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The Goal still important

45 years after Paul Henderson’s epic goal, politics and sports still mix. And not in a good way
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Paul Henderson’s goal 45 years ago to win the Summit Series was called the sports moment of the 20th century in Canada. (Frank Lennon photo)

Thursday was a significant day in sports history. Sept. 28, 1972, Moscow. A hockey game. Canada, as a nation, was empty. Everybody glued to their mostly black-and-white TV sets to watch Team Canada play the then Soviet Union national team in the last of an eight-game epic series, with the legendary Foster Hewitt at the microphone.

Three wins for Canada. Three wins for the Soviets. One tie. One game winner-take-all. If Game 8 was to end in a draw, the Russians would declare themselves the series winner because they had scored more goals.

The Soviets were 30 seconds away from winning the series, according to their rules, as the game was tied 5-5.

Enter Paul Henderson.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward, who scored the winning goals in Canada’s one-goal victories in Games 6 and 7 to tie the series, beat Vladislav Tretiak with 24 seconds left – “Here’s another shot. Right in front, they score. Henderson has scored for Canada!” exclaimed Hewitt– to give our country the game and the series.

It was, of course, more than just a hockey series. It was very much politics.

It was us vs them. Democracy vs Communism. Our way of life vs their way of life. Our hockey vs their hockey.

We were expected to sweep this series. We supposedly had the best hockey players in the world. This wasn’t supposed to be close. First game in Montreal, Canada scores 30 seconds into the game. The rout is on. The lead is extended to 2-0. The Soviets scored seven of the next eight goals for a 7-3 win.

Eyes opened. Wide.

Canada would win 4-1 in Toronto, the teams would tie in Winnipeg, and the Russians would score a 5-3 win in Vancouver, the final game of the series in this country, leading to boos from the hometown fans (a harbinger of things to come in Vancouver) and one of the best post-game interviews of all-time with Phil Esposito, disappointed to hear the boos from Canadians.

Russia won the first game on their turf, setting the stage for Henderson’s three-in-a-row heroics, making him forever a Canadian icon. In that last game in Moscow, Canadian team official Alan Eagleson was so enraged that the goal light didn’t come on after an apparent Canadian goal that he attempted to confront the off-ice officials. He was seized by Soviet Red Army officers, leading Canadian officials and fans to intervene. Eagleson was whisked across the ice to the Team Canada bench for his safety.

I bring up the goal and the series because, today, politics is dominating sports and not in a good way. We have the President of the U.S. declaring any athlete that doesn’t stand for the national anthem a sunnuvabitch and should be fired from his/her job. It has dominated the news for the last week.

It has certainly sparked reaction, sparked debate, but, as has been the case since the President was elected, it has also sparked division. Lots of people have sided with the players and owners, lots of players have sided with the president and plan to boycott the NFL.

One thing the Summit Series and Henderson’s goal did 45 years ago: it united us as a country. Right now, our neighbours to the south need unity. But it’s going to take a helluva lot more than a hockey goal to achieve it.



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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