1975 red army at habs New Year's Eve

[JDonzsabres10]

Wait i'm confused wasn't Boris Mikhailov number 13 but in this video he's number 7 anyone know?

[mikko522]

I miss these days! I remember watching the first series in 72' and how impressed I was with the Soviet style of hockey. Oh ..I hated them like any red blooded North American boy but they were so good...so well tuned,,you just couldnt help but respect them and eventualy found your were a fan of the team. They exemplified teamwork, training , and dedication.

[domdom111111]

Back then, what I like about the Habs, they were not playing like the broad street bullies, they were playing clean and there weren't give cheap shots like Philadelphia.

[NirvanaMegadeth1567]

the soviets couldnt handle philadelphia though

[Bullshit4twenty]

canada vs. russia 2010

[rushrules65]

I think the game against Montreal was the defining moment for Soviets versus NHL. Montreal represented the best "TEAM" in the league and they beat the soviet "TEAM" handily. The difference was goaltending. Dryden was a plug and always was against the Soviets.

[quincee33]

@rushrules65 i know, Dryden was a siv for some reason. The Soviets had there way with him, thank God for Tony Esposito in 72.

[6tbonemmvn77]

Too bad Roy wasn't in net. A better goalie than Dryden. Montreal would have won the game by at least 2 goals if he was around at that time.

[polytide50]

I loved Danny Gallivan - he was the best. Funny how Dryden couldn't stop a beach ball against the Soviets, but killed the Bruins.

[PreacherofArrakeen]

True. Dryden stopped the Bruins cold in 1971, but was pretty useless against the Soviets.

[Russ1aRoCks]

who win those series soviets or canada?

[Vokeven]

Russia winn the Olympic hockey game =)

[ottvalley]

The Habs outshot the Russian 37-14 and tied 3-3

[starwarsrebel2006]

Canada can't seem to win a gold medal at the Olympics. In the last 56 years they've only won it twice, 1952 and 2002. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Vancouver 2010, but won't get my hopes up.

[Bulldogs119]

Probably because they didn't send their best players to the olympics for like 40 of those 56 years. It was Canadian University players against Russian teams like the Central Red Army. Pro's vs Amateurs.

[jaromT]

Thats a damn excuse ;D

[quincee33]

@jaromT Why do u think the Miracle on Ice was so big? Cuz a bunch of college kids beat a bunch of 27 year olds that were pretty much professional, but because Soviet Union was communist they weren't considered pros. Canada even boycotted men's hockey during the 70's....imagine, the birth of hockey boycotting, gee i wonder why? cuz it was ajoke of a system.

[kovalev274life]

because the good canadian players wer busy dominating the NHL

[hockeybooks]

the challenge cup squad was mixed nationalities, not just canadians

same with the 87 rendez vous series , held in quebec and paid for by federal tax dollars as a tourism promotion

[shkolyar65]

Just go and check out the stats - Russian clubs v NHL. The domestic talent today are just a bunch of overpaid homegrown potatoes loyally mistaken for roses. As for training Eastern Europe gave you plyometrics (Veroshansky) and periodization mehtodology (Bompa).

[hockeybooks]

which stats - goal sucking or blocked shots ?

if european players have adapted to some of the more physical play typical of the North American style,

pay attention to improved stick skills of todays players - kane , toews, mueller, gagner

they are part of the cream of today's talent

carey price and milan lucic are proof we can still generate every part of a winning recipe

Hockey Canada sets the standard , in every category

the rest of the world battles for silver and bronze

[shkolyar65]

No, Mr.Set-The - Standard, just wins and losses. Then go to youtube and listen to what the truly great Canadian players of yesteryear had to say about Russian hockey. Kane, Mueller, Gagner, you must be joking. Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk.

[hockeybooks]

i reference the next wave of great players coming up and you reply with your first line...LMAO

stall/crosby/heatley

[mtlsixshooter]

@shkolyar65 - So very well said.

[jackson32]

Quite a hockey game. A classic case of a goaltender dominating a game.

[scottdougherty]

Guy, Shutt, Robinson, Dryden, the roadrunner in his twilight, what a team that particular Habs dynasty was... the Soviet side is so stacked too.. Kharlamov smoking J.D. made me laugh but then he beat Dryden with pretty much the same deke... somebody should post this entire game.

