Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - 1972 Summit Series: Toronto Mike'd #1044

Episode Date: May 4, 2022

In this 1044th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by Scott Morrison as they dive deep into the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and USSR. Buy Scott's great new book on the subject 1972: The Series That Changed Hockey Forever. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

Bernoulli took a shot, the defenseman fell over, the Afghans, and the Bernoulli has it on that wing, here's a shot, Henderson made a wild step, Wharton fell, here's another shot, right by the door, Henderson has scored for Canada, Henderson right in front of the net. Welcome to episode 1044 of Toronto Mic'd, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees

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guaranteed over 100 stores across the country learn more at cannacabana.com joining me this week returning to Toronto Mike to dive deep into the 1972 Summit Series, is Scott Morrison. Welcome back, Scott. Mike, how are you? It's great to be back. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure, and I can't wait to dive into this subject matter.

I am of an age where it would have been impossible for me to witness this series live on television, but I feel like I did. Is there a word for that kind of a phenomenon where you feel like you witnessed something that you could not have possibly witnessed? I can't think of the word, but it does speak to the magnitude of the event, doesn't it? That for someone who is not of the vintage to have watched it themselves,

and that 50 years later we're talking about this series and celebrating it, just how impactful it was on our lives and how it has managed to live on in the psyche of the country. I think I've just, maybe I've seen so many docs and read so many pieces about it. And now I've just finished, just the other day, I finished reading 1972, the series that changed hockey forever. And that's your latest book on the subject that came out just in time for this 50th anniversary.

Yeah, it just launched this week. And, you know, I did a book leading up to the 20th anniversary, The Days Canada Stood Still, which I thought was just a fabulous title and really summarized what this series is all about, as does the title here, that this was a series that changed hockey forever. And, you know, 50 years, we've lost a few of the guys on both sides, many more of the Soviets, sadly.

But it's time to celebrate these guys in a series that really meant a lot to not just the game of hockey, but to both countries ultimately in terms of how they viewed themselves at the time and in the subsequent years.

Okay, we're going to get into this. I even pulled some clips that are going to kind of help us tell the story. And I have a song that I think will be ideal for taking us back to 1972. But first, I just want to let the FOTMs listening know, if they didn't hear Scott Morrison's, you know, initial episode of Toronto Mike, your debut,

I would urge people to go back to episode 518. And here's the description I wrote at the time. Mike chats with sports analyst and broadcaster Scott Morrison about his years at the Toronto Sun and Sportsnet. And that episode ran a good hour and 43 minutes. So it's all the Scott you can handle. So I'm sure you have fond memories of episode 518, Scott. I enjoyed myself. And I enjoyed the past and the beer afterwards too. So on that note, you're not here. You're here through the magic of technology.

You're joining me remotely. That means I can't give you like your lasagna and your beer. I feel like you're being shortchanged here. Well, I might have to do a, what do they do? Drive-by pickup or something. Honestly, I would do that. So I want to thank, right off the top, I'll thank Palma Pasta for sending over a lasagna

for every guest who visits and the occasional drive-by guest like Scott here. But I'm glad you enjoyed your lasagna the first round, and I do have another one for you when I see you again. And Great Lakes Brewery, man, fantastic partners of the program and their fresh craft beer. I was there yesterday enjoying a couple of pints with my buddy Ian, and they're just been wonderful partners as well.

And just because good things come in three, I'll also thank longtime sponsor of this program, StickerU, StickerU.com. So Scott, when you're getting your 1972 stickers made up and decals and stuff to promote the book, you go to StickerU.com.

They'll take care of you. Absolutely. Scott, you're a Toronto guy. Yep. And I'm just doing the math of your event. I'm kind of aware of your vintage and I would guess you listened to 10 50 chum when you were growing up.

Is that true? Absolutely. 10 50 chum, the chum charts, six 80 CFDR. Right? So I have a special episode. This one we're recording now.

I think this is 1044 episode 1050 is actually going to be a tribute to 1050 chum when it was a top 40 radio station so all the chum bugs like you listening should be looking out for 1050 but I went back to the chum chart

for basically what was the number one song on the chum chart the day the summit series started so we're going back now to uh what is it september 1972 and i'm going to play this and i just want to hear uh if you remember this one Girl, you're getting that look in your eyes And it's starting to worry me I ain't ready for no family ties

nobody's gonna hurry me just keep it friendly girl cause I don't wanna I don't want to leave Don't start clinging to me, girl, cause I can't breathe Baby, baby, don't get hooked on me

Baby, baby, don't get hooked on me Scott, do you remember this jam? Mac Davis, does that sound right? Yeah, Mac Davis. I think we recently lost Mac, unfortunately. But this is one of those songs. So Chum, and again, there's a special episode where I talk to people who are there

and we get more info. But once in a while, not once in a while, but sometimes there'll be these Chum hits that were not necessarily Billboard you know, Billboard Hot 100 hits. And this is a good example. Like, this was not a big hit in America on the Billboard Hot 100, but this was number one for multiple weeks

when the Summit Series started in 1972. Well, baby, baby, don't get hooked on me, but baby, baby, everybody got hooked on the Summit Series, so there you go. So, Scott, let's start with this. I got a bunch of questions for you. And again, great book on the subject. And if you really want the detail,

go pick up Scott Morrison's book on 1972. But I want to just paint the picture, particularly for people like me who were not yet born. Paint the picture. What was going on in Canada? What was Canada like in 1972? And that song was number one on the chart. Well, 67 was the expo,

and it was kind of a happy time and a hopeful time for the country. Excuse me. But, you know, there were issues, certainly in 1970s and tragedies, a murder and a kidnapping in Quebec with the FLQ crisis that spilled into, you know, the early 70s. So there was, I don't call it a divide at the time, but, you know, the country was kind of disparate and separated in many ways. disparate and separated in many ways. And we were on the verge of an election, which would ultimately become the closest election, I think, ever in our history. So there was a lot of, you know, a strong undercurrent of a lot of, you know, unrest and that hope that we'd had

had sort of disappeared. And so it was a time of protest, a time of concern and angst. And as I say, horrible things that had happened in Quebec at that time with that cultural divide and then the FLQ that wanted to separate from the rest of the country. So there was a lot going on, excuse me, off the ice at those times. So it sounds like a nation somewhat divided in 1972. Yeah, I think that's fair. Okay, I'm getting my flashbacks. We, of course, learned about the FLQ crisis in history.

And, of course, yeah, you're only, let me do the math quickly, five years removed from the centennial. You mentioned the Expo there, but that was a big celebration of the country and things, yeah, some unrest. So this is where we're at, but Mac Davis

ruling the charts, the chum charts, and how does this summit series between Canada and the Soviet Union, the USSR, how does that come to be? Well, it came to be because on our side

of the pond, the Canadians, we were getting frustrated because we were only able, with a brief exception and only a handful of players, we always had to send amateurs to play at the World Championships and

the Olympics. It wasn't for many many years that dating back into the 50s that we were able to to to win and the frustration of not winning was was really mounting and the feeling was when they got to these tournaments they were playing the soviets for instance who were called amateurs because only amateurs could compete but they were very much viewed as being professionals because they were by and large all members of the Red Army whose full-time deployment with the army was playing hockey and they trained year-round and they got you know the Soviets were late to to coming to the game and getting involved in the sport, but they quickly became very, very dominant.

And so there's a feeling on our side that at the time the Cold War was going on politically, East versus West, communism versus capitalism, and there was a great divide between the Americans and the Soviets. And there was a great divide between the Americans and the Soviets. Canada, you know, you still had economic ties despite all of that. And Canada with Trudeau at the time was trying to forge a stronger relationship with the Soviets, kind of thaw the Cold War a little bit, if you will. And one of the things he had talked about in his mandate, taking over as prime minister a few years earlier, was that he wanted to address our lack of success internationally in hockey. And Hockey Canada was formed on the heels of the Canadian Am a Canadian diplomat by the name of Gary Smith, who's got a book out right now as well, chronicling sort of how he lived through that whole time. And he was working in the Canadian embassy in Moscow, and part of his job was to monitor the media and what was being said throughout you know, throughout Soviet Union and Moscow at that time.

