Canada Russia '72

The Canadians did not "blow the Russians away" as the previous uninformed commentary claimed, they were hammered several times in the series by the Russians who were every bit their equal and in the end, Canada won the last game with 34 seconds left. If the Russians were so blown away by multi goal victories, then they wouldn't have been leading on goal difference by the end, would they? Anyways, it accurately shows the sometimes shameful tactics of both sides to gain the advantage. The Canadians started things by mistreating and talking down to the Russians and then attacking them and refusing to shake hands because they were blown out in game 1, the Russians responded by ensuring the Canadians' time in Russia was as difficult as possible by removing conveniences and selecting certain aspects of the games. However, the real defining moments come down to the Canadians' refusal to honour the agreements made months before and demanding official changes or they wouldn't play, sounding like spoiled brats, and then of course Bobby Clarke's famous cheap shot. In Game 6 Clarke's blatant slash on Russia's best player Valery Kharlamov, carried out on Coach Ferguson's orders, was an absolute disgrace and ruined the series, denying people the opportunity to see both teams at their best in the last games as Russia lost them in closely fought battles that their hero was unable to impact thanks to his severely injured ankle.

As good as this series was and as fantastic as both teams were, people like Clarke and Ferguson make it hard to understand just how things like that can be tolerated, as in any other sport an intent to injure like that is roundly condemned. The Canadians won, but they hardly steeped themselves in honour regarding the way they achieved that victory, and this film accurately and fairly portrays this aspect of the teams.

First, let me say I enjoyed this TV movie more than I thought. Like nearly every other Canadian over 40, I remember the Henderson goal and the drama leading up to it. So, I thought a drama about "the drama" would surely fall short. I was pleasantly surprised. The key characters are all well represented with their most memorable features intact. We have Eagleson the Shyster, Sinden the Skinflint, Espo the Braggart, Ferguson the Vulgar, Cournoyer the Shy, Dryden the Intellectual, and Henderson the Hero (sort of a Canuck 7 dwarfs). The period setting and feel is dead on, reminiscent of the movie TRUDEAU which took place roughly the same time. Like TRUDEAU, the true Canadian soundtrack helps immensely. The Poppy Family's "Evil Grows", Lighthouse's "One Fine Morning", Crowbar's "Oh, What A Feeling", and 2 tunes each from Five Man Electrical Band("Signs","Absolutely Right") and The Guess Who("No Sugar Tonight" and "No Time")punctuate the plot at appropriate times. The film ends with Leonard Cohen's haunting "Avalanche" playing as a sense of relief settles over the players. This 70s soundtrack serves to remind us that we've produced great musicians as well as great athletes. Personally, I prefer watching highlights of the original thing (Cournoyer, the Roadrunner who got the TYING goal was a bigger hero to me than Henderson at the time), but this movie's heart is in the right place and you can't fault them for that. This movie will have limited appeal to non Canadians and non hockey fans, but for the rest of us, it is a pure delight to be reminded of our MIRACLE, our shot heard around the world, at least this part of the world.

This was on TV twice, both times I missed it. Luckily, my dad and brother were there watching it, without missing a minute. It was then that we knew this would be one of those movies that was calling our name to be in our DVD collection. This movie was extremely close to the real thing, from what I've heard from my knowlegdable dad and seen from real life footage. I guess anyone who was actually watching the series in '72 would know I mean, better than I do. Anyways, the acting was breathtaking, the sets were amazing, everything was just great. The atmosphere was believable and intense. Unforetunately, I wasn't alive in 1972 to see the real thing. Lucky for me, this movie came into being. It's the next best thing. If you're Canadian, be proud.

I think many of the 'actors' are gifted hockey players & lookalikes--there's not much on their resumé at IMDB. The photo of the guy playing John Ferguson is more like a Mugshot, which is fitting for the character! (Meant in a good way). Gerry Dee, though, plays an awesome chippy Wayne Cashman.

I am re-watching this amazing CBC production, from which the only thing I recall is 1) the Vancouver fans booed Team Canada from the beginning 2) Ferguson's later response to Bobby Clarke breaking Kharlomov's ankle: 'Hockey is a real tough game.'

A three-Cd set, with tons of insight & anecdotes you won't see on the package that has the 8 full games (yeah, I got that, too).

First-rate cast and script! David Miller (Paul Henderson) was a stand-out, as was Judah Katz (Eagleson) Keep up the excellent work, CBC! I especially appreciated the accuracy of this account I felt the job was particularly good in view of the iconic nature of this project. The writers and director resisted the temptation to emotionally overload the story with a lot of false rhetoric. I appreciated the script's subtlety, the sense of duality felt by team-members, wanting to play their very best, yet under intense pressure to succumb to the 'win at all costs' mentality, perfectly exemplified by Henderson/Miller and Esposito on one hand, and 'The Eagle', Fergie and Clarke on the other. Like many Canadians I'm sure, as the series progressed, I felt I really just wanted my guys to "pull it together", and win the series- no matter how Hard-Assed they had to be to win it! Thanks again CBC! A very classy product! Mike Fullerton