Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics at the 1972 Summit Series

Canadian diplomat Smith debuts with a nostalgic account of the 1972 hockey series between Canada and the Soviet Union. He describes the “ugly bickering, bad feelings and raw emotion” between Team Canada’s roster of NHL professionals, who were expected to dominate, and the Soviet “amateurs,” who had Politburo backing and home advantage in the final four games of the eight-game series (the first four games were played in Canada). Off the ice, the stakes were even higher, as Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau seized on the series as a way to “move beyond” a strict nuclear containment policy and “improve bilateral relations.” Claiming that life as a diplomat in Moscow in the 1970s “was akin to living in an intense pressure cooker,” Smith details entrapment ploys by KGB agents, awkward encounters with ordinary Russians, and “blow[ing] off steam” as a member of the embassy’s hockey and broomball teams. He also recounts negotiations with his Soviet counterparts over everything from press coverage to ice thickness and the criticism Team Canada took for its roster selection. The story gets bogged down by diplomatic protocols, but comes alive when Smith narrates the on-ice action, including Canada’s series-clinching win in Game Eight. This is an appealing account of sports diplomacy in action. (Sept.)