International & European Hockey Research and Information Thread

[Batis]

1978-1979:

Top 6:
1) Boris Mikhaylov 435 (120-27-21)
2) Valery Vasilyev 345 (48-66-69)
3) Valery Kharlamov 300 (84-21-6)
4) Sergey Makarov 279 (48-45-45)
5) Vladislav Tretyak 189 (24-42-33)
6) Vladimir Petrov 129 (15-27-30)

Voters: 578 (journalists accredited at the World Championship in Moscow, plus representatives of the European national hockey federations)

Source: Football-Hockey 18/1979 (May 6th)

Very interesting to get a look at the voting results for the 78/79 season. Thank you so much.

- I have to say that I was pretty surprised to see Petrov this (relatively) low considering the season he had (Leading scorer at the WHC and in the Soviet League, All-Star at the WHC and in the Soviet All-Star voting). I have always thought that Petrovs SPOTY voting record has seemed somewhat weaker than it may have been since we did not have any result from one of his strongest seasons. But if we use these results as a stand-in for the SPOTY voting that year they really do very little to help Petrovs voting record.

- What a feather in the cap for Vasiliev to finish second here. This makes his great 78/79 season look even stronger in my opinion. And it seems like the Izvestia voters really seems to have appreciated Vasiliev very much considering that he finished first among Soviet defencemen during the four first seasons that the poll was conducted (unless another Soviet defenceman finished 6th in 80/81). Yes it is very strange that he finished ahead of the SPOTY winner Fetisov in 81/82 but still.

-Yet another strong voting result for Kharlamov and Tretiak. It would have been interesting if the Izvestia voting would have been around earlier to see how the Top Soviets would have compared to the Top Czechoslovaks during the 70's. Would Tretiak have been as dominant in the Izvestia voting in the 70's as he was in the early 80's or would the great peak of Holecek have somewhat overshadowed Tretiak in the view of the voters? How would Kharlamov and Martinec have compared in the voting during their peaks in the mid 70's? We will never know but it is fun to speculate.

- Also very impressive that Makarov finished Top 6 in the Izvestia voting during 11 straight seasons from 78/79 to 88/89 and Top 4 in 10 of them. If we use these results as a stand-in for the SPOTY voting it also means that Makarov was voted a Top 3 forward in the Soviet Union for 11 straight seasons.

 

[Batis]

1979-1980:

Top 10:
1) Sergey Makarov 550 (137-62-27)
2) Boris Mikhaylov 384
3) Valery Vasilyev 175
4) Mats Näslund 166
5) Jukka Porvari 163
6) Vladislav Tretyak 143
7) Vladimir Krutov 114
8) Peter Sťastný 102
9) Pelle Lindbergh 81
10) Aleksandr Maltsev 77

Source: Football-Hockey 24/1980 (June 15th)

I just realized that this is a change from the results we had earlier which had Marian in 8th place instead of Peter. Considering that Peter was the Czechoslovak MVP during this season it seems more likely that this source is correct in my opinion.

Edit: Also considering that the source (Football-Hockey) should be considered very reliable in this case.

 

[Theokritos]

I just realized that this is a change from the results we had earlier which had Marian in 8th place instead of Peter. Considering that Peter was the Czechoslovak MVP during this season it seems more likely that this source is correct in my opinion.

Edit: Also considering that the source (Football-Hockey) should be considered very reliable in this case.

Yes, it makes sense and "Football-Hockey" clearly has П. Штястны (P. Å ťastný).

 

[DN28]

Great stuff! 1978-79 was the season that I was wondering about the most, and became dissapointed when I could not find the results of voting.

Since the Soviet Player of the Year voting was not conducted that season, we can treat the following:

1978-1979:
1) Boris Mikhaylov 435 (120-27-21)
2) Valery Vasilyev 345 (48-66-69)
3) Valery Kharlamov 300 (84-21-6)
4) Sergey Makarov 279 (48-45-45)
5) Vladislav Tretyak 189 (24-42-33)
6) Vladimir Petrov 129 (15-27-30)

as also the list of "officially" best Soviet players of this season by voters, right?

 

[Theokritos]

Since the Soviet Player of the Year voting was not conducted that season, we can treat the following:

1978-1979:
1) Boris Mikhaylov 435 (120-27-21)
2) Valery Vasilyev 345 (48-66-69)
3) Valery Kharlamov 300 (84-21-6)
4) Sergey Makarov 279 (48-45-45)
5) Vladislav Tretyak 189 (24-42-33)
6) Vladimir Petrov 129 (15-27-30)

as also the list of "officially" best Soviet players of this season by voters, right?

Pretty much. It's easy to understand why the "Football-Hockey" people didn't bother to conduct a survey of their own in 1979 when there already was something of a top 6 ranking of Soviet players for 1978-1979.

 

[VMBM]

- I have to say that I was pretty surprised to see Petrov this (relatively) low considering the season he had (Leading scorer at the WHC and in the Soviet League, All-Star at the WHC and in the Soviet All-Star voting). I have always thought that Petrovs SPOTY voting record has seemed somewhat weaker than it may have been since we did not have any result from one of his strongest seasons. But if we use these results as a stand-in for the SPOTY voting that year they really do very little to help Petrovs voting record.

Indeed. Not sure how identical the SPOTY voting would have been, though.

-Yet another strong voting result for Kharlamov and Tretiak. It would have been interesting if the Izvestia voting would have been around earlier to see how the Top Soviets would have compared to the Top Czechoslovaks during the 70's. Would Tretiak have been as dominant in the Izvestia voting in the 70's as he was in the early 80's or would the great peak of Holecek have somewhat overshadowed Tretiak in the view of the voters? How would Kharlamov and Martinec have compared in the voting during their peaks in the mid 70's? We will never know but it is fun to speculate.

Kharlamov is a huge surprise for me. Maybe he just was constantly good in the 1978-79 season, internationally. But there were no accolades for him at the 1979 WHC (or any other accolades that I know of).

- Also very impressive that Makarov finished Top 6 in the Izvestia voting during 11 straight seasons from 78/79 to 88/89 and Top 4 in 10 of them. If we use these results as a stand-in for the SPOTY voting it also means that Makarov was voted a Top 3 forward in the Soviet Union for 11 straight seasons.

I was actually a bit surprised to see Makarov so 'low'; he was an All-Star at the WHC, both with the media and the directorate, and in his book, Viktor Tikhonov claims that he was "better than anybody else" during that season (internationally).

 

[Batis]

Today I went down to the library and skimmed through some editions of Årets ishockey. Based on the editions I looked in it seems like the ones from the late 60's had a similar setup as the 1971 one (a write up on the tournament as a whole plus comments about each game or gameday) while the editions from the early 80's more seems to be made up of articles written about specific topics from the tournament.

I will try to go down to the library sometime next week to get a closer look and maybe translate parts of some edition/s.

