Study of the penalty killing of Soviet forwards during the 1960-1990 time frame

[Batis]

This year I have been working on a study of the penalty killing of Soviet forwards during the time frame 1960-1990. I have estimated the ice times for every major international tournament (plus Summit Series 72, 74, Super Series 76, 80, 83, 86, 89, Challenge Cup 79 and Rendezvous 87) from which we have available full game footage during that time frame. Additionally I have looked up the shorthanded goal differential of all players from these tournaments. While I encountered some problems doing this study I still think that the results can give some more insight into the penalty killing hierarchy among Soviet forwards as well as some insight into the penalty killing of each individual forward. I know that doing this study have taught me alot about the subject at least. Having said this I will also point out some of the problems that I had before I present the stats.

First it should probably be noted that these estimations are very difficult to get completely right since it is nearly impossible to exactly time a on the fly linechange when watching a game on video. Because of this I have considered two players to be tied with each other when the difference between them was 2 percent or smaller. So if a player was within the 0.98-1.00 range of the player ahead of him I considered them to be tied. The reason why I changed from my earlier 10 second rule is that with that rule there was to many threeway ties for my liking.

It should also be pointed out that the results from the tournaments where we have footage from many games most likely paints a more accurate picture of the penalty killing hierarchy than we can get in the tournaments where we only have footage from 1 or 2 games. Fortunately their was at least a number of boxplay shifts to judge from in all the tournaments with only 1 game of footage except for one (1983 WHC where there only was one boxplay shift in the available full game). Since I have a highlight dvd of the 1983 WHC I decided to also include the penalty killing highlights from that tournament in the study since I figured that for a player to figure much in the highlights of penalty killing he will most likely have had to play pretty much on the penalty kill during the tournament. And in my opinion it gives a more complete picture of the penalty killing hierarchy than only one shift would do. But I would definitely say that the numbers for the 1983 WHC probably are the most insecure regarding how accurate a picture it paints.

Outside of only estimating the ice times and collecting goal differential stats I have also ranked the players based on a combination of their ice time finishes, goal differential stats, the eyetest and in some cases also weighed in previous penalty killing reputation. Since the number of tournaments with available video footage varies much between the 60's and the 70's and 80's I decided that I was going to rank the players based on eras. One group will be the players who had the majority of their primes in the 60's up until the early 70's. The next group will be the players with the majority of their primes in the 70's up until the early 80's and the last group the players from the 80's. On these ranking lists I will also go more into analysing the penalty killing of each individual player while also including some video evidence. These ranking lists will be posted over the coming month/s since they are not completed yet.

Anyway here you have the penalty killing data from the 1960-1990 time frame.

WOG 1960

1. Alexander Almetov: 1 gp, 5 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
1. Konstantin Loktev: 1 gp, 5 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Yevgeny Groshev: 1 gp, 0 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Stanislav Petukhov: 1 gp, 0 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Grebennikov: 1 gp, 0 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Victor Yakushev: 1 gp, 0 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Yuri Tsytsynov: 1 gp, 0 min, 4 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1964

1. Alexander Almetov: 1 gp, 2 min, 36 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
1. Konstantin Loktev: 1 gp, 2 min, 36 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Anatoly Firsov: 1 gp, 0 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Victor Yakushev: 1 gp, 0 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 1 gp, 0 min, 16 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Boris Mayorov: 1 gp, 0 min, 16 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Yevgeny Mayorov: 1 gp, 0 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1967

1. Anatoly Firsov: 2 gp, 5 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 2 gp, 4 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Boris Mayorov: 2 gp, 4 min, 15 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Alexander Almetov: 2 gp, 4 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Victor Yakushev: 2 gp, 2 min, 30 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Victor Polupanov: 2 gp, 2 min, 27 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Veniamin Alexandrov: 2 gp, 1 min, 18 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Vladimir Vikulov: 2 gp, 1 min, 8 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1968

1. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 5 gp, 11 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Boris Mayorov: 5 gp, 9 min, 19 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Anatoly Firsov: 5 gp, 4 min, 4 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
3. Yevgeny Mishakov: 5 gp, 4 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Anatoly Ionov: 5 gp, 3 min, 25 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Victor Polupanov: 5 gp, 3 min, 21 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
7. Yury Moiseev: 5 gp, 3 min, 16 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Vladimir Vikulov: 5 gp, 2 min, 57 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

WHC 1969

1. Vladimir Vikulov: 2 gp, 8 min, 9 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Anatoly Firsov: 2 gp, 7 min, 44 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 2 gp, 2 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Boris Mikhailov: 2 gp, 1 min, 44 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Yevgeny Zimin: 2 gp, 1 min, 38 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Vladimir Petrov: 2 gp, 1 min, 31 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Alexander Yakushev: 1 gp, 0 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Valery Kharlamov: 2 gp, 0 min, 2 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1970

1. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 2 gp, 1 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
1. Alexander Maltsev: 2 gp, 1 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Yevgeny Mishakov: 1 gp, 1 min, 21 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Vladimir Vikulov: 2 gp, 1 min, 21 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Vladimir Petrov: 2 gp, 0 min, 34 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Boris Mikhailov: 2 gp, 0 min, 34 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1972

1. Vladimir Petrov: 1 gp, 1 min, 29 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
1. Yevgeny Mishakov: 1 gp 1 min, 29 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Anatoly Firsov: 1 gp, 0 min, 31 sec, 0 goals foward, 0 goals against
3. Vladimir Vikulov: 1 gp, 0 min, 31 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1972

1. Valery Kharlamov: 1 gp, 2 min, 24 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Boris Mikhailov: 1 gp, 2 min, 0 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Vladimir Petrov: 1 gp, 1 min, 36 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Vladimir Vikulov: 1 gp, 1 min, 13 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Shadrin: 1 gp, 0 min, 47 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Summit Series 1972

1. Yevgeny Mishakov: 6 gp, 21 min, 0 sec, 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
2. Vladimir Petrov: 8 gp, 13 min, 45 sec, 2 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Boris Mikhailov: 8 gp, 10 min, 36 sec, 2 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Vladimir Shadrin: 8 gp, 10 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Valery Kharlamov: 7 gp, 7 min, 40 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
6. Vyacheslav Starshinov: 1 gp, 4 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
7. Vladimir Vikulov: 6 gp, 3 min, 26 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Alexander Maltsev: 8 gp, 1 min, 23 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Alexander Yakushev: 8 gp, 0 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Summit Series 1974

