{"id":3601,"date":"2024-07-14T19:23:25","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T23:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/?p=3601"},"modified":"2024-07-14T19:23:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T23:23:25","slug":"reds-vs-reds-when-the-soviets-invaded-the-civic-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/legends-and-lore\/reds-vs-reds-when-the-soviets-invaded-the-civic-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds vs Reds: When the Soviets Invaded the Civic Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe the Reds were simply doing their part to advance U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations in 1970s. Or maybe the touring Soviet Union hockey team needed to prove they were better than their record. In either case, the Reds twice learned the hard way how they stacked up against some of the best hockey players in the world. The results were \u2013 let\u2019s just say \u2013 rather sobering.<\/p>\n

When the Wings of the Soviet team arrived in Providence on January 6, 1975, they brought with them the internationally well-known style of Russian hockey that emphasized teamwork, pinpoint passing, and fast-paced, interwoven skating routes.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>The strategy was designed to constantly create two-on-one and three-on-two odd-man rushes for relentless pressure on their opponents\u2019 defense, while simultaneously fostering a tight, stingy defense. The Wings also boasted seven players with at least three years of World Cup and international hockey tournament experience and head coach Boris Kulagin, who served as the strategist for the Russian national team that dueled NHL all-stars in the historic Summit Series of 1972.<\/p>\n

The exhibition game at the Providence Civic Center capped a whirlwind, eight-game tour of the American Hockey League and the Wings\u2019 third game in as many nights. They lost to the Robins in Richmond, 4-2, two nights earlier and were overpowered by the Bears in Hershey, 10-7, the night before. There was even less rest for the weary Reds that evening who had just played three games in three nights and four games in the last five days.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>All that travel did not phase the visitors, as they scored only four minutes into the game and expanded their lead to 4-1 by the end of the first period. Reds\u2019 defenseman Dave Maloney had the lone Providence tally in the opening frame, and that was as close as the game would be.<\/p>\n

The Soviets scored twice in the middle period and added two more goals in the third period before the Reds made the score look a tad more respectable, thanks to Jerry Holland\u2019s two goals in the final minute of the game. With the win, the Wings closed out their American road trip with five wins and three losses.<\/p>\n

Despite the lopsided drubbing, the event was a resounding success for the Reds. The team set two records that night with 10,006 fans in attendance at the Providence Civic Center and a take of $20,000 in the gate receipts.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>Hoping to capitalize on the success of 1975, the Reds welcomed Moscow Spartak to Providence a year and day later. Spartak was on a four-game swing through the AHL and coming off a 6-4 win over the Springfield Indians when they came to town on January 7, 1976.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>The start of this tussle was much better for the hometown boys, as Rick Bourbonnais and Jerry Byers scored in the first period to put the Reds up 2-1. The Russians, however, found their speed and finesse and stormed back in the second period with five goals to take a 6-3 lead. The teams each scored twice in the third stanza, giving Spartak an 8-5 victory. Byers was the star for the Roosters with two goals before 6,125 hockey fans.<\/p>\n

Even with the loss, the Reds earned the respect of Spartak\u2019s head coach after the game. \u201cWe were surprised [the Reds] kept trying,\u201d Nicolaj Karpov told the Providence Journal<\/em>. \u201cThe other American League teams we played seemed to give up when they got behind in the third period.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Wayne Forrest<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe the Reds were simply doing their part to advance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legends-and-lore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3601"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3609,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3601\/revisions\/3609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rihhof.com\/rireds.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}