What really stood out to me in the editions from the early 80's was the high praise that the Soviets recieved. In the 1982 edition there was a quote from Anders Parmström saying something along the lines of that Fetisov did not even really need a partner on defence since he could do everything himself. In the same edition New York Islanders was called the best team outside of the Soviet Union. Instead of the very common speculation about how the Soviet players would have done in the NHL it was brought up that Gretzky with his style of playing hockey probably would have been a great fit playing for the Soviets. I am only going off memory now so these are no exact quotes. But its really clear just how highly regarded Soviet hockey was in Sweden during the early 80's.

In the 1982 edition there was also voting information about the First Team All Stars.

J. Kralik (201)

V. Fetisov (238)
A. Kasatonov (180)

S. Makarov (284)
W. Gretzky (247)
B. Barber (161)

 

[VMBM]

In the 1982 edition there was also voting information about the First Team All Stars.

J. Kralik (201)

V. Fetisov (238)
A. Kasatonov (180)

S. Makarov (284)
W. Gretzky (247)
B. Barber (161)

It would be interesting to know how many points Viktor Shalimov - the IIHF Directorate Best Forward - got; was it so that he didn't even make it to the 2nd All-Star team, or is my memory failing me? In any case, another terrific tournament for Makarov, although he didn't get the Best Forward award.

Anatoli Tarasov's personal WHC '82 All-Star team was (source: Suuri jääkiekkoteos 3):
Vladislav Tretiak
Viacheslav Fetisov-Alexei Kasatonov
Vladimir Krutov-Wayne Gretzky-Sergei Makarov

Tarasov was obviously a big Green Unit fan right from the word-go. Namely, e.g. Krutov's play was criticized during the tournament, and LWs like Kapustin and Barber played excellently. The choice of Tretiak is interesting too; I don't think it was one of his better WHCs. But still not such a surprising choice, I guess. Not surprising either that Tarasov was impressed by Gretzky and his hockey IQ, despite #99 struggling during the early part of the tournament.

 

[Batis]

It would be interesting to know how many points Viktor Shalimov - the IIHF Directorate Best Forward - got; was it so that he didn't even make it to the 2nd All-Star team, or is my memory failing me? In any case, another terrific tournament for Makarov, although he didn't get the Best Forward award.

Yes Jiri Lala was the RW on the 2nd All-Star team. So the Directorate Best Forward award winner Shalimov was at best considered to be the third best RW by the media. It seems like the media and the directorate really disagreed on the strenght of Shalimovs performance during that tournament. It is of course not the only time that the Best Forward award winner did not make the 1st All-Star team but that Shalimov did not even make the 2nd team really stands out.

 

[Batis]

Some more WHC All-Star info from Årets Ishockey.

Outside of listing the International Hockeywriters and Broadcasters Associations All-Star Team the 1963 edition also includes what they call the WHC Dream Team. It does not say who selected this Dream Team but considering that the starting line-up of the Dream Team is the players on the All-Star team it does not seem impossible that the team has been picked based on the voting results of the media vote. Anyway here is the team.

Goaltenders: Seth Martin, Kjell Svensson
Defencemen: Roland Stoltz, Alexander Ragulin - Harry Smith, Frantisek Tikal
Forwards: Hans Mild, Adolf Tambellini, Miroslav Vlach - Jack McLeod, Ulf Sterner, Carl-Göran Öberg - Boris Mayorov, Alexander Almetov, Veniamin Alexandrov

The 1978 edition has the voting information for the First Team All-Stars.

Jiri Holecek (79)

Vyacheslav Fetisov (69)
Jiri Bubla (39)

Sergei Kapustin (60)
Ivan Hlinka (54)
Alexander Maltsev (23)

The 1969 edition have an interesting way to present the votes.

Goaltender: Vladimir Dzurilla 59 (Leif Holmqvist 56, Mike Curran 28)

Right defenceman: Jan Suchy 116 (Lennart Svedberg 9, Oldrich Machac 8)
Left defenceman: Lennart Svedberg 40 (Jan Suchy 28, Igor Romishevski 16)

Right Winger: Vaclav Nedomanky 67 (Valeri Kharlamov 19, Anatoli Firsov 19)
Center: Ulf Sterner 119 (Jaroslav Holik 18, Vaclav Nedomansky 1)
Left Winger: Anatoli Firsov 80 (Valeri Kharlamov 21, Jaroslav Holik 14)

I really don't know what to make of this. Based on this it seems as if the actual voting in some way was split between the different positions after all. But the results of other years like for example 1985 makes this seem unlikely. In 1985 the 1st and 2nd team RWs combined for 134 votes while the 1st and 2nd team LWs combined for only 28 votes. Was it perhaps so that each voter was asked to name their own All-Star team consisting of one player from each of the six positions but many of the voters instead decided to go with the 2 best defencemen and 3 best forwards regardless of position while the ones who collected the votes still separated the votes by position? Perhaps someone with better analytical skills than me can make sense out of this.

 

[Theokritos]

Some more WHC All-Star info from Årets Ishockey.

Interesting. Thanks!

The 1969 edition have an interesting way to present the votes.

Goaltender: Vladimir Dzurilla 59 (Leif Holmqvist 56, Mike Curran 28)

Right defenceman: Jan Suchy 116 (Lennart Svedberg 9, Oldrich Machac 8)
Left defenceman: Lennart Svedberg 40 (Jan Suchy 28, Igor Romishevski 16)

Right Winger: Vaclav Nedomanky 67 (Valeri Kharlamov 19, Anatoli Firsov 19)
Center: Ulf Sterner 119 (Jaroslav Holik 18, Vaclav Nedomansky 1)
Left Winger: Anatoli Firsov 80 (Valeri Kharlamov 21, Jaroslav Holik 14)

I really don't know what to make of this. Based on this it seems as if the actual voting in some way was split between the different positions after all. But the results of other years like for example 1985 makes this seem unlikely. In 1985 the 1st and 2nd team RWs combined for 134 votes while the 1st and 2nd team LWs combined for only 28 votes. Was it perhaps so that each voter was asked to name their own All-Star team consisting of one player from each of the six positions but many of the voters instead decided to go with the 2 best defencemen and 3 best forwards regardless of position while the ones who collected the votes still separated the votes by position?

If that was the case you wouldn't expect split votes for one and the same player (Firsov LW and RW, etc). For why would the ones who collected the votes count some votes for Firsov as LW votes and others as RW votes? I think we have to assume the voting was indeed done separately for each position – at least in that particular year.

