Sergei Makarov was born as the third son of Mikhail and Evdokia Makarov on June 19th 1958 in Cheliabinsk, an industrial city of 2 million people located near the Ural Mountains in the central part of Russia. Life was not very easy for his family. His father was a worker in the metal industry and his mother looked after the three sons and Sergei's younger sister Anna. Unlike their father, who played soccer in the company team, the Makarov sons preferred to play hockey. Nikolai, the oldest, Juri, the second and Sergei always played on the floor of their house in the "Makarov Championship". Each of the boys symbolised a Moscow hockey team. While Juri pretended to be Spartak, Nikolai was Dynamo, and Sergei played for the Red Army team in his fantasy. Because of his connection to this sport through his brothers, Sergei used every free minute after school to play on the street and on frozen ponds. with his brother Nikolai
His family and especially his brother Nikolai, who only began playing hockey at the age of ten, were very important for Sergei Makarov. At the age of five, Sergei used to skate behind his brother, trying to be faster than him. From that time Sergei developed great ambition and stubornness to be the best. This attitude and his habit of speaking his mind were sometimes a problem for him, later in his career. He always played with older and stronger kids and so he had to work on his speed, to avoid getting hit. At the age of eight he had his first minor success. While playing for a kids' team at a regional championship he was awarded MVP in his age group. His mother had to brake him and Nikolai in their ambitions, because she wanted the kids to have a good education. She succeeded in this, because all her boys were good at school.
All of the three Makarov sons passed their examinations in an institute for sports and sciences. Sergei began playing for the team of his father's company, while Nikolai was discovered by the Red Army team and sent to Chebarkul, a kind of Red Army farm team. Nikolai's move was also very important for Sergei. He often visited Nikolai with his family and while watching him play he saw a young guy playing for Cherbakul who changed his life forever. His eyes always kept following one certain player who was to become the best winger ever produced by the Soviet hockey system and the idol of Sergei Makarov - Valery Kharlamov! Makarovs idol Valery Kharlamov
When Nikolai went back to Cheliabinsk between games, he always had to show Sergei Kharlamov's moves and his style of playing. It was not always easy for Nikolai, because Kharlamov made some moves that only he was able to do. So Sergei used every free minute to try to play like his idol, always on the ice, repeating the moves his brother had shown him. One of the biggest moments in Sergei's life was, when Valery Kharlamov visited the Makarovs in their house in Cheliabinsk for dinner. This was probably the time then Sergei decided to do everything to finally become a hockey player. The first step was to join the local team, Traktor Cheliabinsk.
First he played in several of Traktor's junior teams. During those years Makarov was often criticised by the coaches when his team lost. They often blamed him for failure. The stubborn Makarov wanted to quit with hockey, but Anatoli Kostrikov, who was the coach of the senior team at that time, began to observe the talented winger and was able to convince him to keep playing. In the season of 1976/77 Sergei played eleven games for the senior team, which surprisingly finished third in the Soviet Championship. That year he was also invited to play for the Soviet Union in the Junior World Championschips, where he won his first Gold Medal.
He and his teammates, among them Sergei Starikov, Sergei's best friend at that time, were able to repeat their success in the following year in Canada, where the nineteen year-old Makarov was named "best player" in five games. Although he was very successful, with exception of the Traktor fans, the hockey experts in Russia didn't see his talent. A lot of people, even in their own federation, criticised Viktor Tikhonov for inviting Sergei Makarov to some friendly games for the senior team in Scandinavia before the World Championship in 1978. But Tikhonov, who always did things his way, didn't want to listen to the critics. Surprisingly, Makarov was named for the Championships in Prague in 1978. The Soviet Union won Gold after two disappointments in 1976 and 1977. Makarov was picked to play for the Red Army team.
That was the start of a glorious career. Makarov went to CSKA Moscow, where they had the strongest team of all time. Zhluktov, Kapustin, Lebedev, Petrov, Mikhailov, Maltsev and Sergei's idol Kharlamov were the stars of the team, and nobody thought that this young guy would have a chance against the other players. But together with the other Red Army prospect Vladimir Krutov, he was able to become an important part of the team. In that year he scored 18 goals for 39 points.
...
On July 1st 1989, the Calgary Flames signed Sergei Makarov... The right wing was frequently in conflict with his teammates and with coach Terry Crisp. The tactics of Crisp were based on short shifts, putting the puck deep and getting plenty of shots on goal. In Russia, his line usually had shifts of about two minutes and didn't play dump and chase hockey. Makarov was very successful with the "Soviet style" of hockey and didn't believe in dump and chase hockey. He was 31 years old when he arrived in Calgary and didn't want to, or wasn't able to, change his game. He told friends that he was stunned about the lack of passing for precision shots in the NHL. He also told a newspaper that he would welcome a trade to the Vancouver Canucks to play with Krutov and Larionov. This was not a good way of breaking the ice between him, his teammates and the coach. Terry Crisp and Sergei Makarov never became good friends.
... he was reunited with his former teammate and friend Igor Larionov at the beginning of the 1993-94 season. At that time, San Jose was still a very new team in the NHL franchise and the first seasons had been a complete disappointment for club officials and fans. But that was to change in the coming year.
After a poor start to the season, the Sharks had developed into a serious competitor, likely to reach the playoffs. Together.. the two Soviet veterans formed a strong first line and helped the team to the playoffs, where they upset the favourite Detroit Red Wings in seven games and reached the conference semi-finals against Toronto. Makarov and Larionov, both in their mid 30's, were meanwhile playing something like they had in the old days. Although they both had some disputes with young coach Kevin Constantine about their style of playing they respected him, and on the other hand they were respected by the other players as the leaders, especially Larionov, who was the brain of the team. Makarov was the first player to score 30 goals in one season in the Sharks history. He also scored the first penalty shot in San Jose's franchise.
In spite of his success in San Jose, Sergei Makarov was not a public man and not always available for press and fans. But it was his job to play hockey and help the Sharks to win. And he did it very well, at least in his first season with the Sharks.
What is he doing now? Sergei Makarov still lives in the Bay Area, California with his wife Mary and his small children; son Nicky and daughter Katya. His oldest son, Artem lives in Calgary. The tennis fan Makarov enjoys his new, anonymous life. Sometimes he visits Sharks games and still misses the atmosphere and the game. Sometimes he still plays post-game matches. He is a certified player agent who acts as a liaison for young Russians wanting to play in North America. Several times a year he visits Cheliabinsk to see his family and friends. Maybe we will see him one day as a coach.
In 2001 Sergei was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. He received that honours during the World Championship in Germany. Hopefully it's only a question of time till he follows his former teammates Vladislav Tretiak and Viacheslav Fetisov as third Russian player to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. He definitely deserves it.
) has a case to have a better offensive peak than Allison. When I saw you put Mellanby on the first line with him, I thought it was another Chris Drury on the top line situation (dominant center with wingers who can't keep up), but I don't think it's the case. Mellanby is actually better offensively than most of the top line glue guys in this, and he was actually a good scoring line player with Florida for a few years. And he's loaded with intangibles. Havlat is talented but brittle - who replaces him on the top line if he's injured? My other concern with Havlat is that speed is his biggest strength, while his much slower linemates rely much more on puck possession to get their points. 
