HOH Top 50 European Non-NHL Players - Round 1 Voting Results (Aggregate List)

[Theokritos]

This list is the result from Round 1 of voting to generate a list of players for Round 2. It is not the final result. The latter can be found here.

HOH Top 50 European Non-NHL Players - Round 1 Voting Results

Rank | Player | # of Lists | Highest | Lowest | Voting Points | Change
1 | Sergey Makarov | 15 | 1 | 5 | 1034 | -1
2 | Vyacheslav Fetisov | 15 | 1 | 9 | 1033 | +1
3 | Valery Kharlamov | 15 | 3 | 9 | 1003 | 0
4 | Vladislav Tretyak | 15 | 3 | 21 | 976 | -1
5 | Anatoly Firsov | 15 | 1 | 15 | 971 | +1
6 | Boris Mikhailov | 15 | 2 | 12 | 965 | 0
7 | Aleksandr Maltsev | 15 | 4 | 20 | 935 | 0
8 | Valery Vasiliev | 15 | 5 | 27 | 927 | -2
9 | Vladimír Martinec | 15 | 5 | 16 | 920 | +1
10 | Jiří Holeček | 15 | 6 | 23 | 899 | +1
11 | Vladimir Petrov | 15 | 7 | 19 | 869 | -2
12 | Václav Nedomanský | 15 | 8 | 17 | 867 | +1
13 | Aleksey Kasatonov | 15 | 9 | 34 | 843 | -3
13 | František Pospíšil | 15 | 8 | 26 | 843 | 0
15 | Vladimir Krutov | 15 | 8 | 28 | 841 | 0
16 | Jan Suchý | 15 | 10 | 42 | 810 | +4
17 | Igor Larionov | 15 | 11 | 44 | 777 | -1
18 | Aleksandr Yakushev | 15 | 14 | 54 | 752 | +1
19 | Aleksandr Ragulin | 15 | 16 | 46 | 720 | -9
20 | Milan Nový | 15 | 16 | 33 | 717 | +1
21 | Vyacheslav Starshinov | 15 | 20 | 31 | 696 | -3
22 | Helmuts Balderis | 14 | 15 | 67 | 655 | -1
23 | Vsevolod Bobrov | 15 | 3 | 45 | 648 | +1
24 | Sven Tumba Johansson | 15 | 4 | 49 | 642 | +4
25 | Jiří Holík | 15 | 22 | 60 | 631 | +1
26 | Lennart Svedberg | 15 | 18 | 45 | 621 | -4
27 | Veniamin Aleksandrov | 15 | 17 | 51 | 591 | -2
28 | Nikolay Sologubov | 15 | 15 | 69 | 583 | +2
29 | Ivan Hlinka | 15 | 16 | 43 | 553 | +2
29 | Vladimir Lutchenko | 13 | 17 | 62 | 553 | -3
31 | Vladimír Zábrodský | 15 | 3 | 64 | 530 | +9
32 | Josef Maleček | 15 | 1 | 68 | 512 | -2
33 | Vitaly Davydov | 13 | 24 | 48 | 497 | 0
34 | Sergey Kapustin | 14 | 19 | 66 | 481 | +3
35 | Vladimír Dzurilla | 14 | 22 | 50 | 466 | 0
36 | Peter Lindmark | 13 | 20 | 53 | 393 | -6
37 | Vladimir Shadrin | 11 | 22 | 70 | 370 |
38 | Jiří Bubla | 11 | 28 | 56 | 335 | -6