Interestingly, there's a Soviet recap of the 1970 World Championship that present the 1970 All-star voting results in the same order:

Goaltender: Viktor Konovalenko (USSR) 43 points, Leif Holmqvist (Sweden) 23 points.
(...)
Right defenceman: Jan Suchý (ČSSR) 78 points, Lars-Erik Sjöberg (Sweden) 5 points.
(...)
Left defenceman: Lennart Svedberg (Sweden) 58 points, Thommy Abrahamsson (Sweden) 12 points.
(...)
Right winger: Aleksandr Maltsev (Soviet Union) 80 points. (Valery Kharlamov is listed as second with 3 points. That's a mixup on part of the authors. They probably had Vikulov in mind.)
(...)
Center: Václav Nedomanský (ČSSR) 35 points, Vyacheslav Starshinov (Soviet Union) 12 points.
(...)
Left winger: Anatoly Firsov (Soviet Union) 59 points, Lars-Göran Nilsson (Sweden) 8 points.

The notable difference here: no player appears on two positions. Whereas in 1969, Jan Suchý was technically speaking both on the first and second All-star team (as was Lennart Svedberg). Like Ovechkin being voted on the 2013 NHL first all-star team as RW and on the second all-star team as LW, this rather irritating outcome was probably not what the organizers had expected. So perhaps the lesson from 1969 was to return to voting on all forwards at once and all defencemen at once, regardless of specific positions. Afterwards the players could still be split up by their official or primary position (which e.g. cost Aleksandr Yakushev his spot on the 1972 All-star team: he was 3rd in the forward voting, but behind another LW, Kharlamov, whereas Vikulov was only 5th but made the All-star team as the best RW).

 

[Batis]

Since we now (thanks to DN28, Theokritos, Dreakmur and Robert Gordon Orr) have much information about the results of the Izvestia golden stick voting I figured that I could combine the results from the different posts on this topic to have all the results we have right now in one place.

Izvestia golden stick voting

1978/79:

1) Boris Mikhaylov 435 (120-27-21)
2) Valery Vasilyev 345 (48-66-69)
3) Valery Kharlamov 300 (84-21-6)
4) Sergey Makarov 279 (48-45-45)
5) Vladislav Tretyak 189 (24-42-33)
6) Vladimir Petrov 129 (15-27-30)

1979/80:

1) Sergey Makarov 550 (137-62-27)
2) Boris Mikhaylov 384
3) Valery Vasilyev 175
4) Mats Näslund 166
5) Jukka Porvari 163
6) Vladislav Tretyak 143
7) Vladimir Krutov 114
8) Peter Šťastný 102
9) Pelle Lindbergh 81
10) Aleksandr Maltsev 77

1980/81

1) Vladislav Tretyak 462 (119-51-3)
2) Aleksandr Maltsev 453 (115-54-0)
3) Jiří Lála 160 (27-31-17)
4) Sergey Makarov 151 (25-27-22)
5) Peter Lindmark 142 (25-24-9)
6) ?
7) Vladimír Martinec
8) Valery Vasilyev

1981/82

1) Vladislav Tretyak 224 (61-11-19)
2) Milan Nový 217 (46-31-17)
3) Viktor Shalimov 191 (58-7-3)
4) Jiří Lála 175 (56-2-3)
5) Miroslav Dvořák 160 (24-27-34)
6) Sergey Makarov
7) Jiří Králik (or 9th)?
8) Valery Vasilyev
9) ?

1982/83

1) Vladislav Tretyak 346 (82-43-14)
2) Vladimir Krutov 214 (49-29-9)
3) Jiří Lála 195 (52-18-2)
4) Sergey Makarov 123 (26-19-7)
5) Jiří Králik 109
6) Igor Larionov
7) František Černík 76
8) ?
9) Aleksey Kasatonov
10) Vyacheslav Fetisov
11) Dušan Pašek 49

1983/84

1) Vyacheslav Fetisov 316 (96-10-8)
2) Vladislav Tretyak 182 (45-21-5)
3) Dominik Hašek 163 (28-36-7)
4) Sergey Makarov 124 (32-12-4)
5) Vladimir Krutov 86 (23-2-13)
6) Jaromír Šindel 81 (18-11-5)
7) Peter Gradin 66 (19-4-1)
8) Aleksandr Kozhevnikov 52 (8-11-6)
9) Erich Kühnhackl 51 (14-4-1)
10) Nikolay Drozdetsky 38 (9-1-9)
11) Milan Chalupa 36 (11-0-3)
12) Igor Liba 34 (8-5-0)
13) Petri Skriko 28 (0-13-2)
14) Thomas Rundqvist 24 (6-3-0)
15) Raimo Summanen 16 (0-7-2)

1984/85

1) Jiří Králik 344 (102-17-4)
2) Sergey Makarov 313 (89-23-0)
3) Vyacheslav Fetisov 285 (62-47-5)
4) Jiří Lála 249 (37-64-10)
5) Vladimir Krutov 192 (23-51-21)
6) Aleksey Kasatonov 89 (16-18-5)
7) Vladimír Růžička 82 (19-12-1)
8) Kent Nilsson 52 (0-23-6)
9) Jiří Šejba 49 (7-3-22)
10) Hannu Järvenpää 23 (0-9-5)

1985/86

1) Sergey Makarov 459 (123-29-32)
2) Vladimir Krutov 208
3) Peter Lindmark 172
4) Vyacheslav Fetisov 82
5) Igor Larionov 33
6) Vladimír Růžička 33
7) Jiří Hrdina 28
8) Petr Rosol 13
9) Aleksey Kasatonov

1986/87

1) Vladimir Krutov 13 (3-1-2)
2) Dušan Pašek 10 (0-5-0)
3) Dominik Hašek 6 (2-0-0)
4) Sergey Makarov 4 (1-0-1)
5) Evgeny Belosheykin 3 (1-0-0)
Vyacheslav Fetisov 3 (1-0-0)
7) Petr Rosol 2 (0-1-0)
Udo Kiessling 2 (0-1-0)
9) Tommy Albelin 1 (0-0-1)
Anders Carlsson 1 (0-0-1)
Anders Eldebrink 1 (0-0-1)
Jaroslav Benák 1 (0-0-1)
Jiří Hrdina 1 (0-0-1)

1987/88

1) Vyacheslav Fetisov - 42
2) Vladimir Krutov - 23
3) Sergey Makarov - 21
4) Igor Larionov - 12
5) Aleksey Kasatonov - 6
Gerd Truntschka - 6
Peter Lindmark - 6
.
.
.
14) Igor Liba - 1

1988/89

1) Vyacheslav Fetisov - 68
2) Dominik Hašek - 29
3) Sergey Makarov - 24
4) Igor Larionov - 11
5) Anders Eldebrink - 7
6) Vyacheslav Bykov - 5
7) Valery Kamensky - 2
Sergey Mylnikov - 2
Börje Salming - 2
Vladimír Růžička - 2
11) Kari Jalonen - 1

 

[Batis]

Some comments on the Izvestia golden stick voting:

One thing that is pretty clear is that the Izvestia voters as a group certainly seems to have valued the performances of goaltenders higher than most voters for other awards historically have done even if the Soviet player of the year voters as a group also can be said to have done that. As an example of this the top goaltender in the voting each year had these finishes 5th, 6th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 5th and 2nd. It was not only the top goaltender who did well each year either and in 83/84 which was the very strongest year for the position there was 2 goaltenders in the top 3 and 3 in the top 6.

