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The Greatest Game: The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey
This game wasn't about money, points, or trophies. Instead it was played for pride, both personal and national. It was a confrontation twenty years in the making and it marked a turning point in the history of hockey.
On December 31, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens, the most successful franchise in the NHL, hosted the touring Central Red Army, the dominant team in the Soviet Union. For three hours millions of people in both Canada and the Soviet Union were glued to their television sets. What transpired that evening was a game that surpassed all the hype and was subsequently referred to as "the greatest game ever played." Held at the height of the Cold War, this remarkable contest transcended sports and took on serious cultural, sociological, and political overtones. And while the final result was a 3-3 tie, no one who saw the game was left disappointed. This exhibition of skill was hockey at its finest, and it set the bar for what was to follow as the sport began its global expansion.
On December 31, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens, the most successful franchise in the NHL, hosted the touring Central Red Army, the dominant team in the Soviet Union. For three hours millions of people in both Canada and the Soviet Union were glued to their television sets. What transpired that evening was a game that surpassed all the hype and was subsequently referred to as "the greatest game ever played." Held at the height of the Cold War, this remarkable contest transcended sports and took on serious cultural, sociological, and political overtones. And while the final result was a 3-3 tie, no one who saw the game was left disappointed. This exhibition of skill was hockey at its finest, and it set the bar for what was to follow as the sport began its global expansion.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2010
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September 26, 2025
The great thing about watching the Montreal Canadiens play ice hockey back in the 1970’s, for me, was the speed and grace with which they played the game. They could be tough and physical, to be sure – I would pity the fool that dared try to challenge defenceman Larry Robinson – but that’s not how they won games. The Canadiens dominated other teams – like my local team, the then-woeful Washington Capitals – through right wing Guy Lafleur’s swift maneuvers and lightning-fast shots on goal (Habs fans called him Le Démon Blond), as well as goalie Ken Dryden’s cool, unflappable confidence in turning away the best offensive rushes of rival teams.
For hockey writer Todd Denault, however, the greatness of those Canadiens teams of the 1970’s went beyond their winning six Stanley Cups during the decade. Denault feels that the Habs may have saved the sport of hockey itself, during an exhibition game against the Soviet Union’s Central Red Army team, as he makes clear in his 2010 book The Greatest Game.
Denault, a Cobourg, Ontario-based freelance writer, is also a member of the Society for International Hockey Research, and therefore it makes sense that he might take particular interest in the international dimensions of this story of The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey (the book’s subtitle). Before getting to that historic game of 31 December 1975, though, Denault tracks back to the changes brought by the Summit Series of 1972 between Canada and the U.S.S.R.
Not many U.S. hockey fans know the story of the 1972 Summit Series, but the series occupies an important place in Canadian cultural memory. Before the series, Canadians had harboured a great deal of confidence in Canada’s dominance of ice hockey, but the Soviets had trained systematically and came into the series determined to use their emphasis on speed, skill, and passing to show that hockey could also be played well in countries outside of North America.
Those Cold War times were tense, and it was interesting to hear Denault discuss how there was even an element of дезинформация – dezinformatsiya, or disinformation – to the way the Soviet team prepared for the series. “Before the watchful eyes of Team Canada,” Denault writes, “the Russians had spent the days before the opening game deliberately practising at a slow speed.” The Canadians went into the game feeling highly confident, but that confidence was gone by the end of the first period, when the fast-skating Soviets neutralized an initial 2-0 advantage for Canada and tied the game 2-2. “The shock”, Denault states, adopting for the moment the historical present, “is twofold: not only is Canada not as good as everyone thought, but the Soviets are much better than anyone imagined.”
The Soviets won that first game 7-3, and when all is said and done, “the triumphant Soviet team hears the most unexpected sound from the Forum crowd: cheering. For a brief shining moment, all that separates the two countries is forgotten. What is acknowledged is the brilliant display of hockey seen tonight. Caught unaware, the Soviet players return the crowd’s appreciation by raising their sticks in the air. The sport of hockey will never be the same.” I would like to think that a crowd of U.S. hockey fans in, say, New York City’s Madison Square Garden, would have offered a comparable display of good sportsmanship, but I have my doubts.
