Ice hockey in Russia
 Ice hockey in Russia
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| Association: |
Federazija Chokkeja Rossii until 11/1991 Federazija Chokkeja SSSR |
| IIHF member since: | 1952 |
| National team | |
| First international match: | April 22, 1951 in Berlin ( GDR ) against GDR (23: 2)  |
| Medal winners men: | |
| Olympic games: | 9 × gold, 2 × silver, 2 × bronze USSR (8/1/1) Russia (1/1/1) |
| World Championship: | 27 × gold, 10 × silver, 7 × bronze USSR (22/7/5) Russia (5/3/2) |
| Medal winners women: | |
| World Championship: | 1 × bronze |
| Club teams | |
| First championship: | 1947 |
| First master: | Dynamo Moscow |
| Record champions: | CSKA Moscow (32 ×) |
| European Champion Clubs' Cup : |
CSKA Moscow (20 ×) Krylja Sowetow Moscow (1) Lada Tolyatti (1) |
| European Hockey League: |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk (2 ×) |
| European Champions Cup: |
Awangard Omsk (1) Dynamo Moscow (1) Ak Bars Kazan (1) Metallurg Magnitogorsk (1) |
| EWCC : |
SKIF (1) Tornado (1) |
Ice hockey is one of the most popular team sports in Russia and is now practiced regularly by about 77,000 people, which is about 0.05% of the total Russian population. Even if some historians regard Russia as another possible motherland of this winter sport alongside Canada , it is certain that modern ice hockey originated from the longstanding Soviet bandy tradition, on the basis of which the connection to the international top could be established within a few years. Ultimately, teams from the USSR set the sporting standard in the amateur field for three decades and celebrated numerous successes both as a national team and as a club team.
history
The beginnings in the USSR
While the “Canadian” ice hockey practiced with the hard rubber disc spread in Europe at the end of the 19th century , this variant did not gain acceptance in the Soviet Union until the 1940s. In 1947 the first championship season of the Soviet league was held, which was dominated by the Moscow teams throughout its existence. Like other Olympic sports, ice hockey was organized on the basis of sports sponsors and integrated into the state funding program. The sports schools took on the training of the young talents . The development aid from the Czechoslovak Association, whose selection team was already among the best in the world, gave the development in the USSR additional impetus. Within a short time it was possible to form a high-performance team from the most powerful players in the Soviet league - some of them also active bandy or football players. Their performance was already clear at the first international match, when the GDR national team , which was also being set up , was outclassed with a difference of 21 goals.
Rise to the top of the world
After the entry of the Soviet Union into the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1952, the debut on the international stage followed two years later. The "Sbornaja" won the World Cup in 1954 straight away and inflicted the previous series winner from Canada with 7-2, his highest World Cup defeat at that time. A year later , however, the immediate revenge followed, where a clear 0: 5 bankruptcy in the duel of the only undefeated teams to date meant the USSR in second place behind the record world champions. At the Olympic Games in 1956 , the Soviet players again retained the upper hand and ultimately won the Olympic gold medal for the first time without losing points. The following World Cup tournaments were generally influenced by the North Americans, but the selection of the USSR finally advanced to the number one athletic rival and - apart from the USA in 1960 and Czechoslovakia in 1961 - had to bow exclusively to the Canadians.
Soviet ice hockey dominance
The 1963 World Cup finally marked the beginning of the Soviet era and the final changing of the guard in Olympic ice hockey when the USSR won the third title. If the "Sbornaja" had to admit defeat to Sweden once again in this event, she remained undefeated for the next time. Only a 3-3 draw - again against the Scandinavians - at the 1966 World Cup meant the only point loss. It was not until the 1968 Olympic Games that another team, Czechoslovakia, managed to defeat the USSR. Both teams had significantly developed amateur ice hockey to date and were similar in terms of their tactical play area . As a result, the Central Europeans also caused most of the problems for the Soviet selection in the period that followed, while the record world champions from Canada increasingly played only a subordinate role and stayed away from the major tournaments from 1970 onwards. After two more defeats against their Czechoslovak arch-rivals at the 1971 World Cup , the USSR's streak of success threatened to come to an end after eight consecutive title wins and could only be continued thanks to the help of the Swedes to score - for their part twice victorious against the Sbornaya defeaters. The following year, the Czechoslovaks were finally able to triumph after they, as host of the World Cup, were able to put the Soviet subscription winner in their place in a direct duel with a win and a draw. However, with its Olympic victory a few weeks earlier , the USSR had already won the season highlight in the usual sovereign manner and with a total of four Olympic victories and eleven world championship titles continued to embody the absolute top in global amateur ice hockey.
In the years that followed, the Soviet selection repeatedly proved to be too strong for the competition and added three further Olympic victories and eleven world championship titles to his collection of titles by 1990. In addition, the supremacy of Soviet ice hockey was not limited to the national teams, but was also reflected on the European club level. Between 1969 and 1990, with one exception, only Soviet teams won the annual European Cup .
