Jones 1 Charles Jones Professor Thomas Rorke
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Jones 1 Charles Jones Professor Thomas Rorke Kinesiology 443 3 December 2014 Bullying The Army It was a festive time in Philadelphia. The city was preparing for a bicentennial celebration, the movie Rocky was being filmed, and the Philadelphia Flyers were on top of the hockey world. It was also a hectic time for the United State. 1975 wasn’t the best year for the USA. The Vietnam War took a lot out of the country, Richard Nixon was going to prison for his Watergate scandal and the economy was in a recession. Not to mention, the United States of America was still mired in Soviet-Western political tension that was ongoing since the late 1940s. The nation was in need of a lift and during one night in January 11th 1976, they would be given that opportunity. As mentioned prior, the USA and the Soviet Union were still in the midst of the Cold War conflict. Although there was no fighting going on (Détente had been the policy since the late 1960s), the leaders of both countries felt that the spread of ideology was just as, if not more valuable to their nation. For close to 30 years to this point, each nation was using anything and everything in order to show their dominance and power as a county. This was no different in the world of sports. Every four years each nation would go toe-to-toe during the Olympic Games attempting to prove their supremacy, both nations having a great deal of success. Jones 2 This would without a doubt continue with the arrival of the 1976 Super Series in North America. The 1976 Super Series ice hockey exhibitions would be the first time Soviet Championship League teams would come to North America in order to player exhibitions against teams in the National Hockey League (Merron). Before the 1972 Summit Series it was impossible for North American players to play the great teams the Soviet Union had. The Soviet Championship League would unsurprisingly send over their two most dominate teams in the league in order show their off their talent in the sport of Hockey. The lesser of the two teams, The Soviet Wings, would player four games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Buffalo Sabres, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the New York Islanders in that order (“January 11”). The Soviet Union’s best team, HC CSKA Moscow would play against the New York Rangers, the Montreal Canadians, the Boston Bruins, and the league champion Philadelphia Flyers (“January 11”). The games would be played from late December through early January (12/28-1/11) in the midst of the NHL and Soviet League Championship seasons. Essentially the NHL teams would have an extremely difficult exhibition game sprinkled into their schedule as they also attempted to stay focused during another grueling NHL season. To no one’s surprise, the Soviet teams would play rather well against the NHL rosters taking the series with five wins, two loses, and one draw (Mulvoy). The game that headlined the series for both nations would certainly be the National Hockey League champion Philadelphia Flyers hosting HC CSKA Moscow, also known as the Red Army team. The Flyers, whom were also referred to as the Jones 3 “Broad Street Bullies” because of their incredibly physical style of play, were the two-time defending champions. They had a perfect combination of grit, skill, and defensive play that made them one of the top teams in the NHL year in and year out (Meltzer). In goal for the Flyers, was Bernie Parent. He was a two time defending Vezina (top Goalie) and Conn Smyth (playoff MVP) trophy winner and was a vital part of the team’s success. Unfortunately for the Flyers, Parent was battling a stinger in his neck and would be unable to suit up for Philadelphia when they hosted the Red Army (Meltzer). The “Bullies” were more than just bullies; they were also a fairly talented offensive team behind an offensive trio of Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, and Reggie Leach. They actually led the league in scoring during the 1975-76 season and were among the top six in each of the last 4 seasons (“1975-76 Philadelphia). Will all the talent aside; it is hard to be a championship winning hockey team without a great coach. The coach should be able to organize game plans, controls player egos, and more or less be a secret weapon for your hockey team. Fred Shero was just that for the Philadelphia Flyers. Shero was the perfect coach for this team, especially for this specific game against HC CSKA Moscow. Coach Shero had studied the Soviet Union hockey style for years and even considered Antatoli Tarasev, “The Father of Russian Hockey,” a dear friend. Story has it that during the NHL offseason Shero would travel to the Soviet Union to share ideas and drink vodka with Tarasev even though they couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other (Meltzer). Whether he knew it or not, Shero was going to have a large say in who won the exhibition on January 11th. Jones 4 Although the Philadelphia Flyers were successful, their accomplishments were minimal in comparison to their competitor HC CSKA Moscow. Prior to 1972 the Red Army team won an amazing 32 championships in 46 years to go along with their 20 European cups. They were also fresh off of their fourth Olympic gold medal in 1972 in Japan. They were called the Red Army team because the team was comprised of the vast majority of the Soviet Union national hockey team (Merron). Only one line and one defensive pairing were not on CSKA Moscow. In goal for the Soviets was Vladislav Tretiak, whom is considered by many as one of the greatest goalies in the history of the sport (Merron). He was so well respected that he most recently lit the Olympic flame in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. In 1976 he was in the prime of his career and unlike Philadelphia’s Bernie Parent would be playing in the exhibition. The Red Army team also had an extraordinarily skilled attack, boasting players such as Boris Mikhilov, Valeri Kharlamov, and Vladimir Pertov. Notwithstanding from being extremely skilled, they also had impeccable chemistry as a team. Although technically enlisted in the Russian Military, the Red Army hockey team’s main job was to play hockey, and also dominate everyone they played (Meltzer). So they were together 12 months out of the year and knew how each other wanted to play like the back of their hand. Both hockey teams were very well put together and it was obvious why there was so much international intrigue going into the game. With a game of this magnitude of course there is going to be a great deal of pregame antics. Although it was a friendly, it was clear before the game even started that there was much more at stake than a typical game. Bill Barber, the Jones 5 Flyers hall of fame left-winger was quoted saying after the game, “They didn’t like us and we didn’t like them. So we were ready for a war (Meltzer).” Flyers captain Bobby Clarke often referred to the Soviets as the “SOBs” when talking about the Red Army team (Mulvoy). Clarke played against the Soviet national team in the ’72 Summit Series and had a bad history against them. He slashed and Valeri Kharlamov in game 6 effectively ending his series and changing the tide of the series. There was a “goodwill” gathering the night before the game. You could cut the tension with a knife. The two head coaches shook hands but didn’t say a word or make eye contact (Meltzer). The players just glared back and forth. It was obvious that this was going to be more than just a friendly. One of the interesting things leading into their game versus the Red Army team was the unusual outpouring of support from the rest of the NHL. The “Broad Street Bullies” were not everyone’s favorite team; in fact they were arguably the most hated team in the NHL. In an away game in Toronto on January 7th, the fans chanted “Go Beat Russia” after the game was over (Meltzer). Coach Shero, whose parents fled the Soviet Union when they were younger to avoid religious persecution, summed up the hostility flawlessly during the pregame interview when he said, “As far as this game is concerned I think it’s going to be the highlight of my life. If we win I’m going to be sky high and if we lose I think it’s going to be worse than dying. I’m ready, and my team is ready, and I believe we’re gonna win.” Finally the day had arrived. It was finally game day and the Philadelphia Spectrum was ready for history to unfold. In front of a raucous crowd the puck was dropped and the game began. The Red Army dominated the puck early on gliding Jones 6 around the ice with their undeniable skill. The only problem was they couldn’t control it in the Flyers zone (Meltzer). Fred Shero’s game plan was working. As the first period started to wind down, the “Bullies” started to ramp up the physicality. Bill Barber had two huge hits in the Soviet zone but it wasn’t until Kharlamov was run over by Ed Van Impe that mayhem ensued. Kharlamov who still had memories of Bobby Clarke’s slash in ’72 stayed down on the ice for a few seconds and Soviet coach Konstantin Loktev called all of his players to the bench and eventually decided to do a very un-American thing and pull his players off the ice and into the locker room.