Denault makes clear that “The loss to the Russians in the opening game of the Summit Series was a serious blow to the collective psyche of Canadian hockey.” While Canada battled back to defeat the Soviet Union in the series, 4 games to 3 (with one tie), Canadians inside and outside of hockey henceforth knew that ice hockey could no longer be considered only a Canadian game.
Denault spends considerable time chronicling how two coaches, one in Canada and one in the U.S.S.R., each built a team for the ages. Scotty Bowman for Montreal, and Anatoli Tarasov for Central Red Army (officially ЦСКА Москва, Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии (CSKA Moskva, Centralniya Sportivniya Club Armii, the Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow) selected their players carefully and trained them systematically. These passages from The Greatest Game may be of greatest interest to hockey coaches and team administrators seeking a way to build winning clubs of their own.
Soon, though, Denault is setting the stage for the “greatest game” between the Montreal Canadiens and Central Red Army. The context was “Super Series ’76,” a series of international exhibition games for which both the National Hockey League and the Soviet Elite League suspended their regular seasons for a series of international exhibition games between NHL and Soviet teams.
Representing the U.S.S.R. were Soviet Wings (ХК Крылья Советов, HK Krylya Sovetov), a Moscow-based team affiliated with the Soviet Air Force, and of course the Central Red Army team. The NHL teams participating in the tournament included the Buffalo Sabres, the Chicago Black Hawks, the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and of course the Montreal Canadiens.
The Soviets won five of the eight games in the exhibition, to two for the NHL (with one tie). North American hockey fans often focused on the way in which the Flyers, then NHL champions, won a resounding 4-1 victory over the Central Red Army on the tournament’s final night. But for Denault, the most important game is the one that the Canadiens played against Red Army, on New Year’s Eve 1975, at the Montreal Forum.
“For the first time ever,” Denault writes with an almost breathless sense of excitement, “the two most successful club teams in the sport would clash. On one side stood the Red Army: winners of nineteen championships in the twenty-nine-year history of the Soviet Elite League. On the other side stood the Montreal Canadiens: winners of an unequalled eighteen Stanley Cups in the fifty-eight-year history of the National Hockey League.” Small wonder that a sportswriter for the Montreal Gazette described the upcoming game as “an exhibition game which in reality is the Super Bowl, the Grey Cup, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup, all wrapped into one.”
Denault’s re-creation of that historic game is brilliant. He captures well the speed and grace and action of ice hockey when it is played at the very highest level. But I’m not going to quote from these passages of The Greatest Game; rather, I will leave them for you to discover and enjoy for yourselves. And I certainly will not give away the final score or results of the game – although, if you live anywhere between Gander and Victoria, you probably already know how the game ended.
A bit of context: at the time when the “greatest game” took place, the Philadelphia Flyers had won two straight Stanley Cups, utilizing harsh, brawling tactics that caused those Flyers teams to be nicknamed “the Broad Street Bullies.” Concern was widespread at the time that, if the Flyers’ way of playing ice hockey became the norm, hockey could degenerate into a brutal, graceless spectacle akin to professional wrestling – a meaningless celebration of violence for its own sake.
Denault sees a decided degree of poetic justice in the fact that, five months after the “greatest game,” the Canadiens, playing a game of speed and skill, out-skated and out-shot the bruising Flyers to win the 1976 Stanley Cup. And he makes a point of contrasting the Broad Street Bullies’ brutal, fights-and-fouls approach to hockey with what fans saw during the “greatest game”, writing that “On the night of December 31, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens and the Central Red Army engaged in a hockey game that reminded all those who watched how beautiful the sport could be when it is played in its purest form and at its highest level.” Denault feels that “it was the sport of hockey that emerged as the true winner, both on that New Year’s Eve and ever since.”
Published by Toronto-based McClelland & Stewart, Denault’s The Greatest Game is a well-written tribute to what ice hockey can and should be – a fast, tough, and spirited, but skill-oriented game between opponents who can respect each other before the first puck is dropped, and after the final buzzer sounds.
For hockey writer Todd Denault, however, the greatness of those Canadiens teams of the 1970’s went beyond their winning six Stanley Cups during the decade. Denault feels that the Habs may have saved the sport of hockey itself, during an exhibition game against the Soviet Union’s Central Red Army team, as he makes clear in his 2010 book The Greatest Game.
