1976 Super Series: Soviet Red Army vs Philadelphia Flyers. January 11, 1976. скачать в хорошем качестве

1976 Super Series: Soviet Red Army vs Philadelphia Flyers. January 11, 1976.

Classic international battle between the "Broad Street Bullies", notorious for having beaten and bullied their way to Stanley Cup Championships during the height of the "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" phase of the NHL, and the best team in the Soviet Union (USSR) the "Soviet Red Army." The Flyers largely led the violence trend in the NHL in the 70s and did so quite successfully. With figures such as Bob "Mad Dog" Kelly and Dave "The Hammer" Schultz you could suspect they were not known for their finesse, but they actually had a mix of talented players as well such as Rick MacLeish and Reggie Leash not to mention Bobby Clarke who was good but had a nasty vicious dirty streak (famous for deliberately breaking the ankle of the top Soviet player in 72 Summit Series in a kind of hitjob). Much like in 72 the Flyers team regarded this game as a political battle as well as a hockey game, it was a battle of nations, a war, and their would be no holds barred. To this day their are hockey fans who claim the Soviets were wimps who did not stand up for themselves, but people need to understand they lived in an authoritarian state and were under orders not to engage in violence. Furthermore European hockey frowned on violence and ejected or suspended people for fighting, hence European hockey players did not practice fighting on skates so it would be foolish to challenge the most seasoned battle proven goons the Flyers had to offer. Much as been made of the Soviet protest during the game but the Soviets had warned the Flyers and the league ahead of time they were coming to play hockey and would not tolerate any violence. But the Flyers knew only one way to play, bash and hammer and pound openings and space for the star players and let them do their thing, them bash and pound and intimidate anybody that didn't like it, sometimes including storming into the stands and pounding on fans.