 On the thirtieth anniversary of the series , Henderson called the incident " the low point of the series " , but would later apologize to Clarke . In his 2007 book , Conacher wrote that " from the broadcast booth I was shocked and disgusted when I saw Clarke viciously chop at Kharlamov 's left ankle . " He noted " that emotionally these games had clearly gone beyond sport for Team Canada and had truly become unrestricted war on ice . " Media opinion is divided on the effect it had on the outcome of the series . The controversy and admissions that have come forth throughout the years have led some to the belief that the incident could be considered a form of cheating . Kharlamov , who had been one of the Soviets ' best forwards , missed game seven , when the Soviets could have clinched the series and while he did play in game eight , he was not at 100 % and did not score . In Clarke 's opinion , there were other factors for Team Canada 's turnaround in Moscow : " In Moscow we played much better than in Canada . We were almost equal to the Soviet team physically by then , we passed much better , we shot the puck much better , we became faster and played better on defence . Besides , when you have nothing to lose , it is easier to play . And after the fifth game we had nothing to lose . " 
