Nitzy's Hockey Den

The exclusion of Bobby Hull from the 1972 Summit Series in reality came down to a decision by the Canadian players. It boiled down to Clarence Campbell and the NHL's original stipulation that only NHL players be allowed and the fact that if the WHA defectors joined, many of the influential NHL owners would not sanction their players participation. Without the approval of their owners, many players would decline the invitation to play. Ted Blackman of the Montreal Gazette wrote; “Harry Sinden made the argument – that he’d have Hull, but not much else,” Alan Eagleson said after  Hockey Canada directors voted 9-2, with 2 abstentions, to conduct the Russia-Canada series without WHA players. “If the vote was taken when we sat down, it would have been 7-6 in favour of Hull, but after hearing Harry’s report on the attitude of the other players, it came out as it did.” On Aug 2, 1972 The Hockey Canada executive committee (including the likes of Harold Ballard, Father Daivd Bauer...

 I picked this beauty up recently, a colouring book issued in late 1964 commemorating the Leafs Cup victory. It's in pretty much new condition and since I couldn't find these images on the internet, I figured I'd add them myself. Front cover of the book showing the 1963/64 Cup Winners. The smiling faces of Mahovlich and Keon looking almost identical in these two drawings.  A proud captain Armstrong and a long-headed Eddie Shack are depicted next.  Red Kelly and his early helmet, and even in colouring book form Tim Horton looks kind of mean.                                  Even King Clancy and trainer Bob Haggert get the colouring book treatment. Just a few of the great images from the book, and no I will not be spending the evening sharpening my crayons and colouring them in.

Tha Canadian Press ran a story in August 1972 just prior to the Summit Series titled; "Former Nats refuse to take Soviets lightly". In the article ex-Canadian national team member Ken Dryden expresses his knowledge of and concerns towards the Russians in the impending Summit Series. Dryden flat out warns his Team Canada teammates that they "could be in for a surprise if they continue underestimating the Russians". Dryden is quoted; "You have to remember that a North American will appraise the Russians using his own standards. Just because a North American says that the Russians pass too much, doesn't necessarily mean that it's so. It may be true in our judgement but the Russians could still be right." He recalled how confused he was when facing the Russians in 1969 with the National team. "I'd get set for a shot. They wouldn't shoot. They'd pass instead. Against our National team they looked devastating by passing right in ...

On July 11, 1972 Hockey Canada held a press conference in Montreal releasing the initial roster for the Summit Series. In addition, the proposed Team Canada jersey was unveiled and as seen in the picture, it varies from the version that would eventually be used. I really wish I could find a front view of the jersey pictured, from what is seen the NHL logo and the word "Hockey" are removed in the final version. As far as the roster, Harry Sinden stated to the media this day that Ken Dryden would be his starting goaltender in the opener that was just under two months away. Bobby Hull was selected for the squad but Sinden knew full well that he would be declared ineligible on August 13. That was the day that a player had to have been signed to an NHL contract (not WHA) in order to play in the series. Other players on the initial roster that had yet to sign included J.C. Tremblay, Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson, Brad Park and Rod Gilbert. Of course, the first three players w...

I have kind of made it a personal project to find as much audio of long time Leafs P.A. announcer, Paul Morris and upload it to youtube. A while back myself and a few friends were pretty much fruitless in searching for clips of the legendary voice online, so I decided to get some on my own. I try to PVR as many old Leaf games from NHL network or ESPN Classic and pull out and edit all the great announcments. The newest one is below and features the 1967 Cup Final clincher against Montreal and a 1975 Quarterfinal against the Flyers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbGsuLkEJw&list=UUkoJHSS6M7nvYPWGN6TIIbw&index=1&feature=plcp This is the first, shorter one I did with clips from a few games in the mid-70's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCHVhuEnkpA&list=UUkoJHSS6M7nvYPWGN6TIIbw&index=9&feature=plcp

I found this in while looking up 1972 Summit Series articles in Google news archives. This was the order form published in newspapers across Canada on July 15, 1972.  There would be a lottery draw to determine who would have the oppurtunity to purchase one pair of the 58,718 total seats to the four games to be played in Canada. Canadians had a month to submit the entry form, choosing only one of the games as their preference. By August 16th the Canadian Press reported that 371,793 total entry forms were sent in which means they had about a one in ten chance of winning the lottery. Upon winning the lottery a pair of tickets could be purchased for the kingly sum of $15. One of the lucky winners turned out to have a close connection to Team Canada. Assistant coach, John Ferguson had entered the name of his 13 year-old daughter for the game at the Montreal Forum. Ferguson said, "I wrote her name on a coupon from a newspaper here in Toronto before I left for Russia (on a...