39 | Jiří Králík | 14 | 23 | 62 | 329 | -11
40 | František Tikal | 11 | 29 | 63 | 314 |
41 | Aleksandr Almetov | 12 | 22 | 62 | 309 | +2
42 | HÃ¥kan Loob | 12 | 31 | 59 | 302 | +5
43 | Igor Liba | 11 | 23 | 58 | 298 |
43 | Ulf Sterner | 10 | 26 | 58 | 298 | +7
45 | Konstantin Loktev | 12 | 24 | 62 | 279 | +7
46 | Lars-Erik Sjöberg | 13 | 34 | 67 | 278 |
47 | Jiří Lála | 12 | 36 | 60 | 276 |
48 | Vladimir Vikulov | 14 | 22 | 66 | 265 | +8
49 | Boris Mayorov | 8 | 23 | 55 | 260 | +4
50 | Erich Kühnhackl | 13 | 39 | 66 | 259 | +2
51 | Viktor Shalimov | 10 | 33 | 64 | 255 | +8
52 | Vlastimil Bubník | 11 | 26 | 70 | 236 | +11
53 | Nils Nilsson | 9 | 24 | 61 | 226 | +6
54 | Vyacheslav Bykov | 12 | 30 | 65 | 221 | +5
55 | Jozef Golonka | 9 | 25 | 62 | 220 | +9
56 | Riccardo Torriani | 9 | 7 | 70 | 212 |
57 | Jaroslav Holík | 10 | 44 | 60 | 203 |
58 | Bohumil Modrý | 10 | 28 | 69 | 197 |
59 | Gennady Tsygankov | 7 | 32 | 69 | 195 |
60 | Roland Stoltz | 10 | 25 | 70 | 191 |
61 | Ivan Tregubov | 10 | 23 | 69 | 184 |
62 | Eduard Ivanov | 6 | 30 | 53 | 183 |
63 | Vasily Pervukhin | 7 | 38 | 67 | 172 |
64 | Vladimír Růžička | 10 | 44 | 67 | 160 |
65 | Tord Lundström | 9 | 46 | 61 | 151 |
66 | Viktor Kuzkin | 6 | 37 | 56 | 151 |
67 | Gustav Jaenecke | 9 | 10 | 68 | 150 |
68 | Zinetula Bilyaletdinov | 7 | 33 | 68 | 150 |
69 | Viktor Konovalenko | 10 | 28 | 67 | 139 |
70 | Valery Kamensky | 7 | 40 | 61 | 139 |
71 | Oldřich Machač | 6 | 26 | 59 | 129 |
72 | Leif Holmqvist | 11 | 36 | 68 | 128 |
73 | Lars Björn | 9 | 41 | 67 | 113 |
74 | Miroslav Dvořák | 6 | 39 | 62 | 106 |
75 | Pekka Rautakallio | 7 | 40 | 68 | 103 |
76 | Andrey Khomutov | 5 | 34 | 66 | 100 |
77 | Jaroslav Jiřík | 5 | 49 | 58 | 89 |
78 | Ã…ke Andersson | 3 | 17 | 64 | 87 |
79 | Yury Lyapkin | 3 | 44 | 48 | 85 |
79 | Gustaf Johansson | 3 | 22 | 66 | 85 |
81 | Aleksey Guryshev | 4 | 40 | 68 | 79 |
82 | Marián Šťastný| 6 | 56 | 61 | 74 |
83 | Ronald Pettersson | 4 | 45 | 60 | 70 |
84 | Ferdinand Cattini | 3 | 16 | 67 | 69 |
85 | Yevgeny Babich | 5 | 50 | 70 | 67 |
86 | Aleksandr Gusev | 3 | 45 | 56 | 60 |
87 | Jan Peka | 2 | 35 | 56 | 52 |
