it's a shame those old Soviet teams were so vilified (mostly because of the cold war). If Canadian hockey had really looked at that system with a non-biased eye and implemented a lot of those teachings from the late 70s onward....the NHL would look so different today. Instead, we still have a significant group of old farts and their "rock 'em, sock 'em" goon era views still influencing the game.
If you think this Soviet teams from the 70's were all flash and dash with no grit, you are mistaken.
There's a weird myth (propogated by propaganda, plus the DonCherry's of the hockey world) that the Soviets players of that era didn't engage in the grittier aspects of the game, which is completely false. Sure, there wern't any pure goons in Soviet hockey like there (unfortunatley) was in the NHL, but they were as every bit as chippy and gritty as most North American players of their day.
In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it was only around the time of the fall of communism where Russian hockey got it's reputation for a lack of sandpaper. Go watch the '72 series, and a lot of the Canada Cups that followed: those Soviet teams were tough as nails. Hell, even Kharlamov, the Russian Gretzky, was know to pay the price to make plays.