1. Vladimir Petrov: 7 gp, 12 min, 0 sec, 0 goals forward, 3 goals against
2. Boris Mikhailov: 7 gp, 11 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 3 goals against
3. Vladimir Shadrin: 8 gp, 8 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 3 goals against
4. Alexander Yakushev: 7 gp, 5 min, 39 sec, 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
4. Vladimir Vikulov: 4 gp, 5 min, 37 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Alexander Maltsev: 8 gp, 5 min, 2 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Valery Kharlamov: 8 gp, 4 min, 25 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Victor Shalimov: 1 gp, 3 min, 12 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
9. Vyacheslav Anisin: 8 gp, 3 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
10. Yury Lebedev: 8 gp, 1 min, 38 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Alexander Bodunov: 7 gp, 0 min, 59 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

Super Series 75/76 CSKA Moscow

1. Boris Mikhailov: 3 gp, 8 min, 18 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Vladimir Petrov: 2 gp, 7 min, 52 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Vladimir Vikulov: 3 gp, 3 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Viktor Zhluktov: 3 gp, 2 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Valery Kharlamov: 3 gp, 2 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Vyacheslav Solodukhin: 3 gp, 0 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Popov: 3 gp, 0 min, 20 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1976

1. Vladimir Shadrin: 1 gp, 4 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Victor Shalimov: 1 gp, 2 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Viktor Zhluktov: 1 gp, 1 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Alexander Maltsev: 1 gp, 0 min, 53 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Boris Mikhailov: 1 gp, 0 min, 49 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Vladimir Petrov: 1 gp, 0 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Alexander Yakushev: 1 gp, 0 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1976

1. Victor Shalimov: 1 gp, 4 min, 4 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Alexander Maltsev: 1 gp, 3 min, 38 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Valery Kharlamov: 1 gp, 3 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Alexander Yakushev: 1 gp, 3 min, 21 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Boris Mikhailov: 1 gp, 0 min, 52 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Vladimir Golikov: 1 gp, 0 min, 37 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Alexander Golikov: 1 gp, 0 min, 27 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 1 gp, 0 min, 15 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Canada Cup 1976

1. Vladimir Repnev: 3 gp, 5 min, 37 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Yury Lebedev: 2 gp, 3 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Helmuts Balderis: 3 gp, 2 min, 36 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Viktor Zhluktov: 3 gp, 2 min, 20 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Vladimir Vikulov: 2 gp, 2 min, 20 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Vladimir Kovin: 3 gp, 2 min, 18 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Alexander Maltsev: 3 gp, 1 min, 24 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 3 gp, 1 min, 7 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Valery Belousov: 3 gp, 0 min, 39 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Skvortsov: 3 gp, 0 min, 23 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1977

1. Vladimir Shadrin: 3 gp, 2 min, 29 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Viktor Zhluktov: 3 gp, 2 min, 11 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Boris Mikhailov: 3 gp, 2 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goals against
2. Alexander Yakushev: 3 gp, 2 min, 8 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Helmuts Balderis: 3 gp, 1 min, 19 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Vladimir Petrov: 3 gp, 0 min, 57 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goals against

WHC 1978

1. Boris Mikhailov: 4 gp, 12 min, 35 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
2. Alexander Maltsev: 4 gp, 7 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
3. Viktor Zhluktov: 4 gp, 7 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Helmuts Balderis: 4 gp, 7 min, 11 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Vladimir Petrov: 2 gp, 6 min, 46 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
6. Valery Kharlamov: 4gp, 6 min, 28 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Golikov: 4 gp, 4 min, 44 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Alexander Golikov: 4 gp, 1 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Sergey Makarov: 4 gp, 0 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Yury Lebedev: 4 gp, 0 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Challenge Cup 1979

1. Alexander Golikov: 3 gp, 8 min, 40 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
2. Vladimir Golikov: 2 gp, 5 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Viktor Zhluktov: 3 gp, 4 min, 26 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Helmuts Balderis: 3 gp, 2 min, 13 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Vladimir Petrov: 3 gp, 1 min, 46 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
6. Sergey Kapustin: 3 gp, 0 min, 35 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Alexander Skvortsov: 3 gp, 0 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Kovin: 3 gp, 0 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Boris Mikhailov: 3 gp, 0 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1979

1. Alexander Golikov: 1 gp, 4 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Vladimir Golikov: 1 gp, 4 min, 26 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Viktor Zhluktov: 1 gp, 3 min, 54 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Yury Lebedev: 1 gp, 1 min, 52 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Boris Mikhailov: 1 gp, 1 min, 42 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
6. Vladimir Petrov: 1 gp, 1 min, 35 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
7. Helmuts Balderis: 1 gp, 0 min, 35 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 1 gp, 0 min, 2 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Super Series 79/80 CSKA Moscow

1. Boris Mikhailov: 4 gp, 7 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
2. Valery Kharlamov: 4 gp, 3 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Viktor Zhluktov: 4 gp, 3 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Vladimir Petrov: 4 gp, 3 min, 19 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Vladimir Kovin: 4 gp, 2 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Helmuts Balderis: 4 gp, 2 min, 24 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
7. Alexander Lobanov: 4 gp, 2 min, 17 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Makarov: 4 gp, 1 min, 43 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Mikhail Varnakov: 4 gp, 1 min, 29 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Nikolay Drozdetsky: 4 gp, 1 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Alexander Volchkov: 3 gp, 1 min, 7 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Alexander Skvortsov: 3 gp, 0 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1980

1. Vladimir Golikov: 3 gp, 5 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Viktor Zhluktov: 3 gp, 4 min, 29 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Alexander Maltsev: 3 gp, 4 min, 22 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Alexander Golikov: 3 gp, 4 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Alexander Skvortsov: 3 gp, 2 min, 13 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Yury Lebedev: 3 gp, 2 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Helmuts Balderis: 3 gp, 1 min, 58 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Makarov: 3 gp, 1 min, 38 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Vladimir Krutov: 3 gp, 1 min, 25 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Vladimir Petrov: 3 gp, 0 min, 55 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
11. Boris Mikhailov: 3 gp, 0 min, 24 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

WHC 1981

1. Vladimir Golikov: 4 gp, 6 min, 13 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Alexander Maltsev: 4 gp, 5 min, 22 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Sergey Makarov: 4 gp, 2 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Vladimir Petrov: 4 gp, 2 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Viktor Zhluktov: 4 gp, 1 min, 32 sec, 0 goals forward, 3 goals against
6. Nikolai Drozdetsky: 4 gp, 0 min, 55 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Yury Lebedev: 1 gp, 0 min, 43 sec. 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 4 gp, 0 min, 38 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
9. Victor Shalimov: 4 gp, 0 min, 27 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Skvortsov: 4 gp, 0 min, 22 sec, 0 goals forward, 2 goals against

