A Summit Series Standing Room Story
Sometime during the heat, or maybe a torrential rainfall, of the Quebec summer of 1972, somebody, probably in Montreal, bought two $7 standing room tickets to the very first hockey game of the classic...
View ArticleI Should’ve Tried, At Least, To Work At The Montreal Forum
I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately. A little reflecting, I suppose. Instead of working in different blue collar jobs all my life, from factories to bars to driving semi’s, and every other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On This Day 36 Years Ago, We Celebrated. But What About Those Russian Players?
On this day, September 28th, exactly 36 years ago, Team Canada and Team Russia played their eighth and final game of the historic 1972 Summit Series. Paul Henderson pulled it out with 34 seconds to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Forgot About Google Translation
One of these days I’m going to stump everyone. I just need to think about it for a bit. Yes, you guys got it, and here’s the translation from the same page. It comes from the Swedish game program when...
View ArticleMe And Methuselah
I became 60 years old today. I know, it’s ridiculous. It’s way too old. If this keeps up, I’ll catch Methuselah, who apparently lived until he was 969. When I was born, on Oct. 4th, 1950, the Rocket...
View ArticleClik here to view.
39 Years Ago Today
How time flies. 39 years ago today, Paul Henderson scored with 34 seconds remaining in game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series, and a nation cheered. I know I did. I saw this game by myself, in my little...
View ArticleSummit ’72 – Tuning In From Sudbury
I was a month shy of 22, living and tending bar in Sudbury, Ont. when Team Canada and the Soviet National team met in 1972. The news of this series had swirled in the wind for months, and I’d been on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summit ’72 “Time To Regroup”
It had been an unmitigated disaster for Team Canada on home ice, and overwhelming success for the Soviets. The Russians had shocked the hockey world with a stunning 7-3 win in Montreal, a slight...
View ArticleThe New Kharlamov Flick
The 1972 Soviet squad surprised the heck out of us when they showed up in Montreal in 1972 to begin the Summit Series, and nobody surprised us more than the great number 17, Valeri Kharlamov, who was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sudbury Sunday Night
Sunday night was spent in Sudbury, where I worked 41 years ago as a young bartender, fresh out of a two-week bartender’s course in Toronto where I learned to mix more than a hundred different...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Wild Stab At It
41 years ago today. “Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot! Henderson makes a wild stab at it and falls. Here’s another shot. Right in front. They score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” Foster...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Meeting Serge
Serge Savard was at my workplace yesterday to sign a bunch of stuff, and because he was quite busy I really didn’t want to interrupt him. But I managed to chat with him a bit anyway. I told him that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dave Bidini’s Book, Which Mentions…..
Toronto author, musician, and media personality Dave Bidini wrote a book in 2012 about the 1972 Summit Series titled ‘A Wild Stab For It – This Is Game Eight From Russia’, and included in it is a small...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Game Two In ’72
Part 4 It’s quite a thing to see a team go from shell-shocked to terrific in just one game, but Team Canada took over in Toronto, winning 4-1 in front of a house full of satisfied and relieved...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Woes In Winnipeg ’72
Part 5 We had them. And then we didn’t. There were such high hopes coming off the big game two win in Toronto, and more of the same was expected in Winnipeg, now that the boys had rid themselves of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Plan in Moscow – Play Better
It had been an unmitigated disaster for Team Canada on home ice, and overwhelming success for the Soviets. The Russians had shocked the hockey world with a stunning 7-3 win in Montreal, a slight...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sudbury Bottle Opener
My bottle opener from when I was a bartender in Sudbury. I still use it. I wish I had a picture of me from that time. As a bartender I wore a white shirt, black tie, red sparkly vest, and black pants....
View ArticleClik here to view.