And he noticed an article in one of the papers. And basically it suggested that maybe it was time that the Soviets played the best Canadian, the NHL players, and he saw this, and he knew that Gary at least said that when you see something like that floated in their papers at that time, you know it's coming from the upper levels of government, and they're just floating a trial balloon to see what the reaction is like. So eventually, the two sides came together, and it was 50 years ago, The two sides came together, and it was 50 years ago, a week ago, that during the World Championships that an agreement was made to have this historic eight-game series, four games in Canada,

four games in Moscow. And I was just going to say, and the feeling was on both sides that it was time. It was time for our, from our perspective, for our best players to grow and quote unquote flex their muscle and show how great we are on all the stages, not just the NHL. And the time was there for the Soviets because they were dominating international hockey so much. Although ironically, they lost that 72 world championship to the Czechs. But notwithstanding, they had been dominating so much, winning all the golds and all the worlds, that they wanted to see where they stood on the next

rung, that they had to have another level of competition to challenge themselves. So it really was the right thing for the two sides to come together at that time from a hockey perspective. And recently I had a guy, you know, Tim Warnby. Tim Warnby just wrote a book on the 2002 gold medal winning Canadian. Tim helped me with this book. He did some research for me and interviews. Yeah.

A Toronto Sun connection, right? Yeah. We've been old friends for a long interviews. Yeah. A Toronto sun connection, right? Yeah. We've been old friends for a long time. So what's interesting. So I consider the, uh, 2002 gold medal. And I think you and Tim would probably agree with me.

That's sort of the forgotten one because, you know, we all talk about 72. We're going to do a good deep dive here today on 72. And then we all talk about 87, the Canada cup in 87. But then it's sort of like like we kind of then next thing, you know what we're talking about Sydney's golden goal in Vancouver in 2010.

Like I feel like the O2 gold medal gets overlooked, but what's significant about it is that was 50 years. I was, I think at least 50 years. No, it was 50. Yeah. So 50 years without a gold.

And that, that just gives you a taste. Because, of course, until Nagano, I guess, NHL professionals weren't competing in these Olympic Games, so we weren't sending our best players where the Russians were. But yeah, we were getting our butts kicked internationally. And here, I know I'm rambling. I want to hear your voice, but there's a name.

I feel like this gentleman has been somewhat, not in your book, you did pay trip, you did give him his due respect in your book, actually. But I find because of some stuff that's happened in the subsequent years with this gentleman, he's sort of been erased from the history books. We kind of do that, like we cancel somebody, so to speak, and then we kind of delete their contributions when we rewrite our books, etc. But could you just speak to the Alan Eagleson's influence over this this best on best tournament, the Summit Series? I'm just going to say quickly with your point about 2002 is one of the reasons why it even though 50 is 50 was a huge number and it was a great victory, maybe one of the reasons why that series didn't resonate the way the others that you mentioned did is because it didn't have the moment.

72 had the goal. And then the drama, and being first in all the rest, 87 was just the final of three of the greatest games you'll ever see. And, of course, Gretzky to the Lemieux for the winning goal. It felt like 72 all over again. And the score was identical. So there was that symmetry there. And then, of course, you know, overtime, Vancouver being on our ice,

and Sydney with the golden goal. All of them had that moment that you could, everybody could say that was a where were you moment. You know, great point. 2002 just had the win. Right. The ultimate win. Great point.

In fact, it's funny when you talk about Blue Jays World Series, right? What do you think of right away? You don't think about, you know, Dave Winfield hitting a double and then Mike Timlin fields a notice, Nixon bunt and throws to Joe Carter at first base. No, you think of Joe hitting a walk-off homer in 93 because you get a moment. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so Alan Eagleson, because obviously I read your book,

so I almost know as much as you do now, Scott, but he has a meeting at his cottage in 66. Like how important was that you know that that cottage meeting you know uh with regards to the the agreement that was reached in april 1972 yeah it was a barbecue with carl brewer and uh and bobby orr and uh the world cup of soccer was on at the time and uh all of a sudden conversation evolves and he had a vision that why couldn't you have something similar to this in hockey and eventually obviously it didn't happen for 72 on the perspective of a world cup type of format but it eventually came with his canada cup uh dream come true so

yeah i mean alan is obviously a polarizing figure from the standpoint of what happened after 72 happened you know later in his career maybe it was all happening at that point too there's a lot of guys who didn't like him then because he was kind of a dictatorial head of the players association and you know even Vic Hadfield talked in the book then that he didn't like Eagleson because of how he treated the players. And, you know, it was he ran it with an iron fist, the association. But he was a huge factor, as were other people with the newly minted Hockey Canada, as I mentioned in the CHA of bringing it all together. You know, the players, you know, obviously what happened afterwards, there's not too many, if any, that you could call fond of Allen, but they are mindful and respectful of what he contributed

to the development of the series. And then ultimately, you know, maybe a bigger hand in terms of how he handled things while that series evolved, because he was probably one of the few people, and maybe the only person from our side of it, who could go toe-to-toe with Soviet officials and fight them on every niggling point, because there were so many that came up during the course of that series of them playing various games and trying to change the rules as they went or make them up as they went and so he was you know very good at being able to hand that handle that side of the operation and but he was a huge force in the series and he you know he shouldn't be erased from history for that

but you don't celebrate him for what happened later, but you can certainly acknowledge because we're going to walk through this series. But let's get this team put together first. Can we start maybe by talking about some of the players who weren't going to be a part of this team and why? There are some interesting omissions. Well, the first part is not all the NHL teams were not supportive of this idea in this venture especially uh the american team so uh there was a lot of heavy lifting by the likes of eagleson making promises to clarence campbell who was the president of the nhl at the time and campbell working as a canadian to convince them that this was going to be good for the sport and whatnot. And so they finally got everybody on side. But at that time, the summer of 72, the World Hockey Association was about to be born that fall. And they were coming in and throwing

great gobs of money at players, which money that was unheard of at the time by nhl standards the monopoly was being broken right the business monopoly of nhl hockey and so you had all of a sudden they were wooing players like bobby hall and jerry cheevers and jc trombley and derrick sanderson and the list goes on the one of the concessions to the NHL teams and the Campbell uh that helped move this series along was that it would only involve players he had to be under contract to an NHL team by uh the opening night the night before uh training camp in in August of that summer so as a, those players I mentioned were declared ineligible. It's funny because Bobby Hall, who was obviously one of the greatest players ever

and at the time, at the height of his career, he had initially said he had no interest in going because it was going to eat up his summer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He did know that conditioning would be a factor he had predicted that because of the timing but later he uh and when he was asked about participating it was right after chicago had been upset in the playoffs so he wasn't in a good frame of mind and just wanted to go away as you would understand uh but later on he got much more interested in playing. And then obviously, I think it became a keener interest because of the standoff with the WHA. And he ultimately ended up signing with

the Winnipeg Jets and, you know, the first million dollar contract in sports, their multi-million dollar deal over several years. And so anyway, it became another sort of political battle in the country that the prime minister tried to convince them. The rallying cry was to hell with Russia, which was the hell with Russia and the hole with Russia all at the same time. The prime minister tried to get them on the team, but the NHL and Eagleson were steadfast that that was not going to happen, and it didn't happen.

So as a result, probably four or five guys that would have been on the roster otherwise weren't there. And the other big person missing because of injury, not because of the WHA, course was bob yor coming off of cons my the bruins stanley cup but his famous injured left knee had gone wonky again and he required surgery after that and he tried to come he came part way through the training camp tried to to go but the knee just wasn't cooperating he hoped he might be able to join later in the series stuck with the team the whole way through which a lot of guys really admired and appreciated but that was another huge omission as well so uh one of the guys who was outspoken

about uh the team being called team canada was phil esposito who wrote the forward for the book and was interviewed throughout. And he said the team should be called Team NHL, not Team Canada, because we don't have all of our best players here. And you could argue that he was right, but that wasn't the premise for the series. Right.

