hockey in Russia
We are going to talk about the history of the national hockey team of the Soviet Union during 1964-1982 under Brezjnev's control of the country.
The Soviet national ice hockey team was formed in 1960s . The coaching tandem of Tarasov and Chernyshev was very successful in creating this new team. Alongside the famous trio of Loktev-Almetov-Alexandrov they installed players like Alexander Yakushev, Vyacheslav Starshinov, big bear Alexander Ragulin and also one of the most talented hockey players ever, Anatoly Firsov.
In 1968, Anatoly Tarasov saw a fifteen year-old kid in the Army junior team whose goalkeeping abilities were so unbelievable that Tarasov right away invited this guy, whose name was Vladislav Tretiak, to practice with the first team. That’s how the most well-known Russian hockey players started their way to world wide fame.
1970s is considered the "golden age" of the Soviet hockey. Russian hockey stars of the 1970s were not able to play in the pro leagues. But, they earned international respect for the European hockey style and built the foundation for the future NHL stars - Bure, Fedorov, Hasek, Jagr and many other graduates of European school.
Watching the successes in hockey of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, Tarasov was able to convince the Soviet Hockey Federation, that the time had come to play against the best in the world, at that time it was the team of Canadian professionals. Eventually, in 1972 happened the event, that is not forgotten even nowadays, the titans of hockey clashed in the legendary “Summit Series”! It was decided to arrange a tournament of eight games - the first four in Canada and the rest in Russia. The Canadian team was coached by Harry Sinden and included the best NHL players at that time. In contrary, there was a not so fortunate replacement on the Soviet’s side: Tarasov and Chernyshev as the coaches were replaced by Bobrov and Kulagin. Anatoly Firsov was also out, because of his support for Tarasov. Many people expected
The Soviet national ice hockey team was formed in 1960s . The coaching tandem of Tarasov and Chernyshev was very successful in creating this new team. Alongside the famous trio of Loktev-Almetov-Alexandrov they installed players like Alexander Yakushev, Vyacheslav Starshinov, big bear Alexander Ragulin and also one of the most talented hockey players ever, Anatoly Firsov.
In 1968, Anatoly Tarasov saw a fifteen year-old kid in the Army junior team whose goalkeeping abilities were so unbelievable that Tarasov right away invited this guy, whose name was Vladislav Tretiak, to practice with the first team. That’s how the most well-known Russian hockey players started their way to world wide fame.
1970s is considered the "golden age" of the Soviet hockey. Russian hockey stars of the 1970s were not able to play in the pro leagues. But, they earned international respect for the European hockey style and built the foundation for the future NHL stars - Bure, Fedorov, Hasek, Jagr and many other graduates of European school.
Watching the successes in hockey of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, Tarasov was able to convince the Soviet Hockey Federation, that the time had come to play against the best in the world, at that time it was the team of Canadian professionals. Eventually, in 1972 happened the event, that is not forgotten even nowadays, the titans of hockey clashed in the legendary “Summit Series”! It was decided to arrange a tournament of eight games - the first four in Canada and the rest in Russia. The Canadian team was coached by Harry Sinden and included the best NHL players at that time. In contrary, there was a not so fortunate replacement on the Soviet’s side: Tarasov and Chernyshev as the coaches were replaced by Bobrov and Kulagin. Anatoly Firsov was also out, because of his support for Tarasov. Many people expected