The country was still euphoric after the team's come-from-behind victories not only in the series against the Soviets, but also in the final game, clinched by Paul Henderson's famous goal.
“Montreal International Airport was a carnival of idol-worshippers and government dignitaries last night as about 10,000 fans cheered the arrival of Team Canada,” we reported on Oct. 2, 1972. “Several thousand people had been at the airport for as much as seven hours.” Garth Pritchard’s photo gives only a glimpse of the crowd’s size.
By the time the chartered DC-8 landed “a few seconds after 6:30 p.m.,” bringing the team home from their games in the Soviet Union, it was cold and the sun had gone down.
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“When they finally arrived, Team Canada members stepped off the plane to be greeted by handshakes from Prime Minister Trudeau and Mayor Drapeau,” we wrote. (Of course, this was not Justin Trudeau but his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, for whom the airport would, much later, be renamed.)
The team members boarded three fire trucks used as floats for a “triumphal parade around the airport to the sounds of car horns, sirens and screaming worshippers.”
The country was still euphoric after the team’s come-from-behind victories not only in the series, but also in the final game, clinched by Paul Henderson’s famous goal. The eight-game Summit Series was to be a fair contest between Canadian and Soviet teams at a time when NHL players were not allowed to take part in international competition. Canadians had expected an easy victory.
The flight continued to Toronto without Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Peter Mahovlich, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle or assistant coach John Ferguson, we reported.
“I can’t believe the response we’ve had,” Ferguson told us. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget in my life. They were some of the greatest hockey games I’ve ever witnessed and I still think we’re the best hockey team in the world.”
History Through Our Eyes: Photos of People and Events That Shaped 20th Century Montreal, which compiles the original 2019 series in book form, is available online from montrealhistorybooks.com and at local bookstores. A portion of proceeds from books sold at the online address will go to the Gazette Christmas Fund.
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