Soviet nationals at Maple Leafs Gardens
- Thread starter darkhorse686
- Start date
Hawkey Town 18
Registered User
Don't have a definite answer, but I can eliminate some options...There weren't any games played there in the 81, 84, or 87 Canada Cups. Couldn't find venues for the 91 CC, but the only team the Soviets beat was Finland, so that's out too. The 79 Challenge Cup was played at MSG in NYC.
VMBM
And it didn't even bring me down
At least I don't think they won any major game vs. Canada there. They were especially bad in 1974 vs. WHA's Team Canada. They might have beaten some junior team there, as they played numerous exhibition games in Canada especially in the late 1960s.
A bad rink for them? 'Harold Ballard curse'? Coincidence? I'd love someone trying to analyse it, since I've wondered about this.
Czechoslovakia and Sweden did poorly vs. CAN in MLG in the 1976 CC too (0-6 and 0-4, respectively).
A bad rink for them? 'Harold Ballard curse'? Coincidence? I'd love someone trying to analyse it, since I've wondered about this.
Czechoslovakia and Sweden did poorly vs. CAN in MLG in the 1976 CC too (0-6 and 0-4, respectively).
Killion
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2010
- 36,763
- 3,215
Scintillating10
Registered User
Hawkey Town 18
Registered User
Theokritos
Global Moderator
- Apr 6, 2010
- 12,541
- 4,935
The Soviet National Team won the following games at the Maple Leaf Garden:
1962, Nov. 23: 6-0 vs University of British Columbia + OHA Metro Toronto Junior A All-Stars
1964, Dec 13: 4-0 vs Canadian National Team
1965, Dec 14: 4-3 vs OHA Junior A All-Stars
1969, Jan 19: 4-2 vs Canadian National Team
Coincidence. The sample size is 3 games in 20 years. I don't see the need for an explanation.
1962, Nov. 23: 6-0 vs University of British Columbia + OHA Metro Toronto Junior A All-Stars
1964, Dec 13: 4-0 vs Canadian National Team
1965, Dec 14: 4-3 vs OHA Junior A All-Stars
1969, Jan 19: 4-2 vs Canadian National Team
Coincidence. The sample size is 3 games in 20 years. I don't see the need for an explanation.
Canadiens1958
Registered User
svetovy poharu
Registered User
- Dec 7, 2004
- 290
- 20
Here's the collection of games involving Russian teams at
Maple Leaf Gardens:
Dec 26, 1969 Canadian Nats 3-2 over Russia National team
15,614 watched at the MLG as goalie Wayne Stephenson was the difference,
playing a superlative game while Tretyak, who looked competent enough some
of the time, but the 3 goals that beat him were routine shots.
Canadians had great difficulty getting the puck out of their own zone.
They needed Stephenson at his best, merely to win by one goal. Two of Russia's
players, Zimin and Starshinov, didn't play due to injuries suffered in previous
game in Ottawa.
Fran Huck, Barry MacKenzie and Billy Heindl scored CAN goals, Heindl's goal
late in the 2nd period was the winner. Heindl played on a line with Huck and
Steve King, while former NHLers Billy Harris and Brian Conacher played on a
line with Corby Adams.
Russia scored both of their goals in 1st period, Petrov and Kharlamov, when
they outshot CAN 20-9 in the opening 20 minutes.
Jan 19, 1969 Russian Nationals win 4-2 over Canada's Nationals
The Russian nationals came from behind to score 3 goals in the 3rd
period to defeat the Canadian nationals, 4-2, before a non-sellout
crowd of 15,574 at the Gardens.
Derek Holmes and Chuck Lefley netted the Canadian goals. Three Soviet
first-stringers did not play including goalie Konovalenko and forwards
Firsov and Vikulov. Two Russian players were injured in the tough,
turbulent checking game, Boris Mayorov and Anatoly Ionov.
The 2 Toronto referees, Bob Nadin and Bruce McFadden, called 8 minor
penalties, 5 to the Russians. And Coach Tarasov was confused by the
tolerance of the referees, suggesting that the officials seemed to
arbitrate in favor of the Canadians.
