Almost 45 years ago, on January 11, 1976, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Red Army both physically and literally.
The Russians were getting beat so badly that they were threatened with forfeiting the game if they did not come back to the ice. In the dead heat of The Cold War, the NHL had set up for a four game Super Series 1976 with the Red Army and the Soviet Wings. North Americans were able to get a taste of pure mean Russian hockey, especially in the middle of The Cold War. Team Canada in the Summit Series tightly won, giving hope to North America in the heated Cold War.
The Flyers were the last hope for North American hockey after the Red Army went 2-0-1. The Red Army won 7-3 over Boston, 5-2 over the New York Rangers, and tied with the Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers were the only expansion team the team would play against, and the last glimmer of hope of beating the Red Army for the NHL.
With the Flyers being the defending back-to-back Cup champions, they had a lot to play up to. While they were only exhibition games, there was a lot of weight on their shoulders to beat the Russians in hockey in North America.
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While the Red Army had already established their dominance, and that they were a team to fear. The Flyers had the talents of Bill Barber, young gun Bobby Clarke, and Wayne Stephenson in net (Bernie Parent was injured). Little did the Soviets know the Flyers’ had something up their sleeve, a great Head Coach in Fred Shero.
Coach Fred Shero was the son of Russian immigrants. His parents fled Russia to live in Manitoba to avoid religious persecution. He would often visit Soviet Russia, even at the peak of the Iron Curtain. He would visit in the off-season, that is how he was able to know so much about how the Soviets played hockey. He is the coach who is responsible for the Broad Street Bullies. Shero also became friends with the world ice hockey icon Anatoli Tarasov. Trading philsosplies and ideals.
Shero played the Flyers with Soviet ideals and tactics. He created his own way of playing that also adapted to NHL rules. With the Flyers being the most despised by fans and teams and most penalized team in the league it was a sure shot that they had a good chance to win against the Russians. With the amount of fighting and child-like taunting the Flyers were known for that occupied most opposing players’ minds, that opened the door for their more skilled players to get in there and score some goals and make big plays.
Leading up to the game, winning over the Maple Leafs 7-3 before playing the Russians. The Flyers were hated among Toronto fans but they were cheering for them as they were leaving to beat the Russians, said Flyers defenseman Jim Watson. The Russians already had Bobby Clarke in mind when they knew they were going to play the Philadelphia Flyers. Clarke had slashed Valeri Kharlamov causing him to break his ankle in the 1972 Summit Series. The night before the game the Russians and the Flyers dined in the same room, coaches shook hands without making eye contact and speaking. The Russians looked at them and the Flyers looked right back at them, said Bill Barber.
The night finally arrived. The Red Army was met with Philadelphia sports fan style boos and profanities. While their team was met with loud yet passionate ruckus. The Russians controlled the opening faceoff and began their notorious passing game. Abiding by Shero’s suggestion to stay in the neutral zone and not to chase. With the Red Army weaving and sharking the perimeter, the Flyers continued to stay between the blue lines.
Not allowing the CSKA in the neutral zone as they attempted to gain access to the blue lines. Bobby Clarke said, “You can have the puck between the blue lines all night long but it won’t do you any good if you can’t get in. We could let them do it all game and still beat them.” The Flyers would soon then take possession of the puck in battles. Forechecking was also a thing the entire Flyers roster specialized in. With Mel Nridgman and Bobby Clarke at the faceoffs, that would easily gain the Flyers puck possession.
Vladislav Tretiak kept the game scoreless, he was the star goalie for the Russians. The Flyers penalty kill was on another level keeping the game scoreless while fighting off penalties from Moose Dupont and Ed Van Impe. They kept the game 0-0. The Flyers got a little more physical than usual on the Van Impe penalty kill, with a check on Boris Mikailov from Dupont, and a power check from Barber on a Russian defenseman from Clarke.
The infamous moment of this game was when Ed Van Impe came rushing down the ice and hit Red Army All-Star Valeri Kharlamov. Kharlamov was down on the ice for startling amount of time for any athlete. The Red Army benched protested and yelled in Russian objecting to the no penalty call.
Replays suggest that Van Impe elbowed Kharlamov in the head when Van Impe claims he hit him with his shoulder while Kharlamov had his head down, saying it was a clean play.
Coach Loktev ordered his players to the bench screaming in Russian, protesting against the non penalty call. Official Lloyd Gilmour said they had then given him a demand, if Van Impe did not receive a penalty, they would not return to the game. Gilmour still claimed that he would not punish the Flyers with a penalty for it was a clean shoulder hit. He threatened Loktev with a delay of game penalty if he did not send his players back on the ice that minute. In response to what Loktev thought of as outrageous, he ordered his players to the dressing room along with the Soviet officials.
The Spectrum “Sign Man’ held up a sign that said “Tell It To Czar”.
Fred Shero said, “I’ve seen them do that before. It’s a tactic they use sometimes when the game isn’t going their way. They always come back”.
Along with NHL President Clarence Campbell and NHLPA director Alan Eagleson, Ed Snider stormed the ice. They all had held a rowdy discussion with Loktev and head of Soviet commission Viacheslav Koloskov. Snider demanded that if the Russians did not come out of their dressing room and back to play, they would not get paid for their four game tournament. They hadn’t returned to the ice, they continued to play their little game that wasn’t hockey.
Koloskov tried in his best efforts to get Van Impe penalized for them to return to the ice and cancel their delay of game penalty. The NHL commission did not abide by the orders. After an exhausting sixteen minutes, the CSKA returned to the ice.
17 seconds into the Power Play, a deflected goal from Reggie Leach on Bill Barber’s shot gave the Flyers the lead. As the puck went past Tretiak, the fans in the Spectrum erupted. A wrist shot from Rick MacLeish made the game 2-0, while outshooting the CSKA 17-2, the Flyers finished strong in the first. While Dupont was in the penalty box for hooking, the Flyers decided they were going to attack rather than relax the penalty kill. Joe Watson found himself in the Russian zone by being in front of their net.
With a rebound from Dave Saleski, Dupont notched the third Flyers goal. He says it’s the goal he gets asked about the most, “Freddie told me I set back Russian hockey with that goal,” he said later.
Half way through the third, you could find the Russians picking up their pace to try and match the Flyers’. Victor Kutergin got through to the Flyers’ zone to score to make the game 3-1, yet the Flyers were still outshooting the Red Army. The Flyers controlled and continued to dominate, effectively. The Flyers young defenseman Larry Goodenough notched a goal for his team and the livelihood of the North American style of hockey.
The Flyers had a couple more scoring chances. Meanwhile, each time the Russians had the puck they continued to shark and weave their way around trying to create scoring chances of their own. The Flyers ended the game with 49-13 shots on goal.
With the Flyers claiming victory over the mighty Red Army. The Spectrum erupted in chaos as the NHL regained their reputation. The Flyers were now the best hockey team in the entire world and the league. The Russians stated that the Broad Street Bullies had played like animals. While the Bullies looked back on the win as a caliber of their own.
“This doesn’t prove Canadian hockey is better than theirs, it just means that the Flyers are better than their best,” said Bobby Clarke to Bill Meltzer
This win would be one of the most iconic North American ice hockey wins up until the Miracle game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. With that being said, Americans and the Canadians can and will always match the Russian way of hockey.
Insight into this came from Wikipedia
