[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'll admit to having some vague notion of what you're talking about here, but I love the quotes I found.

"To me, that was the low point of the series. If Clarke hits him with a body check and knocks him out, that's fair and square. To go out and deliberately try to take somebody out, there's no sportsmanship in that."

"To me, it's the same as shooting a guy in the hallway. Clarke was probably the only guy on the whole team that would have done it. We had a lot of tough guys on that team but there weren't many guys who played hockey that way. We had guys who would stand up and look you right in the eye, punch you in the nose if you had a fight, but I don't think they would bushwhack. But that's the way Clarke was as a player, and that's the team he's put together down in Philadelphia. That's been his trademark. But it's a free country."

- Canadian hockey hero Paul Henderson recalls the historic 1972 series between Canada and the USSR. Valery Kharlamov, widely regarded as the best Soviet player, missed game seven and was ineffective in game eight after a slash to the ankle from Canada's Bobby Clarke. (Canadian Press, Sept. 16)

"I think it's improper to criticize a teammate 30 years later. If it was so offensive why didn't he bother to say something after the game? I'm surprised at him because we were a true team. Thirty years ago, we put forth the ultimate team performance. I thought it was foolish for him to say that. It doesn't hurt me, but I don't understand why he would bring it up now."

"Listen, I never brag about what I did to [Kharlamov]. The only time I talk about it is when I'm asked."

- Bobby Clarke responds. (Toronto Globe and Mail, Sept. 19)

"I called Clarke over to the bench, looked over at Kharlamov and said, 'I think he needs a tap on the ankle.' I didn't think twice about it. It was Us versus Them. And Kharlamov was killing us. I mean, somebody had to do it. And I sure wasn't going to ask Henderson."

- John Ferguson, an assistant coach with Team Canada '72, claims credit for the whole thing. (Calgary Sun, Sept. 20)
(JiMGA note: Ferguson also said in a different interview that he wasn't going to ask Rod Gilbert to do it either, because he wouldn't have done it.

"If I hadn't learned to lay on a two-hander once in a while, I'd never have left Flin Flon."

- Bobby Clarke, in 1972. (Canadian Press, Sept. 16)

And then later, Henderson apologized to Clarke
"I apologized to Bobby for causing him aggravation," Henderson told The Fan 590 on Thursday. "I don't think anybody needs that and that's not my style to trash somebody like this. ... "The context was in this thing, was it right or was it wrong?" Henderson explained. "Thirty years later, I think it was wrong in the sense of my grandchildren doing it.

"The last thing in the world I want is (to) trash Bobby Clarke. We've got a scrum and, people, they fire questions at you in a certain way that you're damned if you do, damned if you don't."

Henderson told Clarke as much via telephone on Thursday.

"At the same time, I said, 'You know, this is my opinion,'" Henderson continued. "I stand behind my opinion that, in terms of sportsmanship, I don't think there's any place for it then and I don't think there is any place for it there. In 1972, did I condemn him? No, I certainly didn't. I'm a lot different person today than I was back then."

I think its pretty lame of Henderson to criticize Clarke years later, especially since Henderson was only in the position to become the hero he is thanks to what Clarke did. If Kharlamov isn't hurt, I'm 99% positive Canada doesn't come back to win that series. Henderson was a pretty forgettable player if not for the series-winning goal.