Ex-Soviet Players in the NHL, 1989-90

[The Panther]

1989-90 was such an interesting season in that the former Red Army players, and Mogilny, came over to the NHL for the first time.

I was wondering what people thought at the time, and how you feel about their 'debuts' this first NHL season, in retrospect. I was still a kid then, but I remember hearing a lot about them (having seen some of them play in Canada Cups and such), and then being really underwhelmed by their debut seasons. That, of course, started to change a couple of years later when survivors like Larionov took off and Mogilny became a star, etc.

But anyway, here are the Soviet players who debuted in the NHL in 1989-90, and their team/season stats:


Alex Mogilny (RW), Buffalo Sabres:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	20	BUF	NHL	65	15	28	43	8	16	11	4	0	2	20	8	0	130	11.5

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Sergei Makarov (RW), Calgary Flames:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	31	CGY	NHL	80	24	62	86	33	55	18	6	0	4	41	21	0	118	20.3	AS-10,Calder-1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Viacheslav Fetisov (D), New Jersey Devils:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	31	NJD	NHL	72	8	34	42	9	52	6	2	0	0	21	12	1	108	7.4	AS-20,Calder-8

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Alexei Kasatonov (D), New Jersey Devils:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	30	NJD	NHL	39	6	15	21	15	16	5	1	0	0	8	5	2	60	10.0	AS-16

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Vladimir Krutov (LW), Vancouver Canucks:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	29	VAN	NHL	61	11	23	34	-5	20	9	2	0	1	15	8	0	81	13.6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Igor Larionov (C), Vancouver Canucks:

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	EV	PP	SH	GW	EV	PP	SH	S	S%	Awards
1989-90	29	VAN	NHL	74	17	27	44	-5	20	9	8	0	2	20	6	1	118	14.4

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

None of these guys really 'knocked it out of the park' in their first seasons, but Makarov did do quite well and (controversially) won the Calder trophy at age 31. Makarov actually scored at huge rate early in the season. After the first month of the season, he ranked 5th in scoring with 21 points in 13 games (he was one point ahead of Mario!). After two months, Makarov had fallen to 9th in scoring, but still had 35 points in 28 games and was +14. Then he suddenly scored only 5 points in all of December, and fell to 36th in scoring by New Year's. Anyway, he had a good season and wound up +33, fourth best in the League.

As I was following Edmonton mostly in those days, I recall seeing Makarov and Krutov and Larionov play quite a bit, but not the Jersey guys or (much of) young Mogilny. So I have no recollection of them in 1989-90, but really it was only Makarov who made an impression.

I do think Jersey and Vancouver had a good idea, which was to bring in two ex-Soviet players together... unfortunately, though, weren't Kasatonov and Fetisov at loggerheads by this point...?


Anyway, what are your memories / impressions of these guys in their first NHL season, 1989-90 (which, by the way, was the final NHL season of another great trailblazer, Borje Salming)?

Click to read more...

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Yes, former friends Fetivov and Kasatonov were feuding, but put aside their differences on the ice to form an effective defense pairing. There was another Russian that started the year with New Jersey, D Sergei Starikov, who was a disappointment. Fetisov and Starikov shared the cover of the 1989-90 Sports Illustrated NHL preview issue.

Quebec drafted G Sergei Mylnikov in 1989. In 10 games, he was 1-7-2 with a 4.97 GAA and a .858 SV%. One writer wrote Mylnikov "couldn't stop an inflated beach ball."

Krutov was one the best left wingers in the world when he arrived in Vancouver. Along with Larionov, Krutov was expected to propel Vancouver to near the top of the Smythe Division. However, Krutov became homesick and out of shape once removed from the Soviet Union. Never adapting to Vancouver, he returned to Europe the next year.

I do remember the controversy surrounding Makarov's Calder victory. He was 31 and had played professionally with the Central Red Army team since he was 19. Thanks to Markov's winning the award, the rules were changed the following year on the age that a player is eligible to win the Calder.

