Grimsby postal carrier delivered goals in Europe

Friday’s 40th anniversary of the goal that won the 1972 hockey Summit Series, has had a lot of people talking about the most important goal in Canada’s hockey history.

Some say it was the Crosby Olympic goal of 2 years ago. But anybody who was around in ’72 knows it was the Henderson goal, important in so many ways. Sports-wise, politically, just to name a couple.

But the series itself did something else: it opened our eyes to hockey beyond North America.

For postie Tom Searle, the series and the goal helped shape the major part of his life. He was in grade 4 in 1972, but missed the final game because two grade 6 boys had a fight, so the showing was cancelled for the whole school. But we were suddenly awake to the fact Europeans can play some good hockey.

Searle grew up and kicked around hockey’s minor leagues for some years and was ready to pack up his NHL dream and get on with life. Steve Ruddick tells us what happened next: