I guess I wasn't clear. I meant that Tretiak faced basically no competition from other USSR goalies domestically, so I think it's likely that his large number of "Soviet player of the year" awards is probably partly due to the fact that he stood out so much against every other goalie in the USSR.
The fact that he didn't stand out that much when compared to other goalies in Europe is a major reason I believe this.
World Championship tournaments are one thing, the course of a whole season is something else. Examples:
1981
Soviet League: Tretiak is Player of the Year ahead of Maltsev.
World Championship: Tretiak receives the IIHF Directorate Award, but the journalists who vote the All-Star Team prefer Peter Lindmark.
Golden Stick: Tretiak is in 1st place with 462 points (votes: 119-51-3), Lindmark in 5h place with 132 points (votes 25-24-9).
Conclusion: Tretiak and Lindmark both were good in the WC tournament, both possible award winners. But over the course of the season Tretiak was by far the better goaltender.
1982
Soviet League: Tretiak is third, behind Fetisov and Makarov.
World Championship: Jiřà KrálÃk wins the IIHF Award and the journalists' vote, Tretiak has nothing to show for.
Golden Stick: Tretiak is in 1st place (224 points, 61-11-19), KrálÃk is in 9th place (points and votes unavailable, but he's the "undrafted Czech" who later finished 5th in 1983 and 1st in 1985).
Conclusion: KrálÃk obviously outplayed Tretiak in the World Championships, but over the course of the season, Tretiak was again the better goaltender by far. I think it's a bit like Giguere winning the Conn Symthe in 2003, but Brodeur winning the Vezina.
Top 5 finishes in European Golden Stick voting:
Tretiak: 1st (1981), 1st (1982), 1st (1983), 2nd (1984)
Peter Lindmark (Sweden): 3rd (1986), 5th (1981), 5th (1988)
Jiřà KrálÃk (Czechoslovakia): 1st (1985), 5th (1983)
Dominik Hašek (Czechoslovakia): 2nd (1989), 3rd (1984), 3rd (1987)
As for Hasek, who was his competition in Europe during the mid-late 80s?
Czechoslovakia: JaromÃr Å indel, Petr BřÃza. Sweden: Peter Lindmark, Rolf Ridderwall. Finland: Jarmo Myllys, Jukka Tammi. Soviet Union: Sergei Mylnikov, Yevgeni Belosheikin.
Probably nothing to rave about, but if the people who saw Tretiak and voted him into first places in the early 1980s then saw Hašek and voted him into second and third places a couple of years later, then I think we should assume Hašek was clearly behind Tretiak, but not by mile. Vague? Yes, but that's as far as this record carries you.