September 27 was an off-day in 1972 for the Canadians and Soviets who were locked in the battle for hockey supremacy at the Summit Series. The day before, September 26, Canada had prevailed in game seven on Luzhniki ice in Moscow, with Leafs left wing Paul Henderson scoring the decisive goal in a 4-3 win. Frank Mahovlich, another leftside winger, didn’t dress for that game, but Canadian coach Harry Sinden planned to bring him back in place of Bill Goldsworthy for the series finale the next day, September 28. “You’ve got to have Frank on the ice in the big one,” Sinden said of the Montreal Canadiens star. “He can bust a game wide open. He wants to beat ’em badly, perhaps too badly, but I’ve got to have him.”

Depicted here is Soviet defenceman Vladimir Lutchenko taking the man in game four of the series, where the man = Frank Mahovlich, and the taking = punching him in the face.

(Image: Frank Lennon, Library and Archives Canada, e010933356)