PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia defenseman Ed Van Impe stepped out of the box, his penalty over. Coming his way was Red Army star Valeri Kharlamov. Van Impe delivered a crushing blow to Kharlamov, causing the Russian to lay prone on the ice for more than a minute. The Soviet coach was furious that no penalty was called, and he pulled his team off the ice. The Flyers offered no apologies; the Soviets had said they wanted to know what it was like to play an NHL team in an NHL rink under NHL rules. Now they knew.
The Super Series was a novel idea, a great opportunity to grow the sport of hockey during a time when there was little to no cooperation between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. The Soviet's Red Army team was considered the best team in the world, believed to be capable of beating even the best professional teams. However, they had never actually played the best.
So in the winter of 1976, the NHL and the Russian KHL organized the Super Series. Two teams from Russia - CSKA Moscow (better known as the Red Army Team) and Soviet Wings - would come to North America and each play three NHL teams. The games would be televised live internationally. They were among the most anticipated hockey games ever played to that point.
The Red Army team started the series with a victory over the New York Rangers. On New Years Day, they travelled to Montreal to play the Canadiens, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season. In one of the greatest hockey games ever played, the Red Army managed a tie against Montreal despite being outshot 38-13. The magnificent play of Vladislav Tretiak kept the Red Army in the game and drew rave reviews from people who had never seen the magnificant goaltender play before.
With the Red Army team having three games under their belts and Soviet Wings done with their four-game set, the final game of the Super Series was set for Philadelphia on January 11, 1976. The Flyers were the defending Stanley Cup champions and their matchup against the Red Army was the most anticipated of the three. With their reputation as the Broad Street Bullies firmly intact, the Flyers planned to give the Soviets a first-hand look at exactly how hockey was played in North America.
The final game was almost ruined, though, after Van Impe's devastating hit. When no penalty was called, the Red Army team left the ice, refusing to return. The NHL delegation demanded they return to the ice or else the Soviets wouldn't get the fee they had been promised. The Soviets tried to negotiate further, asking that the penalty they had just received for too many men on the ice be overturned. Again, the NHL said no. Reluctantly, the Soviets returned.
The delay was designed in part to get into the Flyers' heads. All it did was make them angry. Inspired by the knowledge that they had sufficiently intimidated the Red Army team, Philadelphia took off, scoring the first goal of the game on the power play shortly after the delay ended and cruising to a 4-1 victory.
The end result of the Super Series was that everything that had been believed about the Soviet team ended up being true. The Red Army team and Soviet Wings went a combined 5-2-1 against NHL teams, showing North America that they had the talent to skate with the best. The thrashing they received at the hands of the Flyers, though - and the Red Army team's reaction to the beating - confirmed the stereotype that the Soviet players were soft, not used to the physical play common in the NHL.
HONORABLE MENTION
January 11, 1987: CLEVELAND - Things seemed perfect for Cleveland. They had a 20-13 lead, and Denver had just botched the kickoff. The Broncos had to drive 98 yards in 5:32 to tie the AFC Championship Game, and they had to do it on the road. What happened next has become known as The Drive. Fifteen plays later, Denver's Mark Jackson made a sliding catch on his knees of a John Elway pass, tying the game with 39 seconds left. Denver would win in overtime, and the Browns fans still haven't recovered.
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Flyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Flyers. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
December 30, 1981: 50 in 39
EDMONTON - Ever since Maurice "Rocket" Richard scored 50 goals in the 50-game 1944-45 season, the most hallowed scoring mark in the NHL has been the 50 goals in 50 games mark. While the length of the season has changed throughout the years in the NHL, making it a little difficult to compare scorers from different eras, the 50 goals in 50 games mark has always been the benchmark, especially since it took another 33 years for someone to match Richard's mark.
The Islanders' Mike Bossy was the second to achieve that hallowed mark, scoring his 50th goal in the Islanders' 50th game of the 1980-81 season. Later in 1981, in a new season, a young man in Edmonton would make Bossy's mark be quickly forgotten.
Wayne Gretzky was only 20 years old when the 1981-82 NHL season began, but he had already established himself as the best player in the game. Even so, nobody could have expected the flurry he was about to unleash on the NHL. Gretzky was piling up goals faster than anybody had before him, faster than even Bossy the year before. As the final week of December rolled around, Gretzky had scored 41 goals in the Oilers' first 37 games, putting the 50 in 50 mark well within reach.
Then, an explosion. On a Sunday afternoon against Los Angeles, Gretzky unloaded for four goals, his third such game of the season, to give him 45 goals in 38 games. Now, the question wasn't whether he'd get 50 in 50, but whether he'd get it with 6 or 7 games to spare.
On December 30, 1981, the Oilers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers, who still had many of the same players from their Broad Street Bullies heyday of the mid-70s. Though not as dominant as they once had been, they were still a tough and talented defensive team.
That didn't stop Gretzky. He scored his first goal in the closing seconds of a power play, taking a pass off the boards and putting it in the net to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Not long after, he fired a slap shot from the slot into the top corner of the net for his 47th goal of the season.
The Flyers started to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Ten seconds after Philadelphia's second goal, though, Gretzky struck again, scoring on a breakaway for the hat trick and giving him 48 for the season. For his 49th goal, he crossed the blue line and avoided three players before scoring from long distance.
