If you need a hockey fix...

[nfreeman]

Well, someone posted a great article about Perreault a couple of weeks ago in which the author stated that Bert was Canada's best player in the 1976 Canada Cup. That got me interested, then I read a few stories calling that team the best hockey team of all time. A DVD box set of this series was recently released, so I picked it up on ebay and started watching it. It is great. Highly recommended.

 

I haven't gotten even halfway yet through the box set, so I can't opine as to whether Perreault was the best player, but I can say that he really was amazing. A force of nature. And he was really in his element on that team. What I didn't realize until I started watching the DVDs was that Rico and Gare were on the team too (and Fogolin was on the US team, FWIW). Rico played very well too -- he belonged with that group. Gare wasn't out of place but was just a bit lower in the pecking order.

 

Even aside from the Sabres, it's well worth watching. The hockey skill is beautiful to watch. The game is faster now, to be sure, but these guys could all skate, even back then, and guys like Bert, Lafleur and Hull were real flyers. Check out these lines/pairings:

 

Phil Esposito-Marcel Dionne-Bobby Hull (Hull was in the WHA at the time and the crowd went nuts for him whenever he had the puck, btw)

Perreault-Rico-Gare (Lafleur took Gare's spot on this line frequently)

Peter Mahovlich-Guy Lafleur-Steve Shutt

Darryl Sittler-Bill Barber-Reggie Leach (Sittler was coming off a 100-pt season, Barber 112, Leach 61 goals)

 

Bobby Orr-Denis Potvin (he was only 28, but this was Orr's career swan song; he left Boston for Chicago before the following season and played only 26 games in 3 years for them before retiring. He never cashed their paychecks. Orr was MVP of this tournament. You could tell the wheels were largely gone but he still controlled the game on hockey IQ and guts. Meanwhile, Potvin was terrific. This pair was fantastic. They played much more than the other defensemen, all of whom were all-stars themselves.)

 

Larry Robinson-Serge Savard

Guy Lapointe-Jim Watson

 

Goalie: Rogie Vachon.

Coach: Scotty Bowman

 

Anyway, for anyone who needs a hockey fix, it's well worth picking it up on ebay (I paid about $32 for it) or netflixing it.