そうか。。。

I followed the link to the NHL web site off of the web page for a blog I follow here. They had a couple of articles there about the coming demise of the old Philadelphia Spectrum. That in itself was sort of interesting but the part that caught my eye was the bit where they mentioned the Flyers beating the Soviet Red Army team 4-1 back in the mid 70s. I think they quoted Bobby Clarke and Ed Snider going on about how significant that victory was. Which is interesting. Because I, like probably a lot of other hockey fans in Canada, have probably forgotten about that result. The real gem in that series for many Canadian hockey fans was the New Years Eve game between the Habs and same Red Army team. And that game ended in a draw. One would think the victory would remain more deeply etched in the collective memory but for me that isn't the case. I suspect what it boils down to is this: The process was more important than the result. I know as a paddler I don't remember results that well but I remember the races where I busted my guts paddling some long forgotten boat down a race course to a finish line. The Habs-Red Army game was something I'll remember as end to end action with numerous missed chances for both teams (trust me, the chances the Habs missed hurt), The Flyers-Red Army game...if I'm not mistaken the Soviets returned to their dressing room as a protest against a hit and had to be coaxed back out to finish the game. The fact the Flyers won became an overlooked fact. In short, winning is good but sometimes it isn't good enough when it comes to what becomes memorable in sport...