Canada Cup 1981

1. Vladimir Golikov: 4 gp: 8 min, 23 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Sergey Shepelev: 4 gp: 7 min, 27 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Victor Shalimov: 4 gp: 7 min, 24 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Sergey Makarov: 4 gp: 6 min, 15 sec: 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
5. Viktor Zhluktov: 4 gp: 6 min, 7 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Irek Gimaev: 3 gp: 5 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Krutov: 4 gp: 4 min, 58 sec: 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
7. Alexander Skvortsov: 4 gp: 4 min, 58 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Alexander Maltsev: 1 gp: 2 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Nikolay Drozdetsky: 4 gp: 1 min, 45 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Igor Larionov: 4 gp: 0 min, 4 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1982

1. Viktor Zhluktov: 2 gp, 5 min, 53 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Irek Gimaev: 2 gp, 4 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Vladimir Golikov: 2 gp, 3 min, 19 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Victor Tyumenev: 2 gp, 1 min, 44 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Alexander Kozhevnikov: 2 gp, 1 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergey Makarov: 2 gp, 0 min, 23 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Super Series 1982/83

1. Viktor Zhluktov: 5 gp: 11 min, 57 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Victor Shalimov: 5 gp: 10 min, 39 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
3. Alexander Skvortsov: 6 gp: 8 min, 32 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Sergey Shepelev: 6 gp: 7 min, 51 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Vladimir Krutov: 6 gp: 7 min, 46 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
6. Igor Larionov: 6 gp: 6 min, 37 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
7. Vyacheslav Bykov: 5 gp: 2 min, 50 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 5 gp: 2 min, 32 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Mikhail Vasiliev: 5 gp: 1 min, 56 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Kozhevnikov: 4 gp: 1 min, 43 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
11. Sergey Svetlov: 3 gp: 1 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
11. Anatoly Semenov: 3 gp: 1 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
13. Alexander Gerasimov: 3 gp: 0 min, 34 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

WHC 1983

1. Viktor Zhluktov: 1 gp, 2 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Alexander Skvortsov: 1 gp, 1 min, 5 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Sergey Makarov: 1 gp, 0 min, 54 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Irek Gimaev: 1 gp, 0 min, 50 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Igor Larionov: 1 gp, 0 min, 30 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Vyacheslav Bykov: 1 gp, 0 min, 25 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Krutov: 1 gp, 0 min, 24 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Shepelev: 1 gp, 0 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Kapustin: 1 gp, 0 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: Also includes the ice times from a 1983 WHC highlight dvd.

WOG 1984

1. Vladimir Krutov: 2 gp, 5 min, 23 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Mikhail Vasiliev: 2 gp, 3 min, 40 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Alexander Skvortsov: 2 gp, 2 min, 53 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
4. Victor Tyumenev: 2 gp, 2 min, 11 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Igor Larionov: 2 gp, 2min, 8 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Nikolay Drozdetsky: 2 gp, 2 min, 4 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Kovin: 2 gp, 1 min, 25 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
8. Alexander Gerasimov: 2 gp, 1 min, 16 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Andrey Khomutov: 2 gp, 0 min, 55 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Sergey Makarov: 2 min, 0 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Canada Cup 1984

1. Sergey Makarov: 6 gp: 8 min, 59 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 6 gp: 8 min 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Anatoly Semenov: 6 gp: 8 min, 19 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Sergey Svetlov: 6 gp: 7 min, 50 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Alexander Skvortsov: 6 gp: 7 min, 11 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Irek Gimaev: 6 gp: 6 min, 9 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Mikhail Varnakov: 6 gp: 5 min, 49 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergey Shepelev: 5 gp: 1 min, 31 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Vladimir Kovin: 6 gp: 1 min, 23 sec: 0 goals forward,1 goal against
10. Igor Larionov: 5 gp: 0 min, 58 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Mikhail Vasiliev: 4 gp: 0 min, 57 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: During this tournament Gimaev played both the defence and forward position on the penalty kill. I still included him here and this is his combined stats from both positions.

WHC 1985

1. Sergey Makarov: 4 gp, 8 min, 12 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 4 gp, 7 min, 16 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 4 gp, 6 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Vyacheslav Bykov: 4 gp, 5 min, 39 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Irek Gimaev: 4 gp, 3 min, 7 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Sergei Svetlov: 4 gp, 3 min, 5 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Igor Larionov: 4 gp, 2 min, 42 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
8. Mikhail Varnakov: 4 gp, 2 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Nikolai Drozdetsky: 4 gp, 1 min, 54 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Mikhail Vasiliev: 3 gp, 1 min, 43 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Sergey Yashin: 1 gp, 1 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Vladimir Kovin: 1 gp, 1 min, 7 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
13. Victor Tyumenev 4 gp, 1 min, 0 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

Super Series 1985/86 CSKA Moscow

1. Sergey Makarov: 5 gp: 16 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 5 gp: 14 min, 59 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 5 gp: 12 min, 57 sec: 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
4. Vyacheslav Bykov: 5 gp: 8 min, 27 sec: 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
5. Alexander Gerasimov: 5 gp: 5 min, 12 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Irek Gimaev: 5 gp: 5 min, 3 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Nikolay Drozdetsky: 5 gp: 2 min, 36 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Mikhail Vasiliev: 5 gp: 2 min, 5 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Sergey Shepelev: 5 gp: 0 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: During this tournament Gimaev played both the defence and forward position on the penalty kill. I still included him here and this is his combined stats from both positions.

WHC 1986

1. Vyacheslav Bykov: 5 gp, 7 min, 8 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Sergey Svetlov: 5 gp, 6 min, 5 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 5 gp, 5 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Sergey Makarov: 5 gp, 5 min, 6 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Krutov: 5 gp, 3 min, 47 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Valery Kamensky: 5 gp, 3 min, 38 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
7. Vladimir Konstantinov: 5 gp, 3 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Vasely Pervukhin: 4 gp, 2 min, 17 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Yury Khmylev: 4 gp, 1 min, 59 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Sergey Yashin: 5 gp, 1 min, 56 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Igor Larionov: 5 gp, 1 min, 43 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Victor Tyumenev: 2 gp, 0 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Rendezvous 1987

1. Vladimir Krutov: 2 gp, 4 min, 26 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Sergey Makarov: 2 gp, 4 min, 11 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Vyacheslav Bykov: 2 gp, 3 min, 5 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Sergey Svetlov: 2 gp, 3 min, 3 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Andrey Khomutov: 2 gp, 2 min, 21 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Alexander Semak: 2 gp, 1 min, 12 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Anatoly Semenov: 1 gp, 0 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1987

1. Vyacheslav Bykov: 9 gp, 10 min, 2 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
1. Sergey Makarov: 9 gp, 9 min, 54 sec, 2 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Sergey Svetlov: 9 gp, 9 min, 7 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
4. Andrey Khomutov: 9 gp, 7 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Krutov: 9 gp, 7 min, 22 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
6. Anatoly Semenov: 9 gp, 4 min, 26 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
7. Alexander Semak: 9 gp, 3 min, 34 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Mikhail Vasiliev: 9 gp, 3 min, 33 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Igor Larionov: 9 gp, 2 min, 30 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Mikhail Varnakov: 2 gp, 1 min, 42 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Sergey Priakin: 7 gp, 1 min, 23 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Valery Kamensky: 9 gp, 1 min, 11 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Canada Cup 1987

