Cold War - Softcover

MacSkimming, Roy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1771000600 ISBN 13: 9781771000604

Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

It was the greatest hockey series ever played-and it changed the game forever Cold War evokes as never before those legendary 27 days in September 1972: a time when hockey's two worlds collided, as the perennial world champions from the Soviet Union finally tested themselves against the top professional stars of the National Hockey League. Decided only in the dying seconds of the final game in Moscow, the series captivated fans and non-fans alike with its explosive upsets and unrelenting suspense. Cold War weaves together rich period detail, illuminating anecdote and thrilling hockey action with eyewitness accounts from Paul Henderson, Vladislav Tretiak, Ken Dryden, Yvan Cournoyer, Harry Sinden and many other greats to recreate the series: its heroes and goats, its characters and prima donnas, its moments of poignancy, bravery, hilarity and shame. This book is also about a nation's magnificent obsession. Combining passion and insight with a coolly objective eye, author Roy MacSkimming shows how Canadians' identification with their hockey roots transformed eight "friendly matches" into a bitter, life-or-death struggle between the game's superpowers-and into a symbolic confrontation between hostile political systems. On the eve of the series' anniversary, Cold War artfully documents one of the great mythic dramas in the history of sport.

About this title

Review:

In 1972, after enduring years of embarrassing defeat at the hands of Soviet "amateurs," Canadian officials convinced their Moscow counterparts to allow a pre-season, eight-game series between the best hockey players from both nations. For Team Canada, this meant a chance to assemble a "dream team" of NHL professionals and show the world that they still owned ice hockey.

Cold War: The Amazing Canada-Soviet Hockey Series of 1972 takes you to the back rooms of the diplomats and apparatchiks who sanctioned this unlikely confrontation--and then puts you on the ice for the rest. The first four games were played on Canadian soil, in four different cities; the final four all took place at the Lenin Sports Complex in Moscow. Despite the absences of Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull, Team Canada's lineup was a memorable one: The Brothers Esposito, Phil and Tony; Paul Henderson; Serge Savard; Ken Dryden; and Frank Mahovlich. Canadians across the continent were confident of a complete blowout. "Eight-game sweep!" the leading sports columnists predicted.

But the Red Machine came prepared. The Soviets' fast-paced game of precision passing and surgical attack caught the cocky (and somewhat out-of-shape) Canadians off guard. By the time the series headed to Moscow, the Soviets had jolted Canada and insured that the remaining games would be remembered as perhaps the most fiercely fought hockey of all time.

About the Author:

Roy MacSkimming has been a book publisher in Toronto and literary columnist and books editor for the Toronto Star. He has held positions with the Canada Council for the Arts and the Association of Canadian Publishers. A native of Ottawa, he lives in the country near Perth, Ontario.

About this edition

• Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1771000600
• ISBN 13: 9781771000604
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 306