Battle of the Systems
Although the North American teams had lost their sporting connection since the early 1960s, the encounters between the USSR and the national teams from the USA and Canada were still particularly explosive, which was due on the one hand to the opposing political affiliations of the countries in question and on the other hand to the different playing facilities . In contrast to the games against Czechoslovakia as the toughest long-term rival, the sporting importance of these encounters was often limited, as the positional short-pass game of the USSR was usually superior to the North American game system based on dump'n'chase . One of the few exceptions was the game of the USSR against host USA at the 1980 Olympic ice hockey tournament , which went down in history as the “ Miracle on Ice ” , in which the seemingly overwhelming “Sbornaya” suffered a surprising defeat.
One of the factors behind the long-term superiority was the strict ban on professionals from taking part in international competitions, which obviously gave the North American selection teams , which were primarily made up of college players, a disadvantage that could not be compensated for compared to the professionally managed national teams of the USSR and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet team also consisted largely of players from the serial champions and multiple European Cup winners CSKA Moscow , which means that they had the best-rehearsed squad in the world. In view of this superiority, the Canadian Canadian Amateur Hockey Association had waived further participation of their national team from 1970 after their application for relaxation of the amateur status for World Cup and Olympic Games was rejected by the world association IIHF .
To counter a split in international ice hockey, a series of tournaments was launched in the spring of 1972 in which the Soviet national team was allowed to contest eight comparisons against a Team Canada consisting exclusively of NHL professionals . After three successes in the first five games, the USSR selection already looked like the sure triumphant of the "Summit Series", but gave the overall victory in the eighth and final game. At least it remained the moral winner, having proven that the supposed gap between North American professional ice hockey and Soviet ice hockey, which had only existed for twenty years, no longer existed. This impression was confirmed in the new edition two years later, which the "Sbornaja" - this time against a team of the NHL competitor World Hockey Association - won the undisputed.
While the Canadians sent their national team back to major international tournaments from 1977 after the amateur clause was repealed, the comparisons between the Soviet squad players and the North American professionals continued at club level. In the so-called " Super Series " a team from the USSR or the Soviet national team completed several games against different NHL teams . Ultimately, the Soviet representatives won 16 of the 20 Super Series. The 1979 Challenge Cup - a series of three games in which the USSR defeated an NHL All-Star selection 2-1 - and the Rendez-vous '87 - one of the Challenge Cups - also went down in history Cup-based series, which only included two games and ended in a draw. All comparisons between the Soviet teams took place on North American soil.
From the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present
At the end of the 1980s, the first guard of the Soviet selection players was allowed to play as professionals in the National Hockey League . This affected the previous series champion, CSKA Moscow, who suddenly lost their Soviet or European supremacy after the departure of their top performers. If the ranking in global ice hockey remained unchanged, the end of the Soviet era appeared in 1991. As early as December 1990, Dynamo Moscow had to surrender to the Swedish representative Djurgårdens IF Stockholm in the European Cup final , which was the first time in the 25-year history of EC that no team from the USSR or Czechoslovakia could secure the trophy. In the spring of 1991 the "Sbornaja" did not get beyond the bronze rank at her last World Cup appearance. With the dissolution of the USSR in December of the same year and the assumption of legal succession by Russia , Soviet ice hockey was finally history.
In contrast to its Soviet predecessor, the dominance of the Russian national team is no longer there. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union , the team has only won the ice hockey world championship five times ( 1993 , 2008 , 2009 , 2012 , 2014 ), and in 1992 and 2018 they won as “ United team ” or “ Olympic athletes from Russia ” Olympic gold.
In Russia itself, it was not until 1996 that the Super League replaced the International Hockey League , which still consisted of the remains of the International League of the CIS and the Soviet League , as the top division. The league, which was later considered the best ice hockey league in the world behind the NHL, played the Russian champions. The Russian record champion since 1996 is HK Metallurg Magnitogorsk with four national titles.
Even today, the problem of changing Russian players to North America is in the spotlight. On the one hand, the Russian clubs often demand very high transfer fees in order to be able to keep the talented players in their own country, on the other hand, the Russian military service problem has repeatedly caused difficulties. Russian players who play in the NHL are temporarily exempt from military service due to their stay abroad, they return to the country for a short time, but they are mostly drafted into the army. This was fatal for Alexander Sjomin of the Washington Capitals , for example , who returned to Russia for 50 games during the NHL lockout in 2004/05 , but then had to complete a second season in his home country, as he was only two years old when he moved to Russia Had to do military service in the Russian Army, which initially ruled out a return to the NHL. Russian players who only want to switch to the NHL after their junior years are often kept in Russia for a long time by the officials through this military service. An author in Novaya Gazeta wrote about the situation at the beginning of 2020, "Almost all of our stars are overseas. After the Olympic Games in 2022, the word" almost "will be omitted."
organization
Ice hockey is organized on a national level by the Russian ice hockey association Federazija Hokkeia Rossii ( Russian Федерация хоккея России), whose area of responsibility includes the Russian pro hockey league, which includes the super league and the next lower Wysschaja league (upper league), as well as the organization of the numerous low-class amateur leagues which in Russia also belong to the significantly more popular women's play classes compared to Western Europe.
