It doesn’t look as though professional hockey players will be creating much hockey history this season, so perhaps there’s no better time to revisit the past, instead.
Vancouver Island University history professor Timothy Lewis recalls the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, and calls it the most significant event in Canadian sports history.
Lewis will speak on the subject this Friday (Sept. 21) at a free public lecture at the university.
“Being the best at hockey was, and is, a significant point of pride for many in this nation,” Lewis said.
The Summit Series was played 40 years ago this month. The eighth and deciding game at Moskow’s Luzhniki Palace of Sports ended, of course, with Paul Henderson’s game-winning goal.
“Each generation attaches current meanings to the memories of past events. Henderson’s victory no longer belongs to him and the members of Team Canada ’72, but to all of us, even those not born at the time,” said Lewis.
His presentation goes from 10-11:30 a.m. Friday at the Malaspina Theatre (Building 310).