Jan 10, 1967 Canadian Nats 4-3 over Soviet Nationals
15,878 at MLG, Stephenson big factor in win, most of his better work was saved
for the final period but was rarely tested seriously during the first 2 periods.
Russia experimented with new players in this game, sitting out veterans
Starshinov, Boris Mayorov and Veniamin Alexandrov. Canada played without injured
Gary Dineen.
CAN goals were scored by Fran Huck, Danny O'Shea, Ted Hargreaves and Roger
Bourbonnais. RUS goals from Polupanov, Ragulin and Firsov.
Coach Anatoli Tarasov threatened to delay the game when informed by CAHA that
Russian referee Seglin would not be used as a referee, and instead was extremely
dissatisfied with the 2 Toronto referees chosen, Bryan Lewis and Bob Nadin,
even though they equally assessed both teams 5 penalties apiece.
Dec 14, 1965 Soviets win 4-3 over Toronto Marlboros & Stars
Russia came from behind to defeat the OHA Junior A All-Stars 4-3 before
a capacity crowd of 14,886 at the Gardens. The team was basically the Marlboros,
augmented by players from Niagara Falls, Oshawa, Peterborough, Montreal, London
and Fort William.
Bodychecking wasn't as extensive as expected, with the bigger and superbly
conditioned Russians taking over early in the 2nd period. However, a big factor
in holding Russia out was the only non-junior player, goalie Joe Bamford from
Fort William.
Junior goal-getters were Ted Snell, Danny Grant and Andre Lacroix.
This team included Orr, Glennie, Savard and McKenny on defence, with
Sanderson, Meehan and Keon as forwards.
The line of Mayorov-Firsov-Starshinov accounted for 3 of the Soviet goals
with Loktev scoring the game-winner in the final period.
Dec 13, 1964 Soviet nationals 4-0 win Canadian nationals
Total domination by Russia in every phase of the game before 13,045 at MLG.
Canada's national team was missing 5 key players, defensemen Paul Conlin
and Barry McKenzie, goalie Ken Broderick, and forwards Brian Conacher and
Grant Moore. Starshinov led the scoring with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Nov 23 1962 Russia 6-0 win over Toronto Juniors & Univ. of British Columbia
Russia's national team shut out a team of young Selects before 11,725. The team
was made up of players from the Metro Junior A League plus six players from
Univ. of British Columbia who were just over junior age. Coach was Father
David Bauer, who was in the early process of gathering a Canadian team for the 1964
Olympics.
Jan 19, 1960 Whitby Dunlops slam Moscow Selects 9-1
Dunnies of the OHA Senior A easily defeat Moscow Selects before 14,182, Russian
officials termed the Selects as the Soviet Union's second-best team, behind the
1960 Olympic squad. The hard-hitting Dunlops ran up a 7-0 lead before Viktor
Tsyplakov finally scored for Moscow in the final period.
Nov 22, 1957 Whitby Dunlops defeat Moscow Selects 7-2
First-ever appearance of a Russian team in Toronto, 14,327 witnessed the Dunlops
wallop the Selects 7-2. Coach Tarasov said the Whitby team played very well but that
his team made a lot of mistakes and can play a lot better. Whitby led 5-2 at the end
of the 1st period, outshooting Moscow 16-5. Overall, Whitby outshot Selects 35-17.
The only outstanding player for Selects was their captain Sologubov.
Interesting stats compiled from this 1957 exhibition match, kept by Floyd Percival,
director of Sports College. According to time checks, at least 4 members of the
Russian team flew over the Gardens' ice faster than any hockey player had before.
Forward Nikolai Khlystov was clocked at 29.5 mph in one burst in the 3rd period.
Percival said it was the fastest he had ever clocked a hockey player in the years
he has been conducting this research. Fastest previous time was by former Leaf Max
Bentley, clocked at 28.4 mph.
