THE HOCKEY DIPLOMAT:

A young Canadian Diplomat in the early 1970's, Gary J. Smith finds himself on his first overseas assignment in the Soviet capital; on the front lines of the Cold War between capitalism and communism. Trained in Russian, he is no spy, but is tasked by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau to find areas of common ground between the world's largest two countries and arctic neighbours, in an effort to reduce the risks of nuclear war.

Opting for Sports Diplomacy, he casts aside his Embassy black tie and tuxedo and dons the blue and white sweater of the Moscow Maple Leafs. Armed with cases of Molson Canadian beer he sets forth into Russian beer league hockey. An encounter, over vodka, with the influential Izvestia journalist The Snowman leads him into the murky world of Soviet hockey officialdom, the KGB, and the decision—after years of hassling—that USSR “amateurs” are finally ready to play Canadian professionals in an eight game Friendship Series of the best versus the best.

Trusted by each side with unparalleled access to officials, coaches, and players on both teams throughout the entire series, Smith is a witness to and a participant in unique, behind the scenes events and in the negotiating back rooms, at the highest levels of diplomacy. Smith is there as preparations are made to receive 3,000 exuberant Canadian fans and worry builds that many will land in Soviet jails; as series threatening emotional battles over referees are waged, and as the NHL attempts to sideline future Team Canada matches. He is there through a motorcycle joy ride around the Kremlin by the Canadian Prime Minister; a secret visit to a Soviet hospital by a blood coughing Phil Esposito; and finds himself seated beside Bobby Orr during the final game as the two argue about the behaviour of Alan Eagleson.

But his story doesn't end with Paul Henderson's series winning goal. Years later, Smith reunited with several Team Canada players, became a senior advisor to the Summit Series organization, and returned to Moscow for an elaborate celebration of the 45th anniversary, with President Vladimir Putin welcoming both teams at his palatial retreat in Sochi. And now, as the 50th anniversary fast approaches in 2022, and as millions of Canadians and Russians look forward to celebrating a hockey series for the ages, Smith is finally ready to look back to the very beginnings, when as just a young man he headed to Moscow with his new wife and unexpectedly became involved in an epic hockey series which has transcended time, reflecting on the great changes the Summit Series brought not only to his life but to Canada, relations with Russia and to the NHL.

GARY J. SMITH was a career diplomat and former Canadian Ambassador with over thirty years' experience during eight different foreign assignments, including three and a half years in Moscow before, during and after the 1972 Canada-Soviet Summit Series (NATO headquarters in Brussels, Israel, India, Germany, Indonesia as well as Cambridge, Massachusetts and the UN in New York rounded out his twenty years abroad). Whether through good or bad fortune, he and his family often found themselves in challenging and indeed threatening circumstances: countering the KGB, a war in the Middle East, international terrorism, riots leading to the collapse of an authoritarian government and the evacuation of Canadian citizens, the Bre-X gold scandal, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and unification of West and East Germany.