Canada – USSR Hockey Exchanges. Between Positive and Negative Sports Diplomacy

Abstract

The aim of the article is to investigate the issue of hockey diplomacy between Canada and the Soviet Union, which was held in 1970s. It encompassed a series of exhibition matches in ice hockey, which were directly aimed to improve relations between the two states belonging to different Cold War alliances. In the article an attempt to verify a number of hypotheses was made. According to the main one, the hockey exchanges were in fact a fusion of positive and negative sports diplomacy. The second hypothesis states that hockey diplomacy was at the same time an effect and a tool of Canadian and Soviet desire to better their bilateral relations, while according to the last one, selection of ice hockey was adequate concerning the diplomatic objective of political rapprochement.