Everything got just, there was politics on so many levels, right? It's just, you can't escape it. Well, you mentioned Pierre ElliottEliot Trudeau, and it's worth noting, as you do in your book, that he made a trip to Moscow in 1971. So absolutely there was this earnest efforts to sort of have communication with the USSR

in this period of time. Yeah, and the Russians came back in the spring, I want to say, for a visit here as well. So there was a concerted effort. They were looking for economic parallels and that sort of thing, but both the leaders were interested in making the hockey series work and improving on both sides of it. And, you know, back then, too, it probably still exists today,

but not to the same degree. But because you had, you know, the communist countries and you had the capitalist countries and that great divide and the Cold War, the sporting stage was a huge one for thumping your chest and promoting your system and your way of life. So winning those Olympic medals, that was something that was hugely important to,

it's important to everybody, but especially the United States and the Soviets dominating those world stages was, was really significant. Okay. So no Bobby Hall, no Jerry Cheevers, no JC Tremblay, no Derek Sanderson

because they were on an NHL team and Bobby Orr is named to the team but can't play due to injury. So let's get us to the training camp here. Who is, tell me how, like how does Harry Sinden and John Ferguson, you know, that's your coach and assistant coach, like how did the decision get made who would, you know, that's your coach and assistant coach. Like, how did the decision get made who would, you know, assemble? It's almost like you're assembling the Avengers here,

assembling this team NHL, as Phil Esposito would call it. Well, I think one thing, certainly Harry led the process. There's strong insinuations, and we all know it's true, that Alan had a lot of influence too, that a lot of his clients and executive of the Players Association, that they would be involved as well. But Harry and John tried to create the best kind of hockey team possible, and they talked to a lot of general managers and coaches around the league about

players and performances and all the rest of it and of course you know Harry had been out of the game for a couple of years after leaving Boston winning the cup and getting into a contract dispute but he was still paying attention John was just recently retired so he had fresh eyes on the on the talent but the other part of it in picking the team was they weren't probably weren't fretting about not having the players that weren't there and weren't maybe debating it as strongly about this guy versus this guy because everybody in the world thought or virtually everybody there is some to their credit who didn't but everybody thought this was going to be a romp that they'd win all eight games they'd win them by 10 goals a night it was going to be an exhibition series gallivanting across the country

and then heading across the pond and uh was all going to be a good time and uh so maybe there wasn't as much of an urgency to the selection process as you would have subsequent years for sure. But Harry sort of led the charge with John and there were voices in the background that, well, you better put this guy on because that'll keep an NHL owner happy. And you better put that guy on and maybe not pick this guy because this owner has really given us a hard time so there is a lot of uh a lot of different variables involved well i've got to ask this question because i recently put out a mike humentry on uh harold ballard but what was ballard's take at the time on this uh summit series well i mean harold was supportive of the project because he was going to make some money off it. First, the training camp was going to be in Toronto, so his building, and Lord knows he would have got a dime or two for that.

And then he got game two of the series in Toronto as well and then the bigger uh apple and all of this was that he joined along with eagleson and bob yore and eagleson enterprises and eagleson represented bob yore and his business ventures at the time and uh they owned the tv rights to the series and uh you know sold sponsorships and uh made some money off of that so harold was he was there as long as there was cash in the box he was there wow okay so you alluded to this i guess uh but but for modern hockey fans i'm thinking of my 20 year old son okay all he knows is players are in elite conditioning 365 days a year. Okay. You come to training camp in shape. Okay. But this, as, as we know, this wasn't always the case. So like what, what, how was training camp? You mentioned it was in Toronto, but like, and clearly you've

already mentioned that team Canada wasn't taking the Soviets seriously. But were they coming in with beer bellies? And how did it work back in 72? There would have been some that would have beer bellies, not all. I mean, some of these guys, the difference then was you didn't have all the things that the kids have and the young pros have now, the skills coaches and the specialty coaches and year young pros have now, the skills coaches and the specialty coaches and year-round on the ice.

I mean, back then, finding summer ice was really hard to do. There wasn't a lot of it around. And you had guys that were coming from small towns. There was no ice available there. And a lot of them would work on their family farms in the summer or hockey schools that they would run and things like that. And they play a lot of golf and they enjoy themselves. And training camps were long in the fall and a lot of exhibition games

because you basically played your way into hockey shape come training camp. And so, yeah, not a lot of them were ready physically when they arrived. Some were, like Henderson and Ellis and Bobby Clark, and we can talk about them. But a lot weren't in prime condition. And, you know, Brad Park mentions in the book that he had been staying at least from Toronto. He was staying at home with his wife because she was close to giving birth. And he said, I'd come in for practices the next day, or scrimmages the next day, and he says, it wasn't hard to tell, the boys had some fun the night before, so again,

constantly being told they were going to dominate this series, thinking it was going to be an all-star festivity, not having the mentality or the in many cases the ability to train uh the way they can now um that really was uh yeah it kind of set them back and what nobody really knew at that time either but quickly learned is that again and i mentioned it earlier about you know the soviets were always amateurs, but they were considered pros because of being part of the army and their deployment was the ice rink, not the battlefields. And that they trained year round, that they were coming in at 100% peak condition. And obviously very early in the series, through the first part of the series was a huge factor. And Scott, that's a true team.

OK, we talk about I just did an episode of Dr. Brian Goldman on the value of the importance of teamwork. But, you know, a group is not a team. So, you know, when you gel these different, you know, they might be all stars, but they don't necessarily play together like that. That's got to be taken into account as well. No, absolutely. They need time to pull together. And, you know, Harry talked about that he did try to find some player

combinations or groups that he thought could make a line ultimately once they got through training camp. But the other factor involved here now is that what's different back then as opposed to now is the players didn't socialize off the ice. Like if you played for the Rangers, you hated the Blackhawks. And if you played for the Boston Bruins, you hated the Canadians. And Montreal and Toronto hated you. So they had to come together as teammates, not just teammates on the ice per se.

And that's why they were a separated team. They go off in pockets after practice and scrimmage when they were in training camp. They didn't go off as a team. And after the games in the Canadianadian cities it was the same sort of thing so um you know those guys a lot of them didn't like each other for good reason for what was happening on the ice back in those days and uh so that was another challenge for them to overcome and it's when they got to sweden that they finally broke broke the shell there okay so before we get them to sweden let's get him to Montreal.

So this is the spot, the forum is where they play game one, and I'm... Here's my question for you now, actually. I was going to ask you this after we talked about game eight, but did you, like, were you, how old, would you mind disclosing your age in 1972?

I was just a month away from turning 14. So I'm curious, and when we get to Game 8, I'm sure you were watching, but was Game 1, like, was this on your radar to be in front of the tube to watch Game 1 in Montreal? I'm curious what it was like for Game 1. Oh, absolutely. There was a huge amount of interest, I think. I mean, the papers were

putting out special sections covering the team and preview sections for when the series started. And, you know, back then, as I mentioned, the Soviets were a mystery on and off the ice. And we weren't really, you know, we'd see them at the Worlds, we'd see them at the Olympics, but you didn't see them all that often. And, you know, Olympics every four years that they would pop up, and the World Championships really weren't televised the way they are today. So they were very much a mystery to us. And so there was that element of what are these guys going to look like? What are they going to look like on our ice?

And what are they going to look like against the best players, the greatest players in the world as we declared them. And Canada in game one in Montreal, Canada gets out to that early two nothing lead. I'm just guessing young Scott is like thinking, okay, eight nothing sweep. Here we come. Wow. Like a laugher, right?

Yeah. I mean, we're all told with the exception of a few people like the late Billy Harris and Brian Conacher, who had been involved in international hockey and coached and played firsthand. So they had been a lot more cautionary about it. Kendra, I had been a little bit cautionary, but even he said, I wasn't sure what to expect from them up against us.

