John U. Bacon - The Greatest Comeback: How Team Canada Fought Back, Took the Summit Series, and Reinvented Hockey

H ockey has always been a big part of our culture, even the way we think about ourselves. Everything in Canada seems to be tied to hockey.

Going into the Summit Series, we Canadians felt a lot of pride, and a lot of pressure. Our position was simple: we were the greatest hockey nation in the world, and we felt that was being questioned.

In 1972, every hockey fan and most Canadian kids were intrigued by the Russians and their prowess in international hockey. They won everythingthe World Championships, the Olympics. But I dont think anybody thought it was going to be much of a challenge for our best players, whod never competed against the Soviets before.

I certainly didnt. My dad didnt. But we all couldnt wait to witness it. The impact the Summit Series had on me compelled me to write four pages on it in my book, No One Wins Alone.

There was some concern about our players conditioning, because they had just started their preseason. Unfortunately, you cant rush conditioning in a week or two.

We already knew the Russians were training year-round, but nobody thought that was going to be a hindrance to our domination. We admired their team, but hey, they were trying to take what we thought was rightfully ours: the title of the worlds greatest hockey nation.

The first four games, the whole family watched in our home. I remember the incredible anticipation getting ready to watch our countrys greatest players on one team. The opening ceremony, at the height of the Cold War, showed what a big event this was for Canada. I was just feeling really proud of our players, seeing how amazing our NHL stars looked with the maple leaf on their jerseys. They were bigger than life. It felt great to be a Canadian.

The outlook quickly changed, and that just added to the tension. When you see the Russians go up 42 in the second period, it hits you: this might not be as easy as we thought, and maybe were in for a long, hard series. In the third period the Russians conditioning just seemed to take the game over, and they walked away, 73.

I know a lot of Canadians were distraught, but I dont think that would describe my dads reaction. He was just impressed, really impressed, by the Russians: their skill, their athleticism, their conditioning, and even their focus. You could not help but respect their puck control, the way they circled back in the neutral zone, and their cycling on offence, waiting for the right chance. They were playing a completely different kind of hockey than wed ever seen before. Theres just no way anyone who loved the sport could not say they were watching a beautiful style of hockey.

It became apparent very quickly what we were up against. It was our NHL All-Stars in far from peak condition, trying to come together as a team, against a highly conditioned, unified team that had been together for years.

When you see this team of All-Stars, some of the best players the game has ever produced, struggling against the Russians, it goes to show how important it is for hockey players to feel connected to each other, especially their linemates. Without that knowledge and chemistry, you dont have the synergy thats required to win at the highest levels.

As a kid I was enthralled by it all. I couldnt wait for Game Five, but people forget we had to wait two weeks for the next game! The games in Moscow were all in the afternoon for us in St. Albert, Alberta, so we ran home from school to watch them.

Before Game Five they had another ceremony, and everyone remembers Phil Esposito tripping in the introductions, right on his backside. He absorbed that moment with so much grace. You have to be confident, really confident, to play that off the way he did. Shit happens to everyone. Its what you do with it that matters. He brought poise and humour, when few could have pulled it off.

In Game Five we blew another lead and lost 53. We kept coming out strong in almost every game, getting a good leadthen losing it. We were obviously a great team, but you put this tournament in December or even better in March, when everyones ready, and maybe were not losing those leads.

It takes months of hard work and preparation for your body to reach peak condition, and unfortunately the Canadians just didnt have time for that. Their brains were saying yes, but their bodies were saying no. I think even by the end of the tournament, they were still playing at about 75 percent of their capacity. Really, they were playing on sheer guts, determination, emotion, and pride, while their bodies were catching up.

The Russians gamesmanship off the ice was legendary, but it might have backfired. Theres always a way to win without poking the bear too much. When youre pushed too far, and your pride is challenged, that becomes a rallying cry. Thats what happened in this case. Everyone just got so fed up with all the off-ice nonsense that it acted as a catalyst. Every championship team ultimately finds the motivation that brings everyone closer together.

And thats exactly what happened here. In Moscow, the mind games provided the spark that galvanized the Canadians. We came back and won Game Six and Game SevenHenderson was outstandingand now everyones watching. This was the original Cant Miss TV.

The whole thing just reached a crescendofrom a hockey standpoint, from a coaching standpoint, from a PR standpoint, from a national pride standpoint. Everything was pulled into this last game. All the chips were on the table. There was so much riding on it, so much drama leading up to it, so many crazy events that had taken place that you couldnt not be watching.

My fifth-grade teacher rolled in a TV so we could all watch the final game, and this was happening all across Canada. They say more Canadians watched Game 8 than the moon landing three years earlier. Well, there werent any Canadians landing on the moon, but even if there were, I still think the hockey game would have edged it out.

It was all coming down to this. At this point, nobody could be sure of the outcome. I dont think we could say we were favoured to win that game, but I think everyone was still surprised that we fell behind 53 going into the third period. Still, I dont think anyone had lost hope.

Canadians have always prided themselves on being resilient and able to overcome adversity. Well, this was a classic example of how a team had to stick together. I can only imagine what it must have been like for them in a country so different from ours in every way. It really must have felt like they alone were in enemy territory.

We could all sense the surge coming, even before we scored the final goal. You could feel the momentum had swung when we tied it up, 55, and it felt inevitable that someone would score.

And then it came. Ill never forget the play coming out of the corner, how Esposito got the puck to the net, and how Henderson was able to bang in his own rebound.

The whole thing was just an incredible display of pride and grit and determination. Not only to come back again and again and again, but to finish the job the way they did. The Canadian pride was in full bloom. I had uncles who were in the air force, and wed all heard stories about World War II. I know this wasnt war, but this was as close as we would get. To see it live, to