I remember years ago reading an article about some reporter who was retiring and had covered sports forever, when asked what the best game he ever saw was he mentioned game 7 Marlies vs Peterborough Petes in 1973. I though it was super cool that he picked a junior game over all the NHL games he'd seen, I was at that game and yes, it was an incredible game! The Marlies needed a tie to clinch, they were down 5-2 going into the 3rd and tied it on a penalty shot with a little over a minute left. George Armstrong was the coach, Palmateer was in net, Mark and Marty Howe were on the team along with Bruce Boudreau and Paulin Bordeleau who scored on the penalty shot. IIRC Roger Neilson was coaching Peterborough. This is how the penalty shot went down:
Before skating to centre ice, Bordeleau chose to consult with Armstrong.
“Shoot,” Armstrong told him.
Bordeleau then headed to centre ice, only to be beckoned back by Armstrong.
“If the goalie comes out, deke him,” Armstrong said.
Again, Bordeleau headed to centre ice. Again, Armstrong called him back.
“Bords,” Armstrong said, “do anything the (censored) you want.”
Bordeleau deked and scored. The goal, with 1:09 left in the third period, gave the Marlies a 5-5 tie and the point that won the series, 8-6.
The attendance that day was 16,485 which was at that time, a record for a junior game.
Here's an article about whether that was perhaps the greatest junior team of all time:
Are the ’72-73 Marlboros the greatest junior team ever?
My favourite quote is from George Armstrong when the players were complaining about the refs during about an intermission:
Sometimes you have to beat the officials. Sometimes you have to beat the hometown crowd. Sometimes it’s crappy bounces, crappy weather, a crappy bus and crappy dressing rooms. But great teams don’t whine, they win.
