The Greatest Sporting Event in History

[Argoknot]

Yes - Orr was injured.

Orr AND Bobby Hull on that 72 Team Canada and maybe they win that series quite handily - though the Russians may have shocked them for an early win or 2 with their different style play and far superior conditioning; Orr could control games - the Russians would not have had the puck near as much with Orr on the ice; and Hull was one of the all-time great goal scorers. Both those guys in their prime unable to suit up for Canada in 72 = incredible talent not there.

Orr is an interesting case because even though he practiced with the team and really wasn't near ready (re his knee) had his knee been declared ready I'm not sure how effective he would have been. This is all hypothetical of course but if you look at the pictures of him in Moscow he was in terrible condition (because he couldn't train properly). Had his knee finally been cleared (in Moscow) the question is could his hockey IQ overcome his poor conditioning, I don't know.

Hull was usually in good shape because of his work on the farm. One thing to ponder is if we had all those players it wasn't so much that they were so much better but that they would have replaced a player that wasn't as good. Had Tremblay played, Don Awrey or Rod Seiling might not have. Interesting to note that of the players who had played the Soviets previously, Dryden, Seiling, Berenson, Glennie (didn't play), they performed relatively poorly against them, so much for experience.

Ironically the best defensive pairing in the Canada training camp was Don Awrey and Rod Seiling.

[OV Argo]

Orr is an interesting case because even though he practiced with the team and really wasn't near ready (re his knee) had his knee been declared ready I'm not sure how effective he would have been. This is all hypothetical of course but if you look at the pictures of him in Moscow he was in terrible condition (because he couldn't train properly). Had his knee finally been cleared (in Moscow) the question is could his hockey IQ overcome his poor conditioning, I don't know.

Hull was usually in good shape because of his work on the farm. One thing to ponder is if we had all those players it wasn't so much that they were so much better but that they would have replaced a player that wasn't as good. Had Tremblay played, Don Awrey or Rod Seiling might not have. Interesting to note that of the players who had played the Soviets previously, Dryden, Seiling, Berenson, Glennie (didn't play), they performed relatively poorly against them, so much for experience.

Ironically the best defensive pairing in the Canada training camp was Don Awrey and Rod Seiling.

Disagree on Berenson - and he actually did play in at least one game in the series and i thought he was one of the best Canadian forwards; should have seen more ice time as should of Gilbert Perrault -both good skaters (Perrault could out-skate any of the Russians - he was that smooth & fast) who could handle the puck. Canada had too many NHL style players who could not move good enough against the speed of the Russians - defenceman like Awrey or Glennie did not match-up well; agreed that JC Tremblay - smaller but smooth skating & puck-handling defenceman - could have helped.

And we certainly don't know on Orr - even if his knee was not fully recovered, he may have been out of shape; Orr in his prime though would have made a HUGE difference - best player in the world - BOTH offensively and defensively (the Russians could not out skate Orr plus he could hit when needed)