TretiakCCCP20

Let the quest for mediocrity begin. Hard to believe that in 2004 they were within one game of raising the cup.

@jammer2 The point of a forum is to debate. Not get mad over it fyi...

@jammer2

Its funny because during the NHL challenge cup in 1979 the Soviets completely dominated the NHL All-Stars. The final game Tretiak didn't even play in and they kicked the crap out the NHL stars 6-0. Yeah, the Soviets were a totally big joke. I remember seeing the Soviets play the Canadiens in 76 I believe and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. The Canadiens had 37 shots on Tretiak and the Soviets had 13 on the Canadiens. Should have been a blow out but it wasn't. Not to mention Tretiak and Kharlamov are the only two players to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto to never play a game in the NHL. And the Flyers are a bunch of thugs. At least they use to be. They bullied themselves to the top in 74 and 75 and people call them heroes. Its a disgrace to hockey as a sport to see a team like that be praised. The Oilers dynasty is a team that should be looked up to on the other hand.

I agree 100%, this franchise is like the butt of every joke around the league and a complete embarassment. No matter how many times they try to fix the problems they still persist. It'll be a while before anything useful happens with this club.

These two players are going to play forever I swear. Pretty soon they are gonna start coming out onto the ice with walkers and canes hahaha

Gretzky and Lemiuex weren't in the NHL yet and Maurice Richard was retired I believe. You can't take players from two different time periods and put them on the ice. Thats for a hipothetical situation, this is real. The reason why the Soviets were good was because they had been playing for so long together. You ever seen the movie Miracle? Kurt Russell who was playing the role of Herb Brooks said it best, "The reason all-star teams fail is because they rely solely on the individual's talent. The Soviet system focuses on the betterment of the team." The Soviet system worked. Just because it was so different than ours doesn't mean it is inferior. If you want to talk hipothetical then hear this. I guarantee that Tretiak would have been the best in the league at his position had he been allowed to play in the NHL especially in the 80's where goaltending was considered weak. Fuhr, Roy, Smith, and Hextall probably couldn't even be put in the same sentence with Tretiak had he played in the NHL.

Tell me again why on earth we even brought a hockey team to Arizona in the first place? Seems like every year they are near the bottom in terms of attendance at their home games...Hockey is a northern sport, everybody knows it. Granted cities like Dallas have defied that rule, it seems they have a somewhat devout following. As for teams like Phoenix, Florida, and Carolina though. It doesn't seem like their local population really appreciates hockey. I bet nobody in Carolina had heard of the Canes until they won the cup in '06. Why don't they actually put these teams in a market where they will actually be appreciated. Why doesn't Wisconsin have a hockey team anyways? I'm sure the NHL would fair better in Wisconsin than it did in Georgia *cough* Atlanta Flames *cough* Atlanta Thrashers *cough*

@ruxpin No, I'm talking about hockey. Their government and social system was inferior to ours but their hockey system was better not by much but it was still better.

The Gordman's fisherman from '96 with the Islanders was the most horrible obomination ever put on an NHL jersey if you ask me. Those space suit 'V' Canucks uniforms in the 80's weren't exactly appealing either.

Truly was an epic series regardless of who won. The Soviets proved to the West that they were a force to be reckoned with. You could hardly say either side lost. It was so close.

Thanks. I have to disagree. I've personally never liked the Flyers. I wasn't alive when Henderson scored honestly. That was 20 years before me. Looking at it now though I'd say the Soviet system was better even though Team Canada won.

@jammer2 Tretiak was considered the best goalie in the world. At the time of his retirement in '84 he was only 32 and still at the top of his game.

Does the name Vladislav Tretiak or Valeri Kharlamov ring a bell to anyone? Those two never played a day in the NHL and there is no doubt in my mind that had they played in the NHL they would be considered two of the greatest. Unfortunately, due to the time frame they both played in. Neither could defect to play for the NHL and Kharlamov died in a car crash in '81

I think it was cheap. Granted there was a lot cheap shots and things going on during this series. But I do think that was too far on Clarke's part. Canada should have been able to win on their own through creative play and just plain old good hockey instead of injuring the Soviets' star player just because they couldn't find an answer for him. No surprise that Clarke came from that team in Philadelphia that was full of criminals...