Summit Series Heroes: Yuri Blinov

One of the keys for the Soviets was surviving the 1st period of game one. The team was nervous and Canada, while nowhere near their peak shape, were expected to come out like gangbusters.

"And that's exactly what happened," said Yuri Blinov, reminiscing about Canada's quick 2-0 lead in the game. "By the middle of the first period the Canadians slowed down very noticeably. After Zimin scored our first goal we found our game and, slowly increasing the tempo, achieved success."

Indeed they did. They humiliated Canada 7-3 in that first game. They went on to be Canada's equal throughout the series. Often they were the better team.

Yuri Blinov, a star left winger, only got into 5 games, scoring 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points. It was his goal at the 3:34 mark of the third period in game number five that sparked a Soviet 5 goal third period to comeback from a 3-0 deficit and win 5-4.

However the Soviets weren't overly impressed with the enigmatic Blinov's play, as illustrated by Vladimir Dvortsov's editorial comment for the Tass Agency:

"Against the Canadians our players had to play over their heads, otherwise they were overmatched. Some did not play to their potential. One was Yuri Blinov."

Career Notes:

Everyone knows just how impressive and explosive the Soviets' top line was - Boris Mikhailov and Vladimir Petrov setting up the flashy Valeri Kharlamov.

At one point it was Blinov who was to be the scoring star on that line instead of Kharlamov however. Blinov got off to a terrific star in his career while playing with Mikhailov and Petrov. However Blinov soon lost his spot on the number one unit to Kharlamov.

Blinov never really found his game on any other line, and quickly disappeared from the national team scene, and even the Red Army team.