There was also some very interesting results in the voting in a number of years when compared to the Soviet player of the year and/or Czechoslovak golden stick voting. Here are some of the most obvious ones.

81/82: This has already been discussed earlier in this thread but the weak voting support for Makarov and especially Fetisov in this seasons Izvestia voting when compared to their dominant results in the Soviet player of the year voting really stands out and are very hard to explain. Especially considering that both Makarov and Fetisov had very strong performances internationally during this season.

82/83: That the Czechoslovak golden stick winner Lukáč did not make the top 11 in the Izvestia voting when 4 other Czechoslovaks made it is a very interesting result.

83/84: Two things really stand out here. First the low ranking of that years Soviet player of the year winner Drozdetsky who only finished 6th among Soviets and 10th overall. This is especially interesting considering that I always have thought that Drozdetskys great performance at the Olympics played a large role in his SPOTY win. It seems that the international voters were not quite as impressed by Drozdetsky as the Soviet ones were during this season though. The other one being the high ranking of Hašek (3rd) who only finished 9th in the Czechoslovak golden stick voting. Even if the Izvestia voters generally were very high on goaltenders this result still really stands out considering that Hašek ranked ahead of Šindel who was considered the best goaltender in Czechoslovakia that season.

Even if the Izvestia golden stick voting had some results which may not make much sense when being compared to the domestic votings I still think that the it carries rather much value since it can give us an idea of roughly how highly regarded specific players were in Europe at the time and that it can be seen as a complement to the SPOTY and Czechoslovak golden stick votings.

Here are the 10 players who have the strongest Izvestia golden stick voting records in my opinion.If the award would have been voted on before 78/79 this list could obviously have included many other players.

Sergey Makarov

Voting finishes: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th and 6th

While Makarov "only" won the award 2 times he does in my opinion have the most impressive Izvestia voting record. Makarov finished top 4 in the voting 10 times and top 6 in the voting for 11 straight years. This is a consistency over time that no other player even came close to matching over the 78/79-88/89 time frame when the Izvestia golden stick was awarded. Had the award been around before 78/79 it is possible that Tretiak could have rivaled Makarovs number of seasons near the top though.

Vladislav Tretyak

Voting finishes: 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th

Tretyaks peak (80/81-83/84) when it comes to Izvestia voting is truly impressive. It is also possible or perhaps even likely that Tretyak would have rivaled or beat out Makarov as the player with the most impressive Izvestia voting record had the award been around before 78/79. Especially considering how well goaltenders generally did in the Izvestia voting and how well Tretyak did in the SPOTY voting pre 78/79. The only thing that may have stood in the way of this is probably if Holečeks great peak performance somewhat would have overshadowed Tretyak in the eyes of the voters as it to some extent probably did when it comes to the WHC All-Star team selections over that time frame.

Vyacheslav Fetisov

Voting finishes: 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 10th

Even if Fetisov is tied with Tretyak for most Izvestia golden stick awards with 3 wins I would still say that his overall voting record is at least somewhat underwhelming for a player of his quality since it seemingly was not until the 83/84 season that the Izvestia voters as a group started to really apprieciate Fetisov. Considering how highly regarded Fetisov was both in the Soviet Union and internationally during the 81/82-83/84 time frame this has always struck me as very strange and I have a hard time finding any explanation for this. I mean this is a time frame when many considered Fetisov to be the greatest defenceman in the world as evident by the quotes in Fetisovs ATD-bio yet his Izvestia voting support was weak both in 81/82 and 82/83.

Vladimir Krutov

Voting finishes: 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 5th, 5th and 7th

Krutovs Izvestia voting record reflects how highly regarded he was during his prime and that he clearly was considered the second greatest forward in Europe in the 80's. Krutov led all forwards in the voting 3 times which is a mark only beaten by Makarov with 5 times.

Jiří Lála

Voting finishes: 3rd, 3rd, 4th and 4th

Lála is probably the player who relatively speaking has the strongest Izvestia voting record in comparison to his domestic voting record. In the 80/81-84/85 time frame Lála finished top 4 in the voting 4 times in 5 seasons which can be seen as an indication of just how high he peaked internationally.

Boris Mikhaylov

Voting finishes: 1st and 2nd

Mikhaylov did very well in the Izvestia voting in the two seasons it was conducted before his prime ended and his voting record would most likely have looked far more impressive had the poll been conducted before 78/79.

Dominik Hašek

Voting finishes: 2nd, 3rd and 3rd

Hašeks Izvestia voting record is very impressive considering that it all was achivied before the age of 25. After having read the Hockey in Czechoslovakia and Europe from 1968 to 1990 thread my feeling that Hašeks pre-NHL career generally gets very underrated because of his initial difficulties to adjust to hockey in NA has only grown stronger. With that said Hašeks 3rd place finish in 83/84 seems rather questionable when compared to the Czechoslovak golden stick voting.

Valery Vasilyev

Voting finishes: 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 8th

Another player who's voting record probably would have looked more impressive had the award been around for his whole prime. Impressive that he finished 1st among defencemen each of the 3 first years that the poll was conducted (unless a defenceman finished 6th in 80/81).

Jiří Králik

Voting finishes: 1st, 5th and 7th (or 9th)

Králiks peak season in 84/85 where he beat out Makarov and Fetisov to win the award is extremely impressive. Outside of that Králik also have 2 other rather strong voting finishes.

Peter Lindmark

Voting finishes: 3rd, 5th and 5th

Lindmark is yet another goaltender who did very well in the Izvestia voting. Lindmark peaked at 3rd in 85/86 and he had 3 top 5 finishes. That Lindmark who "only" won Guldpucken once was the leading Swedish votegetter in the Izvestia voting 3 times is another indication of how highly the voters valued goaltenders.

 

[DN28]

Some comments on the Izvestia golden stick voting:

One thing that is pretty clear is that the Izvestia voters as a group certainly seems to have valued the performances of goaltenders higher than most voters for other awards historically have done even if the Soviet player of the year voters as a group also can be said to have done that. As an example of this the top goaltender in the voting each year had these finishes 5th, 6th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 5th and 2nd. It was not only the top goaltender who did well each year either and in 83/84 which was the very strongest year for the position there was 2 goaltenders in the top 3 and 3 in the top 6.
.
.
.

