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

MaxV

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It's a big advantage of having your top player being able to kill penalties.

You don't have to bring players like Telegin, Kulemin and Andronov. You just put together a roster of nothing but your best.
 
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Batis

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I have finally managed to finish the first of my ranking lists namely the one of the players who had the majority of their primes in the 60's up until the early 70's (ca 1960-1972 time frame). I want to point out that this obviously is my subjective ranking of the penalty killing of these forwards.

When making these ranking lists I have taken into account both usage and my eye-test of the players performances as well as previous penalty killing reputation. Originally I was going to rank 10 players from each era but since only 8 players really stood out in the available footage from this era I decided to make this list a bit shorter. That we have available footage from fewer tournaments during this time frame than during the 70's and especially the 80's obviously makes it somewhat more difficult to rank these players since the need to speculate increases. However I still do think that this study has given me far more insight into the penalty killing of Soviet forwards during this time frame as well.

Anyway here is the ranking list with some video examples of their penalty killing performances.

1. Alexander Almetov

Ice time finishes: Tied for 1st at the 1960 WOG, Tied for 1st at the 1964 WOG, 4th at the 1967 WHC

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 0 goals against over 11 min, 42 sec

Alexander Almetov played on the leading Soviet penalty killing forward pairing of the first half of the 60's alongside Konstantin Loktev. Having already read relatively much about Almetovs abilities while playing shorthanded he was one of the players who I expected to do very well statistically before doing the study and he definitely lived up to the expectations. First completely dominant in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and still among the leading penalty killers during his last international tournament in 1967.

Almetov was a cerebral player with a very high hockey-iq. He never seemed to lose his composure with the puck even when playing shorthanded. While Loktev most of the time was the more noticable player with his skating, stickhandling and intensive style of play both with and without the puck I still felt as if Almetov was just as an important part of the pair. And what a penalty killing forward pairing they were with the way their skillsets perfectly complemented each other. So much so that they even may rival Krutov-Makarov as the greatest pairing in my opinion. I would still rank the 80's pair ahead since they time and time again showed that they could work their penalty killing magic against powerplay units consisting of many of the greatest players of all time but Almetov-Loktev is up there with them near the top when it comes to Soviet penalty killing based on the small sample I have seen.

At the 1967 WHC Almetov showed that he was able to be very effective without Loktev as well. During that tournament he mainly killed penalties with V. Yakushev. And Almetovs goal differential stats was also strong as he was not on the ice for a single goal against over 11 minutes and 42 seconds of shorthanded ice time in total.



Great shorthanded shift from the Almetov-Loktev pairing against USA at the 1960 Olympics.



Here Almetov again shows his composure with the puck against Czechoslovakia at the 1967 WHC. Later in the shift Almetov covers up for his teammates and is the last man back for the Soviets.



Here Almetov has a strong shift killing off the beginning of a 3 on 5 against Czechoslovakia at the 1967 WHC.
 
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Batis

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2. Konstantin Loktev

Ice time finishes: Tied for 1st at the 1960 WOG, Tied for 1st at the 1964 WOG

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 0 goals against over 7 min, 39 sec

As mentioned above Loktevs intensive style both with and without the puck was one of the things that made him so effective on the penalty kill. Loktev often put intense pressure on the opponents and his very strong skating and tendency to never hold back in physical battles made him very effective at this. And when Loktev had the puck on his stick he was a real nightmare for the powerplay units since he was so quick and agile with his skating and stickhandling which made catching him very difficult. As if this was not enough he was also very clever with the puck and always seemed to know when it was time to pass the puck to a teammate and when it was time to rag the puck himself.

I view Loktev as being on the same level as Almetov when it comes to penalty killing. Based on the the small available sample of footage from when they played together I might even give Loktev a small edge. That Almetov seemingly has a higher reputation for his penalty killing (even if Loktev has a high reputation for his defensive play) still made me rank him slightly ahead on this list. But this was pretty much a coinflip.