Cause it just, you didn't know at the time. And so, yeah, they score 30 seconds in and then a couple of minutes, six minutes later, it's two nothing. And all of us are sitting back saying, okay, it is going to be the romp we thought it was. This is going to be great. One of the things Ken talked about in the book is that it became the greatest series, but he said it was supposed to be the greatest series even as a romp because it was going to show the greatness of Canadian hockey talent. He says then all of a sudden, as we see, it evolved into a great series because of the equality and the matching of the skills. But the one interesting thing is that even, and the players talk about it in the book, is that even when it was 2-0, they were going back to the bench winded, and they were saying to themselves, these guys are in shape. These guys are good.

We may have been sold a bill of goods here. And lo and behold, they quickly found out that was true. So the final score in Montreal, and I love, we're going to go chronologically here. This is going to be a great primer for your book 1972, the series that changed hockey forever here. But

Canada falls to the USSR 7-3 in Montrealreal what was the reaction uh you know from from c to c what was the reaction in canada to a seven three you know pasting by these uh these these uh soviets but shock of course uh because that wasn't supposed to happen. Disappointment, but I think disappointment was overwhelmed by anger. People were really PO'd about the result. And a lot of them felt like they were embarrassed by this. The country was embarrassed.

I mean, they had players whose family were at the game afterwards telling them that they let the country down. You embarrassed us tonight. You're a bum. You know, things like that. The reactions were very, very harsh and very strong. What adjustments were made for game two? So yeah, what kind of adjustments did Canada make? too. So yeah, what kind of adjustments did Canada make? Well, the one mistake, you know, in hindsight that they made was they only addressed five defensemen in the first game, not expecting what ultimately arrived. And so that was the first change they made was that of an extra defenseman for that game. And because those guys were just absolutely exhausted by the end of the first period never mind the end of the end of the first game right and the other tactic was uh you know synded and and they talked about just shooting pucks willy-nilly and all the refs that they

were going to score a million goals in that first game and then they realized that they better figure out how to defend they better get get better in their zone and back checking and have stronger forechecks and playing without the puck type of situation. So they made those types of adjustments and went with a heavier kind of roster and decided that they would play, we call it Canadian style, but a little more physical belligerent game to take it to them that way and try to slow the Soviets down. Between the pipes, who got the starting game won?

Dryden was in Montreal, Ken Dryden. And he had international experience, although he hadn't had great success against the Soviets. But because they were at the forum, by and large, they put his home rink, they put him in, and then changed to Tony Esposito for Game 2. Now, Game 2, Canada wins Game 2 4-1. What clicked for Canada in that Game 2? 4-1. What clicked for Canada in that game too? Esposito was great, first and foremost. And I think they'd been scared straight a little bit by that point.

So they weren't taking the Soviets for granted. They're better prepared from puck drop. And the style changes we talked about that they made were successful. And then they were still, that game was teetering partway through. And then, you know, the defining moment, and we talk about moments, but, and this is a moment a lot of people still talk about who can remember the series. And it was Peter Mohavlich scored. The Soviets were pressing.

Peter Mohavlich scored. It was two to one. Peter Mohavlich scored. The Soviets were pressing. Peter Mohavlich scored. It was 2-1. Peter Mohavlich scored. Unbelievable. He and Esposito, Phil Esposito, combined on the play. They talked about it beforehand, what they were going to do with the puck. And he scored this amazing goal, splitting the fence and deking around Tretjak. And just one of the greatest goals I've ever seen. And certainly one of the greatest goals you could say scored

in Maple Leaf Gardens ever. You know, it's funny. I was lately, knowing you're coming on and reading your book, I've been reviewing a lot of the tape. I think, again, I feel like I watched this on television, which I know is not possible, but it feels like I did. But one of the goals, and I'm going to play Foster Hewitt's call of it later when we get to Game 7,

but the Paul Henderson game winner in Game 7, I look at this goal and I'm like, what a goal. I go, this is the goal of the series. Excuse me, I'm all choked up thinking about it. This is the goal of the series. And then Don Landry was very quick to point me to the Mahavillage goal. And what a beauty in Game 2. Wow. Yeah, it was spectacular. What a beauty in game two.

Wow. Yeah, it was spectacular. And that Henderson goal, he'll tell you to this day that that was the greatest, most spectacular goal he ever scored was in game seven. He said game eight became bigger for circumstance, as he called it. He said, I score a garbage goal. I get remembered for a garbage goal in game eight. My greatest goal ever in game seven.

Nobody can remember, but, you know, an amazing one nonetheless. And more on Paul Henderson shortly, of course. But game three, now we move to Winnipeg, and kind of a poignant moment you talk about in the book, but just to give us, kind of put us back into that time period, September 1972, the Olympics are taking place in Munich, and it was the day before Game 3

when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by 8 Palestinian terrorists. And there was a moment of silence observed in Winnipeg before Game 3. But just to kind of put us in a time and space that tragedy was happening at that time in Munich. Yeah, I mean it's everybody's focused here on a hockey series and it was important on many levels yes but obviously nothing that could compare to what had unfolded in in Munich the night before and so it was a you know an an emotional reminder of the bigger picture and the bigger, sadder picture.

And, you know, a lot of these players, understandably, were living in a bubble of sorts. And again, you know, news coverage and news cycles, you didn't have all the exposure that we have today. So this was a reminder to them of what was going on in the world. And maybe in its own way just that maybe heighten the political side to this series as well you know knowing that what the great divide was between what you know the capitalist side was and what behind the you know

iron curtain what those countries were so So it might have enforced that kind of emotion and enhanced that emotion a little bit too. And another little side note here to Game 3 in Winnipeg is that Bobby Hull's in the stands watching this game, which I find kind of interesting that he's there.

Yeah, he sat with the owner of the, who just signed him to the million dollar deal, the owner, Ben Hask uh with the owner of the who just signed him to the million dollar deal the owner ben haskin the owner of the of the uh of the winnipeg jets and uh as it turned out his brother dennis who was on the roster and went because bobby urged uh joined the team because bobby urged him to accept the invite uh he ended up getting scratched that night and sat with Bobby in the stands as well. And that was sort of the, that time was the seeds of, if you want to call it dissension or disenchantment amongst some of the Canadian players that's coming in to play. Because we talked about putting that roster together. They invited 35 players because they couldn't do, they had nobody to play for exhibition games to prepare for the series.

So they had to have inter-squad games. So you had to make sure you had enough players to balance off two teams. They even invited some first round draft picks to come fill out the rosters as well as a bit of a reward for them. And so they had a lot of bodies sitting around and Sinden had promised everybody they'd play at least one game. But because it was supposed to be a lark, everybody was going to come and go and nobody was going to care right right you were along for a happy trail ride here and uh but all of a sudden it got serious and these guys are competitors and once it got serious and they said hey i want to play and he had to make tough decisions because as we mentioned earlier you got to bring the group together as a team

and you need players star players to play different roles and you know put to check the ego at the door and all of a sudden you're not a goal scorer you're a checker and that sort of thing so he was starting at that point not entirely it was back to sweden where he finally made that decision in in earnest, but they were starting to make tough roster decisions and there were players who were getting upset. Putting some of those rookies on Team Canada, that would be akin to putting Christian Laettner on the Dream Team,

the American Dream Team. So there you go. Okay, so Game 3 finishes in a four, four tie, and then they're off to Vancouver. But what takeaways, uh, what can we take away from,

uh, game three, four, four? Well, they blew a four, two lead. Uh,

so that was very disappointing because, um, you know, they thought maybe they were turning the corner they win 4-1 in Toronto they get to Winnipeg they play pretty well they get the lead and then I was you know and that could have been the start of something maybe they get on a roll at that point although I still think conditioning and other factors were would come back uh to influence the series but you know so there's disappointment

there and i think just from going from shock to okay relief to disappointment all those emotions made their way across the country to vancouver uh when they arrived for for game four and they one thing that happened after the winnipeg game, the next day of practice is Serge Savard, who had played really well, tremendous defenseman, essentially fractured his ankle, took a shot in practice from Red Berenson, accidental. And so he was going to be lost, they thought, for the series. And that was going to be a huge hole to fill

because he was mobile, which some of the other defensemen weren't, had the great reach and, you know, had played very well in his brief time at that point. And it sounds like Game 3 in Winnipeg that Tretiak emerges, that, oh, this guy's pretty damn good. He kind of stands on his head there. Yeah, and they were contemplating maybe not playing him in that game or maybe not playing him in the fourth game to give him a rest.

