Russian Revolution

The correspondent for Novosti wondered about the possible injurious impact on Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's re-election bid next month. President Harold Ballard of the Toronto Maple Leafs termed it "a national disaster." Dick Beddoes of the Toronto Globe and Mail, who had boastfully predicted a clean Canadian sweep, ate his column--after coating the newsprint with a thick layer of borsch.

The "disaster" occurred on the ice of the Montreal Forum, where the Soviet Union's national hockey team trounced Team Canada--35 All-Stars of the National Hockey League--by a thumping score of 7-3 in the first of an eight-game series. What was more, the Russians beat Team Canada at their own game with what were supposed to be Soviet weaknesses: tough individual play and tenacious goaltending. Chastened by defeat, the N.H.L. stars roared back two nights later in Toronto to whip the Russians 4-1. Yet in the third game in Winnipeg, it took a last-seconds save by Goalie Tony Esposito of the Chicago Black Hawks to preserve a 4-4 tie. Thus it was a thoroughly sobered Team Canada that prepared at week's end for the fourth game in Vancouver, B.C., and the remainder of the series on Russia's home ice. Said Canadian Coach Harry Sinden: "They compare with any team in the N.H.L. We just can't overpower this team as we all thought we could. We have a tiger by the tail."

Better Coordinated. That was a far cry from the cocky statements made by the Canadian players before the series began. "Eight straight," New York Ranger Vic Hadfield had predicted. "No ands, ifs or buts. Eight straight." Actually, the Canadians had every reason to be confident. Hockey is Canada's national game, and even impartial experts figured that Russia's subsidized "amateurs," who dominate the International Ice Hockey Federation, would be no match for the superstar professionals of the N.H.L. In fact, when Canada pulled out of the federation two years ago in protest over the barring of its professional players, it issued a standing challenge to the Russians to meet the N.H.L. pros skate-to-skate.

Playing on foreign ice, the Soviets showed that they were individually better conditioned and collectively better coordinated than their slick, freewheeling Canadian counterparts. Their intricate, puck-control game often confounded N.H.L. defense men; flashy Forward Valeri Kharlamov, who scored three goals in the first three contests, may be as good as the N.H.L.'s best. Whatever the outcome of the series, Russia has established itself as a hockey superpower, a worthy match for the men whose forebears invented the modern game.

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