Dec. 11, 1964 - The Russian national hockey team edged the strengthened Junior Canadiens, 3-2, before 15,678 fans at the Montreal Forum tonight, but they didn’t impress Doug Harvey and Gump Worsley.
Harvey and Worsley, both venerable veterans of the NHL, agreed that the Russians are a “good intermediate team.”
“They have a fair system of hockey, but it’s not very exciting,” commented Harvey, who provided nearly 50 minutes of steadying influence on the Juniors’ defense.
“I didn’t see any top players on their team,” said Harvey. “Some possibly could make the American league, but there are no NHL prospects.”
“Under those rules, they are a good intermediate team,” said Worsley. “The rules make it tough. NHL players would be in the penalty box until they adjusted. They haven’t got hard shots, but some of them were heavy.”
The Russians capitalized on two rebounds to win the game after Leon Rochefort put the Canadian team ahead 2-1 early in the third.
John Hanna, who replaced Jim Morrison on defense after Morrison suffered a skull injury last night, threw the best body check when he caught Konstantin Loktev with his head down coming over the blue line.
“They’re easier to hit than pros,” said Hanna. “At the start, they came in and cut across, and Doug [Harvey] and I each caught one of them napping. They stayed to the outside after that.”
The Quebec players felt their biggest drawback under international rules was forechecking.
“Our forechecking was hurt because you can’t hit in their end,” said Billy Sutherland, who scored the first Canadian goal to tie the game in the second.
“We’re used to throwing a check at the first man, but you have to be careful under those rules.”
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