88 | Roman Čechmánek | 3 | 42 | 67 | 50 |
89 | Anders Eldebrink | 5 | 55 | 70 | 49 |
90 | Raimo Helminen | 3 | 42 | 64 | 46 |
91 | Jaroslav Jirkovský | 2 | 30 | 68 | 45 |
92 | Franz Lange | 1 | 38 | 38 | 44 |
93 | Miroslav Vlach | 2 | 47 | 53 | 42 |
94 | Matti Hagman | 7 | 58 | 70 | 41 |
95 | Hans Cattini | 2 | 40 | 69 | 34 |
95 | Viktor Yakushev | 3 | 55 | 64 | 34 |
97 | Ulrich Poltera | 1 | 41 | 41 | 31 |
97 | Nikolay Puchkov | 2 | 42 | 69 | 31 |
99 | Aleksandr Golikov | 2 | 43 | 69 | 28 |
100 | Josef Černý | 4 | 57 | 70 | 25 |
101 | Nikolay Drozdetsky | 3 | 56 | 67 | 25 |
102 | Jaroslav Drobný | 2 | 65 | 67 | 24 |
103 | Aleksandr Radulov | 2 | 59 | 60 | 23 |
104 | Vincent Lukáč | 2 | 57 | 63 | 22 |
105 | Viktor Shuvalov | 3 | 57 | 67 | 21 |
106 | Ville Peltonen | 2 | 57 | 64 | 21 |
107 | Petteri Nummelin | 3 | 54 | 70 | 20 |
108 | Viktor Zhluktov | 2 | 58 | 64 | 20 |
109 | Josef Šroubek| 1 | 52 | 52 | 19 |
110 | Jiří Crha | 1 | 53 | 53 | 18 |
111 | Aleksandr Kozhevnikov | 1 | 54 | 54 | 17 |
112 | Aleksey Gusarov | 1 | 55 | 55 | 16 |
112 | Udo Kiessling | 1 | 55 | 55 | 16 |
114 | Gebhard Poltera | 1 | 57 | 57 | 14 |
115 | Veli-Pekka Ketola | 2 | 63 | 66 | 13 |
115 | Ladislav Troják | 2 | 65 | 70 | 13 |
117 | Istvan Hircsák | 1 | 58 | 58 | 13 |
118 | Thomas Rundqvist | 1 | 60 | 60 | 11 |
119 | Urpo Ylönen | 2 | 62 | 70 | 10 |
120 | Josef Horešovský | 1 | 61 | 61 | 10 |
120 | Holger Nurmela | 1 | 61 | 61 | 10 |
120 | Sergey Shepelev | 1 | 61 | 61 | 10 |
123 | Yury Lebedev | 1 | 62 | 62 | 9 |
124 | Rudolf Ball | 1 | 63 | 63 | 8 |
124 | Stanislav Konopásek | 1 | 63 | 63 | 8 |
126 | Jaroslav Pušbauer| 2 | 66 | 69 | 7 |
127 | Mats Ã…hlberg | 1 | 67 | 67 | 4 |
127 | Jörgen Jönsson | 1 | 67 | 67 | 4 |
127 | Gerd Truntschka | 1 | 67 | 67 | 4 |
130 | Jiří Hrdina | 1 | 68 | 68 | 3 |
130 | Timo Jutila | 1 | 68 | 68 | 3 |
132 | Jiří Kochta | 1 | 69 | 69 | 2 |
132 | Pekka Marjamäki | 1 | 69 | 69 | 2 |
132 | Aleksey Morozov | 1 | 69 | 69 | 2 |
132 | Hans-Martin Trepp | 1 | 69 | 69 | 2 |
136 | Kari Jalonen | 1 | 70 | 70 | 1 |
136 | Léon Quaglia | 1 | 70 | 70 | 1 |
136 | Aleksandr Vinogradov | 1 | 70 | 70 | 1 |

