 At the time , the National Hockey League was considered to be where the best hockey players played , and its best players consisted largely of Canadians . The public consensus of hockey pundits and fans in North America was that other countries , the Soviets in this case , were simply no match for Canada 's best . The Soviets were not expected to even give the Canadians a challenge , and Canada was going into this series expected to win handily . According to Team Canada Coach Harry Sinden : " Canada is first in the world in two things : hockey and wheat . " Alan Eagleson said " We gotta win in eight games . Anything less than an unblemished sweep of the Russians would bring shame down on the heads of the players and the national pride . " The Soviets downplayed themselves , stating that they were in the series to learn . 