Up to 20 teams were played in the Superliga, with only professional players under contract. The Wysschaja League is also organized as a pure professional league. The champions of the leagues are played in a playoff round at the end of the season, the last one of the Super League season is relegated to the second division. If the master of the Wysschaya League fulfills the licensing requirements of the Super League, he rises to this, if this is not the case, the defeated finalist is promoted to the next higher league. If both teams cannot meet the license requirements, there will be no promotion or relegation. Teams from Kazakhstan and Ukraine also took part in the Vysschaja Liga game operations, and from 2008 they were also allowed to take part in the playoffs and were thus able to advance to the Super League, which was previously not possible.
For the 2008/09 season, the Super League was replaced by the KHL Continental Hockey League . Non-Russian teams can also take part in the KHL; for the first season these were Barys Astana , Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk . In addition to an expansion into other former Soviet states, the KHL plans in the medium to long term to exempt teams from Western and Central Europe and the Nordic countries; So far, however, the negotiations have failed due to a viable concept or the necessary approval of the respective national association. The HC Lev Poprad took after two shifts - because of the lack of consent of the National Hockey Association - the 2011/12 season as the first non-Soviet ex Club on the game mode. The KHL is strongly based on the regulations of the NHL , including a salary cap of 22.5 million US dollars and a player draft .
In the summer of 2010, the second division was reformed and renamed the Wysschaja Hockey League .
International ice hockey tournaments in Russia
The first international tournament on Russian soil took place in 1957 with the World Cup in Moscow. In response to the crackdown on the Hungarian uprising by the Warsaw Pact forces , the national ice hockey associations of the USA and Canada boycotted the World Cup in the Soviet capital; other associations of western states such as the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Norway or Switzerland joined them. Contrary to all expectations, the defending champion and host USSR only came second, while Sweden became world champion . At the World Championships in 1973 , 1979 and 1986 , which were held again in Moscow , this flaw was remedied and the Soviet team won all three final fights.
Since the existence of the Russian Federation, two world championships have taken place on Russian soil, one in 2000 in Saint Petersburg and the other in 2007 in Moscow and Mytishchi .
In 2014 , the Olympic Winter Games will take place on Russian soil for the first time , after the Games were awarded to the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi .
The Channel One Cup, which has been held since 1967 (formerly the Izvestia Cup), has been of particular importance in Russia, and every year some of the best ice hockey teams in the world, mainly national teams from Sweden, Finland, Russia (formerly the USSR) and the Czech Republic ( formerly the ČSSR / ČSFR), meet in Moscow for a four-nation tournament. The competition is held today as part of the also annual Euro Hockey Tour , which includes the Channel One Cup, the Czech Hockey Games in the Czech Republic, the Karjala Cup in Finland and the Swedish Oddset Hockey Games .
Known players
Among the best known former Soviet players include the Olympic champion Vsevolod Bobrov , Vyacheslav Bykov , Valery Kharlamov , Alexei Kassatonow , Boris Mikhailov , Alexander Ragulin , Vladimir Petrov and Vladislav Tretiak and world champion Helmut Balderis , all now in the International Hockey Hall of Fame added were.
Soviet Olympic champions, who later also played in the NHL and celebrated successes, were first and foremost Sergei Makarov and Vyacheslav Fetissov , who had already been approved to travel to North America in 1989, as well as Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov . Krutow, Larionow and Makarow also formed the famous KLM series , a Russian storm formation that is now widely regarded as the best European storm series of all time. The fame of many Soviet ice hockey players in the western world was nevertheless diminished by the fact that Soviet players were forbidden to switch to western leagues. This was especially fatal to national stars like Larionov, who is now considered one of the best playmakers and passers of all time, but was only able to move to the NHL at 33. Likewise Wladislaw Tretjak , arguably one of the best goalkeepers of all time, for whom the opening of the Iron Curtain was also too late.
The most famous Russian players of the 1990s and 2000s include the Stanley Cup winners Pawel Dazjuk and Sergei Fjodorow as well as the NHL players and Olympians Sergei Gonchar , Ilya Kovalchuk , Yevgeny Malkin , Alexander Ovechkin , Alexei Yashin , Yevgeny Nabokow and Alexei Morosow , all of whom have more or less great successes, such as participating in NHL All-Star Games , in North America or their home country. Goalkeeper Nikolai Chabibulin was in 2004 the first Russian goalkeeper the Stanley Cup could win. Not only was Alexei Kovalev the first Russian player to be drawn in the first round of an NHL Entry Draft , he was also the first Russian to ever win the Stanley Cup.
See also
- Soviet national ice hockey team
- Russian national ice hockey team
- Russian women's national ice hockey team
literature
- Horst Eckert: Ice Hockey Guide. Copress, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7679-0800-X
- Horst Eckert: Ice Hockey Lexicon. Copress, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-7679-0407-1
- Horst Eckert: Ice Hockey World History . Munich: Copress, 1989. ISBN 3-7679-0235-4
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Blood bondage , Novaya Gazeta, February 4, 2020