And the Canadians had come in with a game plan that they were going to alternate by and large just because they felt the workload was going to be and the pressure was going to be really hard for the goaltenders. But they wanted to make that change to Soviets, and it turned out his understudy was it got in the flu and couldn't play and so they were forced to put him back in and he played well every game, no question.

Now game four in Vancouver I'm going to play a speech Phil Esposito made to us Canadians because I absolutely love this speech. Sort of like when I had Tim on to talk about the O2, uh, gold medal winning Canadian men's hockey team,

I played Gretzky's, uh, I'm hot speech. Okay. I feel like the I'm hot speech kind of emerges from the ashes of this Phil, Phil Esposito speech. But before I play it, Canada loses game four, Esposito's speech, but before I play it, Canada loses game four five to three to the USSR. What is it? The Vancouver fans, like you mentioned, coming off the tie in game three, were

booing the team pretty early and often. What was it like there in Vancouver? It was a hostile environment. No question. They were a frustrated fan base. I and i guess that's all had been mounting from as i say those first three games because they really hadn't seen this canadian team play the way they were supposed to play in the eyes of of many and they struggled

early in that game uh they took bad penalties early in that game and paid for them, and the fans got on them quickly. And the frustration got to the Canadian players too, the frustration of the Soviets mostly, but probably frustration over the fan reaction as well. And you had players doing things that you'd never see. Frank Mohavlich sitting on Tretjak outside his crease, and the fans booing like crazy as he did it,

just because at that time the emotion of the game was getting the better of him. But the deeper they got into the game, the louder the booing got. So before the stop in Sweden, which you referenced a couple of times, there's this speech Phil Esposito makes. So I guess after the game on TV, there's's this speech Phil Esposito makes. So I guess after the game on TV, there's an interview with Phil Esposito where he makes his speech, right? Maybe set the table for the speech

and then I'm going to play it. If you don't mind, I'm going to play all two minutes of this thing because it's great. Yeah, Johnny Esau, who was with CTV Sports at the time, and that was a joint CBC-CTV venture throughout the series.

He was doing a post-game interview with the players of the game, and so he grabbed Phil, and, you know, Phil is a very emotional guy, wears his heart on his sleeve all the time, and, you know, these guys were crushed themselves with what was happening in the series, and all of a sudden they've won one of four games on home ice and go have no they have to go and play four in wascow kind of a daunting task and then they've got the fans raining booze on them and uh so basically he just tried to explain to the country the mindset of the players and the team for For the people across Canada, we tried. We did our best. For the people that boo us,

I'm really... All of us guys are really disheartened and we're disillusioned and we're disappointed in some of the people. We cannot believe the bad press we've got, the booing we've gotten in our own buildings. And if the Russians boo their players, if the fans...

If the Russians boo their players like some of the Canadian fans, I'm not saying all of them, some of them booed us, then I'll come back and I'll apologize to each one of the Canadians. But I don't think they will. I'm really, really, I'm really disappointed. I am completely disappointed. I cannot believe it. Some of our guys are really, really down in the dumps. We know, we're trying. Hell, I mean, we're doing the best we can. And they've got a good team, and let's face facts. But it doesn't mean that we're not giving it our 150%, because we certainly are. I think, Phil, the disappointment is a natural thing because the whole thing was an unexpected thing. You know, we all live with the National Hockey League. We've all been so proud over the years of how great they are. It's unexpected because the press said that we were so good.

Not one of us said we were good. No, this is the thing. This is the thing that I'm on behalf of the fans. I must say that probably, since everything is relative, we know how good you people are. The people didn't realize how good the Soviet team was. And now we found out how good they are.

I think we can appreciate how good both teams are. But I'll tell you, we love, I mean, every one of us guys, 35 guys that came out and played for Team Canada, we did it because we love our country. And not for any other reason, no other reason. They can throw the money for the pension fund out the window. They can throw anything they want out the window. We came because we love Canada.

And even though we play in the United States and we earn money in the United States, Canada is still our home, and that's the only reason we come. And I don't think it's fair that we should be booed. Phil Esposito, love it. Well, what got him riled up beyond all the obvious factors was he said while they were waiting, I guess, during a commercial break to do the interview,

he said there was two or three young fans standing over the Zamboni entrance where they were and yelling at him that communism is best and you guys are bums and all this sort of stuff. And he said, I just wanted to take my stick and throw it like a spear at them so he was enraged from that standpoint and then as i say the booing the losing the frustrations all of that stuff so it was a very powerful very powerful speech uh it's not one a lot of the players knew about because again just the way the media world was back then and the sharing of information you know they're in the dressing room they heard some words that that Phil had said some stuff, but they didn't really hear the full text of the speech and all of that.

So I think it might've had more of an impact on the fan base than it did on the dressing room because, you know, the players had their own emotion. I should mention that night too, after the game, Phil and Wayne Cashman and a couple others went out afterwards for a bite and a beer. And they were in the restaurant, they got taunted by fans

and a little bit of a skirmish broke out that the cops tidied up and got everybody back to the hotel and onward they went. And I do think that there was a feeling, there was a change of sentiment over the following week when they were a week or 10 days, they were in Sweden for the week. There was a bit of a gap that I think the country started to realize that,

you know what, there are a lot of factors in why our guys aren't playing the best they can and what these other guys can do, and that maybe it's not all our guys letting us down. It's those guys are playing really, really well and are very talented themselves. So I think there is a bit of an appreciation because certainly it felt to them and to a lot of people that the mood of the fans in this country was drastically different by the time the team got to Moscow okay so before game five in Moscow uh there's a stop in Sweden and it sounds like that's exactly what the doctor ordered like like tell me uh additionally like there are some I guess there are some roster changes taking place here as well before they go to Moscow, but how was Sweden beneficial to this team?

the newspapers and the sportscasts and the people, because they couldn't go anywhere without somebody saying something and hearing about it. And, you know, Ron Ellis mentioned that when they flew out of Toronto to leave for the first leg to get to Sweden, he says, there's nobody at the airport. Nobody loved us anymore. We weren't their team. But Sweden was important because I mentioned you know

they had players come from 10 different teams 10 different rosters the bulk from the big teams like you know Chicago and New York and Boston and Montreal and obviously a handful from Toronto and whatnot and that they didn't like each other uh They competed hard for years against each other. And they didn't come together as a team during the time in Canada. They were separate groups. But in Sweden, they were forced to be one group. And Harry and John and the group made sure that the players, there was almost a banding together of the group and that all of a sudden they would go out for a beer together

as as a bigger group and they got to know each other a bit more and all ultimately too the realization of where they stood in the series you know one win two losses and a tie after the four games heading to Moscow and the pride factor is really on the line now, not just the Canadian pride, but their individual pride of wanting to show that they are the best. They were able to pull themselves together. And even there, there was a couple of ugly incidents on the ice, and they were portrayed in the news in Stockholm as being the, you know, the monsters from Canada, the bullies, but even the, oh, geez, the consulate, the Canadian consulate came out and was critical of the,

of the team as well. And they just sort of said like, everybody's against us. So we better pull ourselves together here and get this job done. So it was very much a rallying time for the team even though it's still there was some undercurrent of dissatisfaction among some of the players about ice time and that's sweden is when harry senden and company uh well the other thing that happened there well harry and the company decided that they had to shrink the roster they weren't going to send people home necessarily but they had to get it

down to a 21 22 players and that was going to be the group that was going to take take them home for better or worse and the other thing that happened is there was word that came in that the soviets had said the wives couldn't come or then the wives couldn't stay at their hotel and this was not going to happen that wasn't and they finally had a team meeting and they sort of said either the wives come and they stay in our hotel or we're going home the series is over and as brad park said that was the first time in that whole experience that that group had all unanimously agreed on anything. It's another sort of symbol of their rallying to come together as a group. This group of NHL All-Stars is now becoming a team. Beautiful. Okay, but first... And they're getting in condition, too. Right, right.

