There's more to those Crosby-Ovechkin, Sid the Kid vs. Alex the Great duels in the Pittsburgh-Washington playoff series than hockey.

The Russia-Canada nexus has a long backstory. We tend to focus on our imperial-colonial history, our relations with France, Britain and the U.S. But Russia has a formidable place too, because it's a northern country, like us. Though we're keenly aware of the U.S. border, Russia is our other neighbour and rival. It is our obverse. Flip us over at the top and there's Russia. It has always given Canadians palpitations. Those hockey cataclysms in 1956 and 1972 weren't the first times we were shaken by comparing ourselves with Russia.