 In North America , the Series ( particularly the first few games ) exposed the need for better preparation and off @-@ season training . Philadelphia Flyers coach Fred Shero became an avid student of the Soviet style and was one of the first to bring the Russian training techniques to the NHL as the Flyers won two Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975 . Tom Mellor ( who joined the small but rapidly growing group of American @-@ born NHL players after the 1972 Olympics ) lamented that the NHL training methods of the early 1970s were vastly inferior to those of the Soviets . " When I went to play for Detroit after the Olympics , Alex Delvecchio was the coach . ... When he would coach , we would do a couple of one @-@ on @-@ ones , two @-@ on @-@ twos , three @-@ on @-@ twos , we 'd scrimmage , and he would scrimmage with us . At the end of the scrimmage , we 'd do a couple of figure eights and then go to the bar . That was the NHL and pro mentality . " Mark Howe commented that the Soviet national team must have trained six hours on the day of a game in the 1972 Winter Olympics . On the other hand , Swedish sports journalists were extremely impressed by the toughness and " never say die " fighting spirit of the Canadians , who lost only one game out of seven on European ice despite usually trailing in the third period . According to Soviet player Boris Mikhailov , who later became a coach , " it was a meeting between two schools of hockey and we have since continued this great exchange and we have learned from each other , taking the best of both styles . " 