And there's a couple of people leave, right? And, I mean, Vic Hadfield's dropped, and then there's a few bodies. That was when they got to Moscow after the announcement of the roster for Game 5. Hadfield and Gouvermeau and Martin. And then, ultimately, even though he played Game 5, Gilbert Perrault, he left after game five, and he'd been a great player for him.

He was potentially a big loss for them at that point. He'd only played a couple games, but he was good in Vancouver. Anyway, but there was pressure from their teams that if they weren't going to be playing, then come home and go to training camp and get ready for our season. At one point, there was talk as many as 15 guys had said that they may leave if they weren't going to be part of that condensed roster, but only that smaller group decided to leave.

And all the while, Bobby Orr remains with the team, even though he never does get on the ice for a game. Yeah, he still had the hope. Deep down, he knew it wasn't going to happen, but still had the hope as a competitor that he is, that maybe he could find his way back in some capacity for one or four of those games in Moscow. But he gave it a try, and it just wasn't going to happen.

But he was there to support the cause. Now, Game 5 is another loss for Canada. We lose 5-4. So, now we're in a spot, heading into Game 6, where Canada's got to win 3-3. There's no room for error anymore if we're going to win this series.

And the Game 5 losses, they played very well for extended periods they had a uh a lead in that four one lead and that end up losing the game five four and interestingly had they hung on to win henderson would have had the game winning goal in that game as well so it would have been four for four as it evolved but anyway they lose uh and they do now it's there's no margin for error um they basically have to run the table there was talk about if you tie here blah blah blah but to really get the job done they had to run the table yeah but despite how disappointed they were with the outcome. There were 3,000 Canadian fans in Moscow for that series. And that was the first sign for the players, certainly, that, okay,

we haven't been fully abandoned by the country. And then they got there and there were tens of thousands of telegrams and postcards or, you know, well wishes. And the trainers would put them on the, on the wall outside the hallway, outside the dressing room. And so that was another indication that, okay, we haven't been abandoned by the country entirely. They're, they're starting to understand what we're up against here. And that, and they just had a feeling that they were coming together, that, you know, feeling that they were coming together that you know harry syndon said it one shift at a time and we can get this thing done and so they were disappointed but they weren't totally deflated

by that outcome and in game five and when they left after that game you probably still hear the boos from vancouver but that group of 3 000 people gave them a standing ovation as they left the ice. And that resonated with the players. And these telegrams from home are no doubt a response to Phil Esposito's passionate speech there after Game 4.

Yeah, that's what I said. I think Phil influenced the fans probably more than he did the dressing room. But with that speech, he influenced the dressing room many, many times because of the leader that he is. But the speech, I think, was heard mostly by the fans. Now, just to reset, Scott Morrison's new book is called 1972, The Series That Changed Hockey Forever.

Here we are now, as we're following along. If you're following along at home, we're entering game number six of eight. And Canada, I mean, we'll discuss whether a tie would have been, we'll discuss that when we get to game eight. But really, we need to win three of three here to win the series outright.

And very exciting. I'm just going to thank three more sponsors who helped make this possible. Scott Ridley Funeral Home. The funeral director there, Brad Jones, was actually over here yesterday afternoon recording a new episode of his fantastic podcast, which is called Life's Undertaking. So I urge people to listen to the latest episode of Life's Undertaking with Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home. It's called This Is Your Life, and it's great as always. So do that. Also, we have a new sponsor on Toronto Mic'd, and I introduced them the other day, but I'm going to just tell

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we got we're at okay we got to win three in a row I'm excited I feel like I'm learning about this for the first time and I bet you there's at least one or two podcast listeners right now who actually don't have any spoilers as to what's coming, which is exciting. But how did Ken Dryden get, like, how did they make the decision that Ken Dryden is the guy for these must-win games in Moscow?

Well, they set out a plan, as I mentioned, that they were going to alternate the goalies. They veered from it with Esposito doing game two and three, but they went back to Ken of Vancouver. And I think their feeling was Tony really blamed himself for the game five loss.

And they just felt that roll the dice a bit here, that Ken had more time under his belt like everybody else had, the rest of the team. here that Ken had more time under his belt like everybody else had, the rest of the team, and that maybe because of Tony being down after the game, and he had a cold as well that he was battling, that come back with Ken, he's a Stanley Cup champion, a great goaltender, give this guy a shot. And he came

through huge. And he came through huge. And this is the game, you know, legendary, I suppose, for Bobby Clark, I guess, slashing the ankle of Karlamov. Can you speak to that and the other events of Game 6, which, by the way, Canada wins 3-2 over USSR in Game 6.

So, must-win game, we win it. But talk about Bobby Clark in general. events of game six which by the way canada wins three to two over ussr in game six so must win game we win it but talk about the uh talk about bobby clark in general and what he meant to this team and his shot on karlamov there yeah well he was a young player and that line with ellis and henderson was the only line that stayed together from the first day of training camp until uh the last shift of the game, or second last shift because they didn't get on for that part, but as a line. But, and there were three guys that sat down the first day of camp

and they just said, you know, you know, Henderson and Ellis played together in Toronto. And it was, we want to make this team. We're taking it seriously because we want to get on this stage. We want to play a game in Toronto representing our country. This means a lot, etc. etc. And Bobby, you know, from start to finish,

was a heart and soul give it everything you've got type of player. Do anything to win. And, you know, overcome odds himself in his own life because of the diabetes and people saying he'd never play professional hockey. And, you know, he could play at both ends of the diabetes and people saying he'd never play professional hockey and you know he could play at both ends of the rink and and stick his nose in and do things and

you know as the story goes that uh between periods harlem off was a great value hollermoff god rest his soul and he tragically was lost years later in a car accident with his wife. He was a tremendous player and Ellis had been assigned to shadow him in the series. But you can only do so much and Harlamov was inflicting damage and was a threat. I guess in frustration between

periods is John Ferguson, a pretty intense guy himself, when at all costs had said, this guy is killing us. Somebody's got to do something about it. And Lefka did that, and Bobby took it upon himself to, when he had an opportunity, give him a whack. So I wasn't trying to break his ankle. Nobody confirmed that the ankle was 100% broken,

because he did come back to play game 8. He missed game 7. But he was debilitated by it. There's no question. He just gave him a hack. What I will say, and some people were to this day, and it's in the book, some of the teammates are very critical of it.

Some said, good on him. As Espo said to him, he said, why'd you wait so long? You should have done it in game one. But in fairness to him, that moment wasn't noticed as much then as it was in subsequent years. And there was a lot of stuff going on the ice both directions like the canadians were portrayed as the villains and they you know they earned a lot of the critique of being physical and a lot of hacking and whacking but the soviets were nasty a nasty

piece of business as well there is a lot of stuff going on both directions that's one that that jumped out and i tell a story in the book about you know gary bergman a defenseman getting into a skirmish with one of the soviets and uh he gets kicked in the shins and the blade goes right through his his shin pad and you know i think it was ellis told the story afterwards he said i'm sitting there looking at him he takes his skate blade off and hold you know i think it was ellis told the story afterwards he said i'm sitting there looking at him he takes his skate blade off and hold you know holds his boot up and he there's blood roll screaming out of his out of his boot of his skate so you know there was there weren't saints on either side let's put it that way but bobby's been villainized for that and and sometimes

and i think it overshadows that he was one of the very best players on that team from start to finish. And my apologies, I nailed the K in Harlamov. I should have known that K is silent there. Fooled me there, but glad you got it right there. And Ron, I just want to shout out FOTM Steve Pakin, who's listening right now and just adores Ron Ellis, rocks the Ron Ellis jersey. So shout out to Steve Paken.