Overall, most of the Russians who debuted that season had trouble adjusting to the smaller rinks sizes, assimilating to North America life and being ostracized by teammates in some cases. In Mogilny's case, he developed a temporary fear of flying. Unfairly, they were questioned about their commitment to win, which would be proven wrong by Fetisov, Larionov and Mogilny, who would all go on to win Stanley Cups.

 

[The Panther]

Does anyone know if Larionov and Krutov were tight as friends? Larionov could speak English fairly well from well before he moved to Vancouver, but I don't know that Krutov could at all. I would have thought the two of them could have helped one another along, but it just seems like Krutov couldn't make the adjustment. It's a shame, because actually Vancouver would be one of the most "Euro-friendly" cities in North America to play hockey in. I mean, if Krutov was so turned off there, he really couldn't have stayed anywhere else either.

On another note, do you suppose the travel + grind of the NHL schedule took these veteran guys by surprise? Makarov suddenly dropped off in December, though I don't know if that was due to his dislike of coach Terry Crisp and internal ranklings (ice time, etc.) or just his performance.

 

[Hoser]

You're forgetting four other Soviet players who debuted in '89: Sergei Pryakhin (who was actually the very first Soviet player given permission to the play in the NHL, having played a couple games for the Flames at the tail end of the '88-'89 season), Latvian star Helmuts Balderis, defenceman Sergei Starikov and goalie Sergei Mylnikov. Pryakhin played for the Flames (so the Devils and Canucks weren't the only ones to think of having at least a pair of Soviets come over), Balderis for the North Stars, Starikov for the Devils, and Mylnikov for the Nordiques.

Pryakhin was nothing special in his time in North America; he was about 25 when he came over, and relegated to a third-line checking role or 13th forward on the Flames roster. He might have had more time playing for another team, but frankly there wasn't much to suggest he'd ever become any better.

Balderis was 37 years old and hadn't played competitively since 1984-85.

Starikov was a pylon, brought over mostly as a Russian-speaker to help Fetisov transition to the North American game. He was regularly scratched and midway through the season was demoted to the AHL's Utica Devils. His usefulness as a russophone 'buddy' for Fetisov was vastly outweighed by the fact he was the worst defenceman on the team.

Mylnikov showed up to training camp overweight and didn't see any playing time until late October. He also had the misfortune of playing for the worst team in the league, and ended up splitting goaltending duties with six other goalies (Ron Tugnutt, Greg Millen, Scott Gordon, Stephane Fiset, Mario Brunetta and John Tanner); he was right smack dab in the middle of the them all in GAA and save percentage. He didn't want to return after the completion of his one-year contract and the Nordiques didn't care to have him back.


Krutov was infamously out of shape when he showed up in Vancouver and never acclimated to life in capitalist North America. Larionov acclimated the best of the group to life over here, but his game didn't translate well as he was pretty scrawny and on the smaller ice surface got pushed around pretty easily. Neither was helped by the fact they played on the second-worst team in the league.

Makarov was far and away the most successful at the time, and his combination of size (2" taller than former linemates Krutov and Larionov, and about 20 lbs heavier than the latter), speed and finish made his transition much easier than for the other two forwards from the former Green Unit. However, Makarov was especially critical of his teammates' passing abilities and the North American dump-and-chase style of play, and very lax on defence. He was very high on himself and the system that he was used to playing (he infamously told Terry Crisp, "Tikhonov bad guy, good coach; you good guy, bad coach"), and was often frustrated by his own teammates apparent inability to keep up with him. This was ultimately his undoing in North America. He signed a four-year offer sheet with the Sharks in 1992, which the Flames matched, but by the end of the '92-'93 season they wanted no part of him anymore due to the disinterested level of play he exhibited. He had a last hurrah in '93-'94 playing for the Sharks with Larionov, but was only so-so in the shortened '94-'95 season and was encouraged to retire at age 37 despite having a year left on his contract (which the Sharks paid him for).

Mogilny was obviously the most promising, being only 20 years old at the time. The fact that he defected, rather than being permitted to leave, must have weighed quite heavily on him at the time. I remember rumours being spread that Soviet officials subtly threatened his family with harm.

