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Hockey History: Russia
"Canadian" hockey was
first demonstrated in the former Soviet Union in Moscow in March
1932. A German trade union team called Fichte played a series of
exhibition games against the Central Red Army Sports Club and the
Moscow Selects. The games attracted a small number of spectators to
an outdoor rink and resulted in a 3-0 win by the Red Army and 6-0
and 8-0 victories by the Selects. The Soviet teams were made up of
bandy players (field hockey on ice) and neither the players nor the
spectators were impressed with the new game.
Though the sport was not popular,
"Canadian" hockey's advantage over bandy was that the size of the
ice surface made it possible to play on regulation skating rinks. In
1933, an attempt was made to start hockey in Moscow. The regulations
of the Moscow bandy championship stipulated that five clubs were
each to be represented by a hockey team as well, with the results of
those games to count toward the championship. However, a shortage of
proper sticks meant that the hockey plans never
materialized.
The next serious attempt to introduce
hockey to the Soviet Union was undertaken in 1935, but plans for the
game were not implemented until the winter of 1938. Efforts to
manufacture equipment proved to be unsuccessful and so this attempt
to start hockey also failed.
Nevertheless, the development of Soviet
hockey did not stop. In 1939, the game was introduced into the
curriculum of the Physical Culture Institute in Moscow. Arrangements
were made to stage demonstrations of games, seminars were planned
for players to share their experiences and experts in the
manufacturing of hockey equipment were invited to Moscow from the
Soviet Baltic republics of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
The World War II Era
World War II interrupted the
development of hockey in the Soviet Union, but training resume as
soon as the war was over. The opening games of the first official
Soviet championships were played on December 22, 1946, and Arkady
Chernyshev - future coach of the Soviet national team, scored the
first goal. A major turning point in Soviet hockey occurred in
February 1948, with the historic visit of the LTC Prague team of
Czechoslovakia. Almost every player on the Prague team had been a
member of the Czech national squad, which had received a silver
medal at the recently concluded Winter Olympics. The results of
the three-game series (the Moscow Selects won 6-3, lost 5-3 and
tied 2-2) surprised everyone, but even more surprising was the
success of the Soviet national team when it entered the World
Championships for the first time in 1954.
The USSR defeated Canada 7-2 in the
gold medal game and would remain a power in international hockey
until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1992. Since then, Russia
has become the successor to the former USSR, though the Russians
have struggled on the international scene despite winning a silver
medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and Bronze in the 2002 Salt
Lake Winter Olympics. Russia has had success at the World Junior
Championships, including gold medals in 1999, 2002 and
2003.
Year by Year Timeline
in Russia
1947 First Soviet ice hockey
championship started. Dynamo Moscow were the first champions of
the USSR.
1954 First appearance in the World
Championship for the USSR team - USSR became the world
champions.
1956 First appearance at the Olympic
Games for the USSR team - USSR became the Olympic champions. USSR
National Team coached by A.Chernyshov and V.Egorov won the first
Olympic Games (Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy) in the history of Soviet
hockey. The first and the last Olympic Games for the great Soviet
players - V.Bobrov, V.Kuzin, A.Uvarov.
1960 USSR won 3d place at the Olympic
Games in Sqaw Valley. Coaches : A.Tarasov and
V.Egorov.
1962 USSR did not participate in the
World Championship.
1964
USSR won gold medals on Olympic Tournament in Innsbruk,
Austria coached by A.Chernyshov and A.Tarasov. First Olympic Games
for E. Majorov and B. Majorov.
1968 Olympic gold in Grenoble,
France.
1972 Olympic Gold in Sapporo, Japan.
First Olympic Tournament for V.Tretyak and V.Kharlamov. First
Superseries between the USSR and Canada. First match in Canada :
USSR 7-3 Canada. Result of the series was 3 wins, 4 defeats and 1
tie for the USSR.
1976 USSR coached by B.Kulagin,
K.Loktev and V.Yurzinov won Gold on Olympic Games in Innsbruk,
Austria.