And since I'm shouting out people, I just want to shout out FOTM Tim Heron. Heron? Heron. I can't say Karlamov or Heron, but okay. Tim is listening as well. And I know he, i believe he's a member of the golf course that you're a member at uh scott and i know uh i know he's been a great

he's going to be at tmlx9 on may 13th so i'll take this opportunity to say hi to tim and to tell tim i'll see you 6 p.m. Friday the 13th of May when we have TMLX9 in Marie Curtis Park. And if anybody is interested in more details to join us, it's going to just be a great checking in, great collective of FOTMs. Hit me up, mike at torontomike.com or DM me on Twitter at torontomike.

Okay, and at game six that we win three to two, Paul Henderson has the game winning goal. The first of a run. I mean, he was, he'd elevated his game and, you know, he told the story about being at practice and Ferguson,

again, just saying to him that, you know, you can skate like the wind. And that's why that line was so good because they could all skate, keep up with the Soviets, play well on the big ice. And said to him, they said to him, he said, you know, you can skate, you're playing great, you're going to have to be a factor in this series.

And he took it to heart. And, yeah. And he was, you know, he was almost lost in the series. And, you know, earlier in the game, having a slamming into the boards and a concussion. It wouldn't happen today, but talking his way back onto the ice, they told him to take your gear off, you're done. And he said, nope, you can't let it end this way.

I've got to go back. Wow, wow. Okay, so he has the game winner there in game six. Now we're on to game seven. Again, Canada's got a win. I actually have Foster Hewitt calling the game winner in game seven. So I'm going to play that right now. 220 left in the game.

A three-all tie. Up goes into the corner. LaPointe shooting it back to LeVette. It's the Bard. The Bard is trying to get out.up goes into the corner. LaPointe shooting it back to LeVette. And Savard. Savard is trying to get out. Lobbed to the head. Henderson going down.

Got to the defensive right. And a good score! Henderson! Right through the score for Canada. A beautiful goal by Paul Henderson. Henderson makes a beautiful move on this goal. And he's being mobbed by his teammates. But this is an absolutely beautiful move by Henderson. And the goal judge was a little slow in putting the light on,

but there's no question that puck was right up into the top and the back of the net, and Tretjak really had no chance on that quick little maneuver by Paul Henderson. How would you describe that goal? We did allude to it earlier, but it's like a four-on-one kind of.

He goes through four Russians? Well, I mean, yeah, it was a one-on-three or four. But he just used that incredible speed one more time, and he was kind of a dipsy doodle to split through the defense and, you know, kind of lean forward and lift the puck over Trecciak's blocker. Just a spectacular goal. And as I mentioned, you know, Paul said later that that was the greatest goal

he had ever scored in his career. And, you know, it got overshadowed, but it remained from a technical and a skill and every other form of excitement, and just spectacular. And as he said, the greatest one he scored, and they're all big, but the next big one isn't big if he doesn't score that one necessarily. Well, that's it.

Talk about a flair for the dramatic here. Canada has set the table here for Game 8 with basically, and this is the part i find interesting because i think it sounds like in your book there it sounds like canada felt like if this game eight is a tie then the series is a tie but the russians uh or the soviet union soviet union let us know that you know a tie was as good as a loss for canada because of goals for being like a tie was as good as a loss for Canada because of goals four being like a tiebreaker. So we had to win game eight in Moscow.

Yeah, exactly. Because I mean, that whole tiebreaker thing really came to the fore when they got late in the game and it was tied there. And they thought, okay, this is fine. We'll all go home happy. They said, no, no, we win.

And that would have been, again, that's where Eagleson had to step in and okay so let's let's walk through this game then okay so but before we drop the puck on game eight my heart's going fast here thinking about it but there's that neat story you have in your book uh 1972 the series that changed hockey forever there's that neat story about phil esposito's heart can you quickly just tell us? Because Phil played with such great heart. And really, when I watch these games on YouTube, Phil Esposito, what a beast.

But literally, played with a big heart because he had a big heart? Yeah. Well, it was after Game 5 evolved that he went for a test. But it had been an issue after a couple of the games leading up to game eight. And he was said, yeah, I still had these weird feelings at times. But what they determined was that he went and had very quietly got examined and they determined that there was nothing wrong

with his heart. He wasn't having a heart attack or whatever else. I forget the name of the condition that they call it, but essentially it means that he's got a huge heart, a bigger heart than most, and it's not a bad thing. But I guess he was having reactions. Well, then who knows what the stress and all the other pressures that were happening at the time. But as I wrote in the book, everybody certainly came to see just how big a heart he had. Wow. Okay.

Where were you, Scott Morrison, on September 28th, 1972, when this Game 8 took place? I was home from school. Even though the schools were wheeling in TVs and all the rest of it, I had talked, I think Game 5 was on a Sunday, and then they were on weekdays after that. And I just said to my parents, we got to watch this. Like, I'm not going to school.

I got to see this. And they said, okay. So bad parenting 101, but good parenting. I think good parenting. Great parenting on my side, bad parenting from the school side. But no, I was home watching. I had bad parenting from the school side. But no, I was home watching.

For what it's worth, I would do exactly the same thing for my kids. So I'm glad you got to enjoy that at home, even though, like you said, I have heard more stories from people a bit older than me talking about those TVs being wheeled into classrooms. And then you hear the occasional story, of course, where they didn't get the TV in the room, but the radio was on. So we're going to get to that when Paul Henderson scores this next goal. But where do I want to pick this up?

Okay, so another fact that I find is interesting is that you know... Quick heads up for you, Mike. You got a hard stop? For timing point, is I got a call at one o'clock that's... Okay, let's get cooking here. A live call at one, I got to do two.

So just so you can watch your clock. Yeah, no worries, because we're getting to the good stuff here. So first I'm going to play you a very short clip here of the tying goal in game eight. Park is trying to come out on the left side. A long pass to Phil Esposito. Going in, he shoots!

Oh, right in front of the net. Esposito, banged that, here's another shot by Cornuaye, it's good! Canada has tied it up! The Canadian team grabbing each other there as the loop spot went around the net. Phil Esposito, one, he digs for it now and he keeps fighting. He gets it out. It's shot. And Carporele puts the backhander into the goal. Okay, so that's the 5-5 goal.

Okay, so it's 5-5. That ties it up. Again, we've already talked about how a tie was, you know, they let us know that a tie would be a loss for Canada. We have to win this thing. But what's interesting when you watch these games is the goal light after the 5-5 goal that we just heard, the goal light doesn't go on.

Is that right? That's correct. Well, they were down 5-3 going into that third period too. Right. Thank you for mentioning that. Esbo gets them back on their feet and then he makes the great play for the Corn YA goal. And, you know, it's interesting because a previous clip from Game 7 on the Henderson goal is Brian Conacher mentioned

that the goal light was slow to come on. Yes. And so, yeah, so they alleged that the goal light didn't come on. The referee may signal goal, but Eagleson was not taking any chances, and he was sitting in the stands in behind where the scorekeepers are on the penalty bench. And so he decided that he was going to barge down and make sure that that goal counted, that there was no funny business going on,

because there was lots of funny business going on. funny business going on because there was lots of funny business going on and uh but around the rink there was almost like a moat that separated the fans from the boards and they have russian army soldiers standing in there armed and uh so al's alan's making his dash to the uh to the penalty box area there the scorekeepers table and uh, and he gets intercepted by the soldiers and getting roughed up pretty good too. Of course, he's fighting and clawing his way to get to the bench, and they were giving it to him. Well, I've heard him say that his mom watching back home in Canada knew he was okay when he adjusts his pants.

But here, here's, you see him. But here, here's 30 seconds of that. Now we see a fight breaking out along the board. Next up on the far side, the Canadian team are mixing it up with the spectators, and I believe Alan Eagleson is in on it over there as far as we can tell.