83/84: Two things really stand out here. First the low ranking of that years Soviet player of the year winner Drozdetsky who only finished 6th among Soviets and 10th overall. This is especially interesting considering that I always have thought that Drozdetskys great performance at the Olympics played a large role in his SPOTY win. It seems that the international voters were not quite as impressed by Drozdetsky as the Soviet ones were during this season though. The other one being the high ranking of Hašek (3rd) who only finished 9th in the Czechoslovak golden stick voting. Even if the Izvestia voters generally were very high on goaltenders this result still really stands out considering that Hašek ranked ahead of Šindel who was considered the best goaltender in Czechoslovakia that season.

Even if the Izvestia golden stick voting had some results which may not make much sense when being compared to the domestic votings I still think that the it carries rather much value since it can give us an idea of roughly how highly regarded specific players were in Europe at the time and that it can be seen as a complement to the SPOTY and Czechoslovak golden stick votings.

It´s only now after I´ve read your post that I realized how strongly European goalies were actually valued in these votings and rightfully so, in my opinion. North America was sending NHL goalies to World Championships in the 80s and none of them ever got an all-star nod or best goalie award. European goalies also became members of Canada Cups ´81 and ´84 all-star teams.

Hasek in 1984. It´s because the season peaked earlier with February Olympic tournament and then both domestic and international competition continued. I checked the book Kronika českého hokeje by Miloslav Jenšík and just as I remembered, he writes that the season ended with Swedish Cup held in Göteborg and Karlstad. Czechoslovaks won the tournament defeating Sweden (3:2), Finland (9:3) and most surprisingly the Soviet Union 7:2! Most likely the biggest win of Czechoslovaks over Soviets during the 80s. Jenšík declares 19 year old Hasek as "the best player of the game against USSR and probably the best player of the whole tournament."

I assume the voting was held after the season just ended, not after the Olympics had ended, so Hasek finishing the season in the best way possible right before the voting and in front of all European voters certainly boosted his 1984 Izvestia 'score'.

Definitely agree that Izvestia Trophy voting needs to be taken seriously and on the same or at least similar level as Soviet best player voting and CSSR Golden stick voting - and not as just a 'trivia information' like number of NHL all-star game appearances or something similar for example. It gives us wider understanding of value of a set of certain players. 1984´ Hasek is a good example: I think his 9th place GS voting finish underrates him because he seemed to be the best Czech goalie in the League (at least statistically he was) but coaches decided to pick Sindel and Kralik for Olympics, while the 3rd place at Izvestia Trophy seems a bit high finish for Hasek (only behind Fetisov and Tretiak, ahead of Makarov and Krutov) heavily influenced by his Swedish Cup performance.

 

[Theokritos]

The new and streamlined International & European reference thread I've been talking about is under construction now. It's going to be work in progress for quite some time though.

 

[seventieslord]

@TheDevilMadeMe

This is all I have for the Izvestia golden hockey stick voting. It was copied from that site ages ago. Sorry about the poor formatting. The years are in order, 1979-1989. There was no award in 1983.

