Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Shoots and Scores Read Online Free
Author: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
tournament. So when âSid the Kidâ swept forward and pitched the puck into the net past American goaltender Ryan Miller, he cemented his place in historyâ¦and gave Canada its 14th gold medal of the 2010 Games, a record for a host nation.
TAKING THE GOLD FOR GRANTED
For nearly 40 years, Canada so dominated international hockey that the country could send senior amateur teams of no great distinction to the World Championship and the Olympics and win with little trouble. But on a Sunday morning in 1954, Canadian fans woke to bad news: The countryâs representatives, the East York Lyndhursts from a Toronto senior league, had been whipped 7â2 by a Soviet national team in its first try at the world âamateurâ championships. Even those Canadians who usually paid little attention to the game complained that the country should send a better team overseas. Over the next seven years, the Canadian entry was upgraded to topnotch senior clubs and won four times. But after 1961, the countryâs best amateurs could not match the Europeans, especially the Soviets.
Even as Canada lost, though, including a valiant but futile six-year attempt by a national team of young players through the 1960s, Canadians smugly said that the Soviets were only winning because Canadaâs best 400 or so players were involved in pro hockey; NHL players would surely defeat the Soviets and other Europeans easily. After several years of negotiations, a series (the Summit Series) of eight games between the Soviets and Team Canada, comprising the best NHL players, was set for 1972.
Only a handful of Canadian observers familiar with international hockey predicted that the Soviets would be able to beat the glittering array of NHL stars. Not even the absence of two great players from the Canadian lineupâdefenceman Bobby Orr, who had a knee injury, and Bobby Hull, who had jumped from the NHL to the rival WHAâdampened Canadaâs optimism.
TEARS FOR JEERS
The series received a huge buildup when it opened on a Saturday evening in late August at the Montreal Forum, and in one of the biggest shocks in hockey history, the Soviets skated to a 7â3 victory. The mastery of the quick, meticulously conditioned, and highly skilled Russians was dazzling. The Canadians rebounded to win the second game in Toronto, and then the clubs played a tie in Winnipeg. In the fourth game (the last in Canada), fans in Vancouver booed the home sideâs 5â3 loss, prompting star center Phil Esposito to plead for support on national television becausethe players âtried, we gave it our bestâ¦Some of our guys are really down in the dumpsâ¦I mean, weâre doing the best we can.â
GREAT WHITE NORTH STRIKES BACK
After a ten-day break, the series resumed in Moscow, and the Soviets won the first game there for a commanding 3â1â1 edge in the series. Even a tie in one of the three remaining games would give them the series. Throughout the series, a strength for the Canadians was the forward line of young center Bobby Clarke, two years into his excellent career with the Philadelphia Flyers, flanked by good but not top-level Toronto Maple Leafs wingers Ron Ellis and Paul Henderson. The line had played solid two-way hockey in every game, the trioâs speed of much value on the larger ice surface in Moscow. With Esposito playing magnificently and emerging as the team leader, the Canadians slowly gained good conditioning and battled back to win the sixth and seventh games, with Henderson scoring the winning goals in both.
In game eight, Canada trailed 5â3 entering the third period but tied the score by the 13th minute on goals by Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer. The game and the series appeared certain to end in a tie as the teams hit the final minute. Responding to Hendersonâs urgent cries from the bench, Pete Mahovlich came off to allow Henderson to rush headlong toward the Soviet goal, take a shot at goalie
TAKING THE GOLD FOR GRANTED
For nearly 40 years, Canada so dominated international hockey that the country could send senior amateur teams of no great distinction to the World Championship and the Olympics and win with little trouble. But on a Sunday morning in 1954, Canadian fans woke to bad news: The countryâs representatives, the East York Lyndhursts from a Toronto senior league, had been whipped 7â2 by a Soviet national team in its first try at the world âamateurâ championships. Even those Canadians who usually paid little attention to the game complained that the country should send a better team overseas. Over the next seven years, the Canadian entry was upgraded to topnotch senior clubs and won four times. But after 1961, the countryâs best amateurs could not match the Europeans, especially the Soviets.
Even as Canada lost, though, including a valiant but futile six-year attempt by a national team of young players through the 1960s, Canadians smugly said that the Soviets were only winning because Canadaâs best 400 or so players were involved in pro hockey; NHL players would surely defeat the Soviets and other Europeans easily. After several years of negotiations, a series (the Summit Series) of eight games between the Soviets and Team Canada, comprising the best NHL players, was set for 1972.
Only a handful of Canadian observers familiar with international hockey predicted that the Soviets would be able to beat the glittering array of NHL stars. Not even the absence of two great players from the Canadian lineupâdefenceman Bobby Orr, who had a knee injury, and Bobby Hull, who had jumped from the NHL to the rival WHAâdampened Canadaâs optimism.
TEARS FOR JEERS
The series received a huge buildup when it opened on a Saturday evening in late August at the Montreal Forum, and in one of the biggest shocks in hockey history, the Soviets skated to a 7â3 victory. The mastery of the quick, meticulously conditioned, and highly skilled Russians was dazzling. The Canadians rebounded to win the second game in Toronto, and then the clubs played a tie in Winnipeg. In the fourth game (the last in Canada), fans in Vancouver booed the home sideâs 5â3 loss, prompting star center Phil Esposito to plead for support on national television becausethe players âtried, we gave it our bestâ¦Some of our guys are really down in the dumpsâ¦I mean, weâre doing the best we can.â
GREAT WHITE NORTH STRIKES BACK
After a ten-day break, the series resumed in Moscow, and the Soviets won the first game there for a commanding 3â1â1 edge in the series. Even a tie in one of the three remaining games would give them the series. Throughout the series, a strength for the Canadians was the forward line of young center Bobby Clarke, two years into his excellent career with the Philadelphia Flyers, flanked by good but not top-level Toronto Maple Leafs wingers Ron Ellis and Paul Henderson. The line had played solid two-way hockey in every game, the trioâs speed of much value on the larger ice surface in Moscow. With Esposito playing magnificently and emerging as the team leader, the Canadians slowly gained good conditioning and battled back to win the sixth and seventh games, with Henderson scoring the winning goals in both.
In game eight, Canada trailed 5â3 entering the third period but tied the score by the 13th minute on goals by Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer. The game and the series appeared certain to end in a tie as the teams hit the final minute. Responding to Hendersonâs urgent cries from the bench, Pete Mahovlich came off to allow Henderson to rush headlong toward the Soviet goal, take a shot at goalie
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