This past week I have tried to compare Balderis and Yakushevs scoring both domestically and internationally more in detail.
Helmuts Balderis 7 year Vs2 Soviet League
82/83: 1st 111 (2nd Kozhevnikov)
76/77: 1st 102 (2nd Petrov)
79/80: 2nd 100 (1st Makarov)
84/85: 3rd 96 (2nd Krutov)
74/75: 3rd 94 (2nd Mikhailov)
75/76: 4th 88 (2nd Yakushev)
80/81: 7th 82 (2nd Kapustin)
111, 102, 100, 96, 94, 88, 82 - 7 year average 96.1
Alexander Yakushev 7 year Vs2 Soviet League
68/69: 1st 125 (2nd Starshinov)
75/76: 2nd 100 (1st Shalimov)
72/73: xxx 90 (2nd Martinyuk)
66/67: 4th 83 (2nd Firsov)
69/70: 5th 83 (2nd Mikhailov)
73/74: 3rd 77 (2nd Maltsev)
74/75: xxx 67 (2nd Mikhailov)
125, 100, 90, 83, 83, 77, 67 - 7 year average 89.3
This is how their numbers compare to other 70´s and 80´s Soviet wingers. I looked at the numbers of all wingers from Boris Mikhailov (born 1944) to Andrei Khomutov and Sergei Svetlov (born 1961).
Top 10 Wingers: 7 year Vs2 Soviet League
1. S. Makarov: 132, 130, 128, 123, 119, 119, 111: Average 123.1
2. V. Krutov: 100, 100, 100, 100, 93, 93, 92: Average 96.9
3. H. Balderis: 111, 102, 100, 96, 94, 88, 82: Average 96.1
4. B. Mikhailov: 100, 100, 100, 93, 92, 90, 88: Average 94.7
5. A. Yakushev: 125, 100, 90, 83, 83, 77, 67: Average 89.3
6. V. Kharlamov: 108, 100, 93, 83, 81, 80, 76: Average 88.7
7. V. Shalimov: 104, 87, 87, 83, 79, 72, 71: Average 83.3
8. V. Vikulov: 100, 100, 88, 78, 71, 70, 66: Average 81.9
9. A. Martinyuk: 100, 90, 90, 74, 64, 58, 55: Average 75.9
10. N. Drozdetsky: 95, 89, 80, 73, 71, 62, 61: Average 75.9
Balderis domestic numbers are as previously mentioned really impressive. The only winger significantly ahead of him is Makarov and Balderis domestic production is around the level of Krutov and Mikhailov. And even if we include centers the only other player who is significantly ahead of him is Vladimir Petrov. Another thing to note is that six of Balderis seven best years in relation to the second highest scorer in the league was achievied while playing for Riga. It seems like Balderis really thrived from being the clear number one on his team rather than being one of many stars.
Yakushevs domestic numbers are also impressive as his 7 year Vs2 is around the level of Kharlamov and not that far behind the Krutov, Balderis and Mikhailov group.
Helmuts Balderis 7 major international tournaments Vs2
WHC 1977: 6th 79 (2nd Mikhailov)
WHC 1978: 7th 79 (2nd Hlinka)
WHC 1979: 9th 64 (2nd Kharlamov)
WO 1980: xxx 64 (2nd P. Stastny)
WHC 1976: xxx 63 (2nd Novak)
WHC 1983: xxx 60 (2nd Krutov)
CC 1976: xxx 56 (2nd Orr)
79, 79, 64, 64, 63, 60, 56 - 7 tournaments average 66.4
Alexander Yakushev 7 major international tournaments Vs2
WHC 1972: 3rd 94 (2nd Vikulov)
WHC 1974: 3rd 93 (2nd Martinec)
WHC 1975: 4th 89 (2nd Petrov)
WO 1976: 8th 70 (2nd Maltsev)
WHC 1977: xxx 58 (2nd Mikhailov)
WHC 1973: 5th 52 (2nd Mikhailov)
WHC 1976: xxx 44 (2nd Novak)
94, 93, 89, 70, 58, 52, 44 – 7 tournaments average 71.4
Top 10 Wingers: 7 tournaments Vs2 International
1. V. Kharlamov: 167, 100, 100, 93, 90, 88, 88: Average 103.7
2. S. Makarov: 120, 108, 106, 100, 100, 86, 85: Average 100.7
3. B. Mikhailov: 113, 100, 100, 100, 86, 86, 83: Average 95.4
4. V. Krutov: 115, 107, 100, 100, 79, 78, 73: Average 93.1
5. V.Vikulov: 100, 100, 100, 82, 78, 63, 59: Average 83.1
6. S. Kapustin: 92, 84, 79, 73, 72, 67, 57: Average 74.9
7. A. Khomutov: 100, 100, 100, 64, 54, 46, 39: Average 71.9
8. A. Yakushev: 94, 93, 89, 70, 58, 52, 44: Average 71.4
9. H. Balderis: 79, 79, 64, 64, 63, 60, 56: Average 66.4
10. V. Shalimov: 106, 100, 100, 50, 50, 36, 21: Average 66.1
As previously mentioned Yakushev has an advantage over Balderis internationally. The difference was not as big as I expected though and while Balderis “only” made the top 10 in scoring in three of the seven international tournaments he played in he was consistently only a point or two away from being a top 10 scorer. In the 1983 WHC Balderis had as many points as Marcel Dionne who finished top 10 in scoring but finished outside of the top 10 because of less goals scored.
It should be noted that Yakushevs Vs2 in the 1973 WHC takes a hit from the incredible dominance of the MPK line in that tournament. Yakushev finished in 5th place in scoring that tournament but his 15 points was still miles away from the number 2 scorer Mikhailovs 29 points. But in general I think it can be said that while both Yakushev and Balderis numbers in major international tournaments are relatively good they are far from as great as their domestic numbers. In Yakushevs defence he has his amazing performances in the 1972 and 1974 Summit Series to make his international resume more impressive.
As I mentioned in my previous post I think that these two players are extremely close to each other when it comes to both ability, peak, prime and career value. I would say that Balderis was the slightly better player offensively but that Yakushev with his more well rounded game while being almost as good offensively should be ranked as the ever so slightly better player. But in my opinion they are so even that its almost impossible to decide especially considering that they are very even in Soviet MVP voting and when it comes to other accolades to.