Boris Mikhailov
USSR
435
120
27
21

Valeri Vasiliev
USSR
345
48
66
69

Valeri Kharlamov
USSR
300
84
21
6

Sergei Makarov
USSR
279
48
45
45

Vladislav Tretiak
USSR
187
24
42
33

Vladimir Petrov
USSR
129
15
27
30

Vladimir Martinec
CSSR
99
6
27
27

Zinetula Bilyaledtinov
USSR
48
6
9
12

Sergei Kapustin
USSR
48
6
6
18

Alexander Golikov
USSR
45
9
3
22

Sergei Babinov
USSR
36
3
12
3

Ivan Hlinka
CSSR
30
0
9
12

Mats Naslund
SWE
27
0
9
9

Alexander Yakushev
USSR
24
6
3
0

Alexander Skvortsov
USSR
12
3
0
3

Bohuslav Ebermann
CSSR
12
0
6
0

Vladimir Myshkin
USSR
12
0
6
0

Viktor Zhluktov
USSR
12
0
3
6

Pekka Marjamaki
FIN
9
0
3
3

Seppo Repo
FIN
9
0
0
9

Sergei Makarov
USSR
550
137
62
27

Boris Mikhailov
USSR
584
71
76
19

Valeri Vasiliev
USSR
185
29
32
24

Mats Naslund
SWE
166
16
52
14

Jukka Porvari
FIN
163
19
36
34

Vladislav Tretiak
USSR
143
17
18
56

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
114
12
18
42

Marian Stastny
CSSR
102
4
34
22

Pelle Lindburgh
SWE
81
5
12
42

Alexander Maltsev
USSR
77
6
24
11

Vladimir Martinec
CSSR
70
7
9
31

Mikko Leinonen
FIN
54
5
16
7

Juergen Pettersson
SWE
39
2
6
21

Dan Soderstrom
SWE
30
1
7
13

Vladimir Golikov
USSR
22
3
6
1

Vladislav Tretiak
USSR
462
119
51
3

Alexander Maltsev
USSR
453
115
54
0

Jiri Lala
CSSR
160
27
31
17

Sergei Makarov
USSR
151
25
27
22

Peter Lindmark
SWE
132
25
24
9

Mats Waltin
SWE
130
23
25
11

Vladimir Martinec
CSSR
115
14
28
17

Valeri Vasiliev
USSR
99
12
30
3

Roland Erikkson
SWE
91
7
29
12

Arnold Kadlec
CSSR
64
7
18
7

Reijo Ruotsalainen
FIN
41
7
20
0

Bohuslav Ebermann
CSSR
40
4
10
8

Nikolai Drozdetsky
USSR
39
6
9
3

Holger Meitinger
FRG
37
1
16
2

Milan Novy
CSSR
31
3
6
10

Alexei Kasatonov
USSR
28
4
4
8

Timo Nummelin
FIN
27
2
7
7

Vladimir Petrov
USSR
22
7
0
1

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
20
4
3
2

Sergei Kapustin
USSR
18
5
0
3

Vladislav Tretiak
USSR
224
61
11
19

Milan Novy
CSSR
217
46
31
17

Viktor Shalimov
USSR
191
58
7
3

Jiri Lala
CSSR
175
56
2
3

Miroslav Dvorak
CSSR
160
24
27
34

Sergei Makarov
USSR
141
38
12
3

Patrik Sundstrom
SWE
83
8
17
25

Valeri Vasiliev
USSR
80
2
28
18

Jiri Kralik
CSSR
79
9
26
0

skip 1983
Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
316
96
10
8

Vladislav Tretiak
USSR
182
45
21
5

Dominik Hasek
CSSR
163
28
36
7

Sergei Makarov
USSR
124
32
12
4

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
86
23
2
13

Jaromir Sindel
CSSR
81
18
11
5

Peter Gradin
SWE
66
19
4
1

Alex. Kozhevnikov
USSR
52
8
11
6

Erich Kuhnhackl
FRG
51
14
4
1

Nikolai Drozdetsky
USSR
38
9
1
9

Milan Chalupa
CSSR
36
11
0
3

Igor Liba
CSSR
34
8
5
0

Petri Skriko
FIN
28
0
13
2

Thomas Rundqvist
SWE
24
6
3
0

Raimo Summanen
FIN
16
0
7
2

Jiri Kralik
CSSR
344
102
17
4

Sergei Makarov
USSR
313
89
23
0

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
285
62
17
5

Jiri Lala
CSSR
249
37
64
10

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
192
23
51
21

Alexei Kasatonov
USSR
89
16
18
5

Vladimir Ruzicka
CSSR
82
19
12
1

Kent Nilsson
SWE
52
0
23
6

Jiri Sejba
CSSR
49
7
3
22

Hannu Jarvenpaa
FIN
23
0
9
5

Sergei Makarov
USSR
459
32
29
32

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
208
19
19
11

Peter Lindmark
SWE
172
32
32
15

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
82
19
19
2

Igor Larionov
USSR
75
21
21
8

Vladimir Ruzicka
CSSR
33
3
3
0

Jiri Hrdina
CSSR
28
5
5
0

Petr Rosol
CSSR
13
2
2
1

Alexei Kasatonov
USSR
10
4
4
2

Thomas Steen
SWE
9
1
1
1

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
13
3
1
2

Dusan Pasek
CSSR
10
0
5
0

Dominik Hasek
CSSR
6
2
0
0

Sergei Makarov
USSR
4
1
0
1

Evgeni Belosheikin
USSR
3
1
0
0

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
3
1
0
0

Petr Rosol
CSSR
2
0
1
0

Udo Kiessling
FRG
2
0
1
0

Tommy Albelin
SWE
1
0
0
1

Jaroslav Benak
CSSR
1
0
0
1

Jiri Hrdina
CSSR
1
0
0
1

Anders Carlsson
SWE
1
0
0
1

Anders Eldebrink
SWE
1
0
0
1

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
42
11
4
1

Vladimir Krutov
USSR
23
3
4
6

Sergei Makarov
USSR
21
3
5
2

Igor Larionov
USSR
12
0
5
2

Alexei Kasatonov
USSR
6
1
1
1

Gerd Truntschka
FRG
6
1
1
1

Peter Lindmark
SWE
6
1
0
3

Jarmo Myllys
FIN
4
1
0
1

3
1
0
0

Mikael Johansson
SWE
3
1
0
0

Anders Eldebrink
SWE
3
0
1
1

2
0
1
0

Ivan Hansen SWE 2
0
1
0

1
0
0
1

Igor Liba
CSSR
1
0
0
1

Sergei Mylnikov
USSR
1
0
0
1

Thomas Steen
SWE
1
0
0
1

Vyacheslav Fetisov
USSR
65
18
4
3

Dominik Hasek
CSSR
29
3
9
2

Sergei Makarov
USSR
24
3
3
9

Igor Larionov
USSR
11
1
3
2

Anders Eldebrink
SWE
7
0
2
3

Vyacheslav Bykov
USSR
5
0
1
3

Valeri Kamensky
USSR
2
0
1
0

Sergei Mylnikov
USSR
2
0
1
0

Borje Salming
SWE
2
0
1
0

Vladimir Ruzicka
CSSR
2
0
0
2

1
0
0
1

 

[Theokritos]

A find in Football-Hockey 24/1987 concerning the annual Soviet "Best Players" (top 34) lists:

After the "best top 34 players of the season" are listed...

1986-1987

Belosheykin (CSKA), Mylnikov (Chelyabinsk), Samoilovs (Riga)

Fetisov (CSKA), Kasatonov (CSKA), Starikov (CSKA), Stelnov (CSKA), Gusarov (CSKA), Pervukhin (Dinamo), Bilyaletdinov (Dinamo), Tatarinov (Dinamo), Mikulchik (Dinamo), Yevdokimov (Leningrad)

S.Makarov (CSKA), Larionov (CSKA), Krutov (CSKA), Khomutov (CSKA), Bykov (CSKA), Kamensky (CSKA), M.Vasilyev (CSKA), Svetlov (Dinamo), Semyonov (Dinamo), Lomakin (Dinamo), Semak (Dinamo), Shchurenko (Voskresensk), Pryakhin (Krylya Sovietov), Kharin (Krylya Sovietov), Nemchinov (Krylya Sovietov), Khmylyov (Krylya Sovietov), Varnakov (Gorky), Kravets (Leningrad), Lavrov (Leningrad), Vlasov (Leningrad), Volgin (Spartak)

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

...the print says: "List approved/finalized by the presidium of the Soviet hockey federation on recommendation of the council of head coaches, considering 44 candidates. Who was among those on the ballots and didn't receive the most votes?"

This tells us how the lists were compiled. The head coaches of the league teams (first tier/elite league) submitted their candidates and out of their submissions, the members of the presidium of the hockey federation elected the 34 players they thought were the best.

Here are the 10 candidates submitted by the council of the coaches who didn't make the cut in 1987, courtesy of Football-Hockey:

Goaltenders:
Andrei Karpin (Krylya Sovietov)
Sergei Cherkas (Leningrad)

Defensemen:
Igor Kravchuk (Ufa)
Alexander Smirnov (Voskresensk)
Vladimir Tyurikov (Spartak)

Forwards:
Sergei Karpov (Voskresensk)
Valeri Bragin (Voskresensk)
Sergei Yashin (Dinamo)
Yuri Leonov (Dinamo)
Nikolai Gorshkov (Gorky)

 

[Theokritos]

I just recognized that, contrary to the general assumption, Alexander Maltsev did not win the Soviet Best Player award in 1972 ahead of Kharlamov. It is known that both players received the same amount of points (130), but ususally it's portrayed as if the the number of first-place votes was used as tie-breaker. Maltsev had 27 and Kharlamov 25. I don't know who originally came up with that interpretation and when. It has to be said though that the Football-Hockey magazine did not use a tie-breaker back in 1972. Their headline says: "Alexander Maltsev, Valeri Kharlamov – best hockey players of the year." And in the article it is explicitly stated that "for the first time, two athletes were named best hockey players of the year." Maltsev did not win ahead of Kharlamov. Both players were tied and were equally declared winners.

Headline from Football-Hockey 23/1972, page 7: "Alexander Maltsev, Valeri Kharlamov – best hockey players of the year".

 

[Theokritos]

As mentioned before, ...

...here's how Tarasov portrays it (going by memory): When the Soviets started to dominate in 1963 the rest of the world was so puzzled by their "collective play" that they couldn't figure out who the outstanding individuals was, so the Soviets didn't win any individual awards in '63 despite winning the tournament. A year later (1964 Olympics) the IIHF Directorate had the same issue again, so they simply gave the "individual award" (that's how Tarasov puts it, he doesn't say it was the "best forward" award) to the team captain (Boris Mayorov) in place of the whole team. The Soviets themselves however thought that Eduard Ivanov had been their best player in the tournament and thus the players voted to pass him the individual award instead.

