Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to support the push for a historic nation-versus-nation hockey match-up to mark the 35th anniversary of the historic Summit Series.

The 1972 on-ice battle -- held at the height of the Cold War -- grabbed the attention of citizens of both nations and is widely remembered as a key moment in Canada's hockey history.

Now, there is a movement afoot to hold another tournament to mark the 35th anniversary of the original eight-game event which Canada won.

Harper -- a hockey fan who is writing a book about the history of the sport -- has not yet responded publicly to the challenge, first reported by Russia's hockey authority, Sport Express.

The Moscow-based daily newspaper broke the news that officials were considering holding another Summit Series, and Vladislav Tretiak, the Russian goaltender who was between the pipes during the original series, was in Ottawa this week to discuss the issue.

"It was the most important event in hockey history between our hockey superpowers, Russia and Canada,'' Tretiak, now 54, said Wednesday at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa.

"A new series could prolong the tradition of 1972.''

The event would include four games in each country, the newspaper reports.

According to Vsevolod Kukushkin, the writer who broke the story, the proposal for the tournament came from Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson himself.

"In Nicholson's opinion," Kukushkin wrote, "the situation is very good now for such a series. Since the 1972 series, which was one of the most important sports events of the last century, a generation of players and fans have come and gone ... and a new generation of fans and players in both countries deserve to see such a great product."

The series was expected to dominate talks at meetings this week between Nicholson and Rene Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Kukushkin, who served as the interpreter for the Russian team when it played four games in Canada in 1972, suggested Nicholson is the right person to push for such a tournament because Hockey Canada has good relations with the NHL Players Association and the NHL.

Dispute in way

The NHL would have to be onside for the series to go ahead. Right now, the league is embroiled in a dispute with the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.

The federation claims the NHL is poaching young Russian players without compensating their Russian teams.

Tretiak, the federation's president, said negotiations for the summit series can't start until the contract dispute is settled.

"I hope the Canadian fans help for us NHL to make a good deal to play against Team Canada this year,'' he said in halting English.
 
The Summit Series was the first time the top professional players from the two countries met on the ice, at a time when only amateurs could participate in Olympic hockey.

It brought high-profile attention to Canadian players such as Phil Esposito, Yvan Cournoyer and goaltender Ken Dryden, now a Liberal MP and a good friend of Tretiak.

Some reports speculate the series could be used as an early training camp for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

A new series could feature young Russian stars like Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin against Canadians like Sidney Crosby.

"I would like to see a new generation of Russians and Canadians to see new games -- not only to remember it but to see a new Summit Series,'' said Tretiak.

He was practically a teenager when backstopped the Soviet team, leading them to a 7-3 victory in the first game of that eight-game series.

An expected series rout by Canada went down to the final game, with Paul Henderson winning the series for Canada in the last minute of the eight game.

Tretiak admitted that recreating the frenzied atmosphere around the original summit would be impossible.

"It's like space travel by (Soviet cosmonaut Yuri) Gagarin,'' he said, referring the first human in space and first to orbit the Earth. "You cannot repeat it.''

With files from The Canadian Press