Nickname(s) | Красная Машина ( The Red Machine ) |
---|---|
Most games | Alexander Maltsev (321) |
Top scorer | Alexander Maltsev (213) |
Most points | Sergei Makarov (248) |
IIHF code | URS |
First international | |
Soviet Union 23–2 East Germany (East Berlin, East Germany; 22 April 1951) | |
Biggest win | |
Soviet Union 28–2 Italy (Colorado Springs, United States; 26 December 1967) | |
Biggest defeat | |
Canada 8–2 Soviet Union (Ottawa, Canada; 9 January 1968) Czechoslovakia 9–3 Soviet Union (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 21 March 1975) | |
Olympics | |
Appearances | 9 (first in 1956 ) |
Medals | Gold:7 (1956, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988) Silver1 (1980) Bronze1 (1960) |
IIHF World Championships | |
Appearances | 32 (first in 1954 ) |
Best result | Gold:22 (1954, 1956, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990) |
Canada Cup | |
Appearances | 5 (first in 1976 ) |
Best result | Winner: (1981) |
International record (W–L–T) | |
738–110–65 |
The Soviet national ice hockey team [a] was the national men's ice hockey team of the Soviet Union. From 1954, the team won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships or the Olympic hockey tournament.
After its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet team competed as the CIS team (part of the Unified Team) at the 1992 Winter Olympics. After the Olympics, the CIS team ceased to exist and was replaced by Russia at the 1992 World Championship. Other former Soviet republics (Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine) established their own national teams later that year. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) recognized the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia as the successor to the Soviet Union hockey federation and passed its ranking on to Russia. The other national hockey teams were considered new and sent to compete in Pool C.
The IIHF Centennial All-Star Team included four Soviet-Russian players out of a team of six: goalie Vladislav Tretiak, defenseman Vyacheslav Fetisov and forwards Valeri Kharlamov and Sergei Makarov who played for the Soviet teams in the 1970s and the 1980s were selected for the team in 2008. [1]
Ice hockey was not properly introduced into the Soviet Union until the 1940s, though bandy, a similar game played on a larger ice field, had long been popular in the country. It was during a tour of FC Dynamo Moscow of the United Kingdom in 1945 that Soviet officials first got the idea of establishing an ice hockey program. They watched several exhibition matches in London, and National Hockey League President Clarence Campbell would later say that "This was the time when the Russians got the idea for their hockey team. The Russian soccer players were more interested in watching Canadian players play hockey than in soccer." [2] The Soviet Championship League was established in 1946, and the national team was formed shortly after, playing their first matches in a series of exhibitions against LTC Praha in 1948. [3]
The Soviets planned to send a team to the 1953 World Championships, but due to an injury to Vsevolod Bobrov, one of their star players, officials decided against going. [4] They would make their debut at the 1954 World Championships instead. Largely unknown to the larger hockey world, the team surprised many by winning the gold medal, defeating Canada in the final game. [5] In 2013, the Soviet national team was awarded the IIHF Milestone Award for winning the gold medal, [6] in their first appearance at the World Championships and the beginning of a rivalry versus Canada. [7]
The Soviets played their first exhibition tour in Canada in 1957, which perpetuated a rivalry between the countries. [8] Throughout the rest of the 1950s the World Championships were largely contested between Canada and the Soviet Union. That changed in the early 1960s. Canada won the gold in 1961, and after missing the 1962 tournament due to political issues, the Soviets would win the gold medal every year until 1972. [9] They faced perhaps their greatest upset at the 1976 World Championships; in their opening match against host Poland, the Soviets were defeated 6–4. [10]
In 1972 the Soviets played Canada in an exhibition series that saw the Soviet national team play a team composed of National Hockey League (NHL) players for the first time. Both the Olympics and World Championships did not allow professionals, so the best Canadian players were never able to compete against the Soviets, and in protest at this Canada had left international hockey in 1970. This series, known as the Summit Series, was a chance to see how the NHL players would fare. In eight games (four in Canada, four in the USSR), the teams were close, and it took until the final 34 seconds of the eighth game for Canada to win the series, four games to three, with one tie. [11]
At the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Soviets also had one of their most notable losses. Playing the United States in the medal round, the Soviets lost 4–3. This match, later dubbed the Miracle on Ice, was notable because it had the Soviets, recognized as the top international team in the world, against an American team composed largely of university-level players. The Americans would go on to win the gold medal in the tournament, while the Soviets finished with the silver, only the second time they failed to win gold at the Olympics since their debut in 1956. [12]
The reforms of the 1980s in the Soviet Union had a detrimental effect on the national team. No longer afraid to speak out against their treatment, players like Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov openly critiqued the management style of their coach, Viktor Tikhonov, which included being secluded in a military-style barracks for eleven months of the year. They also sought the chance to move to North America and play in the NHL, though the authorities were reluctant to allow this. Negotiations with the NHL began in the late 1980s over this, and in 1989 several players, including both Fetisov and Larionov, were permitted to leave the Soviet Union and join NHL teams.[ citation needed ]
Yuri Korolev was head of the research group for the national men's team from 1964 to 1992, and contributed to the team winning seventeen Ice Hockey World Championships and seven Winter Olympic Games gold medals. [13] [14]
Journalist Vsevolod Kukushkin traveled with the national team as both a reporter and an English to Russian translator. He had access to the team's locker room and the opportunity to speak directly with the players and be part of their daily life. [15] In his 2016 book The Red Machine, Kukushkin reported that the nickname for the Soviet national team came into usage during the 1983 Super Series, when a headline in a Minneapolis newspaper headline read "The Red Machine rolled down on us". [16]
Leading scorers (Olympics, World Championships, Canada Cups, 1972 Summit Series)
Games | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Coach | Captain | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 9 | Arkady Chernyshev | Vsevolod Bobrov | Gold |
1960 Squaw Valley | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 23 | Anatoli Tarasov | Nikolai Sologubov | Bronze |
1964 Innsbruck | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 11 | Arkady Chernyshev | Boris Mayorov | Gold |
