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Top Russian Sports Lists
of the 20th Century
Russian Media Surveys Results
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Top Russian Hockey
Events
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 1-2.
First USSR Championship in 1947
1-2. Triumphant Debut
at the WC'54
3. 1972 USSR vs. CANADA
SUMMIT
4. 1963-1971 Consecutive
World Titles
5. 1979 Challenge
Cup and 1981 Canada Cup
- Full
List -
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Top 10 Athletes
in Russian Sports
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1. Lev Yashin, soccer
2. Alexander Karelin, wrestling
3. Vladislav
TRETIAK, hockey
4. Garri Kasparov, chess
5. Valery
Kharlamov, hockey
6. Vladimir Salnikov, swimming
7. Alexander Tikhonov, biathlon
8. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, tennis
9. Valery Brumel, track and field
10. Eduard Streltsov, soccer
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Top 10 Athletes
in World Sports
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1. Pele, Brasil, soccer
2. Alexander Karelin, Russia,
wrestling
3. Muhammad Ali, USA, boxing
4. Lev Yashin, Russia, soccer
5. Michael Jordan, USA, basketball
6. Wayne Gretzky, Canada, hockey
7. Carl Lewis, USA, track and
field
8.
Garri Kasparov, Russia, chess
9. Vladislav
TRETIAK,
Russia,
hockey
10. Sergey Bubka, Ukraine, track
and field
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Best Games by Vladislav
Tretiak
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 No.
1. 1972 USSR vs. Canada Summit,
Game 1
USSR vs. Canada, 7-3 in Montreal,
Sept. 2, 1972
- More
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Related Articles at
the Summit
in 1972
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- Team
Canada '72: Historical Prospective
- Team
USSR '72: Historical Prospective
- Vladislav
Tretiak: Best Games
- The 1972 Summit
in Canadian History
and more
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Note: Top
Russian Hockey Events List is based
on the ranking by the Soviet Sports
Daily; Top 10 Athletes Lists are
based on the Sport Express Daily
readers' feedback.
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The 1972 Summit In the Russian Hockey
History
Historically, Russia is the youngest among the world
elite hockey teams. However, Russian hockey has an outstanding
history with numerous Olympics' and world titles. Although
the Soviet team didn't manage to win the 1972 Summit Series
overall, the Series is known as one of the major events
on the Russian hockey timeline.
In Canada, the millennium polls by the Canadian Press
named Team Canada 1972 as the "Team
of the Century." The 1972 Summit was voted as
the 8th among the overall Top
Canadian News Events of the 20th Century. In December
1999, Team Canada'72 was honored at the Hockey Hall of
Fame in Toronto as the greatest team of the century.
In Russia, the 1972 Summit is also rated as one of the
top sports events of the 20th Century. In its outline
of major hockey events in the Russian and Soviet hockey
history, the Soviet Sports Daily, one of the oldest
Russian sports publications, ranked the 1972 Summit Series
as the 3rd most important event of the 20th century.
Team USSR 1972 stars, Valery
Kharlamov and Vladislav
Tretiak were selected to the Top Russian Athletes
of the 20th Century. Game 1 in Montreal was ranked
as No. 1 on the Vladislav Tretiak's list of the Best
Games.
Unlike in Canada, it's hard to expect the 1972 Summit
high ranking among the top news stories of the 20th century
in Russia. Obviously, since the Soviet Union was a part
of major Cold War confrontations, there is no surprise
that the hockey Summit doesn't make it to the top Russian
political and social events of the past millennium. The
1972 Summit is rather regarded as one of the main sports
events than a political venture of the Cold War times.
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On a personal level, I think that the Summit in 1972
was the hockey event that caused the biggest changes in
the game ever. Despite the fact that the Soviets were
defeated, their distinct style won its deserved world
recognition. I guess that sometimes we learn more from
our losses than we do from our wins. Team USSR accomplished
more than anyone expected by earning respect in the homeland
of hockey and among legendary NHL players and game experts.
Today, Russian and European players are regarded as major
contributors to the NHL talent pool. Some of them even
reached the status of the NHL stars. Three decades ago,
it seemed impossible. Prior to the 1972 Summit, no one
believed that any Russian or European hockey player or
team could challenge North Americans in the NHL. It seems
to me that the 1972 Summit was the one that broke the
wall that separated the NHL "planet" from the
other world.
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