1. Vladimir Krutov: 8 gp: 19 min, 17 sec: 4 goals forward, 4 goals against
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 8 gp: 18 min, 48 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Sergey Makarov: 8 gp: 17 min, 29 sec: 4 goals forward, 3 goals against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 8 gp: 17 min, 26 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Anatoly Semenov: 8 gp: 12 min, 3 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergey Svetlov: 4 gp: 6 min, 24 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
7. Andrey Lomakin: 8 gp: 5 min, 26 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Igor Larionov: 8 gp: 1 min, 37 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Yury Khmylev: 8 gp: 1 min, 16 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Semak: 6 gp: 1 min, 6 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Valery Kamensky: 8 gp: 0 min, 44 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Sergey Nemshinov: 4 gp: 0 min, 35 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
13. Sergey Priakin: 8 gp: 0 min, 22 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WOG 1988

1. Sergey Makarov: 5 gp, 8 min, 57 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 5 gp, 7 min, 19 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Vyacheslav Bykov: 5 gp, 6 min, 49 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Sergey Svetlov: 5 gp, 6 min, 20 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Andrey Khomutov: 5 gp, 6 min, 18 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Anatoly Semenov: 5 gp, 5 min, 26 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
7. Andrey Lomakin: 5 gp, 5 min, 15 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Alexander Chernych: 5 gp, 2 min, 14 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Igor Larionov: 5 gp, 1 min, 54 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Sergey Yashin: 5 gp, 0 min, 44 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Super Series 1988/89 CSKA Moscow

1. Sergey Makarov: 7 gp: 15 min, 13 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 7 gp: 12 min, 4 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 7 gp: 9 min, 51 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
4. Igor Larionov: 7 gp: 9 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Krutov: 5 gp: 9 min, 6 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergey Nemshinov: 7 gp: 7 min, 25 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
7. Alexander Chernych: 7 gp: 4 min, 52 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Valery Zelepukin: 7 gp: 3 min, 13 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Yury Khmylev: 4 gp: 1 min, 45 sec: 1 goal forward. 0 goals against
10. Valery Kamensky: 7 gp: 1 min, 12 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Yevgeny Davydov: 7 gp: 1 min, 8 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1989

1. Vladimir Krutov: 7 gp, 8 min, 55 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Sergey Makarov: 7 gp, 7 min, 2 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrey Khomutov: 7 gp, 6 min, 30 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Vyacheslav Bykov: 7 gp, 6 min, 0 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Yury Khmylev: 6 gp, 3 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Dmitry Kvartalnov: 7 gp, 3 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
7. Sergey Fedorov: 7 gp, 2 min, 48 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Sergey Yashin: 7 gp, 2 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Igor Larionov: 5 gp, 1 min, 45 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
10. Valery Kamensky: 7 gp, 1 min, 21 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Alexander Chernych: 6 gp, 1 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Sergey Nemshinov: 4 gp, 0 min, 51 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
13. Alexander Mogilny: 7 gp, 0 min, 20 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

WHC 1990

1. Vyacheslav Bykov: 9 gp, 16 min, 27 sec, 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
2. Andrey Khomutov: 9 gp, 14 min, 13 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Ilya Byakin: 9 gp, 13 min, 44 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
4. Sergey Makarov: 7 gp, 12 min, 10 sec, 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Sergey Fedorov: 9 gp, 11 min, 49 sec, 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergey Nemshinov: 9 gp, 7 min, 37 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
7. Victor Tyumenev: 4 gp, 7 min, 21 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
8. Yevgeny Davydov: 8 gp, 5 min, 35 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
9. Alexander Semak: 9 gp, 4 min, 22 sec, 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
10. Valery Kamensky: 9 gp, 1 min, 52 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Pavel Bure: 9 gp, 1 min, 27 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Yury Leonov: 7 gp, 0 min, 57 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: Byakin played both the forward and the defence position on the penalty kill during this tournament (mostly forward). This is his combined stats from both positions.

Some general comments:

The Soviet forwards who stood out the most when it comes to penalty killing during the 1960-1990 time frame were in my opinion the following.
- Alexander Almetov and Konstantin Loktev who dominated the first half of the 60's.
- Vyacheslav Starshinov and Anatoly Firsov who dominated the second half of the 60's.
- Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov who were the leading penalty killers during much of the 70's with their closest competitor being Vladimir Shadrin.
- Vladimir Golikov and Viktor Zhluktov who were the leading penalty killers of the late 70's-early 80's with their closest competitors being Victor Shalimov and Alexander Golikov.
- Sergey Makarov and Vladimir Krutov who dominated the mid and late 80's. Their strongest competitors were Vyacheslav Bykov and Andrey Khomutov.

These 10 players who were the leading penalty killers over a significant time period (Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Firsov, Mikhailov, Petrov, V Golikov, Zhluktov, Makarov and Krutov) would probably be my top 10 greatest Soviet penalty killing forwards with Bykov being the strongest other candidate for the top 10.

The player who was the most positive surprise for me during this study was Alexander Maltsev who spent alot more time killing penalties throughout his career than I had expected. Just like many other Soviet greats Maltsev largely built his penalty killing on puck possession but for a player who does not have much of a defensive reputation his performance in his own zone while shorthanded also impressed me. Other players who were positive surprises for me was Victor Shalimov and Vladimir Vikulov. Especially Shalimov who was top 2 in shorthanded ice time during 4 tournaments/series with the national team.

The players who on the other hand surprised me the most in a negative way were probably Sergey Kapustin and (relatively speaking) Vladimir Shadrin. While Shadrin was one of the greatest Soviet penalty killers during the 72-77 timeframe and his performance in the 1976 WOG game against Czechoslovakia was absolutely incredible I had still expected more from him. Perhaps my expectations were too high but having that game in mind before doing this study I expected Shadrin to be among the 5-10 players who would impress me the most and he did not really meet those expectations.

Regarding Kapustin I was already aware of that he did not spend that much time on the penalty kill but I had still expected him to rank somewhat higher in the Soviet penalty killing hierarchy than he did during this sample. On both of the two great lines that Kapustin played (Kapustin-Zhluktov-Balderis and Kapustin-Shepelev-Shalimov) he was clearly the player who logged the least amount of shorthanded ice time. When it comes to his actual performance when he did kill penalties I don't have many complaints though.

