About the `72 Project
It’s rare in a country’s history that people can recall exactly where they were and what it meant to them when an event occurs. Sometimes those recollections occur during tragedies, like 9/11. But it’s the positive and powerful moments like Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope and more recently, Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal that help unite our great country.
The same could be said for the ’72 Summit Series. As part the of the 40th Anniversary of Team Canada’s ’72 series victory, ‘Canadian Stories from 1972 Summit Series’ is a proposed project that will provide an opportunity for Canadians to share their stories with their kids and grand-kids regarding what Team Canada’s win meant to them. While Paul Henderson’s goal stands out as a signature moment, Canadians will have additional recollections of that historic 8 game series.
In the past, stories from the ‘72 Summit Series have come from the point of view of Team Canada players themselves. This project will give Canadians from the Baby Boomer generation a chance to tell their stories and share them through Social Media with younger generations. In many ways, it’s a great opportunity for these generations to connect and share what life was like back in the early 70’s using hockey as the connector.
These stories will become an online archive for future generations to access, as well as becoming an integral part of our Canadian heritage. The outcome of this project will be a book that will share 72 intriguing stories from ordinary Canadians. This book will be available in both electronic and paperback versions. The book will be launched on September 29th, 2012, which is the anniversary date of the Series win.
Hockey plays an important role in the fabric of our country. This fact was further illustrated when an estimated 80% of the country viewed a portion of the 2010 Men’s Gold Medal Hockey Game at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
This project will leverage the power of social media with the unique opportunity to engage people all across Canada, as well as Canadians living abroad. This project will span over 12 months, with the first 9 months focusing on story collection.
With one-third of Canada’s population falling into the Baby Boomer category and an estimated 26% of Boomers on Facebook, these stories have a tremendous opportunity to go viral. The youth of today remember the feeling of seeing Crosby scoring the game-winning goal in 2010 and the ensuing celebrations around the country. Have they ever asked their parents or grandparents what it was like when Henderson scored his game-winning goal?
This is not just a great hockey story… it’s a great Canadian story!
