Hockey Russia Mistreatment of NHL Stars, and the Depleted Nagano Team

[TheGoldenJet]

Most of us remember the Czech victory in the gold medal game over Russia at the '98 Olympics. What some don't know is that fully half of the Russian NT players declined to attend that event, and the team still managed to win Silver, its best result as "Team Russia" since the fall of the USSR.

So, what was the reason for all these declines? The '98 Russian Olympic team saw a record number of declines because of player mistreatment by the Russia Hockey staff members and coaches at the 1996-97 World Cup of Hockey training camp in Russia.

A few months ago, I had this discussion with some of the Russian posters here (might have been @MaxV @Sentinel @Atas2000 @Zine ), and posted that the issue was player mistreatment by the Russia Hockey staff at the World Cup. I couldn't post the source I remembered reading from years back (was busy at work) and tbh still haven't found it, but I did run into another article today which briefly mentions this issue as well:

Russians Mix and Match for World Cup

Bure and his mates got a reminder of their roots when they toured Europe and endured some facilities that were beneath North American standards. In Russia, they had to wash their clothes in the showers and hang them up to dry in the locker room.
In Germany, there was no heat in a cold locker room and no dryers for the uniforms. So they dried the perspiration from their uniforms by baking them in the sun of a soccer field.
''We stunk,'' Kasparaitis said, referring to body odor, not performance.
Fedorov said there were difficulties with the Russian federation, which, he said, clings to the methods of the former Soviet Union and doesn't know how to treat young professionals as ''human beings.''
''It was awful,'' Fedorov said. ''Now, we get to the United States. That's where the fun begins.''

Clearly, if Hockey Russia had not treated its stars like trash at the WCoH, chances are they would have won Olympic Gold in Nagano. Talk about making a big mistake.

Players that declined for Russia in '98, after showing up to play for the Russian World Cup team one season earlier, included Alexander Mogilny (top line wing), Khabibulin (starting goalie), Sergei Zubov and Vladimir Malakhov (entire top pairing), Oleg Tverdovsky, among other stars.

Meanwhile, the 96/97 World Cup team was an accurate representation of just how good this generation of Russian players was: that Russian team went undefeated (5-0-0) in the preliminary stage, including wins over Sweden and the eventual champions USA, despite already missing Konstantinov and Dmitry Mironov (entire 2nd pairing) for the duration of the event. Only after losing Bure in the prelims (their top line winger), and Zhamnov (2C), Zubov and Malakhov (entire 1st pairing) during the tournament, were they ousted by Team USA in the semis. They were led in scoring by reigning Selke winner Sergei Fedorov, with Mogilny in second. Unfortunately, the two had to play with the Ranger's third line checking center Nemchinov as their linemate for the duration of this best-on-best tournament, after Bure went down in the prelims.​

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[rent free]

This is really upsetting

 

[Viktor Vaughn]

Very interesting. Nice write up.

 

[CaptBrannigan]

Very interesting. Before the '02 Olympics there was a lot in the papers about Khabibulin and if he would go or not. They got pretty in depth about how his medal had been taken by a coach when he was a third string on one of the prior teams and the concessions and apologies needed to get him back on board. Notably, he was pretty quiet on the subject, at least publicly.

I believe the IOC actually (for the first time ever) recast a medal from the old mold for him.


Edit: I could have sworn that Khabibulin hadn't played for Russia between the time of having his medal taken (can't recall the Olympics) and the '02 games but that is incorrect as he was at the '96 WCOH. It's a weird story to be sure.

 

[Leonhard Euler]

Ineteresting stuff. But I don't like the:

chances are they would have won Olympic Gold in Nagano

The mega stacked Canadian team couldn't solve Hasek in his god period of life. He was on a level where he wasn't gonna let anyone take that gold away from him. So I'm not sure about that statement.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

So what was the mistreatment?

 

[Ivan13]

Ineteresting stuff. But I don't like the:

The mega stacked Canadian team couldn't solve Hasek in his god period of life. He was on a level where he wasn't gonna let anyone take that gold away from him. So I'm not sure about that statement.

That mega stacked Canadian team didn't show up for that game and was completely outplayed until very late in the 3rd. It's amazing how much this false narrative has grown since 98. With how some talk about it, you'd think Hašek played like Craig Anderson did in the 3rd game of the 1st round of the '10 NHL playoffs.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I knew there had always been a rift between Zubov and the Russian hockey federation but wasn't sure where it stemmed from.

Guess that explains it.

 

[Leonhard Euler]

That mega stacked Canadian team didn't show up for that game and was completely outplayed until very late in the 3rd. It's amazing how much this false narrative has grown since 98. With how some talk about it, you'd think Hašek played like Craig Anderson did in the 3rd game of the 1st round of the '10 NHL playoffs.