(Is it possible that the IIHF awards were not officially referred to as "best forward award", "best defenceman award" and "best goaltender award" but that they just gave out three "best player award" with one being handed to a goaltender, one to a defenceman and one to a forward? If Boris Mayorov received an award saying "best player" – the one of the three the IIHF had reserved for a forward – instead of saying "best forward" then Tarasov's explanation would make a little bit more sense.)

...Eduard Ivanov did not play forward at the 1964 Olympics and was not honoured as "best forward", contrary to an assumption that is sometimes made.

Football-Hockey 08/1968 confirms Tarasov's account. Here's their presentation of the individual defencemen (left column, "Защитники") and forwards (right column, "Нападающие") who received IIHF awards:

Right column: no forward named in 1964. Left column: two defencemen (Ivanov/USSR and Tikal/ČSSR) named.

 

[Theokritos]

Soviet All-stars

Finally I've found some background information. Here's what Vladimir Pakhomov says in an October 1963 hockey yearbook with reference to the 1962-1963 season:

"By tradition, the Hockey Federation of the USSR recognized the five best players of the season with prizes: a goaltender, a defenseman and three forwards. The top five athletes were determined by the sports and technical commission and the coaching council of the Soviet Hockey Federation.
When determining the best forwards, not only their scoring was taken into account. The attitude to training sessions, instructions of the coaches and upkeeping of athletic fitness, and not only the final games but all games of the All-Union championship, international matches and the World Championship were taken into account. According to the commission and the coaching council, the center forwards of each of the three national team forwards line fully met the requirements from forwards.
The proposed candidates were then approved by the Presidium of the Hockey Federation of the USSR. At the closing ceremony of our 17th Championship, the following received awards: goaltender Viktor Konovalenko (Torpedo Gorky), defenceman Alexander Ragulin (CSKA), forwards Alexander Almetov (CSKA), Vyacheslav Starshinov (Spartak Moscow) and Vladimir Yurzinov (Dinamo Moscow)."

Takeaways:

1) Up until 1963, the Soviet hockey federation did indeed name four or five "best players" each year and without regard to their position:

1957-1958:
G: Nikolai Puchkov (CSK MO)
D: Ivan Tregubov (CSK MO)
D: Mikhail Ryzhov (Lokomotiv)
F: Konstantin Loktev (CSK MO)

1958-1959:
G: Nikolai Puchkov (CSK MO)
D: Nikolai Sologubov (CSK MO)
D: Genrikh Sidorenkov (CSK MO)
F: Boris Mayorov (Spartak)
F: Yevgeni Groshev (Krylya Sovietov)

1960-1961:
D: Alexander Ragulin (CSKA)
F: Alexander Almetov (CSKA)
F: Yuri Paramoshkin (Elektrostal)
F: Oleg Korolenko (Novokuznetsk)

1961-1962:
G: Nikolai Puchkov (CSKA)
D: Vitali Davydov (Dinamo)
F: Yevgeni Groshev (Krylya Sovietov)
F: Alexander Almetov (CSKA)
F: Boris Mayorov (Spartak)

1962-1963:
G: Viktor Konovalenko (Gorky)
D: Alexander Ragulin (CSKA)
F: Alexander Almetov (CSKA)
F: Vyacheslav Starshinov (Spartak)
F: Vladimir Yurzinov (Dinamo)

2) I assume that the following sentence applies not only to the forwards, but to all players: The attitude to training sessions, instructions of the coaches and upkeeping of athletic fitness, and not only the final games but all games of the All-Union championship, international matches and the World Championship were taken into account. But then, why were forwards singled out? Because there were no obvious and widely-read statistics for goaltenders and defencemen, so it was a given they couldn't be judged on numbers. Goal scoring stats on the other hand were widely printed and quoted, so readers could be expected to wonder about differences between goal scorer rankings and the forwards picked by the federation. For example, Veniamin Alexandrov scored more goals than Almetov in 1962-1963, Boris Mayorov scored more than Starshinov and Yurzinov was outscored by three other Dinamo players.

3) International play was specifically taken into consideration just like domestic play.

4) The "coaching council" (this time together with the Sports and Technical Commission of the hockey federation) nominated the candidates and the presidium of the hockey federation had the final say – a procedure we already know from the top 34 lists.

5) What about the occasional differences between the All-star teams and the top 34 lists in the years when the latter included a ranking? Did the Soviets stop taking international play into account when they switched to a proper All-star format (six players; 1G, 2D, 3F) in 1964, so that the Soviet All-stars from then on have to be viewed as Soviet league All-stars? Or did the involvment of the Sports and Technical Commission (provided it continued to be involved after 1963) make a difference? They were the disciplinary body overseeing the Soviet league, so perhaps they had a particularly favourable view of players who were perceived as disciplined and had low penalty minutes?

 

[DN28]

Soviet All-stars

Finally I've found some background information. Here's what Vladimir Pakhomov says in an October 1963 hockey yearbook with reference to the 1962-1963 season:

"By tradition, the Hockey Federation of the USSR recognized the five best players of the season with prizes: a goaltender, a defenseman and three forwards. The top five athletes were determined by the sports and technical commission and the coaching council of the Soviet Hockey Federation.
When determining the best forwards, not only their scoring was taken into account. The attitude to training sessions, instructions of the coaches and upkeeping of athletic fitness, and not only the final games but all games of the All-Union championship, international matches and the World Championship were taken into account. According to the commission and the coaching council, the center forwards of each of the three national team forwards line fully met the requirements from forwards.
The proposed candidates were then approved by the Presidium of the Hockey Federation of the USSR. At the closing ceremony of our 17th Championship, the following received awards: goaltender Viktor Konovalenko (Torpedo Gorky), defenceman Alexander Ragulin (CSKA), forwards Alexander Almetov (CSKA), Vyacheslav Starshinov (Spartak Moscow) and Vladimir Yurzinov (Dinamo Moscow)."

View attachment 350407

Takeaways:

1) Up until 1963, the Soviet hockey federation did indeed name four or five "best players" each year and without regard to their position:

2) I assume that the following sentence applies not only to the forwards, but to all players: The attitude to training sessions, instructions of the coaches and upkeeping of athletic fitness, and not only the final games but all games of the All-Union championship, international matches and the World Championship were taken into account. But then, why were forwards singled out? Because there were no obvious and widely-read statistics for goaltenders and defencemen, so it was a given they couldn't be judged on numbers. Goal scoring stats on the other hand were widely printed and quoted, so readers could be expected to wonder about differences between goal scorer rankings and the forwards picked by the federation. For example, Veniamin Alexandrov scored more goals than Almetov in 1962-1963, Boris Mayorov scored more than Starshinov and Yurzinov was outscored by three other Dinamo players.

