|
Team Canada: Were They Really the
Best In Canada'72?
 The
question on whether the 35 individuals selected by
Harry Sinden to
play for Team
Canada'72 were the best pro hockey players belongs
to the rhetoric ones. Obviously, the Summit was won and
the 1972 Team Canada is arguably one of the classiest
legendary teams ever representing Canada.
However, hockey historians and participants of the Series
often mention several players that could have been a significant
addition to the 1972 roster. First of all, players that
didn't have the NHL contracts were not allowed to play.
Such world-class players as Bobby Hull, Gerry Cheevers,
J.C. Tremblay that signed their WHA contracts were not
able to play. Some players had other priorities than playing
in the Series. On the other hand, there was a competition
between the 35 selected players for the ice time. When
it came to the dramatic point when Team Canada was on
the edge of losing the Series, Sinden narrowed his roster
down to the players that, in his opinion, were in a better
shape to compete with the exceptionally well performing
Soviet
team.
Without suggesting direct answers to the initial question,
this section of the Impressions
at the Summit in 1972 features the statistical analysis
of the NHL team and players performance in the 1971-1972
Season.
|