In addition to Khlystov, three others bettered Bentley's time. Alex Cherepanov was
right behind Khlystov at 29.4, Dimitri Ukolov at 29.2 and Sologubov did one sprint
in 28.9. The sprints were measured from blue line to blue line, blue line to red line
and or red line to blue line.
Fastest Whitby player timed was playing coach Sid Smith at 26.9 with Tom O'Connor a
notch behind at 26.8. Percival didn't clock any Whitby players above 25 mph in the
3rd period, when Khlystov and Cherepanov made their rapid dashes in the final 20 minutes.
Defenceman Sologubov, who played two-thirds of the game, made 187 stick checks, also
a Sports College record. The previous high was by Detroit defenceman Red Kelly with 167.
Percival's statisticians said the Russians tried 298 passes and completed 198.
Previous high in Percival's books were 210 by the NY Rangers. Whitby tried 179
passes and completed 96.
OTHER GAMES INVOLVING RUSSIAN TEAMS AT MAPLE LEAF GARDENS:
Sept. 4, 1972 -- Canada 4-1 win over USSR
Sept. 19, 1974 -- WHA Canada 4-1 win over USSR
Sept. 11, 1976 -- Canada 3-1 win over USSR in Canada Cup
Dec. 31, 1989 -- Dynamo Moscow defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4
Jan. 1, 1991 -- Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Dynamo Moscow 7-4
Maple Leaf Gardens:
Dec 26, 1969 Canadian Nats 3-2 over Russia National team
15,614 watched at the MLG as goalie Wayne Stephenson was the difference,
playing a superlative game while Tretyak, who looked competent enough some
of the time, but the 3 goals that beat him were routine shots.
Canadians had great difficulty getting the puck out of their own zone.
They needed Stephenson at his best, merely to win by one goal. Two of Russia's
players, Zimin and Starshinov, didn't play due to injuries suffered in previous
game in Ottawa.
Fran Huck, Barry MacKenzie and Billy Heindl scored CAN goals, Heindl's goal
late in the 2nd period was the winner. Heindl played on a line with Huck and
Steve King, while former NHLers Billy Harris and Brian Conacher played on a
line with Corby Adams.
Russia scored both of their goals in 1st period, Petrov and Kharlamov, when
they outshot CAN 20-9 in the opening 20 minutes.
Jan 19, 1969 Russian Nationals win 4-2 over Canada's Nationals
The Russian nationals came from behind to score 3 goals in the 3rd
period to defeat the Canadian nationals, 4-2, before a non-sellout
crowd of 15,574 at the Gardens.
Derek Holmes and Chuck Lefley netted the Canadian goals. Three Soviet
first-stringers did not play including goalie Konovalenko and forwards
Firsov and Vikulov. Two Russian players were injured in the tough,
turbulent checking game, Boris Mayorov and Anatoly Ionov.
The 2 Toronto referees, Bob Nadin and Bruce McFadden, called 8 minor
penalties, 5 to the Russians. And Coach Tarasov was confused by the
tolerance of the referees, suggesting that the officials seemed to
arbitrate in favor of the Canadians.
Jan 10, 1967 Canadian Nats 4-3 over Soviet Nationals
15,878 at MLG, Stephenson big factor in win, most of his better work was saved
for the final period but was rarely tested seriously during the first 2 periods.
Russia experimented with new players in this game, sitting out veterans
Starshinov, Boris Mayorov and Veniamin Alexandrov. Canada played without injured
Gary Dineen.
CAN goals were scored by Fran Huck, Danny O'Shea, Ted Hargreaves and Roger
Bourbonnais. RUS goals from Polupanov, Ragulin and Firsov.
Coach Anatoli Tarasov threatened to delay the game when informed by CAHA that
Russian referee Seglin would not be used as a referee, and instead was extremely
dissatisfied with the 2 Toronto referees chosen, Bryan Lewis and Bob Nadin,
even though they equally assessed both teams 5 penalties apiece.
Dec 14, 1965 Soviets win 4-3 over Toronto Marlboros & Stars
Russia came from behind to defeat the OHA Junior A All-Stars 4-3 before
a capacity crowd of 14,886 at the Gardens. The team was basically the Marlboros,
augmented by players from Niagara Falls, Oshawa, Peterborough, Montreal, London
and Fort William.
