Team Canada 1972

The Roster Announcement

Harry Sinden announced the initial roster of 35 players during a press conference at Toronto’s Sutton Place Hotel. Although the original arrangement between Hockey Canada and Soviet officials had stipulated that each side must list 30 players by July 15, Canadian officials successfully pushed for the 35-man roster.

Original Team Canada Roster

(*players later replaced)

Sinden’s announcement met with immediate controversy. Where were stars such as Dave Keon, Ken Hodge, John Bucyk, and Jacques Lemaire? “Our main criterion in selecting this line-up,” Sinden explained, “was the need for balance. All the great teams of the past had this one asset in common and that was balance. We’d write down a list of just the most publicized, high-scoring players and then we’d realize we didn’t really have a team.” Hence, the roster included several grinders, some good backcheckers, and a few defensive defencemen.

Keon, who had specifically written to Team Canada organizers stating his desire to play on the team, admitted, “I’m disappointed at not being invited.” Sinden revealed that four other players who were invited to join the team had turned down the opportunity for what he called “very legitimate reasons.” Bobby Hull was included on Sinden’s original roster, but the biggest controversy of the day – and one that would linger throughout the summer – was that Hull would not be allowed to play.

Bobby Hull and the WHA

When rules about the tournament were first drawn up in April, the NHL maintained that any player taking part would have to be under contract before training camp began on August 13. It was mainly an issue of insurance. At that time, no one in the NHL took the threat of the WHA seriously. Then, on 27 June 1972, Bobby Hull signed with the new league’s Winnipeg Jets.

Alan Eagleson writes that Team Canada planned to name Hull to the team anyway, believing that fan reaction would be so positive that NHL owners could not possibly object. But Hull apparently leaked the news to reporters beforehand, and the NHL closed ranks. “That players must be signed to NHL contracts was the original term of reference and it must stand,” said league president Clarence Campbell. “If we make one exception, then we’d have to make more.”

Hull was upset, and fans across the country were incensed. On July 14, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau wrote to Clarence Campbell, to Hockey Canada president Charles Hay and to NHL Players’ Association president Red Berenson urging them to take whatever steps necessary to clear the way for Hull to play. Despite his efforts, Hull and three other NHL stars who later signed with WHA teams – Gerry Cheevers, J.C. Tremblay, and Derek Sanderson – had to be replaced. (Jacques Laperriere turned down the invitation due to his wife’s pregnancy.) Dennis Hull considered declining his roster spot in support of his brother, but Bobby convinced him to take part.

Final Team Canada Roster

In addition to these players, newly drafted NHL players Billy Harris (NY Islanders), John Van Boxmeer (Montreal Canadiens) and goalie Michel “Bunny” Larocque (Montreal Canadiens) attended training camp in order to balance scrimmages and intrasquad games.

Bobby Orr’s Knee Surgery

By May 1972, it was clear that Bobby Orr likely was unlikely to play. Even while earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs en route to Boston’s Stanley Cup victory, it was known that Orr likely faced off-season knee surgery. He underwent a three-hour operation on his left knee in Boston on June 6, after which Dr. Carter Rowe recommended that Orr do no heavy skating until September. In a press conference on June 12, one day before leaving the hospital, Orr expressed his disappointment at not being able to play against the Russians.

Despite the surgery, Orr’s name was included on Team Canada’s roster when it was announced on July 12. He expressed hopes of being ready for the final four games in Moscow. Orr arrived late at Team Canada training camp on August 23 and told reporters after practice, “if the knee gives me no trouble, like today, I’ll be ready for the games in Russia and maybe sooner.” He added that he was sure that Boston management wouldn’t have any objection, although Bruins president Weston Adams Jr. expressed doubts that Orr would be able to participate.

Although Orr practiced with the team and travelled with them to Russia, he was never able to play a game. Harry Sinden would write that he considered dressing Orr for Game Eight and using him on the power play, “but we don’t get any power plays from these officials. We’ve averaged about one a game. I’m not going to dress a guy for a minute’s action.”