Definitions
# of Lists: The number of top 70 lists (out of 15 total lists) on which the player was listed.
Highest: The highest ranking any individual voter gave a player.
Lowest: The lowest ranking any individual voter gave a player while still listing him in that voter's top 70.
Voting Points: The number of voting points the player received. 70 points for 1st, 69 points for 2nd, and so on down to 1 point for 70th.
Change: The change from the aggregate list to the final list. Field empty = player didn't make the final top 50.

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[tarheelhockey]

Rank | Player | # of Lists | Highest | Lowest | Voting Points | Change
19 | Aleksandr Ragulin | 15 | 16 | 46 | 719 | -9
31 | Vladimír Zábrodský | 15 | 3 | 64 | 530 | +9
37 | Vladimir Shadrin | 11 | 22 | 70 | 370 | off list
39 | Jiří Králík | 14 | 23 | 62 | 329 | -11
40 | František Tikal | 11 | 29 | 63 | 314 | off list
43 | Igor Liba | 11 | 23 | 58 | 298 | off list
44 | Ulf Sterner | 10 | 26 | 58 | 297 | +8
46 | Konstantin Loktev | 12 | 24 | 62 | 278 | +8
48 | Vladimir Vikulov | 14 | 22 | 66 | 265 | +8
51 | Viktor Shalimov | 10 | 33 | 64 | 255 | +8
52 | Vlastimil Bubník | 11 | 26 | 70 | 235 | +11
55 | Jozef Golonka | 9 | 25 | 62 | 219 | +9

Those are our big movers.

 

[VMBM]

So, Pekka Rautakallio the best Finn?

You have to put A LOT OF weight on his couple of good years in the NHL to come to that conclusion.

Some really interesting rankings (Hlinka #16, Lutchenko #17[!?], Fetisov #9, Lindmark #20, Tumba #4/#49, Khomutov #34...), but my initial list certainly has a few of those too.

Interesting too that everyone was pretty much "on the same page" vis-a-vis Vyacheslav Starshinov's placement from the get-go.

 

[DN28]

I wonder what caused Kralik´s fall. I don´t think he looked "bad" in discussion.

Interesting that three Czechoslovaks made the biggest leap - Zabrodsky, Bubnik and Golonka.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Research

I wonder what caused Kralik´s fall. I don´t think he looked "bad" in discussion.

Interesting that three Czechoslovaks made the biggest leap - Zabrodsky, Bubnik and Golonka.

Reflects the mining of data and research that slowly is extending beyond the easily found data about the Soviets.

Players from Sweden and Finland did not seem get the exposure or press that the Soviets and Czechoslovaks did in North America or elsewhere. Perhaps this will change with further research and more archival data appearing online.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

The thing that most strikes me is that Malecek and Zabrodsky started off back to back, then ended up with some real separation between them, which I think is the correct result.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I wonder what caused Kralik´s fall. I don´t think he looked "bad" in discussion.

Interesting that three Czechoslovaks made the biggest leap - Zabrodsky, Bubnik and Golonka.

Lindmark - 6, Kralik -11

Seems both 80s goalies dropped.

One thing I notice about Kralik is that he was on 14 lists, while most of the guys listed around him on the aggregate were on fewer lists than he was. So his drop was probably partly a case of voters who didn't know the players around him learning about them.

 

[VMBM]

Some really interesting rankings (Hlinka #16, Lutchenko #17[!?], Fetisov #9, Lindmark #20, Tumba #4/#49, Khomutov #34...), but my initial list certainly has a few of those too.

Additions:

Alexander Golikov on two lists, and once even as high as at 44!!!
- I'm not totally sure, but I think his younger brother Vladimir was considered the better and more versatile player in their time. Vladimir also had a longer/better career on the Soviet national team, although obviously there was always a much bigger craving for good centres on Team USSR than for good (left) wingers*. However, Alexander did outperform his brother occasionally, like in the 1980 Olympics.
Golikov-Golikov-Maltsev and G-G-Makarov were brilliant 3rd lines on Team USSR in the late 1970s/1980. Says a lot about the depth of the Soviet ntl team in that time period.

