Sorry for the clumsy title. Anyway, does anyone know the story behind this? Did the Soviets ever really hail Gainey as the best player in the world, or did something get lost in translation? Was it just a case of Russian overpoliteness that was taken as gospel and then repeated and repeated, until it became a part of hockey history?
There are other more or less outrageous things the Soviets supposedly said like "Gerry Cheevers is the best goalie we have faced in international competition" and "Winnipeg Jets is the best club team we have ever played against". I very much doubt they really thought that Cheevers was better than Jiri Holecek (Cheesy wasn't THAT good in the '74 WHA Series). And maybe they meant that the Jets were the best team in WHA, or the best club team the SOVIET NATIONAL TEAM had faced, but better than the Habs? C'mon.
There are other more or less outrageous things the Soviets supposedly said like "Gerry Cheevers is the best goalie we have faced in international competition" and "Winnipeg Jets is the best club team we have ever played against". I very much doubt they really thought that Cheevers was better than Jiri Holecek (Cheesy wasn't THAT good in the '74 WHA Series). And maybe they meant that the Jets were the best team in WHA, or the best club team the SOVIET NATIONAL TEAM had faced, but better than the Habs? C'mon.
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