On September 28, 1972, during one of the matches of the USSR-Canada Hockey Super Series, commentator Nikolai Ozerov uttered the now popular phrase “We don’t need this kind of hockey.”
Arkady Ratner, an employee of the sports editorial office of Central Television, spoke about the birth of this phrase in an interview with the newspaper “Soviet Sport”.
I’ll tell you how the famous phrase was born: “We don’t need that kind of hockey!” On the way to Luzhniki, Ozerov usually picked me up by car. We are going to the eighth match of the Super Series. Nikolai Nikolaevich is in high spirits. He is very pleased that he had a hand in organizing such a spectacle, which keeps the whole country in suspense. Ozerov turned the steering wheel and sang the praises of hockey like a nightingale.
We arrived at the stadium. Nikolai Nikolaevich sat down at the table to drink coffee, and I went away on business for about ten minutes. I return - Ozerov is gloomy. Apparently, he had a conversation with one of the high-ranking Central Committee officials that it was not worth praising the Canadians so much on air. And Ozerov did this because he was in love with sports and valued true skill above all else.
The broadcast is going on, and Nikolai Nikolaevich’s mood plummets before his eyes. He pays more and more attention to the Canadians' playing dirt, to their pokes. And then a mess breaks out involving Alan Eagleson, their union boss. The police grabbed him by the arms for his brawl, and Pete Mahovlich beat off his fellow countryman by swinging his stick. And here Ozerov uttered his catchphrase: “We don’t need this kind of hockey!” It was a natural impromptu. I don't remember him repeating these words in another report. The phrase immediately became popular among the people.
When the Super Series was shown, the streets of Moscow and other cities literally died out. And all the windows in the houses lit up. Hockey's ratings in those days were off the charts (although no one knew the word "rating"). There is nothing to even compare this spectacle with. Maybe with the World Cup finals...
Yes, we formally lost the Super Series 72, and Ozerov objectively said this on air. But, in fact, everyone learned that for their Esposito we have our Kharlamov, for their Dryden - our Tretyak, for Clark - Ragulin. In those eight historic matches, we did not lose to the Canadians in any way...
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“We don’t need this kind of hockey!”
Ozerov’s famous phrase, uttered during the 1972 Super Series with the participation of Soviet and Canadian hockey players, was uttered when the ice field was overwhelmed by openly rough play and unsportsmanlike behavior. The Canadians' goal, which was not immediately counted, provoked a downright boxing match between the players on the court. Since then, this quote has become popular.
“That number nine again!”
1976 Ice Hockey World Championship in Poland. Sensation - the USSR national team lost to the home team with a score of 6:4! Throughout the match, the magnificent “nine” of Poles with the dissonant surname Jobchik for Nikolai Nikolayevich tormented the defense of the Soviet team and constantly put the commentator in an awkward position - not mentioning the goalscorer became more and more difficult with every minute. During the meeting, Jobchik opened the gate three times - first against Alexander Sidelnikov, and then against Vladislav Tretyak, who came on as a substitute. Here, as they say, there is no escape; the author must be made public. And Ozerov, in order not to repeat the “harassing” surname again, masterfully said: “That number nine again!”
“Sorry, technical problems outside the territory of the USSR”
It was this distracting phrase that Nikolai Ozerov used when fights broke out during hockey matches. The camera switched to a neutral fan, and the commentator talked about events in the world of sports. In one of the reports, when the “standard phrase” was used again, Nikolai Nikolaevich even managed to talk about the foreign tours of the Soviet ballet.
“Tell him: the anthem of the Soviet Union must be performed standing!”
This was the legendary commentator’s answer, addressed through a translator to an American millionaire, who, lounging on the sofa and laughing in the hotel lobby, began to show Ozerov’s voluminous figure with his hands and hum the USSR anthem.
“We don’t need this kind of hockey!” - this phrase became famous after the hockey match between the USSR and Canada national teams, which took place on September 28, 1972. The TV report was conducted by the famous commentator Nikolai Ozerov. Ozerov was provoked to such an exclamation by the incredibly rough play of the rival Soviet hockey players, who, losing in professionalism, began to start brawls on the ice.
This Ozerovo report was watched, without exaggeration, by the entire Soviet Union, all progressive humanity. Because the match was outstanding - the last, 8th game of the USSR - Canada super series, in which, in fact, the fate of the first fight between the two hockey superpowers was decided.
The score in the series by that time was equal, if you win the match, you win the war - the tension, in a word, was colossal. After two periods, our team was ahead 5:3, but the Canadians fought to the end - in every sense of the word.
They began to be rude and merciless; not only fists were used, but also psychological pressure.