Fetisov was the toughest of the group to come over at the beginning of the season and seemed to have been specifically targeted by opposing teams early on in the season. I think people forget he developed a bit of a reputation as a cheapshot artist early on in his time in North America, being pretty liberal with the use of his stick; especially up high...

I think people also forget that Kasatonov, brought over about halfway through the year, was actually better than Fetisov in their times in New Jersey. Fetisov's play improved with his arrival, but neither were on speaking terms.

Pretty much all of them seemed to have problems with their conditioning over the length of the season. (I know I say this even though Kasatonov only played half the year in the NHL...) They weren't used to an 80-game schedule and it showed.

 

[Hoser]

Does anyone know if Larionov and Krutov were tight as friends? Larionov could speak English fairly well from well before he moved to Vancouver, but I don't know that Krutov could at all. I would have thought the two of them could have helped one another along, but it just seems like Krutov couldn't make the adjustment. It's a shame, because actually Vancouver would be one of the most "Euro-friendly" cities in North America to play hockey in. I mean, if Krutov was so turned off there, he really couldn't have stayed anywhere else either.

They were at the very least good colleagues, but they were very different people. Larionov (and his wife) was much more worldly than Krutov (and his family); cerebral, cosmopolitan. Krutov was for all intents and purposes a peasant who didn't speak a lick of English. He was exasperated that he would play with Larionov sometimes and sometimes with completely different linemates whom he couldn't communicate with and who weren't used to his style of play at all.

Larionov and Fetisov were the two members of the Green Unit who bristled the most at Tikhonov's dictatorial regime at CSKA. Larionov wanted freedom and independence and had had enough of Tikhonov's BS, but Krutov relied the regimen to keep himself straightened out. Without Tikhonov telling him what to do and where to be 23 hours a day for 11 months of the year Krutov was lost. He didn't know how to train on his own, didn't know how to eat on his own; nothing. He was already a pretty big guy for his height (5'9") but when he showed up in Vancouver he was over 210 lbs, and lots of it not muscle. The situation wasn't helped by the fact Krutov occasionally roomed with Craig Coxe on the road, and neither shied away from booze.

 

[Theokritos]

On another note, do you suppose the travel + grind of the NHL schedule took these veteran guys by surprise?

Definitely. After his first 20 NHL games, Larionov had 19 points and his performance was labeled a "joy" by the Vancouver Sun (Nov 23th). Afterwards his production declined. By January 15th, Sports Illustrated gave him a C+ rating after he's had 13 points in his next 23 games. He finished his rookie season with just 12 points in the last 31 games.

 

[Batis]

Considering that Krutov did not even want to go to North America to play in the NHL his lack of motivation should not come as much of a surprise. And a general lack of motivation coupled with a massive culture change of course turned out to be a dangerous cocktail. Here below is two quotes talking about Krutovs time in North America.

Yes that is one way of looking at it. Another way is that perhaps Krutov simply was tired of working out after having spent his entire hockey career and most of his life under arguably the toughest training regime in sports history. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter Krutov states that the he was forced to go over to North America by the authorities for propaganda reasons and that he rather would have played somewhere in Europe. Considering the choices Krutov made after his NHL-stint it seems like he just wanted to enjoy playing hockey at that point, without all the pressure, after having been released from Tikhonovs training regime. To me it seems like Krutov simply was tired of all that pressure and all the hard work to be among the best in the world and just wanted to enjoy playing hockey without all of that. And after years and years of working out at the limit of what should be humanly possible can we really blame him too much for wanting that? If I personally would have had to endure the CSKA training regime for that long I am not so sure that my first choice would have been to go to the NHL and work hard to continue to try to be among the best either.

http://www.dn.se/arkiv/sport/nu-ar-...lar-ut-om-misslyckandet-i-nhl-och-om-det-nya/

Here is a rough translation of the part of the article talking about his time in North America.

"When he after a long and loyal service for the big red machine turned pro in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks most things went wrong. Hamburgers and an abundance of vodka have been given as the reasons. Krutov himself has another explanation.

- I never got the chance to succeed. The Vancouver management and I got in a fight about in which bank my money should be placed.

But he does not deny that the transition to another country was difficult.

- I got a key, a plastic card for the bankaccount and an empty appartment. After that I was on my own.

