Canada Russia '72

First of all, know this. My most vivid childhood memory is of classes being suspended on September 28, 1972 and everyone going to watch Game #8 of the Summit Series in the high school library. When Cournoyer scored the goal that tied things at five, I heard myself say aloud "They're gonna win" before several witnesses. Later, with 34 seconds left, Paul Henderson saved my hide and made me a seer.

I have always thought the '72 Summit Series was tailor-made for a movie, or TV mini-series. At last we have developed enough confidence in our Canadian film-making prowess to attempt something. The casting in this program is dead-on, with Booth Savage 'being' Harry Sinden, akin to Kurt Russell 'being' Herb Brooks in MIRACLE. I am reminded of Sinden's book 'Hockey Showdown' whenever Savage and Mark Owen (John Ferguson) perform together.

The interesting sub-plot about Frank Mahovlich's obsessive disdain for the Russians is something past documentaries have seen fit to gloss over. Does the storyline appear in this TV drama because Frank was appointed to the Senate and his life is now public domain? Alan Eagleson is portrayed with surprising sympathy despite his present incarceration for misappropriating NHL pension funds.

The kid who plays Esposito seems almost too handsome and clean for the role (Espo was exponentially more greasy, not to mention more arrogant and vulgar), although he did a great job with Phil's "speech" after Game #4 in Vancouver. The original play-by-play by Foster Hewitt and Brian Conacher still gives me goosebumps today - I'm glad they kept it in, particularly Hewitt's call of the historic climax.

The show isn't perfect, but it is a project that took kahunas to tackle and everyone involved should be proud to have been part of it.

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 am not sure the documentary feel worked because they kept cutting to actual footage. The stock did not match. I know they shot it super 16mm instead of 35mm to get closer to what a documentation would have looked like. However, I know they have a VERY tight budget, so were able to accomplish a lot with a little. I do not know if people who did not care about the hockey summit to begin with would get into it. It was a lot of fun to watch them make it. The guy who played Clarke (John Bregar) was pretty nice to the extras. The hardest part was getting the crew off the ice between takes. You throw these guys in a hockey rink and they are kids all over again. I rated it kinda high cause I took a couple of days off work to be an extra in Moscow. It was great that they used some New Brunswick people too. I know Jonathan Collicott was an Assistant Director, Glendon McKinney was working in the Art Department, and Glen Ross was taking pictures. There was also several NB Film Co-op members seen on screen as extras (Nik Mills, Chisholm Pothier, Jeff Combs, Sebastian MacLean just to name a few).

One of the great moments of Canadian sport came when I was in an Ottawa tavern in Sept. 1972 and Paul Henderson scored the winning goal against Russia to redeem Canadian hockey. Everyone in that room let out a burst of joy and relief when that goal came. No one who saw it on the grainy film that came out of Moscow will ever forget it.

A movie can never recapture that moment but I still couldn't tear myself away from the TV when Canada-Russia '72 movie was shown. It brought it all back. Gabriel Hogan as Ken Dryden gives a good portrayal of Mr. Goalie, who had his own ups and downs in the series. Other actors brought a ring of truth to Phil Esposito and Coach Harry Sinden. Esposito was the leader (with all his warts) and Sinden was head and shoulders above the other guys behind the bench. I liked Sonia Laplante in the role of a Canadian diplomatic liaison, trying to walk a tightrope and juggle at the same time. She had to keep them on their best behaviour and at one point, she negotiated the release of a fan stunned and shaken after the Russian authorities arrested him for blowing a horn during the game.

The movie gives depth to what the team was enduring behind the scenes as the national fever mounted during the series. We see their stupidities and their hotel pranks, which made them look like a bunch of bozos until they settled down. The Russians were not blameless and the arrest and humiliation of one Canadian fan was news to me. Was this historical fiction or was it true? Only the players know how accurate this is.

Nevertheless, it is true that the team and all of Canada was in shock after the first game. It should not have been surprising that a group of individualists would not automatically blend into a unit off the bat. We were so naive in our assumptions. With hindsight we see how mistaken the herd instinct can be. This comes through loud and clear in the movie.

I take issue with Canadians not supporting the team. Certainly everyone was cheering them on, despite the disappointments. If it had been a walkover, there would be no drama and Canadians got involved because our international reputation was on the line. Before the series went back to Russia, Canada was down. Along with millions of others I sent postcards of support; in my case, one to Sinden and one to Esposito. Win or lose, I was with them and so were millions of other Canadians who wanted them to win and so they did...in dramatic fashion.

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