What is "The Game" in hockey?

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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The other 3 major sports have a game that is often considered the flagship game of the history of their sport.

NFL - The 1958 championship game between the Colts and Giants. Went into overtime, started the legacy of Johnny Unitas. First televised championship game if I recall and sort of started the idea of football, not baseball, becoming the national pastime in America. After that, the Ice Bowl comes to mind and of course the Patriots/Falcons Super Bowl a couple of years back will never die and will only get bigger as time goes on. It is probably still considered one of the first two though as a lot of time has passed with them.

NBA - The Suns vs. Celtics triple overtime game in Game 5 of the 1976 finals is probably the NBA's trademark game. Although Game 7 of the 2016 NBA final might start to take that over

Baseball - First and foremost the "Shot Heard round the World" regarding the 1951 deciding game for the pennant race at the Polo Grounds between the Dodgers and the Giants with Bobby Thomson's home run. The controversy around it, the imagery of Thomson jumping into the pile at home plate with his awaiting teammates. Lots of iconic moments there. Two legendary franchises, at a crucial time of the season deciding who goes to the World Series in one of the most iconic stadiums at that time. Carlton Fisk's home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series comes to mind too and Game 6 of the 2011 World Series stands alone as a back and forth see saw battle that was just utterly nerve wracking. But they both don't have the iconic status as the Thomson game.


Where does that leave hockey? I guess right away you figure Game 8 of the Summit Series is "the" game in hockey, but that wasn't even in the NHL. Crosby's Golden Goal comes to mind as another legendary game. But the Henderson game changed hockey in many ways. Yet neither of them are in the NHL. If we had to pick one iconic game in NHL history, or even more than one, that epitomizes hockey history which one is it?

The best I could come up with, and it is a dandy, is Game 7 between Montreal and Boston in 1979. Lots on the line there, a dynasty on the verge of losing, two hated rivals, two legendary coaches, lots of changes after this season such as Gretzky arriving, helmets being mandatory for newcomers and 4 teams from the WHA merging. If there is a game that you can say is "The Game" in the NHL would this be the one?
 

Canadiens1958

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March 26, 1961. Semi-final Chicago vs Montreal, game 3, Chicago wins 2-1, 3rd OT. End of a dynasty.

Baseball. Bill Mazeroski's walk-off HR bottom of the 9th game 7 World Series. Pirates win despite being outscored 2:1 over 7 games.

NBA. 1965 Eastern Final game 7, Philadelphia vs Boston. Havlicek stole the ball:

havlicek stole the ball - Google Search

NFL. AFC final, 1971, Dolphins beat Chiefs, 2nd OT. Longest game to date:

 

brachyrynchos

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"...11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"
For me it's that game although that whole medal run was great. From a patriotic standpoint it was a huge boost for the morale of the United States at the time and simply as a fan it gave hockey the attention it deserved. The trickle down effect was more fans but more importantly to me was more kids started playing and which really strengthened the development and programs especially at the college level. It helped the game grow down here. Cheers.
 

McGuillicuddy

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"...11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

Didn't the OP specifically go out of his way to specify that only NHL games were under consideration here?

If we had to pick one iconic game in NHL history, or even more than one, that epitomizes hockey history which one is it?

Probably some overlap with this thread :):

What is the greatest NHL game of all-time?
 
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Midnight Judges

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The other 3 major sports have a game that is often considered the flagship game of the history of their sport.

NFL - The 1958 championship game between the Colts and Giants. Went into overtime, started the legacy of Johnny Unitas. First televised championship game if I recall and sort of started the idea of football, not baseball, becoming the national pastime in America. After that, the Ice Bowl comes to mind and of course the Patriots/Falcons Super Bowl a couple of years back will never die and will only get bigger as time goes on. It is probably still considered one of the first two though as a lot of time has passed with them.

It's interesting, no doubt those are iconic games but they aren't the ones that came to mind for me. For me it's John Riggins running over that poor DB from Miami in SB 17. Yeah that's a homer pick. I apologize not at all.

Patriots Falcons was amazing, but so were Giants over Patriots (the one with the David Tyree catch), and Rams over Titans. Those were great games!
 

tarheelhockey

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I'm not sure I agree that there is actually a "The Game" in any of those other sports. I'd never even heard of the ones for the NFL and NBA, and I don't feel like I'm grossly out of touch with those sports or anything. They're just not relevant for most football/basketball fans, any more than a specific NHL game would be relevant for most hockey fans.
 
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quoipourquoi

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I think there were a lot of games. But if I’m looking at the equivalent of Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant, it’s Game 8 if you’re Canadian or the Miracle on Ice if you’re American. Even non-hockey fans know the Miracle on Ice in the United States.