Denault, a Cobourg, Ontario-based freelance writer, is also a member of the Society for International Hockey Research, and therefore it makes sense that he might take particular interest in the international dimensions of this story of The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey (the book’s subtitle). Before getting to that historic game of 31 December 1975, though, Denault tracks back to the changes brought by the Summit Series of 1972 between Canada and the U.S.S.R.
Not many U.S. hockey fans know the story of the 1972 Summit Series, but the series occupies an important place in Canadian cultural memory. Before the series, Canadians had harboured a great deal of confidence in Canada’s dominance of ice hockey, but the Soviets had trained systematically and came into the series determined to use their emphasis on speed, skill, and passing to show that hockey could also be played well in countries outside of North America.
Those Cold War times were tense, and it was interesting to hear Denault discuss how there was even an element of дезинформация – dezinformatsiya, or disinformation – to the way the Soviet team prepared for the series. “Before the watchful eyes of Team Canada,” Denault writes, “the Russians had spent the days before the opening game deliberately practising at a slow speed.” The Canadians went into the game feeling highly confident, but that confidence was gone by the end of the first period, when the fast-skating Soviets neutralized an initial 2-0 advantage for Canada and tied the game 2-2. “The shock”, Denault states, adopting for the moment the historical present, “is twofold: not only is Canada not as good as everyone thought, but the Soviets are much better than anyone imagined.”
The Soviets won that first game 7-3, and when all is said and done, “the triumphant Soviet team hears the most unexpected sound from the Forum crowd: cheering. For a brief shining moment, all that separates the two countries is forgotten. What is acknowledged is the brilliant display of hockey seen tonight. Caught unaware, the Soviet players return the crowd’s appreciation by raising their sticks in the air. The sport of hockey will never be the same.” I would like to think that a crowd of U.S. hockey fans in, say, New York City’s Madison Square Garden, would have offered a comparable display of good sportsmanship, but I have my doubts.
Denault makes clear that “The loss to the Russians in the opening game of the Summit Series was a serious blow to the collective psyche of Canadian hockey.” While Canada battled back to defeat the Soviet Union in the series, 4 games to 3 (with one tie), Canadians inside and outside of hockey henceforth knew that ice hockey could no longer be considered only a Canadian game.
Denault spends considerable time chronicling how two coaches, one in Canada and one in the U.S.S.R., each built a team for the ages. Scotty Bowman for Montreal, and Anatoli Tarasov for Central Red Army (officially ЦСКА Москва, Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии (CSKA Moskva, Centralniya Sportivniya Club Armii, the Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow) selected their players carefully and trained them systematically. These passages from The Greatest Game may be of greatest interest to hockey coaches and team administrators seeking a way to build winning clubs of their own.
Soon, though, Denault is setting the stage for the “greatest game” between the Montreal Canadiens and Central Red Army. The context was “Super Series ’76,” a series of international exhibition games for which both the National Hockey League and the Soviet Elite League suspended their regular seasons for a series of international exhibition games between NHL and Soviet teams.
Representing the U.S.S.R. were Soviet Wings (ХК Крылья Советов, HK Krylya Sovetov), a Moscow-based team affiliated with the Soviet Air Force, and of course the Central Red Army team. The NHL teams participating in the tournament included the Buffalo Sabres, the Chicago Black Hawks, the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and of course the Montreal Canadiens.
The Soviets won five of the eight games in the exhibition, to two for the NHL (with one tie). North American hockey fans often focused on the way in which the Flyers, then NHL champions, won a resounding 4-1 victory over the Central Red Army on the tournament’s final night. But for Denault, the most important game is the one that the Canadiens played against Red Army, on New Year’s Eve 1975, at the Montreal Forum.
“For the first time ever,” Denault writes with an almost breathless sense of excitement, “the two most successful club teams in the sport would clash. On one side stood the Red Army: winners of nineteen championships in the twenty-nine-year history of the Soviet Elite League. On the other side stood the Montreal Canadiens: winners of an unequalled eighteen Stanley Cups in the fifty-eight-year history of the National Hockey League.” Small wonder that a sportswriter for the Montreal Gazette described the upcoming game as “an exhibition game which in reality is the Super Bowl, the Grey Cup, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup, all wrapped into one.”
Denault’s re-creation of that historic game is brilliant. He captures well the speed and grace and action of ice hockey when it is played at the very highest level. But I’m not going to quote from these passages of The Greatest Game; rather, I will leave them for you to discover and enjoy for yourselves. And I certainly will not give away the final score or results of the game – although, if you live anywhere between Gander and Victoria, you probably already know how the game ended.
