Former USSR national team striker and now member of the CSKA board of directors Boris Mikhailov told that Canadians mistook Soviet hockey players for amateurs until the first game of the 1972 Super Series.
On September 2, 1972, the USSR national team defeated the Canadian national team (7:3) in the first match of the very first Super Series. Forwards Evgeniy Zimin, Valery Kharlamov, who each scored a double, scored goals against the Canadian team, Vladimir Petrov, Boris Mikhailov and Alexander Yakushev.
— After the series between the USSR and Canada, we realized that it was important not only for us, the Canadian team, but also for the world development of hockey as a whole. When we arrived there, all the NHL hockey players did not consider us as competitors, because they took us for amateurs. After watching one of our training sessions, one correspondent said that if the Canadian team lost at least one game to the USSR, he would eat his article in the newspaper.
The entire press gave preference to the Canadian team, which is understandable, because we played at their place, where Montreal is the Mecca of hockey. The match started, we conceded two goals and thought that the Canadians were really so strong. But after that, Vsevolod Mikhailovich (Bobrov – head coach of the USSR national team) asked why we were not playing our game, he said to make a pass, to open faster – and the Canadians would not follow us. When Zhenya Zimin scored our first goal, we realized that it was really possible to play with the Canadian team and score against them.
We started playing quickly, supported each other, and the Canadians simply did not expect it. After the 7:3 victory, we said: “Holy shit, we were told that the Canadians are invincible, but it turns out that they can be beaten.” With this mood, we moved from Montreal to Toronto, where we were to play the second match of the series, which we lost 1:4. By the way, this correspondent ate this article with borscht.
“The Canadian public subsequently considered the 1972 Super Series to be one of the ten most important events in Canadian history,” Mikhailov told .
The 1972 Super Series consisted of eight games (four in Canada and four in the USSR). In total, the Canadian team won four, the USSR – 3, and another game ended in a draw.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