3) International play was specifically taken into consideration just like domestic play.

4) The "coaching council" (this time together with the Sports and Technical Commission of the hockey federation) nominated the candidates and the presidium of the hockey federation had the final say – a procedure we already know from the top 34 lists.

5) What about the occasional differences between the All-star teams and the top 34 lists in the years when the latter included a ranking? Did the Soviets stop taking international play into account when they switched to a proper All-star format (six players; 1G, 2D, 3F) in 1964, so that the Soviet All-stars from then on have to be viewed as Soviet league All-stars? Or did the involvment of the Sports and Technical Commission (provided it continued to be involved after 1963) make a difference? They were the disciplinary body overseeing the Soviet league, so perhaps they had a particularly favourable view of players who were perceived as disciplined and had low penalty minutes?

Good job!

So if we can generalize, is it true (or at least likely) that the Soviet All-Star teams and also the yearly Top-34 Best Soviet Players were chosen from roughly the same pool of Soviet coaches and officials/managers working in the USSR´ hockey federation?

While the "classic" (most frequently cited) 'Soviet Player of the Year' awards were voted solely from the members Soviet media?

All of these 3 votings took into consideration both domestic and international play, correct?

Some of those discrepancies can be frustrating but other than Vladimir Lutchenko, there is no other Soviet player with consistently vastly different levels of support among these two main sources (coaches and federation people vs. media) of award-votings, right?

 

[Theokritos]

So if we can generalize, is it true (or at least likely) that the Soviet All-Star teams and also the yearly Top-34 Best Soviet Players were chosen from roughly the same pool of Soviet coaches and officials/managers working in the USSR´ hockey federation?

While the "classic" (most frequently cited) 'Soviet Player of the Year' awards were voted solely from the members Soviet media?

All of these 3 votings took into consideration both domestic and international play, correct?

Yes, it seems so.

 

[Theokritos]

Another yearbook (writers were Vladimir Pakhomov and Vsevolod Shevtsov) published on August 30th 1968 gives us the following insights into the early Soviet best players ("All-star") picks:

"Twice, in 1961 and 1962, an attempt was made to determine the best forwards not by the sum of various indicators but by individual scoring records. The number next to the name of the player shows how many goals the forwards who won the federation awards scored in 1961 and 1962."

So in 1960-1961 and in 1961-1962, the three top goal scorers from the Soviet league were automatically named Best Forwards – as opposed to the earlier and all the later years when there was a voting (by the coaches and officials). We already know (see post #195) that in 1962-1963 international performances were also taken into consideration. Now we also know that this wasn't the case in the two prior seasons, at least not for forwards. What about goaltenders and defencemen? We don't know. And what about the earlier years (1958 and 1959)? We don't know either.

As for the question why the number of honoured players wasn't constant from year to year prior to 1964, the yearbook confirms it was at the discretion of the Soviet hockey federation who they considered among the "best players" (that's something we have to keep in mind: the Soviet federation did not pick "All-star teams" there, they picked "best players"). Examples:

• Pakhomov/Shevtsov say that "three prizes were approved for the forwards", but "in 1958, only Konstantin Loktev was considered worthy, and in the next season only two, Boris Mayorov and Yevgeni Groshev."
• "In 1961, the prize for the goaltender didn't find a receiver: the goalies played with a lot of mistakes that season."

 

[Theokritos]

Here are some more complete WHC all star voting results from some of the years. Sadly only few but maybe these tell something about the process. In 71 and 72 Vikulov was selected to the all star without being in top 3 of votes. in 72 Kharlamov and Jakushev played the same position and gathered 134 votes together with only 121 voters. So it seems that some of the voters wasn´t that strict about the positioning. Still the official team was gathered by positions. Or thats atleast my best guess. I did this quickly by just copying the names so the names are written in Finnish. Source Finnish hockey books.

(...)

1972
121 voters
GOALIE:Jiri Holecek 86, Alfio Molina 12, Jorma Valtonen 11, Vladislav Tretjak 10, Leif Holmqvist 2

DEFENSE:Oldrich Machac 79, Frantisek Pospisil 75, Josef Horeskovsky 20, Vladimir Lutshenko 20, Gennadi Tsigankov 13, Jouko Öystilä 7, Thommie Bergman 5, Aleksandr Gusev 5, Rudolf Tajcnar 5, Viktor Kuzkin 4, Juha Rantasila 3, Timo Nummelin 2, Jiri Bubla 1, Aleksandr Ragulin 1, Lars-Erik Sjöberg 1, Otto Schneitberger 1

FORWARD:Aleksandr Maltsev 96, Valeri Harlamov 91, Aleksandr Jakushev 43, Jaroslav Holik 28, Vladimir Vikulov 28, Jiri Holik 22, Jan Klapac 12, Boris Mihailov 11, Lauri Mononen 10, Vladimir Martinec 10, Jiri Kochta 4, Juri Blinov 2, Richard Farda 2, Anders Hedberg 1, Björn Palmqvist 1, Alois Schloder 1

So it seems those were actually voted on by position. Russian magazine Futbol-Khokkey (18/1972) has the following breakdown:

Left defencemen: Pospíšil 69, Lutchenko 14, Horešovský 14; Machač 6; Tajcnár 5; Tsygankov 3; Nummelin 2, Bergman 2; Kuzkin 1, Schneitberger 1, Rantasila 1, Öystilä 1.
Right defencemen: Machač 73; Tsygankov 10; Öystilä 6, Horešovský 6, Pospíšil 6, Lutchenko 6; Gusev 3, Kuzkin 3, Bergman 3; Rantasila 2; Bubla 1, Sjöberg 1, Ragulin 1.
Left wings: Kharlamov 70; Yakushev 28; Jiří Holík 14; Mikhailov 3, Vikulov 3; Kochta 1, Mononen 1, Maltsev 1.
Centers: Maltsev 94; Jaroslav Holík 22; Farda 2; Hedberg 1, Yakushev 1.
Right wings: Vikulov 25; Kharlamov 21; Yakushev 14; Klapac 12; Martinec 10; Mononen 9; Jiri Holík 8, Mikhailov 8; Jaroslav Holík 6; Kochta 3; Blinov 2; Schlöder 1, Palmqvist 1, Maltsev 1.

The numbers add up to those from the Finnish yearbook used in the post quoted above:

Machač 73+6 = 79
Pospíšil 69+6 = 75
Maltsev 1+94+1 = 96
Kharlamov 70+0+21=91
etc

But considering the oddity of the positional assignments by some voters (Kharlamov got 21 votes at RW), it looks like the overview provided in the Finnish yearbook actually has more value than the official result by positions.