As an FYI: tonight at 8 PM EDT, the CBC will air the first episode of a four-part documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia.
Here’s a preview/summary from the CBC’s website:
The 1972 Canada-USSR Summit Series of Hockey changed hockey forever, playing out dramas of national identity, pride, politics, and ideology while the world watched, enraptured, during the Cold War.
In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the series, Summit 72 will premiere on Wednesday, Sept 14 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem. As the only documentary series sanctioned and supported by 1972 Team Canada players, Summit 72 will have unrestricted access to the official game tapes and a trove of archival footage.
This series will tell the definitive story of the legendary 1972 eight-game ‘Super Summit’ through a modern lens, and explore its legacy and lasting influence on Canadian national identity, framing it against the political and cultural climate of the times in both countries, and around the world.
The series will also explore how Canada and its relationship to hockey has changed since then, and what seeds of change were made visible in this clash of cultures.
With never-before-seen 16mm archival footage restored in stunning 4k, and exclusive interviews with key players, Summit 72 will bring an unforgettable moment in Canadian history to life on screen as never seen before. Audiences will relive — or experience for the first time — the adrenaline-fuelled, edge-of-your-seat drama of one of the most monumental cultural proxy battles of the Cold War, and trace its many reverberations in the zeitgeist right up to the present day.