A bit of context: at the time when the “greatest game” took place, the Philadelphia Flyers had won two straight Stanley Cups, utilizing harsh, brawling tactics that caused those Flyers teams to be nicknamed “the Broad Street Bullies.” Concern was widespread at the time that, if the Flyers’ way of playing ice hockey became the norm, hockey could degenerate into a brutal, graceless spectacle akin to professional wrestling – a meaningless celebration of violence for its own sake.
Denault sees a decided degree of poetic justice in the fact that, five months after the “greatest game,” the Canadiens, playing a game of speed and skill, out-skated and out-shot the bruising Flyers to win the 1976 Stanley Cup. And he makes a point of contrasting the Broad Street Bullies’ brutal, fights-and-fouls approach to hockey with what fans saw during the “greatest game”, writing that “On the night of December 31, 1975, the Montreal Canadiens and the Central Red Army engaged in a hockey game that reminded all those who watched how beautiful the sport could be when it is played in its purest form and at its highest level.” Denault feels that “it was the sport of hockey that emerged as the true winner, both on that New Year’s Eve and ever since.”
Published by Toronto-based McClelland & Stewart, Denault’s The Greatest Game is a well-written tribute to what ice hockey can and should be – a fast, tough, and spirited, but skill-oriented game between opponents who can respect each other before the first puck is dropped, and after the final buzzer sounds.
September 9, 2023
So this game happened nearly 50 years ago, but it was epic in Canadian history and even more so in hockey history, so it resonates today as much as those many years ago. It was in fact, 10 years before perestroika. I so clearly remember the buildup of excitement, and the numbness of the game itself. But that history, captured so well in this book, is the first star of the game (there are 3 stars for you non-hockey fans, eh.)
Wow. Such great detail for a hockey fan, especially if you love the Montreal Canadiens in 1975… someone who collected, traded, and coveted those Esso Power Player stickers! This isn’t just a hockey book… It’s a history book!
This New Years Eve game was epic, with my childhood hero captaining the greatest hockey team in history, playing against the vaunted Red Machine of the Russian Army… well before the fall of the Iron Curtain. When I got to visit Russia in 1995, I bought a half dozen Russian hockey jerseys in Red Square, complete with Cyrillic lettering (of course) due to a love of Russian history, culture, the people, and oh my, especially their hockey. Loved this history book of a time when Russia was the ‘enemy’!
So much gold here… at his story is not just of this seminal game… it starts with the 1920 Olympics, where my beloved-hometown Winnipeg wins the Gold Medal. And then it tells the story of Russia’s shift from bandy to ice hockey in the 1940’s, the first star being Anatoli Tarasov, himself. The book doesn’t fast-forwar to the big game… but the final chapters are the most compelling, offering up the details of Montreal’s singers of the National anthem; the game announcers, Danny Gallivan and Howie Meeker, explaining why the inexperienced John Ferguson was added; the backgrounds of individual players (the Roadrunner, the Flower, Big Bird); the detailed backgrounds of Tretiak and Dryden (several chapters!) who chose the University of Manitoba over Harvard and the Habs, so he could play hockey (Canadian Olympic Team) and go to law school at the same time; the hockey-playing priest, Father Bauer; politics (the asswipe-thief, Alan Eagleson); the social atmosphere and complicated exchange of gifts;the souvenir scurrying for 27 yr old Bobby Orr’s sticks gifted by the Boston trainer before playing the Bruins; the 100 Canadian coaches (including Fred Sheri) invited to Russia for a coaching clinic; Kate Smith’s 47-3 singing record at the Spectrum for the Broad Street Bullies (though only 3 times in person?!?); Savard’s Habs drafting Tretiak in 1983, more than 10 years before the falling of the Wall (and Tretiak retiring at 32 in protest at not being released to live out his dream in Montreal -Pryakin was allowed to leave 5 years later, 2 years before the whole curtain fell in 1991.) Jarvis, Gainey, Risebrough, Roberts, Lambert, Lapointe, Savard, Lemaire, the start of all of them!
… and the fire on ice, eh!
Todd Denault… He Shoots, He SCORES, eh!
Wow. Such great detail for a hockey fan, especially if you love the Montreal Canadiens in 1975… someone who collected, traded, and coveted those Esso Power Player stickers! This isn’t just a hockey book… It’s a history book!