Here Loktev makes an absolutely brilliant rush with the puck at the end of a boxplay against USA at the 1960 Olympics.



After some strong initial pressure from the powerplay unit Loktev makes some great moves to kill off time with some help from Almetov and Sologubov against USA at the 1960 Olympics.



Another strong shorthanded shift from the Loktev-Almetov pairing against Canada at the 1964 Olympics.
 
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Batis

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3. Vyacheslav Starshinov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1968 WOG, Tied for 1st at the 1970 WHC, 2nd at the 1967 WHC, 3rd at the 1969 WHC, Tied for 5th at the 1964 WOG, 6th at the 1972 Summit Series

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 2 goals against over 24 min, 59 sec, -1 every 12 min, 30 sec

Vyacheslav Starshinov was along with Anatoly Firsov the greatest Soviet penalty killing forward of the second half of the 60's. He formed a great forward pairing with Boris Mayorov during the 60's and while both players excelled at penalty killing Starshinov was still clearly the leader of the pairing. Then at the 1970 WHC Starshinov played with Maltsev and showed that he still was a force to be reckoned with by leading that tournament in shorthanded ice time.

Starshinov had a work ethic that I have not seen in many players which combined with his strenght and determination made him capable of winning so many important battles. While Starshinovs penalty killing mainly was built on outworking and outmuscling his opponents he could also play keep-away with puck at an high level which of course pretty much was a must before the 1969 rule change. I would not say that his puck possession was on the level of Firsov, Loktev or Almetov though. But all in all I would say that he was one of the most all-around penalty killers that the Soviets ever had. Starshinov was also absolutely brilliant while killing penalties 3 on 5.

And even if Starshinov clearly was out of his prime during the 1972 Summit Series he still showed some strong penalty killing in the one game he played in. So Starshinov seems to have had very strong longevity as a penalty killer as well. In many ways I feel like Starshinov could rank ahead of both Almetov and Loktev on this list but the way those two seems to have totally dominated the Soviet penalty killing in the first half of the 60's puts them slightly ahead for me. But ask me again tomorrow and I may have changed my mind. It really is that close in my opinion.



Starshinov has a great 3 on 5 shift against Sweden at the 1968 Olympics where he manages to both run into "Honken" Holmqvist early on and then later make a great defensive play to break up a Swedish attack.



Here Starshinov does a great job killing off some time on a 3 on 4 against West Germany at the 1968 Olympics. After Firsov has come on to the ice to make it a 4 on 5 the puck possession exhibition continues. Yes the opposition is definitely subpar here but still some impressive puck skills from the Soviet team.



A strong shift from Starshinov against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series. First Starshinov intercepts a pass from Mikita and gives Kharlamov a chance to counterattack and then he stays on the ice and also kills off some time on the penalty with Mishakov later in the shift.
 
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Batis

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4. Anatoly Firsov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1967 WHC, 2nd at the 1969 WHC, Tied for 3rd at the 1964 WOG, Tied for 3rd at the 1968 WOG, Tied for 3rd at the 1972 WOG

Overall stats: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against over 18 min, 21 sec

Anatoly Firsov was such a talented, elegant and intelligent player that he at times could make playing shorthanded look like the easiest thing in the world. In this I include both his ability to play keep-away with the puck and his ability to pick the pocket of the opponents. Based on the available sample I would also say that Firsov just like Starshinov probably belongs among the very greatest Soviet forwards of all time when it comes to killing penalties 3 on 5.

Firsovs goal differential stats of 1 goal forward and 1 goal against over 18 minutes and 21 seconds of shorthanded ice time is also impressive and an indication of his ability to frustrate the opponents powerplay units with his combination of skating, stickhandling (both offensively and defensively), creative passing and hard work.

While I do rank Almetov, Loktev and Starshinov ahead of Firsov when it comes to penalty killing he is definitely not far behind them and at his absolute best moments he may very well have been the most outstanding Soviet penalty killer of the 60's.



