50 years after the Summit Series, this former N.L. broadcaster recounts being youngest reporter in Moscow

Even though it has been 50 years since Paul Henderson's iconic series-winning goal helped lift Team Canada over the Soviet Union in the historic Summit Series in September 1972, Alex J. Walling — now 76 years old — remembers every detail from his time spent covering the games in Russia. 

Originally from Quebec City, Walling's career in broadcasting spanned 50 years, including a nine-year stint in Corner Brook, N.L., working for the now defunct Humber Valley Broadcasting Co. and Western Broadcasting. 

"I've been around the block," Walling said, laughing, from his current home in Dartmouth, N.S.

In August 1972, Walling, then 25 years old, took a job in Halifax at CHNS-FM running a full-time sports talk show that ran on Sunday nights. 

Preparations for the highly anticipated Canadian hockey all-star team to take on the powerhouse Soviets were already underway. 

During Game 1, Walling was in Edmonton covering a national softball tournament. The tournament was winding down as Canada and Russia squared off in the hot and foggy Montreal Forum on Sept. 2, a Saturday.

"I came back the next day to Halifax and on that Monday I'm bugging my boss, 'I want to go to the next game,'" Walling remembered. 

"Wednesday I think it was, around 11 a.m, he calls me into his office and says, 'OK, Walling, you're going.'"

Game 2 was that night at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Walling said he assumed he was getting on the next flight out.

"He said, deadpan, 'You're not going tonight,'" said Walling. 

Game 3 was also just a few days later, in Winnipeg, and was an opportunity for Walling to make the journey to cover the Canadian Football League on top of the Summit Series. But that still wasn't the plan. 

Game 4 in Vancouver? Also no. 

"I said,