[Gyro911]

I miss watching the old hockey games for the 70's and early 80's. They wore less padding then (especially the goal tenders). made the game more watchable since the puck can be seen. Now the players are bloated with padding where they look more like football linebackers on ICE

[Gyro911]

Its amazing the NHL never took advantage of hiring Viktor TIkanov as a coach.

[bjdon99]

NHL players would never have put up with the crap that he put his team thru. CSKA and the national team didn't really have much of a choice.

[Gyro911]

His style of play wins period. He could always tone down his attitude, it has nothing to do with his strategies.

[TKUNDER]

Tell that to Larionov, Fetisov, Krutov and Fedorov and a number of others who ultimately refused to play for Russia any longer in international competition as long as Tikonov was coaching. He made old school look modern with his techniques. Once the Iron Curtain came down, he was finished.

[HAFFNELSON]

Good point. Those guys were brought up in an iron-fisted culture where authority figures ruled by fear and intimidation. And yet some players still revolted against the archaic system. No way on earth that kind of coaching style would ever work with North American players. Tikhonov may have won but at what price? Having your players essentially hate their lives so much that they would leave. Those courageous enough stood up and said screw this - and got out, opening the doors for others.

[Gyro911]

Oh yea and those supposed soviet mavericks that opposed Tikanov hated their lives with him because of the soviet socialist system of not getting paid enough for their talent and still living like an average citizen while seeing NHL players with less talent driving cadillac's and living in mansions

[HAFFNELSON]

You'd hate it too if Communist pinkos controlled you. Mogilny having family threatened with death if the mob in Russia weren't paid. But he had the balls to tell them to go pound salt. If those players generate large amounts of money, they deserve a share of it, which they got here in North America... far away from that shithole lifestyle. If Tikhonov and those like him had such a fantastic sytem it would have never fallen apart but rather been emulated... and there ain't nobody emulating it.

[Gyro911]

I'm going off of history. The Soviet team in the 80's dominated. Look at the summit series. Thier only real blemish in the 80's was In the 87 canada cup and It took Gretzky Lemiux, a canadian home ice advantage, a small rink, and bias officiating that turned a blind eye to penalties to barely beat the soviets.

[HAFFNELSON]

The Summit Series was 1972 - and they lost. There's no doubt they were very good through the 1980s, but that was player talent. You also forgot to mention they lost the 1984 Canada Cup to Canada, so they were only 1 for 3 against Canada's best. In the 1980s at the World Championships, Canada only sent its players from lousy NHL teams that failed to make the playoffs. Only now are the World's on an even keel, as many Russians can't go either as they are also in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

[Gyro911]

I was talking about the 1979 and 1981 series but yea I did forget about the 1984. Regardless home ice is home ice for Canada

[HAFFNELSON]

1979 was called the Challenge Cup - not the Summit Series - where by the way, the so-called slow Canadians won 3 of 4 games on the large ice in Moscow in 1972. And if you want to talk about laughable officiating, Josef Kompalla of Germany is the worst of all time. Nobody else is close. He was famously biased and still the Soviets couldn't prevail. So complaining about officiating is something that can go both ways at any time. The Challenge Cup replaced the dull NHL all-star game.

[quincee33]

@HAFFNELSON Don't forget Canada wasn't allowed WHA players like Gerry Cheevers and Bobby Hull. Also Glibert Perreault left after 2 games, Marcel Dionne wasn't there, Bobby Orr wasn't there. And Canada wasn't in shape.....Canada produces the best players but obviously guys like Tretiak, Kharlamov, Petrov, Makarov were unbelievable and it's a shame we didn't get to see them in the NHL. Especially Tretiak, man he was awesome! Valerie Kharlamov too

[HAFFNELSON]

@quincee33 Right! Canada couldn't use WHA guys. Perreault quit along with Rick Martin, Jocelyn Guevremont and Vic Hadfield. All were upset over a lack of playing time. Perreault still won't attend Summit Series functions. Buffalo GM Punch Imlach also told Perreault and Martin to return home if they weren't going to play. Dionne simply wasn't able to crack the starting lineup. Orr not playing was the biggest shame of all. But he showed the world what he could do at the 1976 Canada Cup.

[quincee33]

@HAFFNELSON alot of people say Canada's team in 84 Canada Cup was the best ever? i remember the 87 more...can u fill me in on 84 team....Must have had Bossy on it!