Brilliant 3 on 5 shift from Firsov against Czechoslovakia at the 1967 WHC where he both plays a strong defensive game, kills off time on the clock with puck possession and even manages to make Nedomansky take a penalty. Yes very cheap penalty call on Nedomansky but still a brilliant shift from Firsov.



Here Firsov almost scores a great shorthanded goal against Czechoslovakia at the 1967 WHC after picking Pospisils pocket.



Another very strong shorthanded shift from Firsov where he on a couple of occasions shows his confidence and skills with the puck. Just look at his trademark move at the end of the shift to skate the puck out of the zone.
 
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Batis

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5. Yevgeny Mishakov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1972 Summit Series, Tied for 1st at the 1972 WOG, Tied for 3rd at the 1968 WOG, Tied for 3rd at the 1970 WHC

Overall stats: 1 goal forward and 3 goals against over 27 min, 53 sec

Yevgeny Mishakovs performance at the 1972 Summit Series is in my opinion up there near the top when it comes to Soviet penalty killing performances. Mishakov led the Soviet forwards in shorthanded ice time by a landslide margin even if he only played in 6 games compared to all of his main competitors 8 games. His very strong performance against the best players that the NHL had to offer (along with Starshinovs strong shorthanded performance in the one game he played in while out of his prime) does in my opinion also suggest that the rest of the 60's- early 70's generation of penalty killers also could have done very well against the very best of the NHL if more of them had gotten the chance to play them.

Something that really impressed me with Mishakov was his ability to be successful with many different partners. At the 1968 Olympics Mishakov killed penalties with Ionov and Moiseev. At the 1970 WHC Vikulov was his partner and during the 1972 Summit he killed penalties with a large number of players (Shadrin, Petrov, Mikhailov, Starshinov, Kharlamov and Vikulov). In the 6 games that Mishakov played during that series it almost felt like he was on the ice all the time when the Soviets were shorthanded.

Mishakov was a true workhorse on the penalty kill with his combination of physicallity and seemingly endless stamina. He often forechecked the opponents hard to disturb their build-up and then if they got by him used his strong backchecking to get back on the right side of the play.



A very strong shorthanded shift from Mishakov where he shows his entire repertoire (physicallity, forechecking, backchecking and puck skills) against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series.



Another strong shift from Mishakov during the 1972 Summit Series.



Another strong shorthanded shift from Mishakov during the 1972 Summit Series.
 
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Batis

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6. Vladimir Vikulov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1969 WHC, Tied for 3rd at the 1970 WHC, Tied for 3rd at the 1972 WOG, 3rd at the 75/76 Super Series, 4th at the 1972 WHC, Tied for 4th at the 1974 Summit Series, Tied for 4th at 1976 Canada Cup, 7th at the 1972 Summit Series, 8th at the 1967 WHC, 8th at the 1968 WOG

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 5 goals against over 30 min, 15 sec

How high Vladimir Vikulov ranked in ice time during many tournaments and series throughout his career somewhat surprised me. Here we have another player who built much of his penalty killing around puck possession. Additionally he was just like his longtime linemate Firsov an excellent pickpocket.

Vikulov formed very strong penalty killing pairings with first Firsov and then Zhluktov. He also spent relatively much time with Mishakov and Kharlamov on the penalty kill in the time between Firsov and Zhluktov. As evident by this his longevity as a top notch penalty killer was impressive. One knock on Vikulov is that he rarely was the leading player on his forward pairing in my opinion. Even in the tournaments/series (WHC 1969 and Super Series 75/76) where Vikulov had slightly more ice time than Firsov or Zhluktov my impression was always that Firsov and Zhluktov still was the leading penalty killers on the pairing. That is of course only based on my eye-test. Still Vikulov was a great penalty killer with his ability to keep the puck away from his opponents with both his technical skills and his smarts.
Vikulov could probably also have been included on the ranking list of the 70's players but I personally felt that he had the majority of his prime within this time frame (1960-1972). His peak definitely fits in this time frame at least.