* EDIT: actually, Alexander wasn't strictly 'left winger', although, due to circumstances I suppose, mostly played on that position on Team USSR

Oldrich Machac at 26
- That's, eh, fairly high, although in the same breath I have to admit that it was a huge oversight on my part to not include him on my list - especially since I had Pospisil pretty high.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Rank | Player | # of Lists | Highest | Lowest | Voting Points | Change
19 | Aleksandr Ragulin | 15 | 16 | 46 | 719 | -9
31 | Vladimír Zábrodský | 15 | 3 | 64 | 530 | +9
37 | Vladimir Shadrin | 11 | 22 | 70 | 370 | off list
39 | Jiří Králík | 14 | 23 | 62 | 329 | -11
40 | František Tikal | 11 | 29 | 63 | 314 | off list
43 | Igor Liba | 11 | 23 | 58 | 298 | off list
44 | Ulf Sterner | 10 | 26 | 58 | 297 | +8
46 | Konstantin Loktev | 12 | 24 | 62 | 278 | +8
48 | Vladimir Vikulov | 14 | 22 | 66 | 265 | +8
51 | Viktor Shalimov | 10 | 33 | 64 | 255 | +8
52 | Vlastimil Bubník | 11 | 26 | 70 | 235 | +11
55 | Jozef Golonka | 9 | 25 | 62 | 219 | +9

Those are our big movers.

My explanations:

Risers:

• Zabrodsky - compared favorably to the other early players, in particular Bobrov
• Sterner - compared favorably to players already added, in particular Tumba. Seeing him voted above Firsov that one year sealed it. One guy who I underrated in Round 1.
• Loktev - I'm still not sure why Almetov became available so much earlier. Almetov and Loktev were added in a round when many voters (including me) thought there were very few good candidates.
• Vikulov - Simply became available too late. I have no idea why he became available so late, but he was an easy #1 as soon as he became available.
• Shalimov - Vikulov to a slightly lesser extent.
• Bubnik - International stats compared favorably to Tumba (already added), Nilsson, Mayorov. Basically, VMBM made a good case.
• Golonka - In the final round, he just seemed to have fewer weaknesses than other players available. Being a (the?) face of historical Slovakian hockey players may have helped.

Fallers:

• Ragulin - compared unfavorably to Suchy and possibly Svedberg. I think it was also news to a lot of people that he didn't get any international recognition after the mid 1960s.
• Shadrin - Available way too early, probably because of his regular usage as a role player in the All Time Draft.
• Kralik - hardest to explain. I just kept finding players I liked a little more. Perhaps his inconsistency and short prime came out in Round 2? Also, as I noted previously, fellow 1980s goalie Lindmark also dropped (though not as much).
• Liba - Available too early, probably because he has recently become a regular role player in the All Time Draft.

 

[VMBM]

My explanations:

Risers:

[*]Zabrodsky - compared favorably to the other early players, in particular Bobrov

But the thing is that I don't think he compares favourably to Bobrov. I had Zabrodsky higher on my initial list, but ended up favouring Bobrov, simply because to me it looks like he was the somewhat superior player in those mid-1950s international tournaments. And they were real contemporaries (Z a few months younger actually).

[*]Vikulov - Simply became available too late. I have no idea why he became available so late, but he was an easy #1 as soon as he became available.

Yeah, it is a mystery... maybe the reputation of him being 'soft' and/or one of the weaker performers in the 1972 Summit Series had something to do with it. Or (more likely) he simply is a somewhat 'nameless' Soviet player, maybe because he did not play much on Team USSR post 1972 anymore.

Fallers:

• Shadrin - Available way too early, probably because of his regular usage as a role player in the All Time Draft.

I still don't understand what made him fall that much. He has good numbers in international competition, and good versatility compared with the other later candidates too, although maybe his reputation as an ace penalty killer has been exaggerated a bit. Lack of international & domestic accolades probably hurt him, but did the voters think that he had (m)any those even before round 2?!

 

[DN28]

But the thing is that I don't think he compares favourably to Bobrov. I had Zabrodsky higher on my initial list, but ended up favouring Bobrov, simply because to me it looks like he was the somewhat superior player in those mid-1950s international tournaments. And they were real contemporaries (Z a few months younger actually).

