1979 Challenge Cup

The 1979 Challenge Cup was a series of international ice hockey games between the Soviet National Team and a team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League. The games were played on February 8, 10, and 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It replaced the NHL's all-star festivities for the 1978–79 NHL season. The Soviets defeated the NHL All-Stars 2 games to 1.

The team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League included 23 Canadians and 3 Swedish players. Bobby Orr commenting in the post-game interviews after Game 2, accidentally called the NHL All-Stars "Team Canada" (because of the amount of Canadians on the roster). The Challenge Cup, unlike its predecessor, the Summit Series, included non-Canadian born players in the NHL rosters.

The Soviets were accustomed to the wider European ice-rinks, but by the third game they had gotten used to the smaller Madison Square Garden rink. Instead of shooting the puck into offensive zone and chasing after it, the player with the puck played it sideways to a player skating from behind with speed. This way of entering the offensive zone was a typical sign of Russian ice hockey during the period from approximately 1965 until 1985. It didn't always work as it was supposed to.

Game log

Game 1

• NHL All-Stars 4 - Soviet Union 2
• Goals: Guy Lafleur 0:16 1st period, Mike Bossy 6:22 1st period (pp), Boris Mikhailov 11:25 1st period (pp), Bob Gainey 15:48 1st period, Clark Gillies 8:14 2nd period, Vladimir Golikov 3:02 3rd period
• Attendance: 17,438

Game 2

• Soviet Union 5 - NHL All-Stars 4
• Goals: Sergei Kapustin 8:10 1st period, Mike Bossy 13:35 1st period (pp), Bryan Trottier 18:21 1st period, Gilbert Perreault 0:27 2nd period, Mikhail Varnakov 2:05 2nd period, Larry Robinson 5:06 2nd period, Boris Mikhailov 17:02 2nd period (pp), Sergei Kapustin 17:47 2nd period, Vladimir Golikov 1:31 3rd period
• Attendance: 17,438

Game 3

• Soviet Union 6 - NHL All-Stars 0
• Goals: Boris Mikhailov 5:47 2nd period, Viktor Zhluktov 7:44 2nd period (pp), Helmuts Balderis 8:44 3rd period, Vladimir Kovin 10:21 3rd period, Sergei Makarov 12:44 3rd period, Aleksandr Golikov 14:46 3rd period
• Attendance: 17,545