A Clean Game? You Decide...

[jason_m]

This was a hockey game that I was almost afraid of watching. I ordered it through the mail, and what I was expecting to see was vulgar based on Internet write ups. It was between the Soviet Red Army and the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976. From what I had read, the Flyers were supposed to have been overly rough and dirty towards the Soviets. Because of this, the Soviets left the game - the Philadelphia players were even portrayed by Soviet newspapers as neanderthals swinging clubs. I of course thought the Flyers owner simply forced the Soviets back onto the ice. What I actually saw was some of the cleanest, hardest hitting hockey I have ever seen. The Flyers were simply outhitting and outplaying the Red Army. The Red Army got up and left the game, knowing they were getting beaten badly, and the Flyers owner forced the Soviets back onto the ice, because they had only played for a few minutes, and nobody in the arena had gotten their money's worth.

Here is what transpired in that game: (EDIT about 10 minutes of video here. Not the whole game.)