Errr, I think I made a post which clearly demonstrated that Zabrodsky was better overall. They had equal offensive stats at those 3 overlapping championships but Zabrodsky was probably clearly better at non-scoring elements (physical play, defense, leadership). Not that Z. was some two-way player or hard-hitter of course..
And Zabrodsky clearly dominated domestic scoring in a way Bobrov simply couldn´t match, even though quality of Soviet league was likely higher...

I think that the final ranking of these three legends is right but there should be some gaps between them. I think Tumba´s stats are clearly superior to Zabrodsky and Zabrodsky was noticebly better overall than Bobrov.

 

[VMBM]

Errr, I think I made a post which clearly demonstrated that Zabrodsky was better overall. They had equal offensive stats at those 3 overlapping championships but Zabrodsky was probably clearly better at non-scoring elements (physical play, defense, leadership). Not that Z. was some two-way player or hard-hitter of course..
And Zabrodsky clearly dominated domestic scoring in a way Bobrov simply couldn´t match, even though quality of Soviet league was likely higher...

Bobrov won the IIHF directorate best forward award, Zabrodsky didn't. Bobrov was still a top 5 scorer at the 1957 WHC when Zabrodsky was gone from the international scene, and like said, Zabrodsky was a few months younger. "Equal offensive stats" don't mean that they were equal, and it's obvious that Bobrov was a more heralded performer in 1954-56.

And no, it wasn't demonstrated to me that Z was better overall. Defense? Possibly. Physical play, leadership, not so sure about that. And it's not like 'leadership' should be among the main criteria when ranking players imo.

Sorry, but Vsevolod Bobrov was simply a more legendary player than Vladimir Zabrodsky.

 

[DN28]

Bobrov won the IIHF directorate best forward award, Zabrodsky didn't. Bobrov was still a top 5 scorer at the 1957 WHC when Zabrodsky was gone from the international scene, and like said, Zabrodsky was a few months younger. "Equal offensive stats" don't mean that they were equal, and it's obvious that Bobrov was a more heralded performer in 1954-56.

And no, it wasn't demonstrated to me that Z was better overall. Defense? Possibly. Physical play, leadership, not so sure about that. And it's not like 'leadership' should be among the main criteria when ranking players imo.

Sorry, but Vsevolod Bobrov was simply a more legendary player than Vladimir Zabrodsky.

Bobrov won it in 1954, Zabrodsky won it unofficially in 1955.

Zabrodsky was banned from NT after 1956, yet he won league scoring for the fifth time in 1957 (he will win it in 1959 yet). Don´t think he would do any worse than Bobrov in that year.

Offensive stats when they overlapped through 54-56:
Bobrov: 32 points, 20 games played,
Zabrodsky: 33 points, 22 games played
- looks pretty equal to me...

"More heralded" simply because of team success and the way how Soviets surprised everyone when they finally showed up. Soviets themselves also held Bobrov in high regard which can boost his "fame". Zabrodsky was persona non grata for communist authorities and he defected to Sweden in 1965 and still lives there.

Defense? It is well known that Bobrov didn´t backcheck. Zabrodsky wasn´t defensive specialist, but he wasn´t the one-dimensional forward of the line (that was Konopasek). And he was willing to adjust and play d-man if the circumstances weren´t in his favour - WC 1949. Not sure if Bobrov was really the type of player who would manage or would be willing to make such transition.

Physical play? It was mentioned in the discussion (which i think no one disputed) that Bobrov had trouble with Canadians and their rough style. Zabrodsky didn´t bother with this, he was one of the biggest forwards in Europe after all.

And I have to repeat myself. Difference in domestic scoring between them is so huge that it makes fairly obvious.

Bobrov top 5 domestic finishes:
1., 1., 1., 1., 2., 3.

Zabrodsky top 5 domestic finishes:
1., 1., 1., 1., 1., 1., 2., 2., 2., 2., 2., 3., 3., 3., 4., 4., 4.

 

[VMBM]

Bobrov won it in 1954, Zabrodsky won it unofficially in 1955.

Oh well in that case!

