VMBM
And it didn't even bring me down
1976 World Championships, Poland vs. USSR 6-4
1978, Winnipeg Jets vs. USSR 5-3
Shots: Jets 31, USSR 24
1977, Quebec Nordiques vs. USSR 6-1
Shots: Quebec 38, USSR 30
1976, Buffalo Sabres vs. Krylya Sovetov 12-6
Shots: Buffalo 46, Krylya Sov. 25
What do these games have in common, in addition to that the USSR team should have won most of them? Well, I'll tell ya; Alexander Sidelnikov was in goal, at least before he was pulled(though I'm not absolutely sure in the case of the Nordiques game, maybe it was Tretiak who was pulled???). There's also a funny story (hihihi) in a Finnish hockey book where they talk about a USSR-Fin game in the 1977 WC; as soon as the game was 'in the bag' for the Soviets, they replaced Tretiak with Sidelnikov, and suddenly Finland started scoring on about every shot they managed to fire.
Now, Sidelnikov was the back-up goalie in the Soviet national team before Myshkin entered the picture. He played for Krylya Sovetov (aka Soviet Wings) in the Soviet league. Here is a mini(minimini)biography on him: http://internationalhockeylegends.blogspot.com/2008/07/alexander-sidelnikov.html
It is quite easy and tempting to suggest that had Sidelnikov and not Tretiak been #1 goalie, Team USSR would have been far less succesful. For example, if we look at the games I listed, it doesn't seem like the Soviets were totally dominated or anything, except maybe for the Krylya vs. Sabres game, and yet they lost quite badly. To be fair, only the Poland game was a genuine disaster for Soviet hockey. And putting Sidelnikov in goal in the 1st place maybe tells how little they valued these games - or maybe they just wanted to have an excuse beforehand. Whatever the case, Sidelnikov seemed to be a truly average goalie when he (rarely) was given a chance, and one can only speculate where the Soviet team would have been without Tretiak.
It is not that simple, however. If Sidelnikov had been the top USSR goalie, then the Soviets would've had to tighten their defense, which they sort of had to do anyway in the late '70s. It is clear that USSR relied too much on Tretiak sometimes (watch the WHA Summit series), and when he had a bad day, it meant trouble; especially the Czechoslovaks had (sometimes) Tretiak's number. And Sidelnikov had his good days too; for example, he played in victorious games in the 1975-76 Super series & vs. Jets also.
BUT the least that could be said, however, is that the Soviets were fairly lucky to have had Vladislav Tretiak. I've been quite critical towards him sometimes in the past (often a reaction to the praise he gets), but maybe I've been overdoing it a bit; I mean, it could have been a LOT worse.
1978, Winnipeg Jets vs. USSR 5-3
Shots: Jets 31, USSR 24
1977, Quebec Nordiques vs. USSR 6-1
Shots: Quebec 38, USSR 30
1976, Buffalo Sabres vs. Krylya Sovetov 12-6
Shots: Buffalo 46, Krylya Sov. 25
What do these games have in common, in addition to that the USSR team should have won most of them? Well, I'll tell ya; Alexander Sidelnikov was in goal, at least before he was pulled(though I'm not absolutely sure in the case of the Nordiques game, maybe it was Tretiak who was pulled???). There's also a funny story (hihihi) in a Finnish hockey book where they talk about a USSR-Fin game in the 1977 WC; as soon as the game was 'in the bag' for the Soviets, they replaced Tretiak with Sidelnikov, and suddenly Finland started scoring on about every shot they managed to fire.
Now, Sidelnikov was the back-up goalie in the Soviet national team before Myshkin entered the picture. He played for Krylya Sovetov (aka Soviet Wings) in the Soviet league. Here is a mini(minimini)biography on him: http://internationalhockeylegends.blogspot.com/2008/07/alexander-sidelnikov.html
It is quite easy and tempting to suggest that had Sidelnikov and not Tretiak been #1 goalie, Team USSR would have been far less succesful. For example, if we look at the games I listed, it doesn't seem like the Soviets were totally dominated or anything, except maybe for the Krylya vs. Sabres game, and yet they lost quite badly. To be fair, only the Poland game was a genuine disaster for Soviet hockey. And putting Sidelnikov in goal in the 1st place maybe tells how little they valued these games - or maybe they just wanted to have an excuse beforehand. Whatever the case, Sidelnikov seemed to be a truly average goalie when he (rarely) was given a chance, and one can only speculate where the Soviet team would have been without Tretiak.
It is not that simple, however. If Sidelnikov had been the top USSR goalie, then the Soviets would've had to tighten their defense, which they sort of had to do anyway in the late '70s. It is clear that USSR relied too much on Tretiak sometimes (watch the WHA Summit series), and when he had a bad day, it meant trouble; especially the Czechoslovaks had (sometimes) Tretiak's number. And Sidelnikov had his good days too; for example, he played in victorious games in the 1975-76 Super series & vs. Jets also.
BUT the least that could be said, however, is that the Soviets were fairly lucky to have had Vladislav Tretiak. I've been quite critical towards him sometimes in the past (often a reaction to the praise he gets), but maybe I've been overdoing it a bit; I mean, it could have been a LOT worse.
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