I watched the game. And you're reading into my comment making it sounds like I said things I didn't. Yes team Canada didn't play as well as they should, Still Hasek was unreal when they started playing like the names on that roster suggest. But my point stands no matter which team you pick, Hasek was unreal during that tournament. Allowed 6 goals against during the whole thing.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Ineteresting stuff. But I don't like the:

The mega stacked Canadian team couldn't solve Hasek in his god period of life. He was on a level where he wasn't gonna let anyone take that gold away from him. So I'm not sure about that statement.

The Russians did beat the Czechs 2-1 in group play in Nagano, and lost 1-0 in the final. Adding two lines worth of all-stars on defence and offence could very well have changed the outcome, but you’re right in that it’s possible Hasek may have shut the door anyway. Still, that Russian team at full strength were just as talented (including on defence), but much faster, than the Nagano Canadian team. Big ice may have been the difference.

 

[Leonhard Euler]

The Russians did beat the Czechs 2-1 in group play in Nagano, and lost 1-0 in the final. Adding two lines worth of all-stars on defence and offence could very well have changed the outcome, but you’re right in that it’s possible Hasek may have shut the door anyway. Still, that Russian team at full strength were just as talented (including on defence), but much faster, than the Nagano Canadian team. Big ice may have been the difference.

Oh yeah don't get me wrong on paper they were better than Czechs even in that iteration. Obviously anything could have happened in what if scenario. I just think we were witnessing the greatest goalie of all times at the peak of his powers. I'm not sure we will ever see anything as that 1993-1999 Hasek in goal.

 

[Sentinel]

I remember that story quite well. Mistreatments of Zubov and Mogilny were well publicized at the time.

I don't believe for a second anyone would solve Hasek in Nagano. The entire Czech team played phenomenally.

 

[Wings4Life]

I knew there had always been a rift between Zubov and the Russian hockey federation but wasn't sure where it stemmed from.

Guess that explains it.

That's right. Zubov was one of the guys who never forgave the Russian NT for those events. Declined invites for the rest of his NHL career, and he was Russia's best D for most of it. Also Mogliny and Kozlov never reconciled with the Russian Federation either.

Malakhov (who was a MONSTER on big ice) declined in '98 when he was a top 10 D in the league, but was coaxed back to the NT later in Salt Lake City 2002 (and played great, putting up 4 points in 6 games as a 33/34 year old).

 

[Wings4Life]

I don't believe for a second anyone would solve Hasek in Nagano. The entire Czech team played phenomenally.

I don't agree. Adding Mogilny/Kozlov/Kovalev up front could have turned the tide.

Also don't think the Czechs score their only goal if Russia has Zubov/Malakhov out there in front of the already solid Zhitnik/Mironov/Mironov/Yushkevich group.

 

[JackSlater]

Yes it is too bad that that relationship existed between the Russian hockey establishment and some of the players. The Russian team also featured Fedorov, but Fedorov was holding out and hadn't played all year. I remember reading years back about the Mogilny situation, not as much about Zubov.

 

[glovesave_35]

I also wondered why Zubov didn't play more for Russia and had such an icy relationship with the NT. Thanks for bringing this OP. Too bad for Russia, I guess.

 

[Insomniac99]

While it takes place a couple decades before all of this happens, the documentary "Red Army" is pretty relevant in my opinion. It talks about the treatment of the Soviet hockey players. Definitely can see why they wouldn't want to play there.

Here's the trailer:


And here's a 10 minute extended preview:


Amazon.com: Red Army: Scotty Bowman, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Aleksandr Karpov, Alexel Kasatonov: Amazon Digital Services LLC

 

[Fantomas]

So what was the mistreatment?

I also noticed that the post doesn't mention anything specific.

The NHL Russians obviously wanted the limousine treatment and, at the time, NT was not willing to give it to them. Now they are definitely getting it and winning tons of gold medals as a result.

 

[MaxV]

I made a thread about 1990s Russian NT awhile back.

Russia had a TON of talent in the 90s, but there was a lot of bad blood left over from USSR days and even after.

Even when they were able to convince some top guys to go, at times they looked like they just wanted to avoid an injury.

 

[Eisen]

I remember that story quite well. Mistreatments of Zubov and Mogilny were well publicized at the time.

I don't believe for a second anyone would solve Hasek in Nagano. The entire Czech team played phenomenally.

One game elimination. Anything can happen.

 

[CaptBrannigan]

I've been thinking about this a lot on a slow off day and it's crazy when you think about it how many different countries get shortchanged in many different ways. Russia having players divided against their own coaches/administration, US not picking players on NDT vs major junior considerations, Canada having Roy decline when not guaranteed #1 slotting, Team NA keeping some guys off US and Canada rosters in last World Cup.

