Cournoyer cherishes memories, friendships made during 1972 Summit Series

For
Yvan Cournoyer
, the Cold War truly ended with a splash.

It was the early 1990s, two decades after the historic 1972 Summit Series, and Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak was landing at Mirabel Airport north of Montreal, bound for Toronto with Cournoyer for an autograph signing.
"I picked Vladislav up at the airport in the early afternoon, and we were flying from Dorval (Montreal's main airport) at about 6 o'clock," Cournoyer recalled. "We had about five hours to kill on a beautiful day, so I told him, 'Why don't we go to my place and you can have a swim?'
"I had an extra suit that fit him -- it was red! -- so he put it on and jumped in. I just stood there for a minute and looked at him. I couldn't believe it. I had a Russian in my swimming pool."

Team Canada's Yvan Cournoyer beats Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak for what would be the winning goal in a 4-1 win in Game 2 of the 1972 Summit Series. Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame
In 1972, Tretiak had faced Cournoyer, and a team of the NHL's best players, in the historic eight-game series played in Canada and Moscow. It was bitter from the opening face-off on Sept. 2, instantly becoming as much a political showdown as one of hockey, ideology and systems of government versus another that was played out on rinks in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Moscow
Canada ultimately would prevail, winning four games -- the last three on Moscow ice -- to Russia's three, with one game tied.
Cournoyer won the Stanley Cup 10 times during his NHL career, tied with his late captain, dear friend and inspiration Jean Beliveau for the second-most by any player in League history; late Canadiens center Henri Richard, whom Cournoyer succeeded as captain in 1976, holds the record with 11
Cournoyer won five championships by 1971, another to come in 1973, then four consecutively during his captaincy from 1976-79. But the Stanley Cup was far from his mind when he laced up for Team Canada in 1972, having typically cut his sweater about six inches shorter, given his distaste for having it hang over his pants.

Yvan Cournoyer celebrates Canada's final goal in a 4-1 Game 2 victory of the 1972 Summit Series, scored by Frank Mahovlich (27, in the background). Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame
In September 2002, sitting in his back yard recalling Tretiak having backstroked through his pool a decade earlier, Cournoyer considered the intensity of a series that was played a half-century ago this month
"It was a tough and dirty war," he said. "It was one shot. We didn't have a second chance. This was their regime against ours. We made history, in Russia and here. We changed hockey. The game, the systems, the politics have all changed. But that 1972 series will be what it was, always
"I liked winning the Stanley Cup because that's what you dream as a child when you sleep in your skates. I didn't live well if I didn't win the Cup. But I'd have lived miserably forever if I'd lost in 1972."
Today a hugely popular Canadiens ambassador, Cournoyer scored three goals in the 1972 series, behind the seven of both Paul Henderson and Phil Esposito. He had two penalty minutes, the fewest of any Canadian forward who played all eight rugged games.

Yvan Cournoyer prepares to rush around Russian defenseman Alexander Gusev during a Summit Series game in Moscow. Melchior DiGiacomo, Getty Images
"Before Game 1, just before we left for the Montreal Forum, I told Frank, 'I'm worried. I don't know the Russians,'" Cournoyer said, referring to Frank Mahovlich, then a Canadiens teammate. "I told him, 'I've never played against them. I don't know how they play. I'm going to war and I don't even know my enemy.'
"All we knew was that the Russians wore bad skates, ugly helmets and played with ugly sticks. But they were good hockey players. They were a good team, no doubt about it. They were in shape, which we were not. And you know what happened that night."
The Russians humiliated their hosts 7-3 after quickly falling behind 2-0, skating the Canadians right out of the building with their superior conditioning, precise passing and opportunistic shooting
Cournoyer scored what would prove to be the winner in Game 2 on the power-play in Toronto on Sept. 4, two nights after the Forum debacle, and assisted on Mahovlich's goal, Canada's last, in a 4-1 win.