Physical play? It was mentioned in the discussion (which i think no one disputed) that Bobrov had trouble with Canadians and their rough style. Zabrodsky didn´t bother with this, he was one of the biggest forwards in Europe after all.

And this was based on, what, that single game in the 1955 WHC?

You might also want to compare their stats in the USSR vs Czechoslovakia games in 1954-56; there does not seem to be much doubt about which one of them was a star in those games.

And I have to repeat myself. Difference in domestic scoring between them is so huge that it makes fairly obvious.

Bobrov top 5 domestic finishes:
1., 1., 1., 1., 2., 3.

Zabrodsky top 5 domestic finishes:
1., 1., 1., 1., 1., 1., 2., 2., 2., 2., 2., 3., 3., 3., 4., 4., 4.

How conveniently you fail to mention that Zabrodsky played hockey, domestically and internationally, far longer than Bobrov did.

 

[Pominville Knows]

@Theokritos Hey Buddy, you still got this preliminary list laying around somewhere?

 

[MaxV]

maybe because he did not play much on Team USSR post 1972 anymore.

Except for 1976 Canada Cup, where he was one of the best players (7 points in 4 games). Small sample size, I know, but certainly a big stage.

I feel like that performance should "salvage" his legacy somewhat.

Vikulov is a fascinating figure in Soviet hockey. He was viewed as a game-changing talent, and there are seasons where his performance matched that reputation, but consistency was an issue imo.

 

[Theokritos]

@Theokritos Hey Buddy, you still got this preliminary list laying around somewhere?

No, but I still have the original ballots from 2015, so I could reconstruct it.

 

[VMBM]

Wow. Interesting to see posts & debates that you don't even remember writing & having. And it's been only 5 years.

Except for 1976 Canada Cup, where he was one of the best players (7 points in 4 games). Small sample size, I know, but certainly a big stage.

I feel like that performance should "salvage" his legacy somewhat.

Vikulov is a fascinating figure in Soviet hockey. He was viewed as a game-changing talent, and there are seasons where his performance matched that reputation, but consistency was an issue imo.

There were some others tournaments and series too, like a few games in the 1974 Summit Series vs the WHA, and the 1975 WHC plus some Izvestia tournaments. I think that even in the early days of Viktor Tikhonov's era, he was there as a possible candidate, but rarely made the team.

It is interesting that Vikulov was two years younger than Mikhailov, but until 1972/73, he was easily the more revered player, both domestically and internationally.

Somehow Vikulov has always reminded me of Vladimir Martinec; both were small and had great technical skills (softer hands than just about anyone else) and could make excellent passes and plays. Vikulov was actually the better skater imo, but I think Martinec just had more straight-line speed and was slightly more explosive with a better (slap) shot.

 

[MaxV]

Wow. Interesting to see posts & debates that you don't even remember writing & having. And it's been only 5 years.



There were some others tournaments and series too, like a few games in the 1974 Summit Series vs the WHA, and the 1975 WHC plus some Izvestia tournaments. I think that even in the early days of Viktor Tikhonov's era, he was there as a possible candidate, but rarely made the team.

It is interesting that Vikulov was two years younger than Mikhailov, but until 1972/73, he was easily the more revered player, both domestically and internationally.

Somehow Vikulov has always reminded me of Vladimir Martinec; both were small and had great technical skills (softer hands than just about anyone else) and could make excellent passes and plays. Vikulov was actually the better skater imo, but I think Martinec just had more straight-line speed and was slightly more explosive with a better (slap) shot.

He was already a key player for CSKA (not exactly the easiest team for a young player to break through) at 19 years old.

In a documentary that I saw regarding the Green Unit, Tikhonov states that, even at young age, Makarov's talent reminded him of Kharlamov and Vikulov. That's not the first time I've heard Vikulov's name among the very best of Soviet hockey.

It appears that in the eyes of Vikulov's contemporaries he was rated higher then how we view him.

Of course, to compile this list, you have to go by results not reputation. Perhaps, a case could be made for Vikulov being an underachiever.