Bodychecking wasn't as extensive as expected, with the bigger and superbly
conditioned Russians taking over early in the 2nd period. However, a big factor
in holding Russia out was the only non-junior player, goalie Joe Bamford from
Fort William.
Junior goal-getters were Ted Snell, Danny Grant and Andre Lacroix.
This team included Orr, Glennie, Savard and McKenny on defence, with
Sanderson, Meehan and Keon as forwards.
The line of Mayorov-Firsov-Starshinov accounted for 3 of the Soviet goals
with Loktev scoring the game-winner in the final period.
Dec 13, 1964 Soviet nationals 4-0 win Canadian nationals
Total domination by Russia in every phase of the game before 13,045 at MLG.
Canada's national team was missing 5 key players, defensemen Paul Conlin
and Barry McKenzie, goalie Ken Broderick, and forwards Brian Conacher and
Grant Moore. Starshinov led the scoring with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Nov 23 1962 Russia 6-0 win over Toronto Juniors & Univ. of British Columbia
Russia's national team shut out a team of young Selects before 11,725. The team
was made up of players from the Metro Junior A League plus six players from
Univ. of British Columbia who were just over junior age. Coach was Father
David Bauer, who was in the early process of gathering a Canadian team for the 1964
Olympics.
Jan 19, 1960 Whitby Dunlops slam Moscow Selects 9-1
Dunnies of the OHA Senior A easily defeat Moscow Selects before 14,182, Russian
officials termed the Selects as the Soviet Union's second-best team, behind the
1960 Olympic squad. The hard-hitting Dunlops ran up a 7-0 lead before Viktor
Tsyplakov finally scored for Moscow in the final period.
Nov 22, 1957 Whitby Dunlops defeat Moscow Selects 7-2
First-ever appearance of a Russian team in Toronto, 14,327 witnessed the Dunlops
wallop the Selects 7-2. Coach Tarasov said the Whitby team played very well but that
his team made a lot of mistakes and can play a lot better. Whitby led 5-2 at the end
of the 1st period, outshooting Moscow 16-5. Overall, Whitby outshot Selects 35-17.
The only outstanding player for Selects was their captain Sologubov.
Interesting stats compiled from this 1957 exhibition match, kept by Floyd Percival,
director of Sports College. According to time checks, at least 4 members of the
Russian team flew over the Gardens' ice faster than any hockey player had before.
Forward Nikolai Khlystov was clocked at 29.5 mph in one burst in the 3rd period.
Percival said it was the fastest he had ever clocked a hockey player in the years
he has been conducting this research. Fastest previous time was by former Leaf Max
Bentley, clocked at 28.4 mph.
In addition to Khlystov, three others bettered Bentley's time. Alex Cherepanov was
right behind Khlystov at 29.4, Dimitri Ukolov at 29.2 and Sologubov did one sprint
in 28.9. The sprints were measured from blue line to blue line, blue line to red line
and or red line to blue line.
Fastest Whitby player timed was playing coach Sid Smith at 26.9 with Tom O'Connor a
notch behind at 26.8. Percival didn't clock any Whitby players above 25 mph in the
3rd period, when Khlystov and Cherepanov made their rapid dashes in the final 20 minutes.
Defenceman Sologubov, who played two-thirds of the game, made 187 stick checks, also
a Sports College record. The previous high was by Detroit defenceman Red Kelly with 167.
Percival's statisticians said the Russians tried 298 passes and completed 198.
Previous high in Percival's books were 210 by the NY Rangers. Whitby tried 179
passes and completed 96.
OTHER GAMES INVOLVING RUSSIAN TEAMS AT MAPLE LEAF GARDENS:
Sept. 4, 1972 -- Canada 4-1 win over USSR
Sept. 19, 1974 -- WHA Canada 4-1 win over USSR
Sept. 11, 1976 -- Canada 3-1 win over USSR in Canada Cup
Dec. 31, 1989 -- Dynamo Moscow defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4
Jan. 1, 1991 -- Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Dynamo Moscow 7-4
Last edited:
darkhorse686
Registered User
Svetovy, thanks for the summary
Kind of my own thoughts, it's as if they were jinxed going there, at least once Harold Ballard controlled the Gardens.