And the Canadian team are all over there. When that rumpus started, whatever it was, nobody knows. But Canada tied that score at 12.56. And it appeared to be Cornwallier who got the goal. Okay, so here we are tied. You mentioned we were down 5-3

entering the third. We needed to win. So the fact we are tied. You mentioned we were down 5-3 entering the third. We needed to win. So the fact we've tied it up now, and approximately how much time is left on the clock here? I think Foster said it was 12.56. 12.56. Okay, so we're going to cut right to the chase. I'm going to play Foster calling the goal there,

the Paul Henderson game winner here. And then we're going to talk a bit about that. And then I'm going to play audio you never hear, but I think is worth playing on this special episode of Toronto Mic. So here it is. For NYE has it on that wing. Here's a shot.

Henderson made a wild, sad, worked spell. Here's another shot right by the score. Henderson has scored for Canada. Henderson right in front of the net. while staff work failed. Here's another shot, right by the score! Heather Dunham has scored for Canada! Heather's been right in front of the net! And the players of the team are going wild! First chance,

now Espoteto fires it back, and Henderson comes up, knocks right in the net, tried and played it back, and the goal, two seconds, the game is over! And Canada have won the series! right in the net. Tried and played it back to the goal. Two seconds.

The game is over! And Canada have won the series. They defeated the Soviets 6-5 in a thrilling, hard-fought puzzle here. And to show the quality of the Canadian team, they were able to win three out of four on Moscow ice, which shows the caliber of their power play that came back. Canadian teams redeemed themselves from a very slow start in Canada.

When they weren't in shape, they kept getting better and better and better. And they fought like tigers tonight to come right through and defeat the Soviet 6-5 and win the series. Scott, we won. Right. Okay, we win the game. We win the series. I am going to play one more piece of audio before we lose you. We win the series.

I am going to play one more piece of audio before we lose you. But please, what was the reaction like back home in Canada to this Summit Series win? Well, as I mentioned earlier, during those games in Moscow, the country was grinding to a stop. And especially when they started Game 6 game six and game seven win win now you have game eight I mean the schools were stopped people were staying home people weren't going to work you had there was I remember seeing scenes on the news and pictures in the paper of you know people would be standing up on the sidewalk outside of a electronic store where

they'd have all the TVs and the window and they'd be watching the game there. I mean, it was just the entire country just ground to a halt. And I forget the TV numbers, but it was like two thirds of the population were watching on television at the time. You know, it was just amazing. And the country, as I said off the top, had all come together at that point. Everybody was a Canadian and everybody's falling for each other. And then country, as I said off the top, had all come together at that point.

Everybody was a Canadian. Everybody was falling for each other. And nobody was a Leaf. Nobody was a Westerner. Nobody was a Canadian. It was everybody, a Montreal Canadian. Everybody was Team Canada Canadian. I love it. Love it so much. But of course, TV, Foster Hewitt, we just heard that call, which I think most listeners of this program have heard a million times. But the game was on the radio as well. Leslie, who's a listener of the program, talked about how

there was a transistor radio on in her classroom for this game and they heard this call. So I just want to play, because the name of the guy who's calling this for CBC Radio is some guy named Bob Cole. So let's hear a young Bob Cole call that goal.

One minute left to go. A 5-5 tie. This is the tie-breaking game. You couldn't get it any closer. Savard at his own blue line, turning around with Pat Stableden coming out. Stableden's pass at an open wing, but here's Cornwallier coming up for it.

A long shot in off the stick of Esposito. Vasiliev goes back of the net. Cornwallier steals up for it. A long shot in off the stick of Esposito. Vasiliev goes back of the net. Cornwallier steals it. A pass in front. Henderson was upended as he tried to shoot it. Here's another shot. Henderson right in. He scores!

Henderson! While the team pours over the board, they're mobbing Henderson. They're mobbing Henderson. They're mobbing Henderson. And Kenny Dryden, I've never seen a goaltender like that. From one end of the ice to the other, over 200 feet, all the way. As team officials are over the board, Henderson has got to be the hero of the entire nation now. 34 seconds left.

They've got a 6-5 lead. Can they hang on? Well, I'll tell you. You wouldn't ask for anything more. Henderson, if this turns out to be the game-winning goal, will have scored the game-winner in the last three games of the series. Wow. Okay, so what was it like, you know, living in Toronto

where Paul Henderson would come back and play for the Leafs, like, what was the, was it thought that Paul Henderson would return to the Leafs and suddenly become like a, I don't know, like be elevated to elite status or something? What were the expectations for Paul as a Maple Leaf after this?

Yeah, I mean, Paul was a very good player before the series where you wouldn't get selected to that roster. And even though it was 35 where you wouldn't get selected to that roster. And even though it was 35, he wouldn't be on the final 20 and play every game. If you weren't a supreme talent, when you look at all the players that were assembled there, a very good talent rather. And yeah, I think he had hero status, still does uh that expectations were probably very unreasonable for what people were expecting that he was going to be a hero every night and they would never lose a game because paul was there right and uh he had immense immense pressure all those guys came back

emotionally changed after that series they were going through a lot that people didn't realize and appreciate. And so he did too, of course. And then you come back to those huge expectations. And I think it was a very tough time for him, probably on and off the ice having to cope with that. It's a great thing and it can be a burden at the same time. Do you personally... And you're also playing for an organization

that wasn't the Montreal Canadiens at the time, for instance. Well, that's understating the obvious there, absolutely. But Scott Morrison, I'm curious, because you, of course, hockey guy forever in the media. Do you think Paul Henderson should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame? I do. I think, you know, i know the argument comes back that it's well it's the body of work it's not a moment or i think his body of work was not just scoring one goal his body of work was what he how he played over eight games in

the greatest series ever maybe one of the most important series in hockey history ever, and then still had a great career beyond that. Not a superstar career, I suppose, but a really good career. And you see players get inducted in the Hall of Fame who are not superstars, who are great at what they do, at role players and that sort of thing. So given the magnitude of that series and what he accomplished on that stage and still having had an excellent career otherwise, yeah, I think he belongs in there.

And, you know, the argument I often hear, and I've said it, is the guy who let in those three game winning goals is in the Hall of Fame. Yes, he had a superb career otherwise with Olympics and World Championships. But, you know, put them both there. I think they both belong. Henderson has scored for Canada. Shout out to Frank Lennon and Denis Brodeur, who, by the way, of course, is, as you point out in the book,

is the father of Martin Brodeur, who, by the way, of course, as you point out in the book, is the father of Martin Brodeur. But they both took great shots of Paul Henderson with his arms in the air after that goal. And those are just, I think that's the iconic image in Canadian hockey history, if you ask me. Tremendous. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And you don't have to have seen the series

or watched the series or even recapped the series if you weren't old enough to be there everybody has seen that picture and i think everybody knows the name paul henderson and he was the hero of the series phil was the driving force of the series the best player by by far and paul would be the first to tell you that. Phil was the guy who made that team go. Will there be a 50th anniversary of the surviving members of this team? Will there be some kind of a ceremony in September? There is. There's people working on it now. The Team Canada Association, and they're in contact with the government.

There's going to be commemorative coins and stamps and all that sort of stuff come out. And there is the hope that they're going to get as many together for a great celebration i've i've heard rumbles that the government is doing something to honor the players on september 28th the final game uh the anniversary of the final game so yeah i i you know what i hope that everybody takes a moment that not because just of the book, but remember these guys because they did change hockey history. They changed, the game changed, and forevermore, as we say on the title.

And they are heroes in our country. They impacted the history of this country, not just our hockey history. 1972, the series that changed hockey forever. Get the book, read it. It's chock full of good information, fun facts and mind blows. And Scott Morrison, thanks so much

for giving me all this time to dive deep into the Summit series. I loved it. Well, thank you very much. I enjoyed it too. I love talking about it because it is so special. And thanks for giving me the time.

And that brings us to the end of our 1044th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Scott, he's not the Prime Minister of Australia. Is it S. Morrison Media on Twitter? Yes. Okay, S. Morrison Media. He's not running Aussie.

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See you all tomorrow. When I have a doubleheader. Mark Weisblatt from 1236. And then in the evening, DJ Dwight. Everything is rosy and green. Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day.