1975-76 USSR Red Army ice hockey tour of North America

A "clash of hockey titans" occurred in late-December 1975 through the early part of January 1976, giving birth to Super Series. HC CSKA Moscow, also called "The Red Army Club" in English and Krylya Sovetov Moscow (Soviet Wings) faced some of the most famous clubs of the NHL. The games, like the subsequent Canada Cup Tournaments which also began in 1976, were not treated like exhibitions.

The Red Army defeated the New York Rangers, while the Soviet Wings dumped the Pittsburgh Penguins.

On New Year's Eve 1975, the Red Army was scheduled to play the Montreal Canadiens. The Red Army was the most dominant team in the Soviet Hockey League and the Canadiens were usually the best team in the NHL — the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup later that year. The game was billed in North America as the de facto world professional championships. The game resulted in a 3-3 tie in a contest that is widely regarded as one of the greatest games ever to have taken place, being notable for the performance of the Red Army's Vladislav Tretiak in net despite his team being outshot 38-13.

The series continued with Buffalo Sabres defeating the Soviet Wings, their only defeat in the series, and the Wings coming back to beat the Chicago Black Hawks. The Red Army defeated Boston Bruins, and the Soviet Wings beat the Islanders.

In their final game, Red Army suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Philadelphia Flyers. That game was notably as the Flyers' Ed Van Impe delivered a hard hit on the CSKA's top player, Valeri Kharlamov, knocking the latter prone on the ice for a minute, and the Soviet coach pulled his team from the ice in protest when officials refused to call a penalty.

At the end of the tour, the Red Army's final tally was 2-1-1 tie and the Soviet Wings finished 3-1.

Red Fisher had this comment in the Montreal Star following the close of the series: "They were grand and talented visitors, but the Soviets do not represent a hockey season in this area - and should not. The Soviets won the series 5-2-1, but all of the dialogue in the wake of Philadelphia's awesome wipeout of the Red Army team focused on the Soviets' failure to beat the National Hockey League's best 3 teams. Their best was unable to beat our best, which makes the over-all results considerably less than important."

Results

Red Army

• December 28, 1975: Red Army 7 New York Rangers 3
• December 31, 1975: Red Army 3 Montreal Canadiens 3
• January 8, 1976: Red Army 5 Boston Bruins 2
• January 11, 1976: Red Army 1 Philadelphia Flyers 4

Soviet Wings

• December 29, 1975: Soviet Wings 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 4
• January 4, 1976: Soviet Wings 6 Buffalo Sabres 12
• January 7, 1976: Soviet Wings 4 Chicago Black Hawks 2
• January 10, 1976: Soviet Wings 2 New York Islanders 1

See also

• Super Series

External links

• Legends of Hockey writeup on the series
• Write up on series from Flyers web site
• Super Series site
• 1976 rout of Soviets a top moment in Sabres history
• The game I'll never forget: Rick Martin: the French connection winger recalls beating the vaunted Soviet Wings in a 1976 exhibition match, Hockey Digest, March 2003