For example, one of the team leaders, Alan Eagleson, lost his nerve. He sat in the stands and became furious because the referee did not immediately count the Canadians' goal. And the goal was the most important - after it the score would have become 5:5.
So, Eagleson suddenly climbed onto the platform to grab the judge by the chest - he, naturally, was stopped by our valiant policemen, who even then could have grabbed it themselves. They started to pull the Canadian away from the box - but the North American players didn’t leave it so easily, they jumped out of the court, stood up for the boss - and took him to the bench. Where in our Union did we see this then?!
One rudeness gives rise to another - angry Canadians began to almost stage boxing matches on the site with our guys. That’s when this phrase came out of Nikolai Nikolaevich’s mouth, which instantly became legendary: “We don’t need this kind of hockey!”
All Soviet television viewers then also thought so: what had long been the norm in the NHL was an overseas curiosity for us.
It turned out that ours were playing hockey with the Canadians, and they suddenly began to play games with us that were previously completely unknown.
Only later, having cooled down properly, did our specialists slowly begin to admit that one or two such fights, started at the right time on the court, and the upper hand gained in them sometimes turn on and energize the team so much that nothing and no one can stop it.
Canadians didn't just play like that, they lived it. Professionals - what can I say! It was about them that Vysotsky sang: “For professionals, desperate fellows, the game is a lottery, whoever is lucky. They play with a partner like a bull with a matador, although it seems to be the other way around.”
But our guys were no worse - although they lost both that match and the entire series. But we proved to the whole world that we can play hockey no worse than its founders. And we know how to fight, and defend, and outplay them in combination play - beautifully and convincingly.
These high-profile victories will come to us a little later - in the next super series, including at the club level, in the 1979 Challenge Cup, in which our NHL players were defeated 6:0. Or in the 1981 Canada Cup final, when we crushed the same Canadians like boys 8:1!
Eh, there was a time that we can now only remember. Ozerov was right: we didn’t need this kind of Canadian hockey. Why, if you had your own, branded one? Which, alas, we have lost a long time ago - and so far we cannot return.
The story of one phrase.
September 28, 1972 - During a television broadcast of the USSR-Canada hockey match, commentator Nikolai Ozerov uttered his famous phrase “We don’t need this kind of hockey!” (The Canadians scored the winning goal 34 seconds before the end of the game, winning the series 6:5).
TV commentator Arkady Ratner:
— I’ll tell you how the famous phrase was born: “We don’t need that kind of hockey!” On the way to Luzhniki, Ozerov usually picked me up by car. We are going to the eighth match of the Super Series. Nikolai Nikolaevich is in high spirits. He is very pleased that he had a hand in organizing such a spectacle, which keeps the whole country in suspense. Ozerov turned the steering wheel and sang the praises of hockey like a nightingale.
We arrived at the stadium. Nikolai Nikolaevich sat down at the table to drink coffee, and I went away on business for about ten minutes. I come back - Ozerov is gloomy. Apparently, he had a conversation with one of the high-ranking Central Committee officials that it was not worth praising the Canadians so much on air. And Ozerov did this because he was in love with sports and valued true skill above all else.
The broadcast is going on, and Nikolai Nikolaevich’s mood plummets before his eyes. He pays more and more attention to the Canadians' playing dirt, to their pokes. And then a mess breaks out involving Alan Eagleson, their union boss. The police grabbed him by the arms for his brawl, and Pete Mahovlich beat off his fellow countryman by swinging his stick. And here Ozerov uttered his catchphrase: “We don’t need this kind of hockey!” It was a natural impromptu. I don't remember him repeating these words in another report. The phrase immediately became popular among the people.
When the Super Series was shown, the streets of Moscow and other cities literally died out. And all the windows in the houses lit up. Hockey's ratings in those days were off the charts (although no one knew the word "rating"). There is nothing to even compare this spectacle with. Maybe with the World Cup finals...