1968 Grenoble | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 10 | Arkady Chernyshev | Boris Mayorov | Gold |
1972 Sapporo | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 13 | Arkady Chernyshev | Viktor Kuzkin | Gold |
1976 Innsbruck | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 14 | Boris Kulagin | Boris Mikhailov | Gold |
1980 Lake Placid | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 17 | Viktor Tikhonov | Boris Mikhailov | Silver |
1984 Sarajevo | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5 | Viktor Tikhonov | Viacheslav Fetisov | Gold |
1988 Calgary | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 13 | Viktor Tikhonov | Viacheslav Fetisov | Gold |
1992 Albertville | As Unified Team | ||||||||
1994 – present | Since 1994 Soviet Union and Unified Team have been succeeded by Russia | ||||||||
On the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, the IIHF Milestone Award was given to the Canadian and Russian teams for the event which had a "decisive influence on the development of the game". [17] Reuters wrote that Canada was expected to win the series easily, but when they came from behind to win in the eighth and final game, it marked "the beginning of the modern hockey era". [17]
Until 1977, professional players were not able to participate in the World Championship, and it was not until 1988 that they could play in the Winter Olympics. However, the Soviet team was populated with amateur players who were primarily full-time athletes hired as regular workers of a company (aircraft industry, food workers, tractor industry) or organization (KGB, Red Army, Soviet Air Force) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society hockey team for their workers in order to keep their amateur status. [18] [19] [20] By the 1970s, several national hockey federations, such as Canada, protested the use of the amateur status for players of Eastern Bloc teams and even withdrew from the 1972 and 1976 Winter Games in protest. [21]
Years | Coach | Achievements |
---|---|---|
1953 | Anatoli Tarasov | |
1953–1957 | Arkady Chernyshev | 1 Olympic gold medal, 2 World Championship gold medals, 2 World Championship silver medals |
1958–1960 | Anatoli Tarasov | 1 Olympic bronze medal, 2 World Championship silver medals |
1961–1972 | Arkady Chernyshev | 3 Olympic gold medals, 9 World Championship gold medals, 1 World Championship silver medal, 1 World Championship bronze medal |
1972–1974 | Vsevolod Bobrov | 2 World Championship gold medals |
1974–1977 | Boris Kulagin | 1 Olympic gold medal, 1 World Championship gold medal, 1 World Championship silver medal, 1 World Championship bronze medal |
1977–1991 | Viktor Tikhonov | 2 Olympic gold medals, 1 Olympic silver medal, 8 World Championship gold medals, 2 World Championship silver medals, 2 World Championship bronze medals |
Vladimir Vladimirovich Petrov was a Russian ice hockey player, Olympic gold and silver medalist (1980).
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.
The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tournament. Though the Soviet Union was a four-time defending gold medalist and heavily favored, the United States upset them and won 4–3.
Viacheslav Alexandrovich "Slava" FetisovMP is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman, coach, politician and sports official. He played for HC CSKA Moscow for 13 seasons before joining the National Hockey League (NHL), where he played with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. With the Wings, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups and was part of the team's Russian Five unit. After retiring from his playing career, he became the assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. Having a very successful four years, he helped get the team to two Stanley Cup finals and one Stanley Cup victory. In addition to that, he won two Olympic gold medals and seven world championships. His Stanley Cup wins, Olympic gold medals, and World Championship wins make him a member of the sport's prestigious Triple Gold Club.
Pavel Vladimirovich Bure is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played the right wing position. Nicknamed "the Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers between 1991 and 2003. Trained in the Soviet Union, he played three seasons with the Central Red Army team before his NHL career.
Igor Nikolayevich Larionov is a Russian ice hockey coach, sports agent and former professional ice hockey player, known as "the Professor". Considered one of the best hockey players of all time, he, along with Viacheslav Fetisov, were instrumental in forcing the Soviet government to let Soviet players compete in the National Hockey League (NHL). During his career, which lasted from 1977 to 2006, he primarily played the centre position.
Vladislav Aleksandrovich TretiakMP is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame in 1997. Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport, he was voted one of six players to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries. Tretiak is the current president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and was the general manager of the Russian 2010 Winter Olympic team.
Valeri Borisovich Kharlamov was a Russian ice hockey forward who played for CSKA Moscow in the Soviet League from 1967 until his death in 1981. Although small in stature, Kharlamov was a speedy, intelligent, skilled and dominant player, being named the Soviet Championship League most valuable player in 1972 and 1973. An offensive player who was considered very creative on the ice, he also led the league in scoring in 1972. He was also a gifted skater who was able to make plays at top speed. Kharlamov was considered one of the best players of his era, as well as one of the greatest players of all time.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until it was provisionally suspended in 2022, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
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Anatoly Vladimirovich Tarasov was a Russian ice hockey player and coach. Tarasov is considered "the father of Russian ice hockey" and established the Soviet Union national team as "the dominant force in international competition". He was one of the first Russians to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1974 in the builders category. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.
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HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. The club is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its affiliation with the Soviet Army, known as the Red Army until 1946, and the Russian Armed Forces. CSKA won more Soviet championships and European cups than any other team in history. It is owned by Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft, which is in turn majority-owned by the Russian government.
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Sergei Mikhailovich Makarov is a Russian former professional ice hockey right wing. In the Soviet Union, Makarov played 11 championship seasons with CSKA Moscow, winning the Soviet Player of the Year award three times. Together with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, they formed the KLM Line, one of the most talented and feared lines ever to play hockey. He later played in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year at the age of 31.
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