September 28, 1972: Canada Wins the Summit Series

September 28, 1972, 50 years ago: The "Summit Series" between Canada and the Soviet Union comes to a close with Game 8 at the Luzhniki Palace of Sports in Moscow.

Team Canada had made a big mistake in only letting NHL players play for them, meaning that Bobby Hull, who had signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets of the new World Hockey Association, wasn't eligible. Also, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins was injured. If either of the Bobbys was able to play, it would have been a very different series.

But the Soviets, led by goaltender Vladislav Tretiak and left wing Valery Kharlamov, shocked the Canadians, who had to win the last 3 games of the series to win it. With 34 seconds left, Paul Henderson of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores to give Canada a 6-5 win and the series. It is the most famous goal in the sport's history.

Bill Goldsworthy of the Minnesota North Stars died in 1996. Gary Bergman of the Detroit Red Wings died in 2000. Jean-Paul Parise of the North Stars died in 2015. Bill White of the Chicago Black Hawks died in 2017. Stan Mikita of the Black Hawks died in 2018. Pat Stapleton of the Black Hawks died in 2020. Tony Esposito of the Black Hawks and Rod Gilbert of the New York Rangers died in 2021.

The remaining 20 Canadian players are still alive, 50 years later: Frank Mahovlich of the Montreal Canadiens (a legend in Toronto) is 84; Red Berenson of the Red Wings is 82; Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield, both of the New York Rangers, are about to turn 82; Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins is 80; Paul Henderson of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Don Awrey of the Bruins are 79; Yvon Cournoyer of the Montreal Canadiens is 78; Wayne Cashman of the Bruins, Dennis Hull of the Black Hawks (Bobby's brother), Rod Seiling of the Rangers and Ron Ellis of the Toronto Maple Leafs are 77; Serge Savard of the Canadiens is 76; Pete Mahovlich of the Canadiens (Frank's brother) is about to turn 76; Ken Dryden of the Canadiens is 75; Brad Park of the Rangers, Guy Lapointe of the Canadiens and Mickey Redmond of the Red Wings are 74; Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers is 73; and Gilbert Perreault of the Buffalo Sabres is 71.

Of the Soviet players, most of them came from Moscow and environs, and all were from Russia proper, except for Evgeni Paladiev, from Kazakhstan.

Viacheslav Solodukhin was a suicide in 1979, Valeri Kharlamov was killed in a car crash in 1981, Alexander Ragulin died in 2004, Gennadiy Tsygankov in 2006, Yevgeni Mishakov in 2007, Viktor Kuzkin in 2008, Evgeni Paladiev in 2010, Valeri Vasiliev in 2012, Vladimir Vikulov in 2013, Vladimir Petrov and Alexander Bodunov in 2017, Yuri Shatalov and Yevgeni Zimin in 2018, Alexander Gusev in 2020, and Vladimir Shadrin in 2021.

Still alive: Vyacheslav Starshinov is 82, Boris Mikhailov is about to turn 78, Yuri Lyapkin and Alexander Martynyuk are 77, Alexander Yakushev is 75; Vladimir Lutchenko, Yuri Blinov and Alexander Maltsev are 73; Yuri Lebedev and Vyacheslav Anisin are 71, and Vladislav Tretiak and Alexander Volchkov are 70.