Viktor's Hatuļevs

Viktor's Hatuļevs
Date of birth	17th February 1955
place of birth	Riga , Latvian SSR
date of death	October 7, 1994
Place of death	Riga , Latvia
size	188 cm
Weight	98 kg
position	Defender / Left Wing
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft	1975 , 9th lap, 160th position Philadelphia Flyers
WHA Amateur Draft	1975 , 9th lap, 116th position Cleveland Crusaders
Career stations
1974-1981	Dinamo Riga

Viktors Hatuļevs ( Russian Виктор Хатулев / Wiktor Chatulew; born February 17, 1955 in Riga , Latvian SSR ; † October 7, 1994 ibid) was a Latvian ice hockey player who during his career for Dinamo Riga in the top division of the Soviet Union , the Vysschaya League , played. He was the first player from the Soviet Union to be selected in the Amateur Draft of the National Hockey League (NHL), but never played in a North American league. He achieved great success at Junior World Championships in the mid-1970s , when he won two gold medals and received several personal awards.

Career

Viktors Hatuļevs grew up in the Latvian Jugla , a city tail of Riga, and lived with his family in a house that they had built during his childhood. From 1974 he played for Dinamo Riga in the top division of the Soviet Union , the Wysschaja Liga . Under coach Viktor Tichonow , Dinamo experienced an upswing and was able to keep up with the elite clubs from the capital Moscow in the 1970s. Hatuļevs initially played as a left winger, but was retrained as a defender by Tikhonov due to his size and physical style of play, reminiscent of Alexander Ragulin , who retired in 1973 . As a result, he became one of the best defensive players in the Soviet Union.

In 1974 Hatuļevs took part in the first unofficial U20 Junior World Championship in Leningrad and the second edition of the tournament in Winnipeg and Brandon in the Canadian province of Manitoba . During these two tournaments he won over the scouts with his style of play and received several personal awards. At the age of 20 years Hatuļevs was the first Soviet ice hockey player from NHL - Franchise during a Drafts is selected. The Philadelphia Flyers picked him 160th overall in the ninth round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft , though there was little chance for the player to ever play in North America. Hatuļevs was also selected by the Cleveland Crusaders in the ninth round of the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft .

In response to the draft, Hatuļevs received a five-year suspension after a fist fight in 1975, which was later lifted. In addition, he was not allowed to leave the USSR. Hatuļevs himself only learned in 1978 that he had been selected by the Philadelphia Flyers. After his suspension was lifted, he played in the events of the Izvestia Cup in 1977 and 1978 for the Soviet national team. He later received an offer to move to the army club CSKA Moscow , which he refused. In 1979 he received another suspension after accidentally beating the intervening referee during a fight with Vladimir Wikulov . First a lifelong ban was imposed, which was later lifted, so that he could play another two years in the Wysschaja Liga. 1981 was pronounced against him because of hard game and extra sports mischief a life suspension.

Suspension and death

After his career ended due to the lifelong ban, Hatuļevs worked, among other things, as a taxi driver, warehouse worker and cemetery gardener. He also struggled with alcohol problems and was imprisoned for drug trafficking for some time.

On October 7, 1994, Hatuļev's body was found on a street in Riga. The circumstances of his death are still unclear.

Achievements and Awards

• 1974 gold medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1974 Best assists in the U20 Junior World Championship (together with Wiktor Wachruschew )
• 1974 silver medal at the U19 European Junior Championship
• 1975 gold medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1975 Best striker in the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1975 Top scorer in the U20 World Junior Championship (together with six other players)
• 1975 All-Star Team of the U20 Junior World Championship

Career statistics

season	team	league	GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
1973/74	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	18th	7th
1974/75	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	16	2
1975/76	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	27	6th	5	11
1976/77	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	32	4th	4th	8th
1977/78	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	29	7th	12	19th
1978/79	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	34	8th	12	20th	48
1979/80	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	19th	3	6th	9	12
1980/81	Dinamo Riga	Vysschaya League	24	4th	3	7th	24
Wysschaja League overall			199	42	42	84	84

International

Represented the USSR in:

• U20 World Junior Championship 1974
• U19 European Junior Championship 1974
• U20 Junior World Championship 1975

year	team	event		GP	G	A.	Pts	PIM
1974	USSR	U20 World Cup		4th	3	6th	9	2
1974	USSR	U19 European Championship		5	6th	6th	12	2
1975	USSR	U20 World Cup		5	4th	1	5
Juniors overall				14th	13	13	26th	4th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Viktors Hatuļevs at eurohockey.com
• Viktors Hatuļevs at hockeydb.com (English)
• Viktors Hatuļevs at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Viktors Hatuļevs at chidlovski.net
• Viktors Hatuļevs at hockeydraftcentral.com
• Viktors Hatuļevs in the database for the 1972 Summit Series
• Viktors Hatuļevs in the Joe Pelletier's Greatest Hockey Legends database

Remarks

1. ↑ Both prepared six hits each.
2. ↑ The six players were his Soviet teammates Boris Tschutschin , the Swedes Dag Bredberg and Emil Meszáros and the Canadians Bryan Trottier and Mel Bridgman . All scored four hits each.