Granted it's how it goes in real life but we fans are always given lots of hypotheticals to ponder, even years after the events!

 

[Wings4Life]

I also noticed that the post doesn't mention anything specific.

The NHL Russians obviously wanted the limousine treatment and, at the time, NT was not willing to give it to them. Now they are definitely getting it and winning tons of gold medals as a result.

What an absurd comment.

This wasn't about having to cab or bus to the rink. In the words of Fedorov, the team's leading scorer, it was about being treated as less than human.

You can't expect a team, no matter how gifted, to win when the players are treated like prison inmates. You also can't reasonably expect those players to ever show up to play for that team again.

Only Russia would pull off such bush-league level idiocy from their NT staff against it's own all-star players. I mean, can you imagine Team Sweden treating Sundin and Lidstrom like shit to the point that they never played for their national team again? I can't.

Also, you can't compare the Russians today to the 90s Russian teams. The 90s teams had even better forwards and MUCH better defence. Since 2002, Russia has not iced a single team with more than one healthy #1 NHL Dman (sometimes zero). In the mid/late 90s, Russia had 5 or 6 of them. No comparison at all.

 

[Fantomas]

What an absurd comment.

This wasn't about having to cab or bus to the rink. In the words of Fedorov, the team's leading scorer, it was about being treated as less than human.

You can't expect a team, no matter how gifted, to win when the players are treated like prison inmates. You also can't reasonably expect those players to ever show up to play for that team again.

Only Russia would pull off such bush-league level idiocy from their NT staff against it's own all-star players. I mean, can you imagine Team Sweden treating Sundin and Lidstrom like **** to the point that they never played for their national team again? I can't.

Also, you can't compare the Russians today to the 90s Russian teams. The 90s teams had even better forwards and MUCH better defence. Since 2002, Russia has not iced a single team with more than one healthy #1 NHL Dman (sometimes zero). In the mid/late 90s, Russia had 5 or 6 of them. No comparison at all.

The Soviet players were treated like soldiers and they were basically soldiers. I am not going to argue that the conditions were boutique, but the system was cohesive, tough and effective. Tikhonov was of course a monster and I can see why so many of them rejected him. In the hands of a great coach like Tarasov there was a lot of mutual respect between players and coach.

But let's face it, once the NHL Russians transitioned to the new lifestyle, with their expensive cars and big contracts, there was no turning back. Tikhonov or not, they wanted special treatment, to be treated like rock stars. Old guard coaches resisted this, but eventually the Russian system softened its stance and started pampering and flattering the star players.

The 90s teams were still effective because of the remnants of the Soviet system, because there was still that structure in place and guys were expected to forget their status, play as equals and sacrifice everything. Today all of that is gone and you are seeing the less-than-stellar results (please note my sarcasm about this, which you may have missed from my original post).

The false dilemma of "treated like trash" vs. "treated well" is not only an inaccurate representation of the changes in Russian hockey, it ignores the fact that the transition has been an apparent disaster for the system (although a massive boon to some folks' bank accounts). The Soviet teams were good because they emphasized collective success - not individual enrichment - as the one and only goal.

I should add that the Soviet hockey players were all well compensated. They had salaries way above the average pay scale, had spacious apartments given to them, and all had jobs waiting for them when they retired. Things maybe weren't all that sweet by the late eighties, but everyone was suffering in those times. Not only them, and I would know because I was there. These guys went abroad, made a bunch of millions, and then couldn't sacrifice their time for their country at a tournament because Tikhonov wouldn't wipe their ass for them. Their sob story does not impress me.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I agree that there's two sides to this argument. On the one hand the situation in Russia was problematic with corruption and chaos enveloping many social institutions including the world of sports. I can see why someone who has a good life in America with money that arrives on time every month, nice house, nice car etc. doesn't want to have anything to do with that.

On the other hand, there's definitely something to the idea that these guys got a bit carried away with the riches they suddenly had and became very mercenary in their mentality. The Russian 'nouveau riche' were a phenomenon in the 90s and NHL players were among the vanguard of that. Maybe it's natural that they became 'me first' after the Soviet Union fell, and they weren't exactly the only Russians who did so in the 90s. After all, an entire social order, that many people had sacrificed so much for, had just collapsed.

So yeah, I think there were serious issues with the Russian hockey setup at the time, but I also think at least some of those NHL guys had no real desire to play for their country or to give their best effort for them.

 

[Albatros]

And all three coaches of the team had been coaching abroad too for what that's worth, it's not as if it was still Tikhonov in charge.