The 1972 Summit Series, 50 years later: Team Canada alumni tell a tale not just of glory, but of the painful journey it took to achieve it. MLarkinHockey's story:
To utter the words “hockey” and “Canada” in the same sentence today conjures a degree of shame. The country’s governing hockey body is in the early stages of unprecedented reckoning over its handling of abusive behaviors and insistence over protecting its old-guard decision makers. With the country enduring arguably its lowest hockey moment, many of us are still trying to reformulate our idea of what the sport means on this soil.
That’s why, speaking to members of the 1972 Canadian team today, what stands out aren’t so much the victories and specific plays they recall but instead the. That’s what they share the most. The memories, while extremely vivid, don’t only come from a place of joy. They call to mind a true emotional rollercoaster occurring 50 Septembers ago.
Canada dropped that first game 7-3. The players were devastated. They sponged up the crowd’s visible disappointment. Esposito urged Sinden after the game to eschew the 35-player team structure and set a real lineup. A national panic swelled, and the Canadians realized they had no idea who the Soviets really were as players, from Alexander Yakushev to Boris Mikhailov to Valeri Kharlamov to goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.
The nation was turning on its players. The speech was a blackout moment for Esposito, who barely remembered what he said even immediately afterward and says he felt embarrassed when he finally saw the clip 10 years later. With their legs starting to come back after half a dozen games and an “us against them” mentality, the Canadians started to feel like a team. Esposito was the superstar. He felt he refused to let the team lose and it almost possessed him. He also believes Henderson played the greatest hockey of his life in that series. The two of them were the stars on the scoresheet, and everyone began to understand his role on the team. The likes of Ron Ellis and J.P.
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