NEW MINAS, N.S. — Gretzky to Lemieux in 1987 and Sidney Crosby’s golden goal at the 2010 Olympics are two of the biggest moments in Canadian hockey history.
But another goal stands out more than the rest. Not because of the pinpoint accuracy of the shot or the moments leading up to the lamp being lit, but the context of the era and what it meant for Canadian pride.
“Henderson has scored for Canada.”
Foster Hewitt’s iconic call of the 1972 Summit Series’ clinching goal still gives people goosebumps 50 years later.
“This was more than hockey. This was a clash of two very different ways of life — the communist system versus the capitalist system. For right or wrong, that’s the way it was looked at by a lot of people,” said Jim Prime, a New Minas resident, who researched the series for two books he co-authored. “The Russians wanted to win this in the worst possible way to show their system was better than ours.”
Prime, now 74, has written more than 20 books and co-authored How Hockey Explains Canada with Paul Henderson and The Goal That United Canada with Sean Mitton. He’s watched many hockey series and international events before and since.
“Nothing can match that just because of the circumstances and the context of the time,” he said.
Summit Series
Prime remembers thinking, as most Canadians did, before the Summit Series began that the NHL’s top Canadians would roll over their counterparts from the Soviet Union.
But that idea quickly came crashing down as the Soviets won the opener in Montreal 7-3.
“I was shocked,” he said, noting the sentiment was shared by people across the country. “Panic set in.”
Remember the NHLers were playing themselves into shape after the off-season.
“The Russians were in tip-top shape,” Prime said. “They were army guys, so they were doing training we never heard of.”
FOR MORE ON GAME 1, CLICK HERE FOR A COLUMN BY STU COWAN
And it got worse as Canada went 1-1-1 in the next three games in Canada, including a 5-3 loss in Game 4 in Vancouver.
“They were booed off the ice,” Prime recalled. “It wasn’t just because they lost, but it was the way they lost. The Canadian team were no saints. They were very chippy.”
In the wake of the devastating defeat in Vancouver, Phil Esposito, who Prime called the team’s heart and soul, gave a passionate speech that galvanized the country and appeared to swing momentum ever so slightly.
“Canada suddenly was behind them again,” Prime said.
Looking back
A recap of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.
Sept. 2 in Montreal
USSR 7 Canada 3
Sept. 4 in Toronto
Canada 4 USSR 1
Sept. 6 in Winnipeg
USSR 4 Canada 4
Sept. 8 in Vancouver
USSR 5 Canada 3
Sept. 22 in Moscow
USSR 5 Canada 4
Sept. 24 in Moscow
Canada 3 USSR 2
Sept. 26 in Moscow
Canada 4 USSR 3
Sept. 28 in Moscow
Canada 6 USSR 5
When Team Canada arrived in Moscow, there were bags of telegrams and letters of support from home. They were left near the entrance to the team’s dressing room.
Imagine what the Canadian players must have been feeling as they walked into the rink in Moscow.
“I think there was a mystique,” Prime said. “The iron curtain … we didn’t know what was going on behind those borders and sometimes your imagination goes a little nuts.”
Players were convinced they were being spied on, that their food was being tampered with and they were receiving phone calls at their hotel to disrupt their sleep.
The start of the series in Moscow didn’t go as planned for the Canadians. They squandered a three-goal lead to lose the opener 5-4. Suddenly, Canada had no room for error. They trailed the best-of-eight series 3-1-1.
But that was the last time they would taste defeat.
Henderson scored three straight game-winning goals to give Canada the series win (4-3-1) and write his name into hockey lore.
Prime said he would like to see Henderson get his due recognition.
“This is the perfect year to do that — put Paul Henderson in the (Hockey) Hall of Fame.”
Faithful day
Prime was working for an education publishing house in 1972. He had watched as much of the series as he could, but when the deciding game was to be played, Prime was driving an author from Minnesota to meetings in Nova Scotia.
He would sneak out to the car and catch updates from time to time on the radio. They listened to the end of the game while driving to the Halifax airport. Prime had just pulled off the highway when Henderson found the back of the net after making a wild stab at the puck moments earlier.
“I’ll never forget that as long as I live. It’s one of those moments like when Kennedy was shot. …
“You know exactly what you were.”
It also is why celebrities like Walter Gretzky, Peter Mansbridge and former prime minister Stephen Harper answered calls when Prime reached out for the two books.
“They wanted to tell their story,” Prime said, noting many Canadians recall the details about the day a nation stood still.
“It brought the country together, there’s no doubt about it,” he added. “To have everyone from Newfoundland to Vancouver cheering for the same team at the same time was pretty incredible.”
Jason Malloy is the lead editor of the Annapolis Valley Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @JasonMa47772994.