Luzhniki Palace of Sports, formerly the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium, is a sports arena in Moscow, Russia, a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. Built in 1956, it originally had a spectator capacity of 13,700. In the past it was the host site of the world and European championships in ice hockey, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, boxing, skateboarding and other sports.

The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series, or Series of the Century, was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet national team and a Canadian team represented by professional players of the National Hockey League (NHL), known as Team Canada. It was the first international ice hockey competition for Canada after they had withdrawn from such competitions in a dispute with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The series was organized with the intention to create a true best-against-best competition in the sport of ice hockey. The Soviets had become the dominant team in international competitions, in which the Canadian professionals were ineligible to play. Canada had had a long history of dominance of the sport prior to the Soviets' rise.