Canadas Team of the Century on DVD
1972 Canada vs USSR
by Les Enser
Team Canada 1972, Universal studios, Hockey Hall of Fame have
teamed up to produce the series of the century- the actual broadcast of this
famous hockey battle.
The result is a 4 disc DVD collectors item featuring all
eight games, along with player interviews and original opening ceremonies in
each game. All this bound in a thick DVD case that looks like a pocket
book.
Inside one will notice the team poster with the players
names along with liner notes that features each hero scoring goals for his
country. It is even broken down as to the time and period in which they were
scored.
Watching this disc series was like reliving 1972 and thinking
about the time I was in grade 9 listening to the final game on the radio over
the schools PA system. The entire school shut down for that magic moment
when Paul Henderson tenaciously scored the winning goal in game eight at 19:26
of the third period, with the tireless help of Phil Esposito for the assist. Of
course, back then the games played in Russia were broadcast during the day and
some of us baby boomers-to be could not see the overseas games.
Now I had the opportunity to see what is was really like!
Expecting the clarity that DVD can offer, I was mildly
disappointed. Dont get me wrong it was incredible to see the games again,
but the quality isnt there.
Game one suffered from many technical difficulties, such as the
loss of audio for about six minutes and video quality that was downright poor.
To be fair, the liner notes explain that the material used for these games came
from a set of 2 Quad videotapes that were discovered in 1998. Since
broadcasting back in the seventies was vastly inferior to todays
standards, one has to overlook these problems and concentrate on the
action.
Even with production of this DVD, digital enhancements were
necessary to reduce picture noise and sound distortion.
Since the first four games took place in Canada, the quality is
the best on the set because there was no translation of signal required from an
overseas television source. Game one was played in Montreal with game two in
Toronto and games three and four in Winnipeg and Vancouver respectively. This
first game featured Pierre Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister of the time,
conducting the ceremonial faceoff.
Game two had the best quality of all, with decent color definition
and sharpness. However at times, what appears as a dub from the original broad
cast had to be used to fill in some missing gaps.
Game three featured the opening ceremonies with Father David Bauer
presenting opening ceremony medals to both Canada and Russian
hockey teams.
Both head coaches also received medals.
A shocking moment occurs as the Canadian players are announced
and the Winnipeg crowd begins a mixture of boos and cheers.
It was also interesting to see the style of hockey coming from
players such as Wayne Cashman, Jean Ratelle, Brad Park and Paul Henderson, who
is the only Canadian who at the time was wearing a helmet (all the Russian
players wore them). These players exhibited some great passing and checking
skills against the Russians.
Of course Russia showed the prowness by greats such as Vladislav
Tretiak, Boris Mikhailov, Alexandre Gusev and Alexandre Yakushev. They were a
team everyone underestimated with their accurate shots and quick skating.
Game four, in Vancouver, had the famous history in the
making moment with Phil Esposito, during a post game interview, showing
his disappointment and displeasure at Canadian fans who booed team Canada off
the ice after its 5-3 loss.
Game five through eight makes it way over to the Luzhniki Ice
Palace in Moscow and the battle truly begins. It was interesting to note the
hockey advertisements on the boards back then from companies such as Heineken,
Gillette, and Electrolux. Also the famous moment in game five, when Phil
Esposito slips and fall on the ice while accepting flowers during the opening
ceremonies.
Picture quality originating from Moscow encounters all sorts of
problems such as audio not in sync, smeary and fuzzy picture, satellite feed
break ups throughout the games.
Again, in all fairness to 1972's television technology and the
conversion from PAL to NTSC, they've done what they could. Also the satellite
feed had to be linked from Moscow, to Helsinki, to London where conversion took
place, and then sent as an NTSC signal to Canada.
Despite all these problems it was a pleasure to truly see how
Canada battled its way to win the series and to listen to the late Foster
Hewitt, the father of hockey play by play, anouncing the sometimes furious
action on the ice.
A total of 19 hours of hockey and interviews and titbits makes
this disc set worth owing for the true hockey fan who wants to relive the
moment.
Disc features:
Chapter stops for each period and opening ceremony.
Player interviews
Team Canada 2002 Returns to Luzhniki Ice Palace in Moscow
Previously unreleased footage
8 page colour booklet
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