The Summit in 1974
1974

 

PRESS ROOM 1974: Game 3

When It Is Hot On the Ice
Vladislav Tretiak's Diaries 1974

by Vladislav Tretiak
September 1974
Toronto

September 21. 8-5...

Finally, we won. It was a convincing and beautiful and, at the same time, a hard-to-earn victory.

Winnipeg is a hometown of Bobby Hull. It's hard to describe pre-game expectations.

Ticket priced at $ 10 were being sold at $ 200. It seemed to me that Canadians were now positive that the WHA would win the Summit.

I've been in Canada several times and every time it amazes me how much Canadians love hockey. They say that local kids first learn how to skate and then how to walk.

Local child first gets a stick not a dummy. Parents put the stick into the kid's little hands. He immediately starts to kick the puck, little potato, stone or anything around him that is smaller than a football and bigger than a coin.

At 2, the kid dreams about being a great hockey player. At 6, he is positive he is going to become a Bobby Hull.

That's what Canadians say. It looks right.

Back to the game.

We started Game 3 with our strongest players. Boris Kulagin told the ones that were not dressed for the game:

"You've got to wait, guys. We have to win a couple of times and, then, it will be your time to play."

Harris used a back up goalie MacLeod for this game. The newspapers said that Cheevers asked for a day off.

As soon as the game started it became clear that it's our day. We pushed Team Canada into their zone.

As I was expecting, the opponents couldn't maintain the level they were on in the previous games. They began to slow down and we, on the contrary, added speed into our gears.

In the second period, Walton shot the puck into my stomach. I crawled in pain and set on the ice. Terrible head ache.

But the game goes on.

Here comes Henderson. The ones who ever managed to hold a hockey puck know that it's heavy. It's like a cobble stone. And this cobble stone flies towards you with a huge speed. You don't hide from it. You need to put your body in front of the puck to block the shot.

Sometimes it's very painful. I know many kids who didn't become goalies because their eyes were blinking when the puck was shot at them.

If one wants to play hockey, he needs to kill fear in himself from the very beginning. Once and forever. He can't be afraid of the puck. He can't be afraid that opponents might hit him.

The only thought in your mind - Block the Shot! The rest doesn't matter. Opponents... Hits... Pain... It doesn't matter.

The score is 7-2. The game is over. Maybe, it's time to replace me with Sidelnikov. No way.

While changing the sides after 10 minutes in the third period, I skated over to the bench. The doctor held a cotton with ammoniac in front me. I looked at the coaches. Maybe they could see now that I am awfully tired. No. I have to finish up the game.

In the last 10 minutes, they scored three goals.



 

 

 

The Summit in 1974