I guess that some might wonder why I included the Super Series stats of CSKA Moscow but not of other Soviet club teams. The reason is simply that the competition for the spots on the CSKA penalty kill in my opinion was close enough to the competition on the national team for me to include the stats here. At the time of the 85/86 and 88/89 Super Series CSKA had all of the 4 greatest penalty killers from the national team (Makarov, Krutov, Bykov and Khomutov) with only Svetlov and Semenov playing on another team out of the top penalty killers. At the time of the 75/76 and 79/80 Super Series some of the top penalty killers from the national team were on other teams though. Shadrin and Shalimov were among the very greatest penalty killers on the national team at the time of the 75/76 series and the Golikov brothers were probably the greatest penalty killers on the national team at the time of the 79/80 series. Still the competition on CSKA during that time was very strong with all of Zhluktov, Mikhailov and Petrov being among the top penalty killers of that time frame.

Edit: Just realized that I had missed to include one goal against for Makarov and Yashin at the 1989 WHC. Now both this post and the goal differential post is updated.

Click to read more...

 

[seventieslord]

This is awesome. I hope someone compiles it all into a table.

This data would be really useful for the ATD/MLD. I think we have very little to go by in many cases with regards to a soviet forward's defensive value, so we often assume neutral/one-dimensional or we take a couple quotes and potentially extrapolate too far. This data will, at the very least, show which soviets are cut out for ATD/MLD/AAA level PK duty, and give us at least a sense, at least another source, that says some coaches valued these guys for their defensive instincts. Whether that moves the needle on their even strength defensive value in people's minds remains to be seen, but it definitely adds PK value.

Zhluktov at first glance looks pretty good.​

 

[Batis]

Here are the goal differential stats of players with more than 20 minutes of total shorthanded ice time.

1. Irek Gimaev 0 (0-0) over 24 min, 51 sec
2. Sergey Makarov -2 (9-11) over 117 min, 16 sec, -1 every 58 min, 38 sec
3. Valery Kharlamov -1 (1-2) over 30 min, 43 sec
4. Victor Shalimov -1 (2-3) over 28 min, 42 sec
5. Vladimir Petrov -2 (5-7) over 55 min, 24 sec, -1 every 27 min, 42 sec
6. Alexander Golikov -1 (1-2) over 22 min, 38 sec
7. Vladimir Krutov -5 (7-12) over 101 min, 1 sec, -1 every 20 min, 12 sec
8. Andrey Khomutov -5 (2-7) over 91 min, 1 sec, -1 every 18 min, 12 sec
9. Alexander Maltsev -2 (0-2) over 34 min, 26 sec, -1 every 17 min, 13 sec
10. Sergey Svetlov -3 (2-5) over 43 min, 34 sec, -1 every 14 min, 31 sec
11. Alexander Skvortsov -2 (1-3) over 28 min, 37 sec, -1 every 14 min, 19 sec
12. Vyacheslav Bykov -7 (3-10) over 97 min, 53 sec, -1 every 13 min, 59 sec
13. Yevgeny Mishakov -2 (1-3) over 26 min, 24 sec, -1 every 13 min, 12 sec
14. Vladimir Golikov -3 (0-3) over 39 min, 15 sec, -1 every 13 min, 5 sec
15. Vyacheslav Starshinov -2 (0-2) over 24 min, 59 sec, -1 every 12 min, 30 sec
16. Anatoly Semenov -3 (2-5) over 32 min, 43 sec, -1 every 10 min, 54 sec
17. Boris Mikhailov -6 (4-10) over 60 min, 50 sec, -1 every 10 min, 8 sec
18. Vladimir Shadrin -3 (0-3) over 25 min, 52 sec, -1 every 8 min, 37 sec
19. Igor Larionov -4 (1-5) over 31 min, 56 sec, -1 every 7 min, 59 sec
20. Viktor Zhluktov -10 (0-10) over 60 min, 54 sec, -1 every 6 min, 5 sec
21. Vladimir Vikulov -5 (0-5) over 29 min, 44 sec, -1 every 5 min, 57 sec

While it obviously is very impressive that Irek Gimaev had a goal differential of 0 over 24 minutes and 51 seconds of shorthanded ice I would still say that Vladimir Petrov and especially Sergey Makarov were the most impressive players from a goal differential perspective.

Sergey Makarovs goal differential of -2 over 117 minutes and 16 seconds of shorthanded ice time is an absolutely incredible stat.

Vladimir Petrovs -2 over 55 minutes and 24 seconds is also extremely impressive and an indication of his all-around ability as a penalty killer. Truly great both with and without the puck.

Outside of Makarov, Petrov and Gimaev other players with very impressive goal differential stats were Shalimov, Kharlamov and A.Golikov who all were -1 over ice times in the 20-30 minutes range. In that group I would also include Krutov and Khomutov who averaged -1 every 20 min, 12 sec and 18 min, 12 sec over a very large sample of shorthanded ice time.

The players with somewhat weaker goal differential stats were Shadrin, Larionov, Zhluktov and Vikulov. Since Zhluktov has such a large sample of ice time I think that his goal differential stats are stronger than the others in that group. If we only look at the 1981 Canada Cup, 1982 WHC, 82/83 Super Series and 1983 WHC for example Zhluktov has -1 over more than 26 minutes.

And here are some players with very impressive goal differential stats over ice times in the 5-20 minutes range.

1. Sergey Nemshinov +1 (2-1) over 16 min, 37 sec
2. Ilya Byakin +1 (1-0) over 13 min, 44 sec
3. Alexander Semak +1 (1-0) over 10 min, 14 sec
4. Yevgeny Davydov +1 (1-0) over 6 min, 43 sec
5. Victor Polupanov +1 (1-0) over 5 min, 48 sec
6. Anatoly Firsov 0 (1-1) over 17 min, 50 sec
7. Sergey Shepelev 0 (0-0) over 17 min, 29 sec
8. Sergey Fedorov 0 (1-1) over 14 min, 37 sec
9. Victor Tyumenev 0 (1-1) over 12 min, 30 sec
10. Alexander Almetov 0 (0-0) over 11 min, 42 sec
11. Mikhail Vasiliev 0 (0-0) over 10 min, 21 sec
12. Nikolay Drozdetsky 0 (0-0) over 10 min, 18 sec
13. Vladimir Kovin 0 (1-1) over 9 min, 7 sec
14. Yury Khmylev 0 (1-1) over 8 min, 51 sec
15. Konstantin Loktev 0 (0-0) over 7 min, 39 sec
16. Sergey Kapustin 0 (1-1) over 5 min, 21 sec

While it of course is impossible to know if they would be able to keep these numbers up over a larger sample many of these goal differential stats really impressed me. And the numbers are especially interesting for the top players of the 60's (Firsov, Almetov and Loktev) since it was very hard to come up to the 20 minute mark of total shorthanded ice time for a player of that era and that those players all are top 10 all-time Soviet penalty killer in my opinion.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Stylistic contrast between the 1960s players used to kill penalties and the post 1960s players reflects the 1969 IIHF rule change which allowed icing on the PK. Petrov and Mikhailov were puck movement players while Almetov, Firsov and Loktov were puck possession types, necessary to gain the center Red Line before dumping the puck.