Yvan Cournoyer in 1960s action against Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Gary Smith, and in a 1970s portrait as an alternate captain. Frank Prazak/Hockey Hall of Fame; Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame
He scored the third-period equalizer in Moscow on Sept. 24 with Canada's backs to the wall in Game 6, trailing the series 1-3-1, Henderson scoring the winner 15 seconds later in a 4-3 victory
And at 12:56 of the third period in Game 8, Cournoyer scored a huge goal to tie it 5-5, Henderson then scoring the dramatic series-clincher, his third consecutive winner, with 34 seconds left
Cournoyer is entirely fine with the fact that the most iconic photo of himself, the one he's signed more than any other, is of his broad back, hugging a jubilant Henderson an instant after the latter beat a sprawling Tretiak on a rebound for the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history
"Paul has said that when he jumped into my arms, he was afraid that he'd break my back," Cournoyer said with a laugh. "I've told him, 'Don't worry, you weren't as heavy as the Stanley Cup.' I could have held and hugged twice whatever Paul weighed. I just kept saying to him, 'We did it! We did it!'"

Yvan Cournoyer finds himself in a forest of Russian players during a 1972 Summit Series game in Moscow. Courtesy Denis Brodeur Collection
The emotion in a triumphant Canada's dressing room, he remembers, wasn't so much one of joy
"Relief. Mostly relief," Cournoyer said. "We were exhausted. We had to win. There was no other way. The series would never be remembered as it is today in Canada if we'd lost
"We had to win the last three games, so we played them like Stanley Cup (elimination) games -- shift by shift, period by period, game by game. We never looked ahead. We focused on Game 6, then Game 7, then Game 8. By then, it was a little like a Stanley Cup series. When you play the same team again and again, you start to understand their style and you adjust a bit."
With Game 8 starting at 1 p.m. ET on a Thursday, Canada literally froze, holding its breath from sea to sea across six time zones with the series on the line.

Yvan Cournoyer in 1972 Summit Series action in Moscow, and during a 2002 visit to Russia on the 30th anniversary of the series, a guest of the former Soviet team. From left: Alexander Maltsev, Boris Mikhailov and Cournoyer. Melchior DiGiacomo, Getty Images; Evelyn Cournoyer
"People will tell me where they were to watch Game 8," Cournoyer said. "They stopped at work or watched on a TV in a classroom. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. I am remembered by Canadiens fans mostly for my Stanley Cups, but when I travel, it's probably 50/50, Summit Series and Montreal."
In 2002, Cournoyer and his wife, Evelyn, were the only Canadians invited to a 30th anniversary celebration in Moscow, attended by virtually the entire Russian team.
A relationship of Cold War bitterness thawed to become a warm bond, the Russians having practically adopted Cournoyer - early in his career nicknamed "Roadrunner" for his speed - because he played the game quickly, creatively and inside the rules.
From the stage, Cournoyer joked to the crowd that the Russians liked him "because my name is Ivan." And then the mayor of Moscow brought the house down when he stepped forward to present the honored guest with a CCCP jersey, autographed by the Russian team with Cournoyer's name across the back.

A Russian CCCP jersey given to Yvan Cournoyer during a 2002 visit to Moscow for the 30th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series. Evelyn Cournoyer
A half-century later, the 78-year-old Roadrunner cherishes memories of the series of his lifetime -- from eight ferocious, winner-take-all games, to a Russian frolicking in his pool, to once-unthinkable friendships that will forever endure.
The CCCP jersey is a prized possession in Cournoyer's modest memorabilia collection. In 2002, he auctioned both his home red and road white Team Canada sweaters.
"A few years ago, I was at a dinner in Toronto and a businessman at my table told me, 'I bought one of your 1972 jerseys,' " he joked.
Unlike Summit Series sweaters and plaques and odds and ends, Cournoyer's memories will collect no dust.
"Whenever we see each other, we don't even have to talk," he said of his 1972 teammates. "We look at each other and without saying anything, we know that, together, we did something incredible.
"When we won, we didn't realize it would be this big back home. We had no idea. But when we got home, we realized, 'Hey, this is something VERY big.' I've often thought about how crazy it was at home. I'd have loved to see what was happening at that moment."
And then, with a laugh, "But believe me, I preferred to be over in Russia."
Top photos: Melchior DiGiacomo, Getty Images (left); Evelyn Cournoyer