The dream of every young Canadian hockey player. I never tire of this moment. #stanleycup @Canes @NHL @HockeyHallFame @keeperofthecup

Will tonight be 2026 Stanley Cup presentation night? The silverware is polished and the champagne is chilled 🍾 The small Rose Bowl you see, which has the same pattern as the Stanley Cup, was acquired by my Dad in 1970. Each year we’d polish it up just before the Finals. On Cup presentation night, we’d celebrate with the players by filling it with ginger ale (and then champagne when I got older) & drinking it when the Cup was presented. My Dad has since passed away. Since then I have acquired a full sized 1893 Rose Bowl. Both are polished up & ready to go for tonight (or Tuesday) in his memory. #tradition #OdeToMyDad #stanleycup

Dennis Hull, the two-way NHL forward who starred alongside superstar brother Bobby Hull with the Chicago Blackhawks and was a member of Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, passed away today. He was 81. While brother Bobby was excluded from playing for Canada against the Soviet Union in '72 because he was in the World Hockey Association, Dennis went and had two goals and two assists in four games, playing on a line with New York Rangers stars Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert. Hull had 303 goals and 351 assists for 654 points in 959 regular-season NHL games. He had another 67 points in 104 games in the playoffs, during an era Chicago came close but never won the Stanley Cup. #teamcanada72 #1972SummitSeries

Just hearing that Gary Smith, Diplomat, Storyteller, and a man who played a prominent role in the 1972 Summit Series, passed away unexpectedly on May 12, 2026 at the age of 81. Gary joined the Canadian Foreign Service and his career took him to Canada’s mission at the United Nations in New York City and then, in 1971, to the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. During his posting in Moscow, Gary played an instrumental role in organizing the historic 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. The experience became one of the defining passions of his life, blending his love of diplomacy, storytelling, hockey and Canada itself. In 2022, he published Ice War Diplomat, a behind-the-scenes account of the Summit Series from his unique perspective as a young Canadian diplomat who accompanied the Soviet team in Canada and served as liaison to Team Canada in Moscow. Shortly afterward, the bilingual feature-length documentary IceBreaker: The Legacy of the ’72 Summit Series, featuring Gary and inspired in part by his book, premiered during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the famed series. On a personal level, we exchanged numerous emails while I was writing Path to the Summit Part I & II. A celebration of Gary’s life will be held in Perth, Ontario, on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

In June 1975 Guy Dyotte and André Ruel were part of a Concordia University hockey study internship that travelled to Moscow to study the Soviet hockey system. In 1976 they published this french language book detailing their visit and what they learned. Path to the Summit: Part II compares the Soviet Youth development system to the Canadian system in the lead up to the 1972 Summit Series. Available now on Amazon. #soviethockey #teamcanada1972 @usahockey @HockeyCanada #anatolitarasov #stanleycup

Checking out the Amazon New Release Bestseller list. This is a humorous ‘blank book’. 100 employ pages - lampooning the Maple Leafs. Seems the troll gods are getting their Christmas stocking shopping done to needle their Lesf fan friends #GoHabsGo

History of Soviet Hockey leading up to the 1972 Summit Series now available on Amazon. #anatolitarasov

History of Soviet Hockey leading up to the 1972 Summit Series now available on Amazon #russianhockey #usahockey #teamcanada1972 #1972SummitSeries #anatolitarasov

The Stanley Cup tournament has started & hope springs eternal for 16 different teams. Montréal Canadiens launch their #Drivefor25 with a win tonight. One down, fifteen to go. Will we drink to a Canadian team victory this year?