 

[seventieslord]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the goal differential numbers without knowing more info. They are such small samples and obviously the competition was highly variable. Being only -1 in 20 games mostly against canada/Cze is much different from being only -1 in 20 games mostly against germany and finland.

But as far as usage goes, strictly from a "here's proof of who they used on the penalty kill", I think it's absolutely reliable, because it probably wouldn't change significantly based on competition.

 

[Batis]

This is awesome. I hope someone compiles it all into a table.

This data would be really useful for the ATD/MLD. I think we have very little to go by in many cases with regards to a soviet forward's defensive value, so we often assume neutral/one-dimensional or we take a couple quotes and potentially extrapolate too far. This data will, at the very least, show which soviets are cut out for ATD/MLD/AAA level PK duty, and give us at least a sense, at least another source, that says some coaches valued these guys for their defensive instincts. Whether that moves the needle on their even strength defensive value in people's minds remains to be seen, but it definitely adds PK value.

Zhluktov at first glance looks pretty good.​

Yes Zhluktov really impressed me. His consistency of being a top 4 penalty killer on both the Soviet national team and CSKA Moscow over a long time period (1976-1983) is really impressive.

 

[overpass]

Any observations on which players played the first shift against the opposing first PO unit, and which players played the end of the penalty kill against second units or tired first units? I think that’s the single biggest factor from a strength of competition perspective, and it can make a big difference in the goal differential stats.

Makarov’s stats would be much more impressive if they were compiled while facing opposing first units (although they are impressive either way).

Not asking you to do more work as you have already done a lot of great work here, just wondering if you made any observations along these lines.

 

[seventieslord]

Any observations on which players played the first shift against the opposing first PO unit, and which players played the end of the penalty kill against second units or tired first units? I think that’s the single biggest factor from a strength of competition perspective, and it can make a big difference in the goal differential stats.

bigger than the team they're lining up against?

 

[Batis]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the goal differential numbers without knowing more info. They are such small samples and obviously the competition was highly variable. Being only -1 in 20 games mostly against canada/Cze is much different from being only -1 in 20 games mostly against germany and finland.

But as far as usage goes, strictly from a "here's proof of who they used on the penalty kill", I think it's absolutely reliable, because it probably wouldn't change significantly based on competition.

Agreed. On my ranking lists which will be posted later on I focused almost exclusively on usage and the eye-test. Still I think that for players with very impressive stats over a rather large sample size of ice time (like Makarov and Petrov) I think that it can be used as an indication of their ability to control the flow of the game even while shorthanded. Especially since the vast majority of these games were against the stronger hockey nations or NHL-teams.

 

[overpass]

bigger than the team they're lining up against?

In the NHL, yes. Might be different for international play though.

I think it’s more likely that the same penalty kill units would play all opponents and the same forward pairs would tend to play the first shift and second shift, with some variation depending on who was just on the ice. If I’m wrong and some players played only against weak teams or strong teams, that would certainly be a big factor.

 

[seventieslord]

Here are the goal differential stats of players with more than 20 minutes of total shorthanded ice time.

1. Irek Gimaev 0 (0-0) over 23 min, 43 sec
2. Sergey Makarov -1 (9-10) over 114 min, 9 sec
3. Vladimir Petrov -1 (5-6) over 53 min, 24 sec
4. Victor Shalimov -1 (2-3) over 28 min, 42 sec
5. Valery Kharlamov -1 (1-2) over 28 min, 17 sec
6. Alexander Golikov -1 (1-2) over 22 min, 38 sec
7. Vladimir Krutov -5 (7-12) over 98 min, 19 sec, -1 every 19 min, 40 sec
8. Alexander Maltsev -2 (0-2) over 34 min, 26 sec, -1 every 17 min, 13 sec
9. Andrey Khomutov -5 (2-7) over 85 min, 46 sec, -1 every 17 min, 9 sec
10. Sergey Svetlov -3 (2-5) over 43 min, 34 sec, -1 every 14 min, 31 sec
11. Alexander Skvortsov -2 (1-3) over 27 min, 49 sec, -1 every 13 min, 55 sec
12. Vyacheslav Bykov -7 (3-10) over 94 min, 29 sec, -1 every 13 min, 30 sec
13. Yevgeny Mishakov -2 (1-3) over 26 min, 24 sec, -1 every 13 min, 12 sec
14. Vladimir Golikov -3 (0-3) over 39 min, 15 sec, -1 every 13 min, 5 sec
15. Vyacheslav Starshinov -2 (0-2) over 24 min, 59 sec, -1 every 12 min, 30 sec
16. Boris Mikhailov -5 (4-9) over 58 min, 26 sec, -1 every 11 min, 41 sec
17. Anatoly Semenov -3 (2-5) over 32 min, 43 sec, -1 every 10 min, 54 sec
18. Vladimir Shadrin -3 (0-3) over 24 min, 13 sec, -1 every 8 min, 4 sec
19. Igor Larionov -4 (1-5) over 31 min, 56 sec, -1 every 7 min, 59 sec
20. Viktor Zhluktov -10 (0-10) over 60 min, 39 sec, -1 every 6 min, 4 sec
21. Vladimir Vikulov -5 (0-5) over 28 min, 31 sec, -1 every 5 min, 42 sec

could you insert GP into these numbers? It would be nice to see their "usage per game" all in one place.

 

[Batis]

Any observations on which players played the first shift against the opposing first PO unit, and which players played the end of the penalty kill against second units or tired first units? I think that’s the single biggest factor from a strength of competition perspective, and it can make a big difference in the goal differential stats.

Makarov’s stats would be much more impressive if they were compiled while facing opposing first units (although they are impressive either way).

Not asking you to do more work as you have already done a lot of great work here, just wondering if you made any observations along these lines.

Since the Soviet players generally took pretty long shifts on the penalty kill the general rule of thumb that can be used is that the players who had the most ice time during that tournament also most of the time took the first shift on the penalty kill. So the players who were dominant when it comes to ice time finishes during their era like Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Firsov, Mikhailov, Petrov, V Golikov, Zhluktov, Makarov and Krutov most of the time went up against the opponents first units.