Here Vikulov has a strong shift against Czechoslovakia at the 1969 WHC showing both his ability to pickpocket and his puck rushing abilities one on one with Suchy.



Vikulov and Kharlamov combine to keep puck possession against Canada at the 1972 Summit Series after Vikulov started it off by stealing the puck.



Another strong shorthanded shift from Vikulov this time with Zhluktov against Montreal Canadiens at the 75/76 Super Series. Just look at Vikulovs moves at the end of the shift.
 
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Batis

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7. Boris Mayorov

Ice time finishes: 2nd at the 1968 WOG, 3rd at the 1967 WHC, Tied for 5th at the 1964 WOG

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 1 goal against over 13 min, 50 sec,

As mentioned earlier Boris Mayorov formed a great penalty killing forward pairing with Starshinov. And while Starshinov clearly was the superior penalty killer of the two Mayorov was also great in his own right. Mayorov was yet another player who excelled at keeping puck possession while playing shorthanded both by skating with the puck and moving the puck with accurate passes. Starshinov and Mayorov really had great chemistry and their penalty killing performances at the 1968 Olympics were really impressive.



Here Mayorov has a strong shorthanded shift against Czechoslovakia at the 1967 WHC. First he makes a strong defensive play and then he elegantly skates the puck out of his own zone.



Great shorthanded shift from Mayorov against Finland at the 1968 Olympics where he shows his ability to keep the puck away from the opponents with his passing skills and vision.
 
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Batis

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8. Victor Yakushev

Ice time finishes: Tied for 3rd at the 1964 WOG, Tied for 5th at the 1960 WOG, Tied for 5th at the 1967 WHC

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 0 goals against over 3 min, 36 sec

Victor Yakushev was a player who I had expected to finish somewhat higher in ice time during the available tournaments. Still 3rd, 5th, 5th in 3 available tournaments is relatively strong ice time finishes and his documented reputation as a penalty killer does suggest that he probably did pretty well in the tournaments from which we don't have any footage. See my estimations for those tournaments in an earlier post. Perhaps Yakushev was a slightly greater penalty killer than someone like B.Mayorov over the course of their careers but since Mayorov in my opinion was more impressive in the available footage I still ranked him ahead of Yakushev here with the smallest of margins.

Victor Yakushev was another cerebral player who never seemed to lose his composure in high pressure situations. Yakushev was therefore a player who almost always seemed to make the right play on the ice whether it was regarding his defensive positioning or his decision-making with the puck.



Here we can see a great example of Yakushevs ability to stay calm and constructive with the puck which helps the Soviets kill time off a penalty at the end of the game against Canada at the 1964 Olympics.

Some additional comments:

Almetov/Loktev/Starshinov
Firsov
Mishakov
Vikulov
Mayorov/Yakushev

This is pretty much how I view these players when it comes to penalty killing based on what I know about them at the moment.

Almetov, Loktev and Starshinov are in my opinion virtually interchangable as the greatest penalty killing forwards of this time frame with Firsov also being right on their tails.

Then some might wonder why I rank Mishakov ahead of Vikulov considering Vikulovs clear edge when it comes to longevity as a top notch penalty killer. To me this comes down to a combination of that Mishakov in my opinion had a more impressive penalty killing peak and that I felt that Mishakov was very successful being the leading player on a penalty killing forward pairing while Vikulov rarely gave me the impression of being the leader on the penalty kill in the same way.

I would say that this was a very strong group of penalty killing forwards and like I mentioned earlier the brilliant penalty killing performance of Mishakov in the 1972 Summit Series is in my opinion an indication of that the majority of these players could have been able to be successful on the penalty kill even against the best that the NHL had to offer if they would have gotten the chance to do so.
 
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Batis

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As usual, excellent work and highly informative. Thank you very much!

You are very welcome and thank you I appreciate it.

Last year when I still thought that this study would be done already by October I was also thinking about doing a similar study on the penalty killing of Czechoslovakian forwards. That is still in my plans but it will have to wait until these ranking lists are posted and this study is concluded. The problem with a study of the penalty killing of Czechoslovakian forwards will probably be that while we have available footage from a decent amount of tournaments from 1967 and onwards (I am thinking about also including the CSSR-Canada 1972 Post Summit Series game) we still only have footage from one or two games from most of those tournaments. But it would be a interesting study to do since I know far less about the subject beforehand than I did about the Soviet penalty killing.

Some might also wonder why I am focusing more on studying the penalty killing of forwards than defencemen and the answer is simply that estimating ice times for defencemen turned out to far more difficult than for forwards. Especially in the games from which we only have footage of really low level video quality. But if it would be of interest I can do a write-up on the penalty killing of the Soviet defencemen based on my eye-test later on.
 

Canadiens1958

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You are very welcome and thank you I appreciate it.

Last year when I still thought that this study would be done already by October I was also thinking about doing a similar study on the penalty killing of Czechoslovakian forwards. That is still in my plans but it will have to wait until these ranking lists are posted and this study is concluded. The problem with a study of the penalty killing of Czechoslovakian forwards will probably be that while we have available footage from a decent amount of tournaments from 1967 and onwards (I am thinking about also including the CSSR-Canada 1972 Post Summit Series game) we still only have footage from one or two games from most of those tournaments. But it would be a interesting study to do since I know far less about the subject beforehand than I did about the Soviet penalty killing.

Some might also wonder why I am focusing more on studying the penalty killing of forwards than defencemen and the answer is simply that estimating ice times for defencemen turned out to far more difficult than for forwards. Especially in the games from which we only have footage of really low level video quality. But if it would be of interest I can do a write-up on the penalty killing of the Soviet defencemen based on my eye-test later on.

Issue remains how and which forwards and defencemen combined to form PK units.
 
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Batis

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Issue remains how and which forwards and defencemen combined to form PK units.

Since I have not focused that much on the defencemen in this study I can't really give you a very detailed response regarding exactly which defencemen mostly played with which forwards. Two whole units that comes to mind off the top of my head is Fetisov, Kasatonov, Krutov, Makarov and Bilyaletdinov, Pervukhin, V. Golikov, A.Golikov/Maltsev though. But even regarding them my impression is that these units did not always play together either. If I remember correctly Fetisov and Kasatonov played quite much with Bykov and Khomutov during the 1987 Canada Cup for example while Krutov and Makarov spent some time with Stelnov and Gusarov/Pervukhin during that tournament. And Bilyaletdinov and Pervukhin often played with other forwards than the Golikov brothers as well. If you want a more detailed response I can give you one after doing some more research. That will have to wait abit though since I am currently working on the two remaining ranking lists.
 
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Canadiens1958

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Since I have not focused that much on the defencemen in this study I can't really give you a very detailed response regarding exactly which defencemen mostly played with which forwards. Two whole units that comes to mind off the top of my head is Fetisov, Kasatonov, Krutov, Makarov and Bilyaletdinov, Pervukhin, V. Golikov, A.Golikov/Maltsev though. But even regarding them my impression is that these units did not always play together either. If I remember correctly Fetisov and Kasatonov played quite much with Bykov and Khomutov during the 1987 Canada Cup for example while Krutov and Makarov spent some time with Stelnov and Gusarov/Pervukhin during that tournament. And Bilyaletdinov and Pervukhin often played with other forwards than the Golikov brothers as well. If you want a more detailed response I can give you one after doing some more research. That will have to wait abit though since I am currently working on the two remaining ranking lists.

While lacking the numbers and specifics this is precious information since this shows that the Soviets split PK responsibilities so that leading skaters were always on the ice. The usage of the Green Unit in the 1987 Canada Cup illustrates this.
 
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MaxV

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Great work as always, Batis.

Almetov is an interesting case and it's still puzzles me what happened between him and Tarasov.

It doesn't seem like he was some sort of a floater who only cared about offense.

We will probably never know the full story.
 
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Batis

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So here comes the first half of my ranking list of the players who had the majority of their primes during the 70's up until the early 80's (ca 1970-1982). I will post the players ranked in the 6-10 range along with some general comments later in the week. I should probably also mention that I only include top-8 finishes in the list of ice time finishes.

1. Viktor Zhluktov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1982 WHC, 1st at the 1983 WHC, 1st at the 82/83 Super Series, Tied for 2nd at the 1977 WHC, 2nd at the 1980 WOG, 3rd at the 1978 WHC, 3rd at the 1979 WHC, 3rd at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 3rd at the 79/80 Super Series, 4th at the 75/76 Super Series, Tied for 4th at the 1976 Canada Cup, 5th at the 1981 WHC, 5th at the 1981 Canada Cup

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 10 goals against over 60 min, 54 sec

Viktor Zhluktov was consistently one of the top penalty killers over the 1976-1983 time frame. His penalty killing peak came in 1982-1983 when Zhluktov led 3 straight tournaments/series in ice time. One thing that is noteworthy with Zhluktov is that he was a part of 3 different very strong penalty killing forward pairings. First with Vikulov, then with Balderis and finally with Skvortsov. Additionally Zhluktov led one tournament (1982 WHC) in ice time playing with Gimaev and also spent some time with both Makarov and Lebedev as well. So Zhluktov certainly showed that he could excell playing on the penalty kill with a number of different players.

Regarding his playing style Zhluktov mainly built his penalty killing on strong positioning and the ability to win puck battles thanks to his strenght. Compared to many other Soviet forwards who excelled on the penalty kill Zhluktovs big body and somewhat ankward skating style initially made him look almost sluggish to me. But the more I watched Zhluktov on the penalty kill the more his greatness became apparent and it really is easy to understand why the coaches gave him so much shorthanded ice time over the course of his career. And while Zhluktov not may have looked as elegant as many others when he did it he could also at times execute the puck possession tactic.



Truly great shorthanded shift from Zhluktov against Canada at the 1982 WHC. First 4 on 5 and then 3 on 5 without leaving the ice for over 2 minutes. Zhluktov does really well on the faceoffs against Gretzky throughout this shift and plays very solid defensively (except perhaps for that one Hartsburgh rush at the end).



Strong shorthanded shift from the Zhluktov-Balderis pairing against Quebec Nordiques at the 79/80 Super Series.



Here you can see an example of Zhluktov playing keep-away with the puck in a impressive way.
 
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Batis

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2. Vladimir Golikov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1980 WOG, 1st at the 1981 WHC, 1st at the 1981 Canada Cup, 2nd at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 2nd at the 1979 WHC, 3rd at the 1982 WHC, 6th at the 1976 WHC, 7th at the 1978 WHC

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 3 goals against over 39 min, 15 sec

Vladimir Golikovs penalty killing peak measures up very well to that of any other Soviet forward in my opinion. In 1979-1981 Golikov finished 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd and 2nd in the tournaments he played in. In the late 70's Golikov formed a truly great penalty killing forward pairing with his brother Alexander and in the early 80's Golikov mainly killed penalties with Maltsev. When Maltsev got injured at the 1981 Canada Cup Golikov instead formed a strong pairing with Gimaev and at the 1980 Olympics Golikov took shorthanded shifts with both his brother and Makarov. So just like Zhluktov did Golikov also showed that he could have great success with many different players.

Vladimir Golikov mainly built his penalty killing on very strong forechecking to disturb the build-up of the powerplay and strong positional play in his own zone. Especially when the Golikov brother killed penalties together they put such forechecking pressure on the opponents that the powerplay units often struggled to even gain the zone. And when they did V. Golikov was as mentioned very positionally sound as well.

So how does V. Golikov compare to Zhluktov when it comes to penalty killing? I would say that Golikov very well may have peaked even higher than Zhluktov but in my opinion Zhluktovs consistency over a long time period while having a comparable peak puts him ahead of Golikov.



Great 3 on 5 shift from Golikov against Canada at the 1982 WHC clearing the puck his own zone 3 times.



Great shorthanded shift from Golikov and Makarov against Sweden at the 1980 Olympics.



Very strong shift from the Golikov brothers (plus Pervukhin and Bilyaletdinov) against the NHL All-Stars at the 1979 Challenge Cup. (See more examples of these kind of shifts from the brothers in the Alexander Golikov post)
 
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Batis

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3. Boris Mikhailov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 75/76 Super Series, 1st at the 1978 WHC, 1st at the 79/80 Super Series, 2nd at the 1972 WHC, 2nd at the 1974 Summit Series, Tied for 2nd at the 1977 WHC, 3rd at the 1972 Summit Series, 4th at the 1969 WHC, Tied for 5th at the 1970 WHC, 5th at the 1976 WOG, 5th at the 1976 WHC, 5th at the 1979 WHC

Overall stats: 4 goals forward and 10 goals against over 60 min, 50 sec

Boris Mikhailov along with Vladimir Petrov formed what in my opinion was the strongest penalty killing forward pairing of the 70's. Mikhailov had great longevity as a penalty killer and his intensive style of play made him one of the greatest Soviet penalty killers of all time. One thing that should be noted regarding Mikhailovs ice time finishes though is that 2 of his 1st place finishes was on CSKA Moscow at times when perhaps the two strongest penalty killers of the national team did not play on CSKA. Shadrin and Shalimov of Spartak in 75/76 and the Golikov brothers of Dynamo in 79/80. This is especially important to take into account when comparing Mikhailov (and any CSKA player of the 70's) with players from this era who did not play on CSKA like the just mentioned ones. Still even when taking into account that those 1st place finishes probably rather is worth something like a finish in the 2-4 range on the national team it is obvious that Mikhailov is one of the greatest Soviet penalty killers of both this era and all-time.

As mentioned above Mikhailovs instensive style of play really made him stand out as a penalty killer. Not unlike someone like Starshinov, Mikhailov killed penalties as if the survival of the planet was on the line and I don't even think that he knows what it means to not give an 100 percent effort. And while the Petrov-Mikhailov pairing did not build their penalty killing on puck possession as much as pairings like for example Almetov-Loktev or Krutov-Makarov did they still used and excelled at that tactic as well.



Truly great shorthanded shift from Mikhailov against Czechoslovakia at the 1979 WHC. Look at his effort before assisting on Petrovs goal. Truly outstanding. And they keep up the strong play after the goal as well.



Very impressive 3 on 5 shift from Mikhailov, Tsygankov and Lutchenko against Montreal Canadiens at the 75/76 Super Series. Just look at their confidence with the puck when playing keep-away.



Extremely impressive puck possession exhibition from Petrov and especially Mikhailov against New York Rangers at the 75/76 Super Series. In the beginning of it the teams play 4 on 4 but at 1:20:35 the Rangers gets back to full strenght so the majority of the puck possession exhibition is done while shorthanded.
 
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Batis

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4. Vladimir Petrov

Ice time finishes: Tied for 1st at th 1972 WOG, 1st at the 1974 Summit Series, 2nd at the 1972 Summit Series, 2nd at the 75/76 Super Series, 3rd at the 1972 WHC, 3rd at the 1981 WHC, 4th at the 79/80 Super Series, Tied for 5th at the 1970 WHC, 5th at the 1978 WHC, 5th at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 6th at the 1969 WHC, 6th at the 1976 WOG, 6th at the 1977 WHC, 6th at the 1979 WHC

Overall stats: 5 goals forward and 7 goals against over 56 min, 53 sec

Vladimir Petrov was such a great penalty killer over a very long period of time. In fact no other Soviet player had significant ice time finishes with as many years in between them as Petrov (1969-1981). And if I would have based my ranking solely on the eye-test I might even have ranked Petrov ahead of Mikhailov as a penalty killer with the smallest of margins. That Mikhailov had clearly stronger ice time finishes can in part be explained by that Petrov missed more time during the available tournaments (did not play at the 1976 WHC and missed time to injury at both SS 75/76 and the 1978 WHC). While I did rank Mikhailov ahead in the end the point is that the two linemates were very close to each other when it comes to penalty killing in my opinion. Outside of his great performances paired with Mikhailov, Petrov also formed a strong pairing with Makarov at the 1981 WHC and spent relatively much time with Mishakov during the 1972 Summit Series even though he mainly killed penalties with Mikhailov in that series.

One of Petrovs strongest qualities on the penalty kill was his ability to read and intercept passes during the build up of the powerplay. This quality is also an explanation for that Petrov often seemed to create many shorthanded chances offensively. Petrovs great playmaking ability also made him a strong asset when playing keep-away with the puck. Additionally Petrov was strong positionally in his own zone. His goal differential stats of 5 goals forward and 7 goals against over 55 minutes and 24 seconds is also an indication of Petrovs ability to create much offensively while still playing strong defensive hockey when on the penalty kill.



Very strong shorthanded shift from Petrov and Mishakov against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series. First a interception and goal from Petrov and then more strong play from them after the goal.



Strong shorthanded shift from Petrov and Mikhailov against Czechoslovakia at the 1978 WHC crowned with a Petrov goal at the end of the shift.



Strong shorthanded shift from Petrov where he shows his ability to read and break up attacks in the neutral zone on a number of occasions. Don't listen to the commentator who says that Vikulov broke up the first rush as it clearly was Petrov.
 
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Batis

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Sep 17, 2014
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5. Vladimir Shadrin

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1976 WOG, 1st at the 1977 WHC, 3rd at the 1974 Summit Series, 4th at the 1972 Summit Series, 5th at the 1972 WHC

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 3 goals against over 25 min, 52 sec

As mentioned earlier Shadrin was a player who I had expected even more from before doing this study. With that said Shadrin was a truly great penalty killer who definitely belongs among the greatest of his era. Over the 1972-1977 time frame Shadrin may actually have been the best Soviet penalty killer even if both Petrov and Mikhailov also have strong cases. The longevity of Petrov and Mikhailov puts them ahead of Shadrin overall in my opinion though. Shadrin mainly killed penalties with Mishakov during the 1972 Summit Series and mainly with Yakushev and Lebedev at the 1974 Summit Series. At the 1976 Olympics Shadrin and Shalimov formed a strong pairing and at the 1977 WHC it was Yakushev again. For some reason Shadrin did not kill penalties in the available footage from the 1976 WHC and instead Shalimov and Yakushev formed a strong pairing at that tournament.

Shadrin mainly built his penalty killing on strong positioning and the ability to win important puck battles. He could also at times show strong puck possession as well and he was very reliable in his passing game. In many ways I feel like Shadrin and Zhluktov has much in common when it comes to their style of penalty killing. Both were outstanding in 3 on 5 situations as well.



The already talked about brilliant 2-minute 3 on 5 shift against Czechoslovakia at the 1976 Olympics.



Great shorthanded shift from Shadrin and Mishakov against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series where Shadrin among other things shows strong puck possession. (already posted in the Mishakov post)



Very strong shorthanded shift from Shadrin and Yakushev against Canada at the 1974 Summit Series. And look at Tsygankovs performance at the end of the shift.
 
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Batis

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Sep 17, 2014
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Merida, Mexico
Great work as always, Batis.
Great job :handclap:
@Batis

Just wanted to tip my hat to the amazing work you’ve done here.
Seconded. I've now added a post to the Historic Video Footage sticky where all the links to these video studies can be found in one place.
Ya absolutely awesome Batis... and thanks Theo. :thumbu:

Thank you. I really appreciate it and I am glad that you enjoyed the study.
 
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