The+Canada-Russia+Hockey+Summit+Series

=The Canada-Russia Hockey Summit Series=

The Canada-Russia Hockey Series, commonly known as The Summit Series, was an eight game series between Canada and Russia in 1972, featuring the best Canadian and the best Russian hockey players. Many consider it the best hockey series of all time. The opening game was on September 2nd in Montréal. The Canadian fans and the players expected this to be a landslide victory. But Russia came out firing and Canada lost the first game 7-3 and it shocked the entire nation. The Canadian team regrouped itself and won in Toronto 4-1 two days later. The third game on September 6th in Winnipeg ended in a 4-4 draw and Team Canada lost in Vancouver 5-3 the next day. Now the series shifted to Moscow for the next four games. The Russian team won the first game in Moscow 5-4 on September 22nd. Team Canada could not lose another game or they would lose the series. They won game 6 by a score of 3-2 and won the seventh game 4-3. The eighth and final game on September 28th was won 6-5 by the Canadians. They were down 5-3 after 2 periods but were able to fight back to tie the game. Then with only 34 seconds left in the game, Paul Henderson scored the most famous goal in hockey history to help the Canadians win the series with a record of 4-3-1. =The Controversy=

During game 6, a very controversial event occurred. Bobby Clarke of the Canadians, deliberately slashed Russia's best player, Valery Kharlamov. Clarke was given this order by assistant coach, John Ferguson. He fractured Kharlamov's ankle and was sidelined for game 7 and was ineffective in game 8. =Significance of the Series=

The Canada-Russia Hockey Series greatly affected Canada. Canada could no longer consider themselves as hockey's greatest super-power even though they still do. They realized that other countries such as the Soviet Union are able to compete with them in hockey. This is evident today as many countries such as the U.S, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Finland are very competitive with Canada today. Notable events include the U.S.A defeating Canada in the 2004 World Junior Hockey Championships and Russia winning gold at the 2008 and 2009 World Hockey Championships versus Canada. The Summit Series created a heated hockey rivalry between the two countries that exists to this day..