[HAFFNELSON]

@quincee33 Both the 84 and 87 teams were very strong. Bossy was there in 84 along with the young Oilers like Gretzky, Messier, Coffey and Anderson. I could see an argument for either the 84 or 87 team. In some ways I think 87 may have been a tad stronger because those Oiler guys were three years older and in their prime, and Mario Lemieux was leading the scoring with Gretzky by then. But some say the "best collection of talent" was actually the 1976 team. Tough to compare different decades.

[quincee33]

@HAFFNELSON i'm not a big fan of World Championships, cuz like you've stated, pros can play but only ones not on playoff teams and also some players want the summer off or are banged up. i know it's even for all but Canada's prbably never gonna have Crosby or Heatly, russia's not gonna have malkin, ovechkin etc.. Swden won't have backstrom, Sedin twins...i still follow it, and love the guy's for their patriotism...but it's just not the same.... and that goes for all teams.

[HAFFNELSON]

@quincee33 They deserve credit for patriotism for sure. But yeah, it's basically our 2nd-best against their 2nd-best, so the drama is not nearly the same as seeing the absolute best. At least now it's our 2nd best against everyone else's 2nd best. Back in the 1980s when there were hardly any Europeans or Russians in the NHL, they'd have all their superstars and we'd be sending over our guys from the bottom feeder teams that didn't make the playoffs.

[Gyro911]

They refused to play for him once the soviet regime was on the verge of collapsing. Tikanov I would say is the best strategic hockey coach ever. His style ran circles around the NHL and Canada. The west is to stubborn to adopt his coaching techniques as a result of western arrogance. I can assure that if he was given full control of a team with average players, that team would easily trounce any NHL team.

[TKUNDER]

You're free to say what you want. Unlike those in the former Soviet Union living in Communist hell. They lived it, so they know what it was like, not you. If his coaching style was so great it would be used. Trounce any NHL team? HAHA. sure. He couldn't beat a bunch of college kids from the U.S. in 1980, so that must make Herb Brooks the greatest coach of all time with his kids versus all the supposed "amateur" 30-year-old Russians. He was a dinosaur and was replaced - simple as that.

[quincee33]

@Gyro911 Average players? Tikanov never had average players....geez he had Tretiak in net for a decade....and Varlamov, Fetisov, Petrov... No one comes close to Scotty bowman when it comes to coaching... and yes i know he had great talent too.

[CB4forever]

yeah the Flyers rocked the red army 4-1 the only team to beat them on their North america trip im pretty sure

[Audioquest56]

Didn't the Flyers scare the Soviets off the ice?

[quincee33]

@Audioquest56 yes. the soviets wer complaining before the game even started, they didn't have enough sticks, the Flyers offered them some of theirs, but they weren't good enough for the Soviets, they also complained about their Hotels.. then wehen the game started they cried even more, and at one point, not sure what period, they skated off the ice in protest of how physical and "dirty" the flyers were. quite laughable really. very sucky.

[ICOboeHockey]

Does anyone have a recording of Roger Doucet singing "O Canada?"

[berglund97]

the NHL teams are afraid to loose,, because they rellay can get competition from Europe leagues... russia and sweden

[chichigord]

All the best European players are in the NHL so what's the point?

[bjdon99]

Too bad foreign teams never come and play NHL teams any longer

[bullsleafs]

The top players from most countries now play in the NHL. Back then the best players for those countries played in their countries. The NHL is international now, the best from all over the world. I am not saying that there isn't still great euro teams because there is, but Russia (for example) would be much stronger with Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk all playing for them.

[bjdon99]

I wonder if as the Russian economy grows stronger and stronger, if the Russian league will eventually be able to compete to pay top dollar for the best players, at the scale that the NHL can? There is a lot of money floating around old Mother Russia these days.

[bullsleafs]

With the salary cap now in place in the NHL you may see alot of players go to Russia and other Euro leagues. Rookies and old veteran players are the most aggressively persude by these leagues. The NHL has an aggressive rookie salary cap, euro leagues can easily beat those slaaries (they made an offer to Crosby in his rookie season). The big difference is that guys like Crosby can make alot more in North America in commercial deals. Elite players also want to play in the NHL, its safer and better

[bjdon99]

True the Russian gangsters tend to leave them alone over here.

[quincee33]

@bullsleafs Nicer weather too!

[Gyro911]

Oligars will always corrupt the natural flow of business so the league is always going to cheat the players and fans in the end. It isnt a real free market economy.

[quincee33]

@bjdon99 if i was Russian iwud want to play at home for sure, but the endorsements and the wather wud probably send me packing for L.A.!!