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Red Army Dynasty
Only the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics or Montreal Canadiens could
come close to matching the record of the ice hockey team of Moscow's Central
Army Sports Club. Between 1955 and 1989, CSKA claimed 29 Soviet championships
and also won 20 European Cup titles between 1969 and 1990. The dynasty
could be divided into two parts - the first during the 1960s and early
1970s when the team was coached by Anatoly Tarasov, the godfather of Soviet
hockey, and the second in the late 1970s and 1980s with Viktor Tikhonov
behind the bench. The army club also formed the nucleus of the very successful
Soviet national team during those years. The club had so much depth, in
fact, that even if the national team was engaged abroad, it could still
win in the Soviet Elite League or early rounds of the European Cup competition
using its second stringers.
VVS Tragedy
On its way to a game in Chelyabinsk, nestled in the Ural Mountains in
January of 1950, the aircraft carrying the VVS (Soviet Air Force) club
crashed killing all aboard. The plane could not land in Chelyabinsk because
of bad weather and turned back for Moscow. Among the stars killed were
Ivan Novikov and Yuri Tarasov, the brother of Anatoly Tarasov. Ironically,
two of the best players Vsevolod Bobrov and Viktor Shuvalov did not perish.
On his way to the airport, Bobrov had run into an old buddy and he missed
the flight. Shuvalov, upset that he had been transferred from the Red Army
team to VVS, refused to go because he was from Chelyabinsk and did not
want to be seen in an Air Force jersey. Vasily Stalin, the son of Soviet
dictator Josef Stalin, was in charge of the VVS team and simply ordered
more good players in, with the result that the air force club won three
straight Soviet championships between 1951 and 1953.
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| Did You Know? |
| Opening The Floodgates
The first Soviet-trained netminder to play in the NHL was Sergei Mylnikov.
He appeared in 10 games for the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989-90 season.
The First Soviet-NHL Red Light
On October 17, 1982, Victor Nachaev of the Los Angeles Kings became
the first Soviet-trained player to score a goal in the NHL.
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The Mighty Green Unit
The "Green Unit", comprised of Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei
Kasatonov on defense and Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov
up front was unmatched internationally in the 1980s. During that decade,
the group led the Soviets to five World Championship titles and two gold
medals and individually won eight Directorate Awards and earned 23 World
Championship all-star placings. |
Play It Again Alex
Alexandra Pakhmutova, the famous Russian composer, was so interested
in hockey that she wrote a song about it. The title is 'Hokkei igrayut
nastoyashchiyeh muzhchini'. Translated literally to English, it means 'Real
men play hockey', but over the years it has became known as 'Cowards don't
play hockey'. The music was played before every game in the Soviet Elite
League as the two teams skated on to the ice. Pakhmutova once said, "I'm
sure that to stand up to the tension of training sessions is to become
a strong-willed person. If figure skating is an ice symphony, then ice
hockey is a gala performance."
The "Big 3" Line
This line of Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov and Valeri Kharlamov
dominated international play during the 1970s. The trio combined for 26
World Championship gold medals.
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The Royal Jersey
This is Vsevolod Bobrov's jersey from the 1954 World Championships,
where he led the Soviets to the gold medal in their international debut.
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Inter-League Rivalry
The Soviet Union attained success in the 1960s on the strength of a
national team built around Anatoly Tarasov's powerful Central Army Sports
Club team with a little help from its chief rival Spartak. The army line
of Veniamin Alexandrov, Konstantin Loktev and Alexander Almetov formed
the first troika of the national team. The second included Vyacheslav Starshinov
and the Maiorov brothers - Boris and Evgeny - of Spartak. But although
the players of both clubs worked in unison on the international stage,
they were bitter rivals during the Soviet championships. Gold medals by
Spartak in 1962, 1967 and 1969 prevented CSKA from a clean sweep of Soviet
titles during that decade. Spartak also finished second three times. The
most famous game between these rivals was the decisive match for the Soviet
championship in 1969. With Spartak leading 2-1, Vladimir Petrov appeared
to score the tying goal for the army club. But when the referee disallowed
it, coach Anatoly Tarasov pulled his team off the ice. Leonid Brezhnev,
general secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR was at the game and
suggested Tarasov send his players back and finish the game. Tarasov obeyed,
but Spartak scored another goal and went on to win 3-1.
All-Time
Russian magazine "Sport" selected the nation's top 50 players
of all-time in 1996. Forward Vsevolod Bobrov topped the list. Rounding
out the top 10 were Vladislav Tretiak (2), Valeri Kharlamov (3), Alexander
Ragulin (4), Alexander Maltsev (5), Anatoli Firsov (6), Nikolai Sologubov
(7), Boris Mikhailov (8), Viacheslav Fetisov (9), and Viacheslav Starshinov
(10).
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