35 years ago, something special happened in hockey. It was the Summit Series between Team Canada and Team Russia, or guess back then, The Red Army. Canadians watched as their dream team, which included Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr lost 2 games and tied 1 in the 1st 4 games at home! It was apparent to both Canadians and Soviets that the Canucks had a fight a head of them. When Team Canada arrived in their opposing teams country, they again lost. But with a new found respect for the Soviets, Canada turned it on for the final 3 games and won all of them. It was Canada's greatest accomplishment in their history with sports.
Today, Canada and Russia honoured the great series by playing another one. But this time, we got to see Canada's juniors represent in what is called, "The Canada - Russia Super Series.
The 8 game series started off in Ufa, Russia today with both teams ready to roll. The Russians though were the ones who started off with an edge as they scored 2 quick goals to take the lead. But Canada responded with goals 45 seconds apart, one of them off a penalty shot from Kyle Turris to tie it up. In the 2nd period, Canada grabbed the lead when Sam Gagner scored early in the period, and extended that lead later in that period. From that point on, London Knights goaltender Steve Mason stole the show. He made many spectacular saves the keep the 2-goal Canadian lead and rarely gave up a rebound. He stopped 40 of 42 shots to lead the Canadians to a 4-2 win in the 1st game of the Super Series.
The key to the game was Canada's penalty kill. They killed off 14 penalties plus 2 2-man advantages. If Canada had let even one of those powerplays score, than nobody knows what could of happened with a 1-goal lead.
The second of the eight-game series is Wednesday (Sportsnet, 9 a.m. ET) in Ufa and then two games will be played in Omsk on Friday and Saturday.
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