Forget the crappy effects heavy Jerry Bruckheimer movie coming out this spring - Canada versus Russia is the real Clash of the Titans. The rivalry began with the Cold War, but when the wall came down the Soviets just became what we always knew them to be, hockey mad Russians and probably the only people on Earth who could really appreciate the ballet and brutality of hockey as we do.
In 1972, right here in Vancouver the Russians played Team Canada to a standstill, Canadian fans booed their own team and applauded the Russians for their mastery of puck control.
But that only ignited a flame under Team Canada, actually more than a flame, it was a conflagration that would soon ignite an entire nation as the Team Canada travelled to Moscow and did what everyone in Canada thought was impossible at that point, they won.
If you ever watch the old news clips of post game Phil Esposito (currently in a contest with Don Cherry for most patriotic Canadian) you don't see a man who has just been humiliated on home ice, you see a man possessed and one who knows that he will find a way to win whatever it takes.
Take that grit and determination and add Paul Henderson's near religious conviction that he would score the winning goals in the final two games (in Game 8 he banged on the boards for a shift change because with less than a minute left he had to get on the ice to score the game winner) and you have the stuff of legend. That may seem a little over the top, especially for a confirmed cynic like myself, but watch the old 1970s Russia/Canada tilts and see the Bobby Orrs and Phil Espositos and Guy Lafleurs in all their sideburned glory and how they played the cold, exciting Russians in their uniquely Canadian style (and no style and Canadian is not an oxymoron) and you'll get a sense of how deep this rivalry truly is.