Always fascinating to watch the dynamics for interest in Path to the Summit Part II. 68% of sales have been to buyers in the U.S. Gratifying to see the strong interest. #soviethockey #anatolitarasov #teamcanada72 #usahockey #nhl #NHLHockey #tmltalk

Hockey’s reach is international. So far this week copies of Part II have sold in Germany, Italy & France. This comes from France. So awesome to hear from those who are interested in this topic. #soviethockey #anatolitarasov #1972summitseries

Path to the Summit Part II has received its first rating on Amazon. A solid 5 stars ⭐️. Thanks for the feedback as we inch up to #7 on the new release bestseller list. #Anatolitarasov #soviethockey #teamcanada72 #usahockey

Path to the Summit Part II is starting to arrive in mailboxes. Thanks for your patience on this release & I hope you enjoy. #Anatolitarasov #soviethocket #teamcanada72 #usahockey

Path to the Summit Part II is finally available on Amazon. At 418 pages, it offers a captivating deep dive into the tumultuous world of Soviet hockey from 1957 to 1972 and highlights Anatoli Tarasov’s unwavering quest for greatness. Essential reading for fans seeking the raw, unvarnished story of Soviet hockey’s golden era.

I’m happy to announce that Part II (1957-1972) of "Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey" is now available through amazon in both hardcover and paperback formats. Thank you to all who have enquired & patiently waited for the release. I hope it meets, and exceeds, expectations. amazon.com/Path-Summit-Anato…

With @usahockey winning 2026 Olympic gold, let's take a moment to recall the first American gold medal in 1960. Jack Riley was the architect of America's impossible gold medal at Squaw Valley — the coach who turned a team the hockey world had written off into champions in the first 'Miracle On Ice.' Brought in as the one missing piece from previous Olympic squads, Riley arrived with unambiguous credentials: a Dartmouth playing career, service in the Naval Air Corps, a stint as player-coach at the 1949 World Championships, and a decade at West Point where he won NCAA Coach of the Year twice. He had watched the 1959 World Championships firsthand, and when he took over the national team, he knew exactly what was required. What followed was a winter of controlled punishment. Riley ran three-hour practices at West Point as though he were a drill sergeant with U.S. Army. Players called him "Sir," not "Coach." His central conviction was straightforward — America couldn't out-skill the Soviets or Canadians, but it could out-condition them. West Point's rink, an unusually vast 232 feet by 90 feet, amplified every drill. A simple line rush demanded substantially more skating than anywhere else his players would compete that February. At Squaw Valley, it showed. The Americans outskated Canada end-to-end, beat the Soviets 3-2, and closed out Czechoslovakia to claim gold. Herb Brooks was Jack Riley’s final cut one week before those Olympic Games. Riley’s approach profoundly influenced Herb Brooks as he prepared for the 1980 Olympics. I’ll have a full chapter on the 1960 Games in Part 2 of Path to the Summit. Hopefully for release by the end of the month. #Soviethockey #anatolitarasov #pathtothesummit #hockeycanada

Aggie Kukulowicz is known to friends of the 1972 Summit Series as a major off-ice figure. Here we find him 5 years earlier, commenting on Soviet league games from the Moscow Sports Palace. My new article for the Society of International Hockey Research: sihrhockey.org/2020/columns/…

New article by Oskar Tallqvist for SIHR on hockey officiating in the early 1900s. sihrhockey.org/2020/columns/…

Yuri Vasilyevich Korolev, the Soviet hockey administrator remembered in Canada as head of the Soviet delegation during the 1987 "Punch-up in Piestany" brawl at the World Junior Championships, died today. A Honoured Coach of the USSR and IIHF Hall of Fame inductee (Paul Loicq Award 2011), he led the Complex Scientific Group for the Soviet men's national hockey team from the early 1960s to 1992. Working closely with coach Anatoli Tarasov, he pioneered scientific training techniques that integrated biomechanics, physiology, and off-ice conditioning into Tarasov’s training program. His research also analyzed Canadian-style tactics and he developed countermeasures for Tarasov that optimized skating efficiency, passing under pressure, and sustained high-tempo play— all to emphasize speed, technique, and collective hockey. Korolev was 91 years old.