Of course problems then appeared for someone who was used to living in barracks 10 months of the year with the club management telling him what to do every hour.

And he really rather wanted to play in Europe but for propaganda and economic reasons he was forced to the NHL.

- It was the ministry of sports that forced me to North America. They thought that I was to good to remain in Europe.

-They wanted us the leading players on the national team to show our class in the NHL. And they also got more money for us."

 

[Kshahdoo]

Even nowadays a lot of NHL teams play dumb and boring hockey, and back to 1989, the situation was way way worse, so no wonder Makarov wasn't very high about NA hockey. He still had 3 PPG+ seasons. You can only imagine, how good he'd look, playing with, say, Mario...

 

[Jets4Life]

Krutov was one the best left wingers in the world when he arrived in Vancouver. Along with Larionov, Krutov was expected to propel Vancouver to near the top of the Smythe Division. However, Krutov became homesick and out of shape once removed from the Soviet Union. Never adapting to Vancouver, he returned to Europe the next year.

Krutov was a full-blown alcoholic when he came to Vancouver, and this contributed to his horrible physical condition. He was a tank in the 80s, but could not adjust to life in North America.

 

[MaxV]

Krutov gets a lot of flack and perhaps it’s deserved, but put yourself in his shoes.

After more then a decade of living nothing but hockey for 11 months out of the year, he was finally free to do what he wanted. It’s like an inmate finally getting out after a long stretch. I just think he lost passion for it.

And to a lesser extent you could make a case for others also. These guys for the first time had an off-season.

 

[streitz]

Some of those guys were good in the nhl.



I'll tell you though, every Russian Mike Smith brought to the jets with the exception of Zhamanov and Bulin were completely worthless. I would of loved to have Fetisov instead we have Ulanov and Bautin, completely worthless.

 

[Pominville Knows]

In threads surrounding this topic i always reply that most of KLM+FK at one point or the other displayed that they could have been a star in the NHL during another decade. Really only Krutov did not do it, Kasatonov only partly due to lacking some offence. @MaxV put their first years in great perspective up thread. Finally free to roam the streets each day.
I do understand @The Panther feeling disappointed at the time though.

 

[tony d]

First yr. I got into the NHL. I remember a few of these guys playing. Many of them adapted quite well to the NHL. Makarov won the Calder that yr. at the age of 32.

 

[Hoser]

I'll tell you though, every Russian Mike Smith brought to the jets with the exception of Zhamanov and Bulin were completely worthless. I would of loved to have Fetisov instead we have Ulanov and Bautin, completely worthless.

Lol, I don't think any of us will truly comprehend what made Mike Smith become infatuated with Russians.

The worst part about Bautin wasn't even that he was a terrible player, but that Mike Smith wasted a first-round draft pick on him. He was 25 years old! He'd never been anything more than a defensive defenceman who got a couple assists per season in Russia!

Remember when he tried to load the Blackhawks up with Russians when he was their GM from 2000-2003? What a character...

 

[streitz]

The worst part about Bautin wasn't even that he was a terrible player, but that Mike Smith wasted a first-round draft pick on him. He was 25 years old! He'd never been anything more than a defensive defenceman who got a couple assists per season in Russia!

The worst was the smug look on his face when he announced the pick, I'll never forget it. Like he thought he found some diamond hidden in plain sight and he was the smartest gm in the league.


Wish there was footage of the 92 draft, I'd love to see it again for a laugh.

 

[Sentinel]

Krutov was a full-blown alcoholic when he came to Vancouver, and this contributed to his horrible physical condition. He was a tank in the 80s, but could not adjust to life in North America.

I don't think he was an alcoholic by then. Or maybe he was, but his CSKA regimen kept him in check. Once on his own, his wheels came off.

Other former Red Army stars that came shortly after were Bure, Fedorov, Kamensky, and Nemchinov. Semak, Khristich, and others followed suit.

 

[crobro]

Everybody forgets about Victor Nachaev with the LA Kings in 84

 

[Jets4Life]

Victor Nachaev

I've never heard of him. How on earth did he escape the Iron Curtain (Russia no less) in the early 80s?

