Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach
Try to find someone not a rabid hockey fan born after 1980 (most of the population) that knows what any hockey tournament other than the Olympics is.
I'm a rabid hockey fan and I couldn't care less about those things outside of the 87 team probably having the best jersey ever.
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Then you are just being willfully ignorant in regards to the original question.
72.
This one was the mot important series/win for Canada for aa myriad of reasons.
1) The geo-political climate of the time is something I hope is never repeated nor forgotten in our history though im aware it already has/is. I understand if you weren't there for it, you would have no idea but believe me, you should learn about it.
The cold war had its peaks and valleys and this was a time when tensions were being tested. The US had ramped up their involvement in Vietnam as had the Soviets (albeit by proxy). Canada and the US were seen by the USSR as very much the same thing. Globally there was anti-communism sentiment growing every where after the Soviets had invaded Czechoslovakia just a few years prior.
The SALT treaty had just been agreed too a couple months prior to the tourney (and after years of negotiations) which was on the mind of every citizen in the free world and dominated news cycles for months.
The Summit series really did come to represent good vs evil, us vs them, either with us or against us type stuff etc.
Though it was only 2 nations on the ice, it was multiple entities and belief systems represented....literally world wide.
2) This was the
first time ever that Canada had a chance to play best on best with NHL players internationally. We had no clue how we fared against other countries because we had never been able to play the game that way. It was a completely foreign concept.
TBH Canada was pretty damn arrogant about it too. Maybe it was mostly media driven at the time but the prevailing attitude was the great Canadian style of hockey would wipe the Soviets out in all 8 contests. It was anything but as we all know in hindsight.
87
This one was different in that it was becoming clearer that the whole Iron curtain was starting to crumble. though the Berlin wall did not come down for another 2 years, the process was well underway. Again though this was Soviet "might" and pride on the line.
This was also the single greatest team Canada had or has ever assembled, and the Soviets also claim the same. Its hard to argue.
As for "made up" cup...ok. I will counter that with EVERY single tournament in the history of sports was "made up". Including the Olympics.
Things are needed to be created/made up before they exist.
This tourney was best on best with every single player absolutely striving to be the best...because it was an opportunity to do so that they would have no other way to achieve.
It also produced (and i will go to the grave with this) the best hockey ever played by professional hockey players.
The Sochi team was the most dominant team defensively ever put together anywhere but the 87 team was the best Canadian team.
Sorry for the rant but i believe its imperative to remember those things as they had a massive bearing on what shaped Hockey Canada and what we see to this very day.