How the Soviets Discovered the NHL: First-Hand Accounts From Their Visits to Canada in 1957 and 1960

[Theokritos]

A short paper (10 pages) available for download now. Some of the material has been published here on HFBoards before (but nowhere else), other parts have (to the best of my knowledge) never been seen in English before. Sources used: Alexander Novokreshchonov, Anatoli Tarasov, Nikolai Sologubov, Boris Mayorov and Vyacheslav Starshinov. Thanks to @seventieslord for his help.

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[Deep Blue Metallic]

Most noteworthy to me is the awestruck tone. The Soviets had already won world championships by that time, but fully recognized that they still had much to learn from the Canadian "masters" of the sport.

 

[JackSlater]

A very nice and rare opportunity to get a taste of accounts from USSR. An even rarer opportunity to see such ample praise of NHL officiating.

I recall reading some of that before, but not all of it and not in such an easy to digest manner. Credit to those involved.

 

[NyQuil]

I think what is astonishing is how little time it took to catch up and surpass the Canadians in key aspects of the sport.

 

[Overrated]

Most noteworthy to me is the awestruck tone. The Soviets had already won world championships by that time, but fully recognized that they still had much to learn from the Canadian "masters" of the sport.

They were still worse than the Canadian amateurs so it's understandable.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

They were still worse than the Canadian amateurs so it's understandable.

"worse than" hardly seems appropriate to describe a program that won world championships in an era when the senior amateur club champion represented Canada.

The Trail Smoke Eaters were the last such team to win World Gold in 1961, a mere 4 years after the Soviets' tour of Canada documented here.

 

[Theokritos]

Most noteworthy to me is the awestruck tone.

That's one of the things that certainly struck me when I first came across lthose sources. A priori one wouldn't necessarily expect the Soviets to be that vocal about their admiration, but they weren't shy about it at all.

 

[Theokritos]

Bumping this thread on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Summit Series.

 

[Dingo]

I think what is astonishing is how little time it took to catch up and surpass the Canadians in key aspects of the sport.

I think it was the greatest event in the conception of modern hockey. Canadian hockey, unchallenged from the outside, had obviously stuck in a mire of complacency, having no need to progress or improve. The game began to change so much, to my eye at least, after 72, as Canadians of the next generation came onto the scene fitter and much more creative, and Euros of the next came out stronger and more capable and willing to drive the net. Necessity is the mother of Invention… and I suppose, up to that point, both sides were stuck complacent in echo chambers of sorts.

 

[NyQuil]

I think it was the greatest event in the conception of modern hockey. Canadian hockey, unchallenged from the outside, had obviously stuck in a mire of complacency, having no need to progress or improve. The game began to change so much, to my eye at least, after 72, as Canadians of the next generation came onto the scene fitter and much more creative, and Euros of the next came out stronger and more capable and willing to drive the net. Necessity is the mother of Invention… and I suppose, up to that point, both sides were stuck complacent in echo chambers of sorts.

It reminds me a bit of MMA and the initial Ultimate Fighting type championships had competitors from every style.

Over time, it merged into a single style incorporating elements from different schools.

I don't see the significant kind of distinctions between players and teams of different nations like we used to in terms of skill sets, systems and style.

 

[Dingo]

It reminds me a bit of MMA and the initial Ultimate Fighting type championships had competitors from every style.

Over time, it merged into a single style incorporating elements from different schools.

I don't see the significant kind of distinctions between players and teams of different nations like we used to in terms of skill sets, systems and style.

ya, it is like that.
and in both cases, when real money came into it the drive to really do what it took to get or stay on top became much more aggressive

although, i will say that MMA pays poorly for all but the top names. Still the incentive is there…. actually, probably why you see so many trashtalkers, as thats what Dana likes to push. Nearly everyone was humble before that.

I dont see much distinction at all, either, now. I remember being a kid and learning that Russians and Swedes were small and weak… but id only hear that in hockey circles, and the opposite in stories of regular life. Took me awhile to figure out that natural selection brings different athletes to the forefront depending on the parameters of the sport.

 

[Pierre Larouche]

It reminds me a bit of MMA and the initial Ultimate Fighting type championships had competitors from every style.

Over time, it merged into a single style incorporating elements from different schools.

I don't see the significant kind of distinctions between players and teams of different nations like we used to in terms of skill sets, systems and style.

It used to be clearly distinct style wise; skating, stick handling, passing, shooting. You could pretty clearly see the. CCCP style v the Canadian style. I hadn't seen as many Czech games or Swedish or Finish teams play. The game has changed so much in a good way- speed and skill v thuggery. I miss the distinctive styles of those years- they were so eye popping!!! Seeing the Summit Series was amazing. I had never seen players play like the CCCP team. I was hooked.