This three-disc DVD set was originally aired on CBC and it’s very well done. No particular actor or actress stood head and shoulders above the rest; just like the Team Canada roster, everybody blended in very well and the entire creative staff should be proud of what was a very accurate portrayal.

Around the same time in 1972, the Munich Olympics were in session and that was what most people were watching in the United States. And when tragedy struck, it was the top story for weeks. The Team Canada brass was shown watching this on television but it didn’t make the broadcast version, it was in the extras.

The hockey scenes were very smooth and the photography was done the right way. Team Canada head coach Harry Sinden and former NHLPA executive director Alan Eagleson praised that in the extras. There was plenty of drama and the filmmakers did a spectacular job of letting fans know certain players traits.

The 1972 Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals just a few months before this camp began and the film showed the strife that still existed between Bruins and Rangers players. This documentary-like piece served as a brush up course for those who only read about this series until it came out on VHS back in the day. Vic Hadfield had left the team with Rick Martin and Gilbert Perrault but who never really knew why? The Soviets training regimen was well documented but this film took viewers inside their locker room.

There were some original Canadian radio rants mixed in. The first one was anti-American saying that the U.S. and NHL now owned the Canadiens game. Then there was the Bobby Hull controversy and if you listen to the extras Eagleson explains how he tried to slip him in unnoticed at the last minute before training camp began. Of course that never worked out. By the way, showing how out of shape players were going into camp shows just how much the game has changed.

It was enjoyable watching some of my favorite players of the era like Rod Gilbert and Phil Esposito, and players that you loved to hate like Bobby Clarke and Wayne Cashman. It was especially good seeing old footage of the arenas and the fans of these different countries. Buy this DVD set and you’ll love it!

Canada Russia '72 is available at Amazon.ca.

Some of my favorite hockey movies/DVDs of all-time:

1) Slapshot
2) Miracle
3) Youngblood
4) Ultimate Gretzky
5) Canada Russia ‘72
6) Mystery Alaska
7) Idol of the Crowds
8) In the Crease

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