Regarding Makarov it should be noted that he averaged 2 minutes and 19 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game in the 10 games against NHL-All Star level teams (8 games against best on best Team Canada and 2 games against the NHL-All Star team) during the 1981-1987 time period. In those games he was in on 3 goals forward and 5 goals against while mainly playing against power play units such as Gretzky, Trottier, Bossy, Lafleur, Potvin or Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque, Coffey or Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Bourque, Wilson. So in games against teams that did not hold NHL-All Star team level but still mostly high international or NHL-class Makarov actually had a positive goal differential.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threa...ling-a-video-study-of-the-green-unit.2181483/ In this thread you can watch some examples of Makarov and Krutov killing penalties against powerplay units such as the ones mentioned earlier in this post.

 

[Batis]

could you insert GP into these numbers? It would be nice to see their "usage per game" all in one place.

I can do that later on. Although it should be noted that a number of the games used in this study only are partial games (1 or 2 periods) so using per game numbers of the entire time frame will most of the time not be that accurate. So how high they ranked in the penalty killing hierarchy during the tournaments they played in is probably more telling than per game ice time for this reason.

I can add a list of the games used in the study later on as well. With information on which of them are partial games.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Any observations on which players played the first shift against the opposing first PO unit, and which players played the end of the penalty kill against second units or tired first units? I think that’s the single biggest factor from a strength of competition perspective, and it can make a big difference in the goal differential stats.

Makarov’s stats would be much more impressive if they were compiled while facing opposing first units (although they are impressive either way).

Not asking you to do more work as you have already done a lot of great work here, just wondering if you made any observations along these lines.

Also knowing the forward and defencemen combos would help tremendously in this regard. Even though the study has a focus on forwards, the structure of the 4 man PK unit would reveal a lot.

 

[Canadiens1958]

bigger than the team they're lining up against?

Yes because a PK is usually divided into two segments, first and second half. The idea is to get to the second half and pass the responsibilities to the second unit.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Since the Soviet players generally took pretty long shifts on the penalty kill the general rule of thumb that can be used is that the players who had the most ice time during that tournament also most of the time took the first shift on the penalty kill. So the players who were dominant when it comes to ice time finishes during their era like Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Firsov, Mikhailov, Petrov, V Golikov, Zhluktov, Makarov and Krutov most of the time went up against the opponents first units.

Regarding Makarov it should be noted that he averaged 2 minutes and 19 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game in the 10 games against NHL-All Star level teams (8 games against best on best Team Canada and 2 games against the NHL-All Star team) during the 1981-1987 time period. In those games he was in on 3 goals forward and 5 goals against while mainly playing against power play units such as Gretzky, Trottier, Bossy, Lafleur, Potvin or Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque, Coffey or Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Bourque, Wilson. So in games against teams that did not hold NHL-All Star team level but still mostly high international or NHL-class Makarov actually had a positive goal differential.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threa...ling-a-video-study-of-the-green-unit.2181483/ In this thread you can watch some examples of Makarov and Krutov killing penalties against powerplay units such as the ones mentioned earlier in this post.

Isolated stat difficult to analyze since the average number of Soviet PK time is not known on a per game basis.

 

[seventieslord]

Yes because a PK is usually divided into two segments, first and second half. The idea is to get to the second half and pass the responsibilities to the second unit.

yeah but when we're talking about international hockey, where they can be up against canada or Germany, competition level based on team is going to impact the numbers much more than who was 1st or 2nd unit.

A player who did nothing but play 2nd unit against Canada is going to get scored on a lot more than a player who did nothing but play 1st unit against Germany.

 

[Namba 17]

This is absolutely great effort! Thank you very much!

 

[Namba 17]

WHC 1986
1. ...
8. Vasely Pervukhin: 4 gp, 2 min, 17 sec, 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Does this mean, that Soviets played 3 d-men PK? Because I don't remember Pervukhin played forward ever.
(Konstantinov played C sometimes early in his career and Gimayev did played both F and D position)

 

[Namba 17]

These 10 players who were the leading penalty killers over a significant time period (Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Firsov, Mikhailov, Petrov, V Golikov, Zhluktov, Makarov and Krutov) would probably be my top 10 greatest Soviet penalty killing forwards with Bykov being the strongest other candidate for the top 10.

The player who was the most positive surprise for me during this study was Alexander Maltsev who spent alot more time killing penalties throughout his career than I had expected. Just like many other Soviet greats Maltsev largely built his penalty killing on puck possession but for a player who does not have much of a defensive reputation his performance in his own zone while shorthanded also impressed me. Other players who were positive surprises for me was Victor Shalimov and Vladimir Vikulov. Especially Shalimov who was top 2 in shorthanded ice time during 4 tournaments/series with the national team.

The players who on the other hand surprised me the most in a negative way were probably Sergey Kapustin and (relatively speaking) Vladimir Shadrin. While Shadrin was one of the greatest Soviet penalty killer during the 72-77 timeframe and his performance in the 1976 WOG game against Czechoslovakia was absolutely incredible I had still expected more from him. Perhaps my expectations were too high but having that game in mind before doing this study I expected Shadrin to be among the 5-10 players who would impress me the most and he really did not meet those expectations.

Regarding Kapustin I was already aware of that he did not spend that much time on the penalty kill but I had still expected him to rank somewhat higher in the Soviet penalty killing hierarchy than he did during this sample. On both of the two great lines that Kapustin played (Kapustin-Zhluktov-Balderis and Kapustin-Shepelev-Shalimov) he was clearly the player who logged the least amount of shorthanded ice time. When it comes to his actual performance when he did kill penalties I don't have many complaints though.

I guess that some might wonder why I included the Super Series stats of CSKA Moscow but not of other Soviet club teams. The reason is simply that the competition for the spots on the CSKA penalty kill in my opinion was close enough to the competition on the national team for me to include the stats here. At the time of the 85/86 and 88/89 Super Series CSKA had all of the 4 greatest penalty killers from the national team (Makarov, Krutov, Bykov and Khomutov) with only Svetlov and Semenov playing on another team out of the top penalty killers. At the time of the 75/76 and 79/80 Super Series some of the top penalty killers from the national team were on other teams though. Shadrin and Shalimov were among the very greatest penalty killers on the national team at the time of the 75/76 series and the Golikov brothers were probably the greatest penalty killers on the national team at the time of the 79/80 series. Still the competition on CSKA during that time was very strong with all of Zhluktov, Mikhailov and Petrov being among the top penalty killers of that time frame.

It seems to me, that Soviets didn't have the concept of the special teams. I need to research more Soviet theory about that, but eye test and your numbers tell that the basic idea was to use players, who were the best "in general" ATM (and in both PP and PK, BTW). It means, that Soviet coaches believed, that every player should be good in any part of the rink. Off course, it doesn't mean, that personal features were ignored - we may see Mishakov and Gimayev, who were never considered top-payers, as top-PK players (although even then not always) and we may clearly see preferences between top-players (Shalimov over Kapustin).
This is explained, say, Shadrin's PK time - usually, he was considered as 2-nd Soviet C behind Petrov and that's why spent less PK time (in general).
Soviets played "total" hockey, where Fs (including top ones) should played both defense and offense with the same desire and quality. It differs from NA concept, especially modern, after salary cap. Add here typical 2000s stereotype about one-dimensional Russian forwards and you understand why Soviet PK-time was so surprising for the most.