USSR national team player Evgeny Zimin recalls:
- The '72 Super Series is a universal hockey craze; it was discussed by children walking in the yard and grandmothers standing in line. “People knew better than all the Canadians, not to mention our players. At that time, it was impossible to live in the USSR and stay outside of hockey.” Indeed, the interest in the meeting of Soviet and Canadian hockey players (later these meetings were called the “Super Series”) on both sides of the ocean was simply incredible. The Canadians had no doubt about the success of their “stars,” but our fans hoped that the USSR national team would look decent in games with formidable professionals. In general, predictors were divided into two camps: optimists believed that the Soviet team would certainly lose the series, but would resist the Canadian team and, perhaps, win one or two matches. The pessimists believed that the upcoming matches did not represent any sporting interest - it would be a “beating of babies”, the Canadians would easily defeat the Russian hockey players with one left hand. Dick Beddoes, a journalist for the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper, especially ranted about this. “These guys are fast, but they rush around the ice at breakneck speed, as if they were being chased by an angry swarm of bees,” Beddoes wrote in his article on the eve of the start of the Super Series. “The Russians know how to pass accurately, but they are always late, like their trains on the great Trans-Siberian Railway.” Vyacheslav Starshinov is a good striker, and Yuri Blinov is a good defender. But no one, even if they wanted to, would confuse Starshinov with Frank Mahovlich or Vic Hadfield, and Brad Park would eat Blinov like a sweet tooth would eat blueberry pie.” Dick Bedows for some reason decided to mix cooking and hockey together and continued in the same vein: “Remember! We will win all eight matches. And if the Soviets win at least one meeting, I will eat this article along with their famous borscht. P.S. Dear editor, make sure you have sour cream on hand.” And no one before the start of the Super Series, of course, imagined that after the first match, Canadian newspapers would come out with headlines like: “We are defeated by the Russian bears,” “Shock in the Forum,” and “Mr. Hockey has become a friend.”
Dick Beddoes turned out to be a man of his word. After the USSR team defeated the Canadians with a score of 7:3, he snacked on a newspaper with an article, dipping it into a plate of borscht, on the steps of the Soviet consulate in Toronto
But even after almost twenty years, we did not know how to play peacefully with Canada, without a fight.
Hockey fight between the USSR youth team and Canada
Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy
“We don’t need this kind of hockey!”
Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy
Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Donskoy
Photo: RIA Novosti / Anatoly Garanin
“We don’t need this kind of hockey!”
On September 28, 1972, during a brawl at a hockey Super Series match involving the teams of the USSR and Canada, commentator Nikolai Ozerov uttered the now popular phrase “We don’t need this kind of hockey.” As he later recalled: “I won’t specify who started the fight. But I had to get out of it on air, because we tried not to notice such excesses on the set. And here it’s impossible to hide”
Photo: I.A. Bromberg / Photo archive of Ogonyok magazine
“Sorry, technical problems outside the territory of the USSR”
This phrase was coined to distract television viewers during fights at hockey matches. So, in the event of fights, the camera switched to the fans, and Nikolai Ozerov talked about events in the world of sports. In one of the reports, the commentator even managed to talk about the tours of the Soviet ballet abroad
In 1988, Nikolai Ozerov left television after being asked to retire and become a freelance writer (at that time he was 66 years old). Chief Editor TV and radio sports programs Alexander Ivanitsky recalled: “Nikolai Nikolaevich categorically refused and left the editorial office. He was not prepared for such a turn of events. Every great actor faces something like this."
In the photo: with Yuri Luzhkov after the match between the capital government team and the team of actors, musicians and journalists, 1991
Photo: Alexander Yakovlev and Igor Utkin / TASS
After leaving television, Nikolai Ozerov was elected chairman of the Spartak sports society
In the photo: presentation of the Order for Special Merit to the Olympic Movement, 1992
Metallurg lost and sank to the bottom of the standings
Magnitogorsk's away series started in Podolsk. “Vityaz” is currently one of the leaders of the Western Conference.
For the first time this season, he took his place in the Metallurg goal Stanislav Galimov.
The hosts opened the scoring. Evgeniy Artyukhin on the goal patch distracted the attention of two Magnitogorsk defenders, and the free Evgeniy Mons finished off the puck into an empty net - 1:0
.
In the 11th minute, Magnitogorsk equalized the score. Bogdan Potekhin threw over the opponent's stick and a small ricochet did not allow Ilya Ezhov to hit the puck - 1:1
!
Note that this is Potekhin’s first goal after returning to the team.
At the 27th minute of the meeting Denis Parshin brought Metallurg ahead. It's simple - I threw it straight away and scored - 1:2 !
Unfortunately, it was not possible to maintain the winning score. Miro Aaltonen threw from a meter from the goal, Galimov coped with it, but the finish was effective - 2:2 .
The outcome of the match was decided by shootouts, in which the Knights were more likely to win. 
During the eighth match of the USSR - Canada Super Series, commentator Nikolai Ozerov uttered one of the most famous phrases: “We don’t need this kind of hockey!”. Yesterday she turned 47 years old. It best describes the tournament position of Magnitogorsk at the moment. 
However, we note that improvements in the team’s game interactions are visible to the naked eye. We are confident that very soon Ilya Vorobyov’s team will gain momentum and will again be a serious irritant for all KHL teams.
Remember last NHL season when St. Louis finished last in the NHL and then won the Stanley Cup? Many said that this is simply unrealistic in the KHL. Now Metallurg has a unique opportunity to prove that the impossible is not possible.
