1972 Summit Series hero status is usually reserved for the likes of Paul Henderson, Phil Esposito, Valeri Kharlamov and Vladislav Tretiak.
But the coaches and managers deserve a lot of credit too. Click on the links to learn more about these men of '72.
Harry Sinden - Sinden, now synonymous with the Boston Bruins, will also always be known as head coach of Team Canada '72. He had an extensive background in international hockey at the time.
John Ferguson - Fergy, Sinden's assistant coach, was originally asked to play, even though he was recently retired. It's a good thing he didn't play, because he would have killed somebody!
Alan Eagleson - The Eagle is now rightfully disgraced for his misdeeds, but make no mistake the '72 Summit Series would not have happened without him. And you bet he was always front and center.
Vsevolod Bobrov - An early day Pavel Bure or Alexander Ovechkin, Bobrov was the original Soviet hockey superstar. He was named coach of the national team in 1972
Anatoli Tarasov - The Father of Russian Hockey was unceremoniously removed as czar of Soviet hockey just months before the Summit Series. Bobrov, a long time adversary of Tarasov's dating back to their playing days, replaced him. Many Soviet hockey experts suggest there was no way Tarasov would have allowed the Soviet collapse in the final 3 games of the series. Even though he was not part of 1972, his fingerprints were all over this team.
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