It was 35 years ago that our nation rallied behind a group of hockey players in games taking place from Vancouver, to Moscow and in between. The series was East vs West, Communism vs Democracy, and more importantly… who was the world’s ‘Hockey Nation’.

1972summitseries.com

The Summit Series was the first competition between full-strength Soviet and Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September of 1972. Canada won the series four games to three, with one tie…

…The Series was played at a time when only amateurs were allowed to play in the Olympic Games. [wiki]

Today is the first match of the Canada-Russia Super Series, a part of the Summit Series’ legacy.

The 2007 Super Series is an eight-game Under-20 ice hockey challenge between Russia and Canada. It will be held from August 27 to September 9 in various venues in both countries. The event commemorates the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series between the USSR and Canada. [wiki]

The series kicked off today in Ufa, will move to Omsk, then Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Red Deer before game 8 in Vancouver at GM Place on September 9th.

The Vancouver Giants’ own Milan Lucic is playing for Team Canada along with many other U-20 stars such as New Westminster’s Kyle Turris.

It’s pretty nice to wake up to hockey on TV, and the games are going to be about every 2 days over the next couple weeks. It should be a nice warm up to the NHL’s pre-season, for all those counting down the days. Good luck to Team Canada, and no matter how poorly our boys do… please try not to boo, they’re giving it their 150% and we appreciate that.