Was it the best game ever played? No. For that, maybe look towards Red Army vs. Montreal on New Year’s Eve or Fight Night at the Joe.
 
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VanIslander

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"The Game" in hockey?

The top candidates were NOT league games of the NHL.

They are indeed from:

1. The Summit Series
2. The 1980 Olympics
3. The 1987 Canada Cup
 

quoipourquoi

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The top candidates were NOT league games of the NHL.

Probably something to that - in that international games matter to a greater amount of people. I came away from Game 2 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals thinking it was maybe the best game I’ve ever seen, but unless you’re from either of those team’s cities, its outcome might not have meant much.

 

TheDevilMadeMe

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Aug 28, 2006
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"The Game" in hockey?

The top candidates were NOT league games of the NHL.

They are indeed from:

1. The Summit Series
2. The 1980 Olympics
3. The 1987 Canada Cup

I agree with this.

It's also hard to pick a single iconic game in hockey. The games in a single playoff series tend to blur together in memory. In terms of NHL series, the 1997 Western Conference finals have to be up there, as the height of the Red Wings / Avalanche rivalry.
 
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JackSlater

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I think of the Montreal Canadiens vs Red Army on New Year's Eve first and as a somewhat fair representation. I suppose it isn't the most famous (Summit Series/1980 Miracle are) but it is a very famous game, the quality is there, and it touches on the significance of the NHL as well as Canada vs USSR.
 
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tarheelhockey

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I agree with this.

It's also hard to pick a single iconic game in hockey. The games in a single playoff series tend to blur together in memory. In terms of NHL series, the 1997 Western Conference finals have to be up there, as the height of the Red Wings / Avalanche rivalry.

Now that you mention it, the famous March '97 game between the Wings and Avs was pretty iconic. Not only the brawl, but the way the rest of that game played out with Detroit rallying to win on a McCarty OT goal. It all seemed to resonate throughout the rest of that playoffs and into the next several years of rivalry between those teams.

It's not "the game" for the entire league, but definitely was a defining game for that generation of the NHL.
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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The top candidates were NOT league games of the NHL.

This do seem a strong intuition for me, the 70 than 82 games seasons / best of 7 games series long playoff of the NHL do not tend itself to a The Game narrative like an world cup type of events or a best of series like the NFL and not many game are followed by all the league fan's (March 97s Avs-Red Wings one has a nice the Game feeling but how many seen it live ?).

With not much of a tradition of rewatching NHL games from the past, maybe there will not be a The game but more a one by era.

That first Pens-Wash series and that dueling hat trick is a really good pick for the post 2005 lock out Series/Game.
The Avalanche-Wings duel for the era between the 94 lock-out and 2004
The Lemieux-Gretzky 1987 canada cup for the 80s to before 94 (if we accept intl event)
etc.....

Rewatching the resume:


Those goal are so stereotypical of both players as well, the big one timer's for Ovechkin, puck tipping/close to the net for Crosby
 

The Panther

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In the first 8 months or so that I regularly watched hockey, I saw
-- game 7, 1987 Finals
-- game 2, 1987 Canada Cup

And it's been all downhill from there. I don't think any games I've seen since are quite as good...

But looking at the entire history of just the NHL, I think "the game" is probably one from the 1950s or 1960s. I don't know which one, though.
 
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JianYang

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Sep 29, 2017
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When we talk about iconic moments, I think the Bobby Orr cup clincher is right there.

But if we want to talk about an entire game that still stands the test of time as an iconic game, I gotta go with the OP.

The 79 semi final game 7 between the habs and bruins had every ingredient you would look for.
 

VMBM

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I think of the Montreal Canadiens vs Red Army on New Year's Eve first and as a somewhat fair representation. I suppose it isn't the most famous (Summit Series/1980 Miracle are) but it is a very famous game, the quality is there, and it touches on the significance of the NHL as well as Canada vs USSR.

A great game for the Canadiens/Canadian fans, a great game for the Tretiak fans, and it's an exciting game right to the end, but is it such a great game otherwise? Unlike the 1987 Canada Cup final games, for example, it is lopsided, and it has a good deal of sloppy passing (bad ice?) from both teams. Not to mention that while Tretiak is brilliant, Dryden is not. And quite frankly, if it had been CSKA who dominated the game so clearly, it would be a lot less famous game. Personally, I like the '76 CSKA vs Boston game better; it seems to have a faster pace (or maybe it's just the camera angle?), better passing, and despite the final score, it might actually be a more even game.
 

Pominville Knows

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International games is fair game. Not our fault that the other three sports finds it challenging to have high postured international tournaments.
Basketball is too one sided, whilst baseball got some less than spectacular rosters and football is so one sided that they don't even bother.
 

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