Batis
Registered User
Alongside with the Green Unit puck possession while penalty killing video study I have also worked on a video study of Anatoli Firsovs game based on the available games on youtube. This first post will focus on Firsovs ability to prevent the other team from scoring when he was on the ice and which of his qualities as a player I believe to have been the key in this. The next post will deal with Firsovs offensive game.
The games which have been used for this study is the following.
Full games
USSR-Canada 1964 Olympics
USSR-CSSR 1967 WHC
USSR-Canada 1967 WHC
USSR-West Germany 1968 Olympics
USSR-Sweden 1968 Olympics
USSR-Canada 1968 Olympics
USSR-CSSR 1969 WHC
USSR-Sweden 1969 WHC
USSR-Sweden 1970 WHC (group game)
USSR-Sweden 1970 WHC (final round)
Partial games
USSR-Finland 1968 Olympics (only the third period)
USSR-USA 1968 Olympics (approximately 2 periods worth of footage)
So we have 10 full games and 2 partial games which approximately equals 1 full game of footage. So all in all we have 11 games worth of footage of prime Firsov.
Before doing this study I had already watched all of these games except for one (the 1968 West Germany game) but I had never done it with so much focus on Firsov.
During the Top-50 Non-NHL European project it was brought up by VMBM that Firsov not was on the ice for a single goal against during the 1969 WHC and only for one goal against during the 1972 Olympics. Here is the quote.
This made me want to look at whether Firsovs ability to prevent goals against would be possible to see during the available games on youtube too. And it turned out that it was. In the available games with Firsov he was only on the ice for 1 goal against at even strenght (against Sweden in 1968) and 1 goal against while penalty killing (against West Germany in 1968). So all in all only 2 goals against during approximately 11 games. As a comparison the Mikhailov, Petrov and Kharlamov line was on the ice for more goals against during these games even if they only played in 4 of them.
If we add the remaining 8 games from the 1969 WHC which are not available on youtube and the 5 games from the 1972 Olympics to the 11 available games we see that Firsov only was on the ice for 3 goals against during a sample size of 24 games. So in my opinion we have a very good reason to believe that Firsov had some abilities which often helped him and his linemates to prevent the other team from scoring while he was on the ice.
Based on watching these games focusing on him I would personally say that one of Firsovs most important qualities when it came to prevent the other teams from scoring was his ability to help out his defencemen with the transition from defence to offence by giving them support along the boards and make great passes from his own zone. Firsov also had the ability to use his stickwork to steal pucks from his opponents and regain puck possession for his team. Firsov was also a player who was not afraid to get his nose dirty. He was a hard worker along the boards both offensively and defensively and he was most of the time very responsible on the backcheck when he had to cover up for when some player had been caught out of position.
First I will show some examples of Firsovs ability and willingness to help his defencemen with the transition out of the defensive zone. Firsov was very good at making himself available for receiving passes along the boards close to the blueline (in his own zone) and from there make a play to breakout of the defensive zone.
Here we have a first great example of this. Firsov makes a really clever play along the boards to get the puck out of the zone and at the same time starts a dangerous counterattack.
Firsov gets the puck along the boards from his defenceman and then makes a nice move and passes it to Yakushev in the middle who then finds Volkov for a chance on the quick counterattack.
Firsov makes a great one-touch pass from his own zone to keep puck possession.
The games which have been used for this study is the following.
Full games
USSR-Canada 1964 Olympics
USSR-CSSR 1967 WHC
USSR-Canada 1967 WHC
USSR-West Germany 1968 Olympics
USSR-Sweden 1968 Olympics
USSR-Canada 1968 Olympics
USSR-CSSR 1969 WHC
USSR-Sweden 1969 WHC
USSR-Sweden 1970 WHC (group game)
USSR-Sweden 1970 WHC (final round)
Partial games
USSR-Finland 1968 Olympics (only the third period)
USSR-USA 1968 Olympics (approximately 2 periods worth of footage)
So we have 10 full games and 2 partial games which approximately equals 1 full game of footage. So all in all we have 11 games worth of footage of prime Firsov.
Before doing this study I had already watched all of these games except for one (the 1968 West Germany game) but I had never done it with so much focus on Firsov.
During the Top-50 Non-NHL European project it was brought up by VMBM that Firsov not was on the ice for a single goal against during the 1969 WHC and only for one goal against during the 1972 Olympics. Here is the quote.
According to a Finnish sports book, the Soviets did not allow a single goal when Firsov was on the ice at the 1969 World Championships (USSR allowed 23 goals in the tournament). And according to the same book, the Vikulov-Firsov-Kharlamov-Tsygankov-Ragulin unit allowed only 1 goal (and scored masses) at the 1972 Olympics, and Firsov had very much a defensive/playmaking kind of role in the tournament.
This made me want to look at whether Firsovs ability to prevent goals against would be possible to see during the available games on youtube too. And it turned out that it was. In the available games with Firsov he was only on the ice for 1 goal against at even strenght (against Sweden in 1968) and 1 goal against while penalty killing (against West Germany in 1968). So all in all only 2 goals against during approximately 11 games. As a comparison the Mikhailov, Petrov and Kharlamov line was on the ice for more goals against during these games even if they only played in 4 of them.
If we add the remaining 8 games from the 1969 WHC which are not available on youtube and the 5 games from the 1972 Olympics to the 11 available games we see that Firsov only was on the ice for 3 goals against during a sample size of 24 games. So in my opinion we have a very good reason to believe that Firsov had some abilities which often helped him and his linemates to prevent the other team from scoring while he was on the ice.
Based on watching these games focusing on him I would personally say that one of Firsovs most important qualities when it came to prevent the other teams from scoring was his ability to help out his defencemen with the transition from defence to offence by giving them support along the boards and make great passes from his own zone. Firsov also had the ability to use his stickwork to steal pucks from his opponents and regain puck possession for his team. Firsov was also a player who was not afraid to get his nose dirty. He was a hard worker along the boards both offensively and defensively and he was most of the time very responsible on the backcheck when he had to cover up for when some player had been caught out of position.
First I will show some examples of Firsovs ability and willingness to help his defencemen with the transition out of the defensive zone. Firsov was very good at making himself available for receiving passes along the boards close to the blueline (in his own zone) and from there make a play to breakout of the defensive zone.
Here we have a first great example of this. Firsov makes a really clever play along the boards to get the puck out of the zone and at the same time starts a dangerous counterattack.
Firsov gets the puck along the boards from his defenceman and then makes a nice move and passes it to Yakushev in the middle who then finds Volkov for a chance on the quick counterattack.
Firsov makes a great one-touch pass from his own zone to keep puck possession.
Last edited by a moderator: