The forgotten men of the 1972 summit series: the Russians

[Chairman Maouth]

Very sad.

porkbun.com | domain for sale

Excerpt:

Twenty years ago I set out to see how these players were doing. We knew how Canadian players had fared since then; Quite comfortably in most cases, thanks to years of playing in the National Hockey League (while professional players didn’t make much money back then, some retired and enjoyed successful careers in other trades).

I was fascinated by those who enlisted in the Red Army; How has your life been since the last horn sounded in Moscow’s Luzhniki Palace of Sports?

The answer shocked me. Maybe it shouldn’t have been.

Click to read more...

 

[Zine]

Very sad.

porkbun.com | domain for sale

Excerpt:

Twenty years ago I set out to see how these players were doing. We knew how Canadian players had fared since then; Quite comfortably in most cases, thanks to years of playing in the National Hockey League (while professional players didn’t make much money back then, some retired and enjoyed successful careers in other trades).

I was fascinated by those who enlisted in the Red Army; How has your life been since the last horn sounded in Moscow’s Luzhniki Palace of Sports?

The answer shocked me. Maybe it shouldn’t have been.

Can't say I'm overly sympathetic for priveldged hockey players when millions of people from all walks of life experienced the same situation in the 1990s; for many it was far, far worse.

That said, why is the author rehashing a 20 year old article without updating it.

At least people can take solice in that, as the country emerged from the funk of that era, so too did many of these players.
The article mentions Alexander Gusev. Towards the end of his life he was skating again, playing in exhibition/charity/commemoriative matches with other 1972 members. He received a rather imaculate state-sponsored funeral when he passed away 2 years ago.
These guys haven't been forgotten.

 

[67 others]

Can't say I'm overly sympathetic for priveldged hockey players when millions of people from all walks of life experienced the same situation in the 1990s; for many it was far, far worse.

That said, why is the author rehashing a 20 year old article without updating it.

At least people can take solice in that, as the country emerged from the funk of that era, so too did many of these players.
The article mentions Alexander Gusev. Towards the end of his life he was skating again, playing in exhibition/charity/commemoriative matches with other 1972 members. He received a rather imaculate state-sponsored funeral when he passed away 2 years ago.
These guys haven't been forgotten.

Calling the Russian red Army team "Privileged" at that time is a delusion. I am sure you have some vision of other nations who let kids grow into loving hockey and then support them.

USSR was more of the mold of "Take them from their parents if they show promise" and then make them play 10 to 11 months a year with no visitations. They were considered military under mandatory service and had no say. Were not allowed to have personality or individualists. They were to be a hive mind, collective, controlled.

Fetisov was only allowed to see his wife 36 days of the year. They were forced to do hardcore brutal exercise 4 times a day and then practice Hockey the rest of the day. 11 months of a year.

 

[Albatros]

Calling the Russian red Army team "Privileged" at that time is a delusion. I am sure you have some vision of other nations who let kids grow into loving hockey and then support them.

USSR was more of the mold of "Take them from their parents if they show promise" and then make them play 10 to 11 months a year with no visitations. They were considered military under mandatory service and had no say. Were not allowed to have personality or individualists. They were to be a hive mind, collective, controlled.

Fetisov was only allowed to see his wife 36 days of the year. They were forced to do hardcore brutal exercise 4 times a day and then practice Hockey the rest of the day. 11 months of a year.

Instead of playing hockey they could have also went on to have ordinary army or police or factory worker careers, without comfortable apartments in Moscow, trips abroad, and all kinds of perks under the table. In that society those were privileges.

 

[Zine]

Calling the Russian red Army team "Privileged" at that time is a delusion. I am sure you have some vision of other nations who let kids grow into loving hockey and then support them.

USSR was more of the mold of "Take them from their parents if they show promise" and then make them play 10 to 11 months a year with no visitations. They were considered military under mandatory service and had no say. Were not allowed to have personality or individualists. They were to be a hive mind, collective, controlled.

Fetisov was only allowed to see his wife 36 days of the year. They were forced to do hardcore brutal exercise 4 times a day and then practice Hockey the rest of the day. 11 months of a year.

Sportsmen were very privileged.

Yes endless training and the absence of family life was arduous; but players received perks the average citizen could only dream of. They had access to the best cars, apartments, goods, travel.
They were paid well and received bonuses in hard cash...allowing them to purchase rare Western consumer products when they were overseas.

Notice none of these guys quit the 'brutal hockey profession' to pursue the life of an average Soviet factory worker.
Life was similar to that of an NHLer, actually. Just at the lower Soviet level.

 

[VanIslander]

*sigh*

The forgotten Soviets? Petrov. Shadrin.

Almost all of them these days on these boards. Shame on us.

 

[67 others]

Sportsmen were very privileged.

Yes endless training and the absence of family life was arduous; but players received perks the average citizen could only dream of. They had access to the best cars, apartments, goods, travel.
They were paid well and received bonuses in hard cash...allowing them to purchase rare Western consumer products when they were overseas.

Notice none of these guys quit the 'brutal hockey profession' to pursue the life of an average Soviet factory worker.
Life was similar to that of an NHLer, actually. Just at the lower Soviet level.

How do you "Quit" being drafted into the Soviet military and mandatory service? You couldn't just quit if you are conscripted, even in the USA(Ask Muhammad Ali), and Soviet USSR was much less forgiving. Once their usefulness was up, the perks stopped and they were not taken care of. Which was usually in their 30's unless they moved on to coaching jobs, which was very few.

So yeah, if I told you I was giving you a job that triples your pay, but it means being confined and worked like a dog 11 months of the year with no family contact, would you be happy with that 1 month? Especially if I said "by the way, you lose everything once you stop playing"

 

[Zine]

How do you "Quit" being drafted into the Soviet military and mandatory service? You couldn't just quit if you are conscripted, even in the USA(Ask Muhammad Ali), and Soviet USSR was much less forgiving. Once their usefulness was up, the perks stopped and they were not taken care of. Which was usually in their 30's unless they moved on to coaching jobs, which was very few.

So yeah, if I told you I was giving you a job that triples your pay, but it means being confined and worked like a dog 11 months of the year with no family contact, would you be happy with that 1 month? Especially if I said "by the way, you lose everything once you stop playing"

Compulsory military service was the law for everybody. So what? Hockey players never went to war, let alone likely ever fired a gun. Conscription was used as a means to maintain amateur status.

And correct, you couldn't quit conscription, but you could quit hockey. But doing so meant living the life of an average Soviet. None of them chose this. .

The 11 months a year thing was only strictly enforced when Tikhonov started gaining clout. Before that players had more freedom within that parameter. Shit, in the 70s Minister of Sport Pavlov had to tell players to keep their drinking out of the public eye. He offered them his dacha to use for parties.


Of course the hockey life was laborous, but least you were doing something you loved while receiving perks the average Soviet citizen could only dream of.
It sure beat working yourself to death in some metallurgical plant.