27 remarkable days: the 1972 summit series of ice hockey between Canada and the Soviet Union
In September 1972, Canada’s best hockey players from the National Hockey League (NHL) played the élite amateurs from the Soviet Union in a friendly series. When Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau met his Soviet counterpart Alexei Kosygin in 1971, their discussions had included increasing the hoc...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2004
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| In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2004, Volume: 5, Issue: 2, Pages: 271-280 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In September 1972, Canada’s best hockey players from the National Hockey League (NHL) played the élite amateurs from the Soviet Union in a friendly series. When Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau met his Soviet counterpart Alexei Kosygin in 1971, their discussions had included increasing the hockey competitions between the two countries. Soon after, hockey hierarchies of both nations decided on a series of eight games, four to be played across Canada and four in Moscow.1 For Canadians, the Summit Series was intended to be a celebration of their global supremacy in ice hockey. The architects of Soviet hockey, on the other hand, had designs on surprising Canada and the world with their skill and claiming the Canadian game as their own. Over the course of the month, the games captured the imagination of both nations. Far beyond any hockey match, the series pitted East against West - communism against capitalism - and many of the players were swept away with the extra‐sporting significance that the games had engendered. What was to be a friendly contest became instead a politically charged event with extensive cultural repercussions - quite literally, a Cold War. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1469076042000269257 |