1974 Summit Series

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The 1974 Summit Series, sometimes referred to as the "What if? Series", was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players when NHL players were banned from the Olympic Games because professional athletes were excluded from amateur competition. The Soviet hockey players were amateurs by only the most generous definition, many being nominally employed by the Soviet Red Army but having no military duties. The Canadian team was represented by World Hockey Association players instead of National Hockey League players. As a result, the tournament did not receive the same level of coverage. The Soviet national ice hockey team would win the series 4-1-3 over the Canadian national men's hockey team. The format was the same as the 1972 Summit Series and featured 4 games in Canada and 4 in the Soviet Union.

Because of the team being made up exclusively of World Hockey Association players, the calibre of Team Canada was somewhat lower than it might have been. The WHA would later produce stars such as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Mike Gartner but in 1974 it was still largely composed of players scavenged from the minor leagues mixed with a few NHL stars and aging veterans, such as 46-year old Gordie Howe (not to mention his sons Mark and Marty). This said, the Canadian team acquitted itself very well against the Soviet Red Army squad which so challenged the NHL in 1972, and it first indication that the World Hockey Association was approaching the National Hockey League in the calibre of its players.