This New Years Eve game was epic, with my childhood hero captaining the greatest hockey team in history, playing against the vaunted Red Machine of the Russian Army… well before the fall of the Iron Curtain. When I got to visit Russia in 1995, I bought a half dozen Russian hockey jerseys in Red Square, complete with Cyrillic lettering (of course) due to a love of Russian history, culture, the people, and oh my, especially their hockey. Loved this history book of a time when Russia was the ‘enemy’!
So much gold here… at his story is not just of this seminal game… it starts with the 1920 Olympics, where my beloved-hometown Winnipeg wins the Gold Medal. And then it tells the story of Russia’s shift from bandy to ice hockey in the 1940’s, the first star being Anatoli Tarasov, himself. The book doesn’t fast-forwar to the big game… but the final chapters are the most compelling, offering up the details of Montreal’s singers of the National anthem; the game announcers, Danny Gallivan and Howie Meeker, explaining why the inexperienced John Ferguson was added; the backgrounds of individual players (the Roadrunner, the Flower, Big Bird); the detailed backgrounds of Tretiak and Dryden (several chapters!) who chose the University of Manitoba over Harvard and the Habs, so he could play hockey (Canadian Olympic Team) and go to law school at the same time; the hockey-playing priest, Father Bauer; politics (the asswipe-thief, Alan Eagleson); the social atmosphere and complicated exchange of gifts;the souvenir scurrying for 27 yr old Bobby Orr’s sticks gifted by the Boston trainer before playing the Bruins; the 100 Canadian coaches (including Fred Sheri) invited to Russia for a coaching clinic; Kate Smith’s 47-3 singing record at the Spectrum for the Broad Street Bullies (though only 3 times in person?!?); Savard’s Habs drafting Tretiak in 1983, more than 10 years before the falling of the Wall (and Tretiak retiring at 32 in protest at not being released to live out his dream in Montreal -Pryakin was allowed to leave 5 years later, 2 years before the whole curtain fell in 1991.) Jarvis, Gainey, Risebrough, Roberts, Lambert, Lapointe, Savard, Lemaire, the start of all of them!
… and the fire on ice, eh!
Todd Denault… He Shoots, He SCORES, eh!
Want to read
November 11, 2025Waiting for this book, brought me to
On Goaltending by Joseph Jacques Omer Plante, born 1929, Montreal, Canada, died 1986, Geneva, Switzerland (cancer). This book was published in 1972.
"When we watch a hockey game today, at any level, on any given night, we see Plante's influence on the sport. It's hard to find somebody else in the history of hockey whom we could say the same of.
The closest comparison in baseball might be a Babe Ruth, a player who forever changed the dynamic of his sport for all those who followed.
Goalies are known for their quirks and Plante was no exception. Tell us about his.
Even amongst goalies it would be tough to find one quirkier than Plante. .... "
---Todd Denault in an interview at "Hockeybookreview"
On Goaltending by Joseph Jacques Omer Plante, born 1929, Montreal, Canada, died 1986, Geneva, Switzerland (cancer). This book was published in 1972.
"When we watch a hockey game today, at any level, on any given night, we see Plante's influence on the sport. It's hard to find somebody else in the history of hockey whom we could say the same of.
The closest comparison in baseball might be a Babe Ruth, a player who forever changed the dynamic of his sport for all those who followed.
Goalies are known for their quirks and Plante was no exception. Tell us about his.
Even amongst goalies it would be tough to find one quirkier than Plante. .... "
---Todd Denault in an interview at "Hockeybookreview"
May 31, 2021
Loved this book. I can't believe how nostalgic I am for a time I wasn't even alive for, and a team (the Canadiens) I don't even cheer for.
Everything in hockey changed on Dec 31, 1975 when the Canadiens took on the top team in the Soviet league. This book essentially covers the 20 years leading up to the game, the game itself, and the fallout in the future of the NHL as a new dynasty is born.
Everything in hockey changed on Dec 31, 1975 when the Canadiens took on the top team in the Soviet league. This book essentially covers the 20 years leading up to the game, the game itself, and the fallout in the future of the NHL as a new dynasty is born.
April 27, 2020
The book is a fantastic history of hockey in the 1970 focusing around the Flyers, Canadians (both teams) and the Russian national team. The book also focuses around players in particular Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak. Outstanding book, go watch the game on YouTube once you finish it.
