who is currently retired....
(1g, 6a, 7pts) - André Lacroix (1g, 6a, 7pts)
- Boris MikhailovBoris Mikhailov (ice hockey)Boris Petrovich Mikhailov is a former Soviet ice hockey player. He played for Kristall Saratov from 1962–65, Lokomotiv Moscow from 1965–67, and CSKA Moscow from 1967-1981...
(4g, 2a, 6pts) - Mark HoweMark HoweMark Steven Howe is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League and 6 seasons in the World Hockey Association . He is the son of Colleen and Gordie Howe, and early in his career was a teammate of his father...
(2g, 4a, 6pts) - John McKenzieJohn McKenzie (hockey player)John Albert "Pie, Bronco" McKenzie is a Canadian former professional hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League for several seasons, most notably with the Boston Bruins where he was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams. He also played several seasons in the World Hockey...
(2g, 3a, 5pts)
Broadcasting
Like it was with the original Summit SeriesSummit Series
The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
in 1972, CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
and CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
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
Johnny Esaw
Johnny Esaw, CM is a retired Canadian sports broadcaster and television network executive. He was a pioneer of sports broadcasting in Canada, best known for his involvement with figure skating, football, and international hockey....
called the games for CTV, while Don Chevrier
Don Chevrier
Don Chevrier was a television and radio sports announcer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario.-Early life and career:...
called the action for CBC. Howie Meeker
Howie Meeker
Howard William Meeker, C.M. is a former right winger in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey and television sports announcer as well as a former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament...
was the colour commentator for all of the games. Both Esaw and Chevrier conducted intermission and post-game interviews during the games either one did not do play-by-play for.
DVD release
Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada, formally known as the Canadian Hockey Association, is the national governing body of ice hockey in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Hockey Canada controls a vast majority of ice hockey in Canada, with a few exceptions...
and the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
approved the release of a 1974 Summit Series boxset. The original master tapes of the series were destroyed long ago, but a pirated recording was recently uncovered and donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame. With Video Service Corp, seven of the eight games of the series were released on a 4-DVD set with a 1970s Summit Series documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
as a bonus feature. Game 5 of the series was not included in the boxset as it was mostly lost through poor television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
transmission and is thought to be lost for good http://www.videoservicecorp.com/Sports/Team-Canada-1974-The-Lost-Series/. VSC was the same company that released the boxset for the 1976 Canada Cup
1976 Canada Cup
The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2–15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec, Canada as well as in Philadelphia, United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup tournaments held between 1976 and 1991...
.
See also
- 1972 Summit SeriesSummit SeriesThe Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
- List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players
- Canada CupCanada Cup (ice hockey)The Canada Cup was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional...
- Super SeriesSuper SeriesThe Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented...
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)