 

[Batis]

Does this mean, that Soviets played 3 d-men PK? Because I don't remember Pervukhin played forward ever.
(Konstantinov played C sometimes early in his career and Gimayev did played both F and D position)

Pervukhin actually played forward on a line with Svetlov and Yashin during much of the 1986 WHC.

 

[Namba 17]

Pervukhin actually played forward on a line with Svetlov and Yashin during much of the 1986 WHC.

Thank! Yes, now I found that he played some final games as a forward (due to some injury, may be?) 1986 Чемпионат Мира и Европы: СССР (Москва) - Форум хоккейных статистиков им. Виктора Малеванного
Interesting, that we may see Konstantinov and Pervukhin both played forwards in the same tournament

 

[Theokritos]

This year I have been working on a study of the penalty killing of Soviet forwards during the time frame 1960-1990. (...)

Thank you very much for the work!

Seeing Starshinov and Loktev among the top penalty killers in the 1960s isn't surprising when you consider all the quotes by Tarasov & Co that highlight their defensive qualities. Almetov, too, isn't a surprise despite of his noted defensive shortcomings at even strength: as mentioned before, his puck possession skill made him a valuable penalty killer, in particular back in the era when you couldn't just ice the puck. Firsov probably combines puck possession skill with general defensive effort throughout the game.

One player from the same era we've also seen singled out for his penalty killing and his defensive play in general is Viktor Yakushev. If he doesn't feature too prominently in your list, it's probably because you weren't able to review game footage from the 1963, 1965 and 1966 World Championships. It's also possible that Chernyshov and Tarasov preferred to have him on the ice in something of a checking role at even strength, but that's not much more than an assumption on my part, at least at this point in time.

Since the number of tournaments with available video footage varies much between the 60's and the 70's and 80's I decided that I was going to rank the players based on eras. One group will be the players who had the majority of their primes in the 60's up until the early 70's. The next group will be the players with the majority of their primes in the 70's up until the early 80's and the last group the players from the 80's. On these ranking lists I will also go more into analysing the penalty killing of each individual player while also including some video evidence. These ranking lists will be posted over the coming month/s since they are not completed yet.

Looking forward to it.

 

[Batis]

One player from the same era we've also seen singled out for his penalty killing and his defensive play in general is Viktor Yakushev. If he doesn't feature too prominently in your list, it's probably because you weren't able to review game footage from the 1963, 1965 and 1966 World Championships. It's also possible that Chernyshov and Tarasov preferred to have him on the ice in something of a checking role at even strength, but that's not much more than an assumption on my part, at least at this point in time.

Good that you brought this up since I forgot to add that when doing the ranking lists I also roughly estimated how the players may have finished in the tournaments where we don't have any footage based on how they did in the surrounding tournaments, their penalty killing reputation and which other forward they probably mainly killed penalties with during that tournament. This was of course more important when ranking the players who had their prime in the 60's/early 70's since we have footage from every tournament from 1976 and forward. For Victor Yakushev my estimations for those "missing" tournaments look something like this.

At the 1963 WHC I believe that Yakushev replaced the suspended Loktev on the top penalty killing forward pairing with Almetov since Yakushev replaced Loktev on that line and their other linemate Alexandrov neither does have a reputation for killing penalties nor spent much time on the penalty kill in the available footage. This is also supported by that Yakushev was the player who mainly killed penalties with Almetov during the 1967 WHC even if Alexandrov also got some shorthanded ice time. My estimation for the 1963 WHC is that Yakushev was a top 2 penalty killer with the most likely position being 2nd in shorthanded ice time since it is possible that Alexandrov also got some time with Almetov.

At the 1965 WHC I believe that Yakushev mainly killed penalties with Firsov just like he did at the 1964 Olympics since they again played on the same line at even strenght. Considering that Yakushev-Firsov was the 2nd most used forward pairing at the 1964 Olympics (behind Loktev-Almetov) I think that it is likely that they were the same during this tournament as well even if Starshinov-Mayorov was another strong pairing. So my estimate is that Yakushev was a top 4 penalty killer during this tournament.

Estimating how much time Yakushev spent on the penalty kill at the 1966 WHC is far more difficult. First and foremost because Yakushev during that tournament played on a line with Starshinov and B. Mayorov who formed a strong penalty killing pairing themselves. Is it possible that Yakushev took Mayorovs spot on that pairing? Perhaps it is but I find it unlikely considering the Starshinov-Mayorov chemistry. Then I find it more likely that Yakushev mainly killed penalties with Firsov again. While the Soviet penalty killing forward pairings most of the time played on the same line it also happened with pairings with players from different lines. And while Firsovs linemates Vikulov and Polupanov both were strong penalty killers and both spent much time with Firsov while shorthanded during the late 60's they were also very young at the time of the 1966 WHC. So I find it pretty likely that the coaches may have gone with a more experienced penalty killer like Yakushev who also had played with Firsov in the past. If Yakushev (which still is a rather big if) spent much time with Firsov on the penalty kill during this tournament I think that it is very likely that he finished very high in shorthanded ice time since Firsov very well may have been the top Soviet penalty killer at that point in time. To be conservative and because of the uncertainties I still only estimated a top 6-8 finish after the Firsov, Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Mayorov group and in competition with Polupanov and Vikulov in this tournament.

At the 1959 WHC I estimated a top 3 finish for Yakushev in competition with Loktev and Groshev for the top spots. At the 1961 WHC I conservatively estimated a top 6 finish for Yakushev behind the Loktev-Almetov and Starshinov-Mayorov pairings since Yakushev did not have any noted penalty killer to play with on his line.

This is of course all pure guesswork but I still felt that it was useful to make some estimations in my head for the "missing" tournaments outside of only using the available data as well as reputation and the eye-test when ranking the 60's generation. I obviously put more weight on the actual data and available footage than this guesswork though but I also tried to weigh it in when ranking the players.

 

[Batis]

Yesterday I realized that I had managed to forget to estimate the ice times from one available game namely the 8-1 game between USSR and Canada from the 1977 WHC. For some reason I had forgotten that the game in question was available on youtube. I have now estimated the ice times for that game and updated the list for the WHC 1977.

I will also update the goal differential post. This game also gives another indication of why we should not put too much stock on exactly where a player ranked when it comes to goal differential over this relatively small sample considering that Petrov only needed 22 seconds of shorthanded ice time during this game to go from -1 over 53 min, 24 sec to -2 over 53 min, 46 sec.