February 8, 2020
Fantastic book. Great read!
October 18, 2020
3.5 - far too many misused words
January 23, 2022
Excellent read. Really enjoyed how it was presented. Terrific insight for the eventually collision of 2 hockey powers. Awesome book. Highly recommend.
September 23, 2025
If you love 70s-era NHL hockey and the Habs, then this book will bring back memories of the Flyers-Habs rivalry and the Soviets vs Canadiens game on New Year's Eve 1975
April 22, 2022
A really nice snapshot of mid-70s hockey, the early days of the Canadiens Dynasty, and how the Cold War shaped the game. Denault isnt the world's greatest writer, but he does his research and can tell a story.
February 10, 2025
Review for The Greatest Game can be found on Hockey Blog In Canada.
February 1, 2015
I was surprised by how interesting this book managed to be. Although to be fair, I suspect that one has to be a fan of the great Canadiens teams of the 60's and 70's to really enjoy the book. The author does an excellent job of providing a rich back story on virtually every member of the Canadiens team that faced the Soviets. He also writes engagingly of the work of team general manager Sam Pollock. In fact, the bulk of the book consists of such back story, while a short and less interesting portion actually covers the game.
I would go so far as to say if you aren't a fan of the Canadiens team of the period, or of team management in general, this book probably won't work for you.
I would go so far as to say if you aren't a fan of the Canadiens team of the period, or of team management in general, this book probably won't work for you.
June 20, 2015
Habs, history and hockey are the topics of this book. It uses the game in 1975 as a focal point for learning about the Montreal Canadiens, Soviet hockey, and the state of the NHL at the time.
Packaging this book with a DVD of the game would be a great option. I have a DVD of the game that I will be re-watching this summer after finishing this book. Sounds like Tretiak stole the show.
The book made we want to learn more about Soviet hockey. Sadly the only books I can find written by Soviet supreme guru coach Tarasov are out of print and cost over $200!
Thankfully the Canadiens style of play prevailed in the NHL and brought an end to the Flyers goon platoon.
Packaging this book with a DVD of the game would be a great option. I have a DVD of the game that I will be re-watching this summer after finishing this book. Sounds like Tretiak stole the show.
The book made we want to learn more about Soviet hockey. Sadly the only books I can find written by Soviet supreme guru coach Tarasov are out of print and cost over $200!
Thankfully the Canadiens style of play prevailed in the NHL and brought an end to the Flyers goon platoon.
January 11, 2015
As a fan of 1970s hockey and the many memorable games involving North American teams playing teams from the Soviet Union, this book was a fantastic read not only about the best of those games, but how the two teams were built up to that memorable New Year's Eve night in 1975. Full review posted on my blog:
www.sportsbookguy.blogspot.com
www.sportsbookguy.blogspot.com
February 18, 2014
An incredible history of not only the enemy without but the enemy within the NHL. Denault's account of one game of hockey weaves together decades of the sport's history. He not only describes the perceived threat of Soviet hockey but the threat of Philadelphian hockey and how one night saved the game from both.
A must read for any hockey fan, as good if not better than Dryden's "The Game."
A must read for any hockey fan, as good if not better than Dryden's "The Game."
November 13, 2014
Very well done. An enthralling history of the period of hockey that is sadly, gone forever. Long live the 70's in the hockey world! A must read for any hockey fan. You won't be disappointed. I was a bit surprised that there was no mention of the rift on Team Canada 72 though. Other than that, a good read.
4 stars out of 5
4 stars out of 5
May 24, 2015
I really thought I would love this book, but I didn't. It is meticulously detailed and I guess that wasn't what I was expecting. It really got "into the weeds" when it came to the history of the ascent of the Russians in the world hockey stage and wasn't as focused on the "night that saved hockey" as I would have expected given the title. I ended up skimming parts just to slog through.
January 10, 2011
If you are a hockey fan you will love this book!
January 16, 2014
Well written. Very informative.
May 31, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyable retelling of one of hockey's greatest games and the story behind it AND the effects it had on world-wide hockey from that point on.
December 25, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. It was well written. Its probably best for hockey fans born before 1970.
November 3, 2015
Excellent buildup to the classic game. What memories this brings back to a Montrealer growing up in the 70s.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews