๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bobby Hull: 1939-2023


Bobby Hull, the Canadian two-time league MVP and Hockey Hall of Famer whose accomplishments on the ice were almost as prominent as his checkered life off the ice, today was announced to have died at the age of 84.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ IHLC Classics: The Summit Series At Fifty

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, to commemorate the historic fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, we look back with a new IIHF feature on the historic final game, and final goal, of this epic international hockey showdown.

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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 6-5 Soviet Union ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Summit Series, Game 8
Luzhniki Palace Of Sports, Moscow ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Thursday, 28 September 1972

โ€œHenderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Hereโ€™s another shotโ€ฆright in front! They score! Henderson has scored for Canada!โ€ โ€“ Foster Hewitt

It is the most famous goal call in Canadaโ€™s long and rich hockey history, and it came from the gameโ€™s greatest voice exactly 50 years ago today, at the Luzhniki Sports Palace in Moscow.
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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Vladimir Shadrin: 1948-2021


Vladimir Shadrin, the Russian centreman who starred on some of the most powerful Soviet squads of the 1970’s, today passed away in Moscow from COVID-19 complications at the age of 73.
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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ IHLC Classics: The Red Machine’s First Olympic Title

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Russian National Day, we feature the Red Army’s first Olympic title in 1956, which saw the two most recent World Champions go head-to-head on the Olympic stage in Italy.

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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Soviet Union 2-0 Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Olympic Medalย Round
Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, Cortina d’Ampezzo ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น
Saturday, 04 February 1956

When the Soviets won the 1954 World Championship in Stockholm, their first ever international tournament, they shocked Canada and the hockey world. But by 1956, there was no shock factor heading to the Olympics in Cortina dโ€™Ampezzo, Italy.
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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ IHLC Classics: The Red Army Stuns Canada…And The World

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Russian National Day, we feature the Red Army’s first major international title, and their debut IHLC matchup, against Canada to finish the 1954 World Championship.


๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Soviet Union 7-2 Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Worldย Championship Final Round
Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช
Sunday, 07 March 1954

There is no question that 1954 was the start of the modern era of international hockey. Prior to the World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, that year, Canada ruled the ice lanes uncontested. Indeed, from 1920 to 1954, it lost only two significant games, one to the United States at the 1933 World Championship and one to Great Britain at the 1936 Olympics.

But in 1954, the Soviet Union made its first appearance in international hockey, and it did so in a blaze of glory. The Soviets had only started playing “Canadian hockey” (as opposed to European bandy) in 1946, and just eight years later that nationโ€™s top players and managers believed they were ready to play against the world โ€“ and win.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada’s Boycott: 1970-77

With the now-cancelled 2020 World Championships set to have begun today in Switzerland, TheIHLC.com will instead highlight the last time there was a major lack of competition in the century-plus lineage of the IHLC – Canada’s international hockey boycott from 1970-77, and how the IHLC could have looked if just one fateful game in 1970 went another way.

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On 04 January 1970, the creator of modern ice hockey and the most dominant team in the game up to that point, Canada, shocked the hockey world when it announced that effective immediately, it was withdrawing from all international competition, including the World Championships, Olympic Games and other exhibition games or tournaments.
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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ IHLC Classics: The Miracle On Ice

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of perhaps the most historic game in international hockey, “The Miracle on Ice.”

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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States 4-3 Soviet Union ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Olympic Medalย Round
Olympic Fieldhouse, Lake Placid ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
Friday, 22 February 1980

The Olympic Fieldhouse in Lake Placid, New York, hardly seemed like the place where hockey history could be made, but on one afternoon in 1980, the greatest moment in international hockey took place. It was a moment that transformed the game in one country and, over time, around the world.

It was a moment that came to define Olympic success. It was a moment that came to inspire dreams. After 22 February 1980, anything was possible.
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Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces Class Of 2019


The Hockey Hall Of Fame today announced the newest members that will join as the Class of 2019 on 15 November, with the most decorated women’s player in history, the first Iron Curtain star to defect to the west, and a pair of multiple Stanley Cup champions, who between them hold a number of International Hockey Lineal Championships, all to join the ranks of the Hall in Toronto.
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๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ IHLC Classics: Sundin’s Dagger Brings Down The Red Machine

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Swedish Sveriges nationaldagย (National Day), we feature their shocking World Championship Gold medal from 1991, which saw them win their fifth world title, marking the end of the Iron Curtain regime in international hockey.


๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Swedenย 2-1 Soviet Union ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
World Championship Finalย Round
Elysรฉe Arena, Turku ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ
Saturday, 04 May 1991

Mats Sundin, only 20 at that time, scored what many consider as the “best goal in the history of the IIHF World Championship” when he single-handedly gave Sweden gold in 1991 in Turku. But it isnโ€™t only the exceptional end-to-end rush that counts into the overall verdict. The performance capped a season which began with Sundin escaping his country as villain โ€“ in what also was the last hockey game ever to be played by the Soviet Union national team at the World Championship.
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Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces Class Of 2018


The Hockey Hall Of Fame today announced the newest members that will join as the Class of 2018 on 12 November, with a pair of Canadian Martins (Brodeur and St-Louis), Alexander Yakushev and Jayna Hefford entering the players wing of the Hall, bringing their professional and international accolades (along with their International Hockey Lineal Championship reigns) to Toronto.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ IHLC Classics: “Henderson Has Scored For Canada!”

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series finale, we look back on perhaps the most influential goal in international hockey history, Paul Henderson’s series-winning tally past Vladislav Tretyak.

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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 6-5 Soviet Union ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Summit Series, Game 8
Luzhniki Palace Of Sports, Moscow ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Thursday, 28 September 1972

Game eight of the Summit Series was maybe the most important hockey game ever played. It was the climax of the greatest series ever played, Canada versus the Soviet Union. It was a series that pitted the professionals of Canada against the “amateurs” of the Soviet Union. It matched Canadian-style hockey with Soviet-style.

Most important, it was a battle between lifestyles, values and two vastly different political systems.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ IHLC Classics: Gretzky To Lemieux

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Canada Cup, we highlight the third game of the Cup finals, one of the most historic showdowns between the Soviet Union and Canada in history.

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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 6-5 Soviet Union ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Canada Cupย Final, Game 3
Copps Coliseum, Hamilton ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Tuesday, 15 September 1987

Although the history of hockey has many touchstones for any ideal of greatness, there was arguably no finer hockey ever played than in the best-of-three finals of the 1987 Canada Cup between the host nation and the Soviet Union. Of course, there have been other exceptional moments in the game.

But 1987 had it all. It featured games in the modern era, where every minute of every game could be captured on film and appreciated time and again and compared to other great modern moments; it had familiar players; it had late-game heroics; and, most of all, it featured a pure level of skill that has never been matched before or since.
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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ IHLC Classics: The Red Army Shocks The World

From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, we feature the opening game of the tournament, a stunning Soviet victory in Montrรฉal.

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๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Soviet Union 7-3 Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Summit Series, Gameย 1
Forum de Montrรฉal,ย Montrรฉal ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Saturday, 02 September 1972

The withdrawal of Canada from international hockey in 1970 was the result of an increasingly bitter feud between that country and other top European countries, notably the Soviet Union. Canada had long believed that Iron Curtain countries used professional players in World Championship and Olympic competition because their players did nothing but play hockey eleven months of the year.

The withdrawal, though, did have one benefitโ€”it produced the Summit Series in September 1972, an eight-game showdown between Canadaโ€™s professionals from the NHL and the best from the Soviet Union (essentially their World Championship / Olympic team).
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