The Game That Saved the NHL: The Broad Street Bullies, the Soviet Red Machine, and Super Series '76

I pre-ordered this book in June and waited almost half a year for publication. It was well worth it. A great story about a time before helmets and giant blaring video scoreboards and corporate hockey. I didn’t see this game live time but watched many reruns after it came out on VHS in the 1980s. Like the Lake Placid win in 1980, it was so much more than a hockey game. Excellent writing (take it from a former editor) that made me put down the other two books I’m reading and turn pages late into the night.

In The Game that Saved the NHL, Ed Gruver focuses on the game between NHL champions Philadelphia Flyers and their Soviet counterparts, CSKA Moscow (CSKA stands for Central Sports Club of the Army) during 1976. CSKA was the team of the Soviet Red Army. During the 1970s, NHL players played various hockey series against Soviet teams either as the Canadian all-stars from the NHL such as during an eight-game series in 1972 or as NHL franchises such as during the 1976 Summit Series. This was not just a clash of ideologies, but also a confrontation of different playing styles to determine which system had the superior hockey.The Flyers, also known as the Broad Street Bullies, played a very physical style involving lots of checking, fighting, etc. while CSKA had a more technical and passing approach. Both sides also had legends of the sport in their lineups including Flyers' captain Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, and Bill Barber while CSKA was able to draft top Soviet talent such as Valeri Kharlamov, Boris Mihailov, and Vladislav Tretiak.Anyhow, both sides ended up playing an epic game with a lasting legacy.

I like it !!!

Great read fast shipping.

In the description it says the book is 296 pages. If you count the blank pages in the back, the index and sources it’s still only 263. Actual book is only 234. Shorter than described. $30.00 isn’t worth it.

Loved the book. So much superb background on the team and the state of the NHL at the time. I experienced this era and found the book both accurate and an awesome recollection of this big game. I recently read Joe Watson’s book so the timing in reading this was perfect!

Lots of interesting information, and a fun read!