 

[crobro]

He scored his only goal in the NHL against the Canucks

He was allowed to emigrate due to his Jewish heritage

 

[MaxV]

I believe he married an American woman and received permission.

He wasn’t even playing in the top Soviet League, so Soviet athorities didn’t care.

 

[Hoser]

Everybody forgets about Victor Nachaev with the LA Kings in 84

'82

I've never heard of him. How on earth did he escape the Iron Curtain (Russia no less) in the early 80s?

He was allowed to emigrate due to his Jewish heritage

No, he was allowed to leave because he married an American woman in 1980. He wasn't playing hockey anymore when the Soviet government permitted him to emigrate in April of '82, and he was never a particularly great player anyway. He played less than 100 games of top-flight Soviet hockey for SKA Leningrad, amassing 16 points in three seasons.

He scored his only goal in the NHL against the Canucks

He scored against the Rangers. He was called up to the Kings on an east coast trip, playing games against the Islanders, Rangers and Devils.

Neat thing about modern technology: you can find this stuff on YouTube.

 

[Jets4Life]

I believe he married an American woman and received permission.

He wasn’t even playing in the top Soviet League, so Soviet authorities didn’t care.

lol....it was not easy to emigrate out of the Soviet Union from 1948-86. In fact, to attempt it, one could be labelled a "traitor" and sentenced to death, or work camps in Siberia. The USSR temporarily eased emigration for Jews who were persecuted, after their plight drew international criticism by the UN. Other than that, it was much harder to leave Russia, as other countries in the Iron Curtain, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic at least had a sympathetic population wanting to help. Not so in Soviet Russia, especially in the 50s and 60s, and most of the 70s and 80s.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

an old krutov post i wrote in the wingers project—

thinking back at that time, everybody talked about the hamburgers. and i promise i'm not just suggesting this because krutov is russian, but it seems like probably the operative term isn't the fast food but the alcohol. seems like a textbook case of depression where a guy is taken out of his comfort zone, doesn't speak the language, facing hostility from teammates (that's well documented), lonely, homesick, doesn't perform to high expectations (and at first we can blame this on missing training camp and normal adjustment), but under high pressure from those expectations, probably also embarrassed about not killing it in the NHL given his reputation, everyone likes larionov more than him (and i mean everybody: reporters, fans, teammates, coaches... i was only eight years old it was as clear as day that you had the articulate fair-haired golden boy vs. the guy who looked like a cold war-era new york times caricature of a dim-witted, toothless soviet drone).

that a guy under those conditions would drink himself into oblivion doesn't seem like any more of a stretch than him being on steroids throughout the 80s, does it? not that long ago, we witnessed players as good as theo fleury and sandis ozolinsh just look completely lost on the ice, and those guys had been in the league for a decade.


i think it might seem like i'm saying all this to prop krutov, or to deny the illegal substance allegations. i'm really not. i just don't think we have anything that rises beyond innuendo here, and therefore i don't think it makes sense to take it into account... especially when we already have that precipitous decline to bring him down on its own.

EDIT: not that the steroid allegations don't also make sense; we just don't have the evidence imo.

 

[alko]

Balderis - His North America career was something to wonder. After 4 years without competition hockey he could make it to Minnesota roster. Is there more infos about him?

 

[Jets4Life]

Some of those guys were good in the nhl.



I'll tell you though, every Russian Mike Smith brought to the jets with the exception of Zhamanov and Bulin were completely worthless. I would of loved to have Fetisov instead we have Ulanov and Bautin, completely worthless.

Picking Sergei Bautin in the first round of the 92 Draft was one of the most bizarre decisions ever. Bautin was 25, nothing really stood out about him, and he could have been chosen much later on. To this day, I have no idea of what Mike Smith was thinking, and neither did the commentators at the time.

Davydov could ahve been a star for the Jets, but appearantly his heart was never into the game by the time he arrived in Winnipeg, and although he had no known vices, he basked a bit too much in his newfound freedom. I still remember Davydov arriving after the 1992 Olympics, and playing extremely well, helping the Jets leapfrog the Flames, to clinch the last playoff berth in the Smythe division.