September 8, 1972, will go down in history as one of the most memorable nights in Vancouver hockey history.

The Soviet national team was in town to play Team Canada in Game 4 of the eight-game Summit Series. And when the Soviets scored two power-play goals after penalties taken by Bill Goldsworthy, the mood turned grim in the Pacific Coliseum. Lots of the Vancouver fans began booing the home team as the Soviets outclassed the greatest players in the National Hockey League.

The boos also cascaded down on Team Canada after the game ended in a 5-3 defeat. This prompted a passionately famous outburst from Team Canada's Phil Esposito in a televised postgame interview.

He told viewers across the country that the players were trying their best and all of them were disheartened by some of the fans’ behaviour.

“We cannot believe the bad press we’ve got, the booing we’ve gotten in our own buildings,” Esposito said.

Team Canada went on to win three out of four games in Moscow, winning the series in dramatic fashion on three consecutive game-winning goals by Paul Henderson.

In a recent phone interview with the Georgia Straight's Nathan Caddell from Tampa, Florida, Esposito claimed that the booing by some Vancouver fans “absolutely destroyed” Goldsworthy, who died in 1996.

“I remember that very vividly, because I saw his face and I saw how it broke him—it absolutely broke him,” Esposito recalled. “And Billy never recovered.”

Esposito also said that he didn’t agree with the name Team Canada. That’s because World Hockey Association players from Canada—such as Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Gerry Cheevers, and Dave Keon—weren’t permitted to play. But he said that even with more Canadian stars, the team would have lost the first game in Montreal because they weren’t prepared to play the Soviets.

“We were so shocked and so out of shape that it just blew me away,” Esposito admitted.

Summit Series players will appear in Vancouver

Some members of Team Canada, including Esposito, will be back in Vancouver on Thursday (September 8) to mark the 44th anniversary of that infamous Summit Series game. In what’s billed as an evening with “Canada’s team of the century”, players will swap stories and answer questions at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. (For more information, visit www.72summitseriestour.ca/.)

In his interview with Caddell, Esposito also mentioned that he almost played in Vancouver in the WHA.

"[Then Vancouver Blazers owner] Jimmy Pattison offered me way more money than I'd ever made, plus a million-dollar signing bonus," Esposito revealed. "And I turned it down to stay in Boston, only to be traded three days later. It was heartbreaking."

He said that he and his wife even flew to Vancouver to speak to Pattison.

"The place was beautiful and it was the summer time, so it wasn't grey and rainy," Esposito recalled. "It was gorgeous, absolutely. But I really liked Boston and my wife was from Boston."

When told that real-estate prices are worse in Vancouver nowadays, Esposito replied: "Well, that's the same thing as Toronto because all the Chinese are coming in. And they've got money up the gazoo and they buy everything and it makes prices go up."

Esposito doesn't like Hillary Clinton

The former NHL star also ventured into politics, expressing disdain for the Democratic presidential candidate.

"I hope Hillary Clinton loses her fucking ass, 'cause I don't want socialism," he declared.

Esposito quickly added: "But the truth is I'm going to be 75 next February. It's not going to bother me one iota, but I feel for my kids and my grandkids. I feel for them. I don't want them to pay 55 percent tax."

The former centre for the Blackhawks, Bruins, and Rangers captain isn't the only former NHL superstar to express right wing views. 

During the 2015 federal election campaign, Wayne Gretzky endorsed then Conservative leader Stephen Harper when they shared a stage in Toronto.

Harry Sinden recalls Esposito speech

Former Team Canada head coach Harry Sinden is also planning to attend the event at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He told the Straight's Caddell by phone from Boston that Esposito’s postgame Summit Series speech in Vancouver rallied the team’s spirits.

“It was very sincere,” Sinden said. “He tried to say that ‘We’re trying; we’re doing the best we can right now. Give us a chance.’ ”

Sinden, also a former head coach and long-time general manager of the Boston Bruins, pointed out that Canadian players weren’t underestimating their Soviet counterparts—unlike Canadian fans—by the time the teams squared off in Vancouver.

“And here we are, losing this game to them, and everybody expected us to win by a large margin,” Sinden said. “By this time, after the three games, we knew we were up against a good team. I don’t think the Canadian fans wanted to come to that conclusion.”

Unlike Esposito, Sinden didn't venture into the world of politics in his interview.

With files from Nathan Caddell.