Crazy as this may sound, had the Soviet Nationals played there during Super Series '83, I wouldn't put it past the Leafs to hold them to at least a tie purely because of recent history at that time.
Kind of my own thoughts, it's as if they were jinxed going there, at least once Harold Ballard controlled the Gardens.
Crazy as this may sound, had the Soviet Nationals played there during Super Series '83, I wouldn't put it past the Leafs to hold them to at least a tie purely because of recent history at that time.
darkhorse686
Registered User
I envision it now...Soviets dominate the game but have only a 1 goal lead to show for their efforts...30 seconds to go, Leafs make a final charge forward, Ihnacak is surrounded as he enters the Soviet zone and just leaves it for Vaive...#22 has no options and just blasts a random shot that surprises a more-spectator-than-goalie-on-this-night Tretiak and winds up in the net...the Leafs escape with an improbable 2-2 draw............back to the land of the living
svetovy poharu
Registered User
- Dec 7, 2004
- 290
- 20
Nutbar, you are somewhat correct, there were 2 games played in Toronto
during the 1986 WJC, but none involving the USSR. The Dec. 29 Finland-
West Germany game was held at Ted Reeve Arena, and the Jan. 1 Canada-Finland
game was the only game played at Maple Leaf Gardens during the tournament.
Other venues included London, Orillia, Newmarket, Kitchener,
St. Catharines, Oshawa, Guelph, Stratford, Dundas, Niagara Falls,
Oakville, Georgetown and Brantford, in addition to Hamilton and
Toronto.
Canada and the USSR national juniors met at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton
on Jan. 2, with the Soviets winning 4-1.
during the 1986 WJC, but none involving the USSR. The Dec. 29 Finland-
West Germany game was held at Ted Reeve Arena, and the Jan. 1 Canada-Finland
game was the only game played at Maple Leaf Gardens during the tournament.
Other venues included London, Orillia, Newmarket, Kitchener,
St. Catharines, Oshawa, Guelph, Stratford, Dundas, Niagara Falls,
Oakville, Georgetown and Brantford, in addition to Hamilton and
Toronto.
Canada and the USSR national juniors met at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton
on Jan. 2, with the Soviets winning 4-1.
Theokritos
Global Moderator
- Apr 6, 2010
- 12,541
- 4,935
VMBM
And it didn't even bring me down
In 1976, the result of the CAN-USSR game was pretty much expected. The Soviets missed 5 of their best forwards, and even with their best or near-best possible lineup(s), they couldn't win the world championship in 1976 & 1977; 1976-77 was a bad period for Soviet hockey.
In 1972, because of the 1st game, I guess the Soviets would have been the favourites to win it, or at least 'should' have given Canada a tough game. Although it wasn't maybe quite as bad as 1-4 indicates, Canada definitely dominated that one. There are some things worth a mention; Canada got more physical, they made successful lineup changes (whereas USSR didn't), and of course, they now knew that USSR wasn't a pushover and their pride was on the line (though that didn't stop them from playing badly in game 4 ).
In 1974, it was one of the poorest performances from the Soviet national team I've ever seen. They were definitely dominated and if it wasn't for Tretiak, it could have been 15-1 for Canada (lots of breakaways etc.). However, it also could be said that USSR struggled throughout the 1st part of the 1974 series - except for game 3 - so it wasn't totally out of place with their other performances in the series (in Canada), although it was their only loss.
There's nothing strong* - if you didn't already gather that from the sarcasm flying around here - but if even assuming that there might have been something else than just a little coincidence (I'm not talking about anything supernatural etc.) is ludicrous and not worthy of any discussion... I don't know
* i.e. USSR lost and at least twice underperformed in 3 of the biggest games they played in MLG