1980 Silver medal at the Olympic Games
in Lake Placid, USA. Coaches : V.Tikhonov and V.Yurzinov. First
Olympic Games for S. Makarov.
1984 Gold Medals in the Olympic Games
in Sarajevo. Coaches : V.Tikhonov and
V.Yurzinov.
1988 USSR won gold at the Olympic
Tournament in Calgary. Coaches : V.Tikhonov and
I.Dmitriev.
1991 The USSR divides into seperate
states.
1992 Playing as the Unified Team of
the CIS and coached by V.Tikhonov and I.Dmitriev, they won the
Olympic gold medal in Albertville, France. First Olympic Games for
S. Petrenko. Russia compete in the World Championships for the
first time as an independent nation. They finish 5th in Pool A.
1992 Russian National squad played in
the World Championships for the first time. MHL -
Mezhnatsionalnaya Hockeynaya Liga (Interstate Hockey League)
established in CIS instead of USSR championships. Dynamo Moscow is
the first champion of MHL. In the 1992-93 season Final series
Dynamo Moscow beat Lada Togliatti by winning all three
matches.
1993 Russia wins World Championship
Pool A.
1994 Russian Olympic team took 4th
place in Lillehammer, Norway. Lada Togliatti became first
non-Moscow champion of Russian Championships.
1995 Russia finish 5th in World
Championship Pool A.
1996 RHL (Russian Hockey League) was
established. Torpedo Yaroslavl is the first champion of RHL
1996-97 season. Lada Togliatti won the European Champions Cup.
Russia finish 4th in World Championship Pool A.
1997
Dynamo Moscow became the silver medalist of the first
EHL season 1996-97. Russia finish 4th in World Championship Pool
A.
1998 Russian Olympic team wins the
silver medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Coached
by V.Yurzinov, P.Vorobyov and Z. Bilyaletdinov. Russia finish 5th
in World Championship Pool A. Metallurg Magnitogorsk won the RHL
Cup in a series of 4 matches against Dynamo Moscow (3 -
1).
1999 Russia finish 5th in World
Championship Pool A and wins World Junior Championships in
Winnipeg, Canada by beating the hosts 3-2 in
overtime.
2002
Finishes with the Bronze Medal in
the Salt Lake City Olympic Games. Russian World Junior squad comes
from behind in dramatic fashion to beat Team Canada 5-4 for the
Gold Medal
2003 Team Russia goes 6-0-0 and wins its
second straight World Junior Championship over Canada 3-2 in the
Gold Medal game
Russian
Firsts
Russian
player to be drafted by the NHL 1978 - Viktor Khatulev was Philadelphia
Flyers 7th pick in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft.
Soviet
players drafted by the NHL i. 1975 NHL Amateur Draft -
160th - Viktor Khatulev by Philadelphia Flyers (but never played
in the NHL) ii. 1978 NHL Amateur Draft - 201st - Viacheslav
'Slava' Fetisov by Montreal Canadiens (then re-drafted in the 1983
NHL Entry Draft - 150th - by New Jersey Devils but did not play in
the NHL until 5th October 1989) iii. 1978 NHL Amateur Draft -
203rd - Victor Shkurdyuk by St Louis Blues (but never played in
the NHL)
Soviet
player to play in the NHL Sergei Priakin for Calgary
Flames in the 1988-89 season.
USSR player
drafted by the NHL Viacheslav 'Slava' Fetisov in 1983
NHL Entry Draft but did not play in the NHL until 5th October
1989. USSR player to play in the NHL Sergei Priakin for
Calgary Flames in the 1988-89 season.
World
Championship The first World Championships were held in
1920 and were played in an indoor arena called Palais de Glace, at
Rue de la Santé next to the Botanique Garden in the centre of
Antwerp.
World
Championship Hockey Match 23rd April 1920 - Sweden 8-0
Belgium
World
Championship (Junior) 1974 - unofficial World
Championships (Junior) won by USSR (Junior) 1977 - Won by USSR
(Junior) - see World Championships (Junior)
World
Championship (Women) 1990 - Won by Canada (Women)
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