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Paul Henderson’s Legendary Summit Series Goal Turns 45 Today

Paul Henderson’s Legendary Summit Series Goal Turns 45 Today

With 34 seconds remaining in Canada’s game against the Soviet Union in the “Series of the Century”, Paul Henderson on September 28, 1972. That’s 45 years ago today!

Today, Henderson shares the lessons of leadership, teamwork, and commitment he learned during his professional hockey career to help motivate organizations and individuals to reach their own incredible goals.

In honour of the 45th anniversary here’s a great article from NHL.com on the impact of the series and Paul Henderson’s legendary goal:

Paul Henderson indelibly put his fingerprint on Canadian sports 45 years ago Thursday, a moment frozen in time for those who held their breath for it and a revelation to a new generation of fans who have come to learn of it.

Henderson’s short, desperate shot, banged home in Moscow’s Luzhniki Ice Palace, instantly was stitched into his country’s fabric. One swat at a rolling puck made the fleet, industrious forward a Canadian legend.

Scored with 34 seconds left in Game 8 of the historic eight-game Summit Series, Henderson’s goal lifted a team of NHL stars, representing Canada, to a 6-5 victory to clinch the series – with four wins, three losses and a tie — against players from the Soviet Union who were anything but the cannon fodder most everyone in hockey believed they would be.

Henderson’s goal off a second rebound, beating sprawling goalie Vladislav Tretiak, was his third consecutive game-winning goal. Canada rallied on Soviet ice after trailing 3-1-1 through five games to win a series that was much more about political ideologies than hockey superiority.

This was an emotional roller coaster of epic proportions, a Canadian hockey drama not seen before, or since.

In the years that have followed, the significance of the Summit Series and Henderson’s remarkable role in it have grown to mythical status. The goal and the series it climaxed have been the subject of documentaries, a feature film, many books, a postage stamp and commemorative coin, TV commercials, academic study and player speaking tours spanning the country.

Read the full story here.