The Edmonton crowd was going crazy. Gretzky had scored eight goals in two games, giving him 49 in 39 games. It was a remarkable stretch of offensive brilliance. They clamored for one more. And while they should have been upset when Philadelphia scored two quick goals in the third to cut the Edmonton lead to 7-5, the fans weren't too upset, because they knew what it meant: at some point soon, the Flyers were going to pull their goalie. Gretzky was going to have an empty net to shoot at for his 50th goal.
And so it happened. Philadelphia pulled its goalie and got a few shots off with the extra attacker. Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr made one stop, firing ahead to Glenn Anderson. Anderson found Gretzky on the left boards, and Gretzky skated ahead, flanked by a defender, and fired, scoring his 50th goal, and 5th of the game, with 5 seconds left.
Gretzky's teammates piled on top of him in the corner in celebration, but many of them likely couldn't believe it. He had taken one of the most sacred records in hockey, something that had been done only twice, and obliterated it, getting to 50 with 11 games to spare. When Gretzky's 50th goal crossed the line, no other player in the NHL had yet reached 30 for the season.
Gretzky's first 39 games were a sign of things to come. When the Oilers played their 50th game, Gretzky had reached 61 goals, setting a still-standing mark for scoring brilliance. He kept it up, too, eventually reaching 92 for the season, a single-season mark once thought unreachable and now seen as untouchable. Adding in his 120 assists, and Gretzky earned an unthinkable 212 points in the 81-82 season, another mark people thought would be unbreakable ... until Gretzky himself broke it four years later.
Wayne Gretzky's list of NHL records is so long that it seems impossible that one man could have done all that. Since the 81-82 season, three other players have reached 50 goals in 50 games - Gretzky himself two more times, Mario Lemieux once, and Brett Hull twice. But nobody has come anywhere near Gretzky's 50 goals in 39 games. And it's likely that nobody ever will.
This video shows all 12 goals from the game. It's worth the 9:00 view time if only for the Canadian accents and the wonder that was the Flyers' full-length pants
The Islanders' Mike Bossy was the second to achieve that hallowed mark, scoring his 50th goal in the Islanders' 50th game of the 1980-81 season. Later in 1981, in a new season, a young man in Edmonton would make Bossy's mark be quickly forgotten.
Wayne Gretzky was only 20 years old when the 1981-82 NHL season began, but he had already established himself as the best player in the game. Even so, nobody could have expected the flurry he was about to unleash on the NHL. Gretzky was piling up goals faster than anybody had before him, faster than even Bossy the year before. As the final week of December rolled around, Gretzky had scored 41 goals in the Oilers' first 37 games, putting the 50 in 50 mark well within reach.
Then, an explosion. On a Sunday afternoon against Los Angeles, Gretzky unloaded for four goals, his third such game of the season, to give him 45 goals in 38 games. Now, the question wasn't whether he'd get 50 in 50, but whether he'd get it with 6 or 7 games to spare.
On December 30, 1981, the Oilers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers, who still had many of the same players from their Broad Street Bullies heyday of the mid-70s. Though not as dominant as they once had been, they were still a tough and talented defensive team.
That didn't stop Gretzky. He scored his first goal in the closing seconds of a power play, taking a pass off the boards and putting it in the net to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Not long after, he fired a slap shot from the slot into the top corner of the net for his 47th goal of the season.
The Flyers started to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Ten seconds after Philadelphia's second goal, though, Gretzky struck again, scoring on a breakaway for the hat trick and giving him 48 for the season. For his 49th goal, he crossed the blue line and avoided three players before scoring from long distance.
The Edmonton crowd was going crazy. Gretzky had scored eight goals in two games, giving him 49 in 39 games. It was a remarkable stretch of offensive brilliance. They clamored for one more. And while they should have been upset when Philadelphia scored two quick goals in the third to cut the Edmonton lead to 7-5, the fans weren't too upset, because they knew what it meant: at some point soon, the Flyers were going to pull their goalie. Gretzky was going to have an empty net to shoot at for his 50th goal.
And so it happened. Philadelphia pulled its goalie and got a few shots off with the extra attacker. Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr made one stop, firing ahead to Glenn Anderson. Anderson found Gretzky on the left boards, and Gretzky skated ahead, flanked by a defender, and fired, scoring his 50th goal, and 5th of the game, with 5 seconds left.
Gretzky's teammates piled on top of him in the corner in celebration, but many of them likely couldn't believe it. He had taken one of the most sacred records in hockey, something that had been done only twice, and obliterated it, getting to 50 with 11 games to spare. When Gretzky's 50th goal crossed the line, no other player in the NHL had yet reached 30 for the season.
Gretzky's first 39 games were a sign of things to come. When the Oilers played their 50th game, Gretzky had reached 61 goals, setting a still-standing mark for scoring brilliance. He kept it up, too, eventually reaching 92 for the season, a single-season mark once thought unreachable and now seen as untouchable. Adding in his 120 assists, and Gretzky earned an unthinkable 212 points in the 81-82 season, another mark people thought would be unbreakable ... until Gretzky himself broke it four years later.
Wayne Gretzky's list of NHL records is so long that it seems impossible that one man could have done all that. Since the 81-82 season, three other players have reached 50 goals in 50 games - Gretzky himself two more times, Mario Lemieux once, and Brett Hull twice. But nobody has come anywhere near Gretzky's 50 goals in 39 games. And it's likely that nobody ever will.
This video shows all 12 goals from the game. It's worth the 9:00 view time if only for the Canadian accents and the wonder that was the Flyers' full-length pants
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