Canadiens vs. the Soviet Red Army - Dec. 31, 1975

Broadcast Date: Dec. 31, 1975

Three years after the Summit Series captivated hockey fans across Canada, the Soviet Union's best players return for a New Year's Eve matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1975. Almost 19,000 fans are on hand at the Forum to witness a match representative of the ongoing Cold War, pitting the freedom and democracy of the West against the communist repression of the U.S.S.R. In these segments from the game, the teams' disparate styles of play are on show: the Soviets' puck control and long forward passes, and the Habs' suffocating defense and creative on-the-fly attack.

• The match was officially billed as an exhibition contest, but for the members of the Canadiens, the game was a showdown between the best hockey teams in the world. Just as the Habs dominated the NHL most seasons, the Soviet Red Army team (known domestically as CSKA Moscow) was perennially atop the Soviet elite league standings.

• Combined, the two teams boasted an astounding 37 championship titles.

• Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak faced seven shots before his cross-rink rival, Ken Dryden, saw a single puck come his way. The Canadiens scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Early in the second period, Boris Mikhailov scored one for the Soviets before the Habs got a third goal. The Red Army scored two more in the third.

• Although the Canadiens outshot the Soviets 38-13, the historic game ended in a 3-3 draw.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• montreal
• canadiens
• soviet
• red
• army
• hockey
• game
• new
• years
• eve
• 1975

[Qwalnuts]

Vladislav Tretiak has to be amongst the greatest goaltenders in all of history.

[allenst]

habs were putting in 19,000 in the building 35 years ago

[BostonCreamDonut]

Why can`t the NHL have draws, instead of the lame shootouts.

[MegaJackbest]

@nikpristouris i agree, the greatest hockey game i ever saw...

[AlexandrePRKHL]

Remember than North American hockey shot allways until you score and soviet hockey style is base on to shoot when you can score. Overshoot not signified you dominate the game.

[nikpristouris]

I will never forget this game for the rest of my life. One of the rare moments where an NHL team outplayed the Soviets. Tretiak was glorious. Dryden I feel is getting a bad rap here because the Soviets were not about getting pucks on the net. They were very selective with their play making as they would set up 'The Opportunity' with skillful lethal attacks that were always dangerous goal scoring opportunities as this game clearly demonstrated. Dryden had to be sharp on a sudden moments notice.

[1958michaelforever]

hey it's my birthday accept im born 12-31-90 it's cool how people can upload old footage like this

[gorriep1]

the game was fixed,how much did dryden get from the russians.i watch the game back then.or he was on something.he couldn,t even stand up.what a disgrace for montreal.

[ldhorricks]

@allenst And what a building it was...The Forum and the Spectrum were probably the most electric buildings in hockey history...sad all the shrines are gone other than MSG.

[cuzi123]

Hockey was hockey back in the 70s! What an arena! The organ (no blaring music), no glass behind the benches (home and away teams) and there were no problems. Good clean hockey!

[Frequent2001]

damn where can i get the whole game

[alexkvaskov]

This had to be one of the very best hockey games. Ever.