OT: Penguins vs Red Army in 1989

[Masao]

Hey guys, just wanted to share this video from 1989, it features some Lemieux higlights that I never saw before:

Click to read more...

 

[billybudd]

I love how Errey bails on a 2 on 1, figuring Mario's got a better chance of scoring on a slapshot from the moon.

And I love how he was right, haha.

 

[td_ice]

I was at that game, haha.

 

[Son Goku]

That's so cool.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Did anyone notice the Refs name after the 2nd goal for Cullen?

Things to come about a decade later.

 

[Bart9349]

I was at the game, also.

It is hard to believe the game was more than a quarter century ago. I remember two things the most about the game (unless early dementia is kicking in and I am guilty of confabulation):

The Russian team was extremely fast. On defense, only Paul Coffey could match the team speed of the Russians. In fact, he was able to skate backwards to meet the Russian offensive rushes. My respect for Coffey (which was already great) only grew after seeing his performance.

Second, I remember Jay Caufield (or one of the other "heavies") trying to ram one of the Russian players near the boards. The Russian put on a move at the last second and Caufield crashed himself into the boards and looked rather silly.

If I may digress ....

It is important to put that game in 1989 into perspective.

In 1989 there was a Berlin Wall and the Soviets were still our mortal rivals.
Ronald Reagan had just finished his term in office a few months earlier and Bush the Elder was the new president.

Most importantly, the Pens were coalescing into the great team that would have their first playoff run since the 1982 playoff series.

Interesting trivia: The Coach of that Penguins team was Gene Ubriaco. In Italian ubriaco means drunk or drunkard.

 

[Burgs]

Sometimes I forget about Mario's awesome slap shots from the left side. His highlight reel goals are all about splitting defenses and deking goalies silly. But man could the big guy unload some bombs when he wanted to.

 

[Al Smith]

IIRC, Mario's great slap shot was ultimately limited by his bad back.

Still no Jagr, Francis, or Ulfie on that team. Still, as Bart said, the makings of the first two Stanley Cup victors (and should have been three).

IIRC, because of the turmoil in the USSR, their hockey teams weren't getting the attention and financial support they had when times were more stable. So they had taken a step back from the powerhouse teams of a few years before.

 

[Bart9349]

IIRC, because of the turmoil in the USSR, their hockey teams weren't getting the attention and financial support they had when times were more stable. So they had taken a step back from the powerhouse teams of a few years before.

You may be right, but the great Soviet team from the '87 Canada Cup series was just two years prior.

I don't remember the great Russian KLM line (with Krutov, Larionov, and Makarov) playing that night, however.

Here's the team roster:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0017871989.html

That's a pretty solid lineup. A young Bure, Mogilny, and Fedorov were on the roster. The veteran Fetisov was also on the roster.

Maybe internal team problems affected team play that evening. Maybe players were shipped off to the other Russian team on tour that year.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I love how Errey bails on a 2 on 1, figuring Mario's got a better chance of scoring on a slapshot from the moon.

And I love how he was right, haha.

Yeah, that was great. Mario sorta returned the favor on Bibs' goal later in the game. To Errey's credit... that was a nice close-range slapper.

Really awesome video that I've never seen before. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Masao]

I think that Red Army team was pretty good... see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Series#Moscow_Central_Red_Army_versus_the_NHL_4

Moscow Central Red Army versus the NHL

Red Army won a series against NHL teams with 4 wins, 1 tie, and 2 losses. The scores were:

Red Army tied the Quebec Nordiques 5 to 5
Red Army beat the New York Islanders 3 to 2
Red Army beat the Boston Bruins 5 to 4
Red Army beat the New Jersey Devils 5 to 0
Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Red Army 4 to 2
Red Army beat the Hartford Whalers 6 to 3
Buffalo Sabres beat the Red Army 6 to 5

They only lost to Pittsburgh and Buffalo that series

The other team was Dynamo Riga:

Dynamo Riga versus NHL

The NHL teams won a series against Dynamo Riga with 4 wins, 1 tie, 2 losses. The scores were:

Dynamo Riga tied the Calgary Flames 2 to 2 (Perry Berezan, Hakan Loob) (Alexander Kerch, Alexander Belyavsky)
Edmonton Oilers beat Dynamo Riga 2 to 1
Vancouver Canucks beat Dynamo Riga 6 to 1
Dynamo Riga beat Los Angeles Kings 5 to 3
Chicago Blackhawks beat Dynamo Riga 4 to 1
St. Louis Blues beat Dynamo Riga 5 to 0
Dynamo Riga beat Minnesota North Stars 2 to 1
Washington Capitals beat Dynamo Riga 2 to 1 (19 September 1989 in Riga)