Puck possession while penalty killing- A video study of the Green Unit

[Batis]

The ability to kill off time on the clock by keeping the puck away from your opponents while penalty killing is one that has always impressed me. The Soviet penalty killing system was to a certain degree built around puck possession and Soviet hockey history saw its fair share of players who excelled at this specific skill but in my opinion the most shining example of this is the members of the Green Unit. Over the last couple of months I have watched a large number of Soviet national team and CSKA Moscow games from the 80s with a focus on the penalty killing of the members on the Green Unit and I will here present a large number of examples of them keeping puck possesion while penalty killing.

The main penalty killers on the Green Unit were the Fetisov-Kasatonov pairing on defence and Krutov-Makarov as forwards. Larionov was the stand in penalty killer on the Krutov-Makarov "pairing" and would replace one of Krutov and Makarov when they were injured or in the penalty box. And at times he would replace one of them even without them being injured or in the box. But the main penalty killing forwards on the unit was clearly Krutov and Makarov. What made this penalty killing unit so special was in my opinion that they both could keep puck possession as a unit by passing the puck between each other but also keep puck possession individually by skating and deking with the puck.

Here we have Krutov, Makarov, Fetisov and Kasatonov killing a penalty against the Quebec Nordiques during the 85/86 Super Series. From the time Krutov intercepts the missed pass from the Nordique defenceman in the neutral zone until the referee blows the whistle the unit kills off almost 30 seconds of penalty time with a combination of passing and skating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmOBYdu2DFQ&t=28m17s

This next clip is from the 1987 Rendezvous and Krutov, Makarov, Fetisov and Kasatonov kills off more than 30 seconds against a powerplay unit with Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Bourque and Wilson. Pretty incredible stuff in my opinion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZW9eEqtQ_U&t=65m57s

Here we have Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Konstantinov against the Hartford Whalers during the 88/89 Super Series. They kill off about 25 seconds on the clock with puck possesion before Makarov makes the Whalers draw a penalty and lose their man-advantage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9c6Q5vSvvQ&t=24m8s

A more famous clip. Here is the brilliant shorthanded goal that the Krutov-Makarov combination scored against Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. And yes the opponents were Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque and Coffey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeIsITzLz1s&t=64m11s

Here we have Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Kasatonov against Czechoslovakia during the 1987 WHC. They kill off about 25 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately the camera man decides to film Krutov on the bench for a couple of seconds so we miss the play that happens just before Fetisovs rush at the end. But look at Makarovs skating. It looks so effortless when he accelerates around the defenceman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcNxp8qj3Hk&t=91m2s

This is from the semifinal game between the Soviets and Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup. Krutov and Larionov is out there against the likes of Gretzky, Bossy, Bourque and Robinson. Pretty nifty stickhandling from Krutov here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E94QdnpoAMI&t=28m54s

Here is a clip from Game 1 of the Soviet-Canada final series at the 1987 Canada Cup. Makarov, Khomutov and Fetisov combines to kill some time and create a scoring chance. Makarovs skating and stickhandling is once again on display here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeJ3lCpU6U&t=57m30s

Here we have Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Starikov against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 88/89 Super Series. They hold on to the puck for almost 30 seconds here too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqKE0XCxxQ8&t=76m9s

Krutov, Makarov, Fetisov and Gusarov keeps the puck away from Team Canada for about 20 seconds at the 1988 Olympics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRd7hLrsRQ0&t=65m58s

As some of you may have noticed the 3 players who were the most capable of holding on to the puck on a individual level by skating around with it was Fetisov, Makarov and Krutov. And in my opinion the most skilled in this department was Makarov. Here we have some more examples of him killing off time on his own.

This clip is from before the birth of the Green Unit (both Makarov and Kasatonov was on the ice though) at the 79/80 Super Series. Makarov uses both his stickhandling and skating to keep the puck away from the Quebec Nordiques at the end of a boxplay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ACzSWmGQqo&t=26m57s

Here Makarov is killing off time by himself against the Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Bourque and Wilson unit for about 15 seconds before Wilson takes him down. Also watch Makarov coming back and pokechecking the puck away from Gretzky just after. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZW9eEqtQ_U&t=88m36s

Like the commentator says here Makarov does an excellent job of ragging the puck and killing time against Sweden at the 1987 Canada Cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06yewzXc1I&t=18m26s

So coming back to the play of the entire unit one thing that struck me when watching the games focused on the penalty killing was how the members of the Green Unit never lost their composure even the few times when they made mistakes by being overconstructive on the penalty kill. In fact when they made a mistake they pretty much always came back during the same shift and created a scoring chance or even scored a shorthanded goal. Here is some examples of this.

Here we have Krutov, Makarov, Fetisov and Kasatonov on the penalty kill against West Germany at the 1987 WHC. First Kasatonov fans on a pass while trying to keep possesion instead of getting the puck deep which gives Germany a chance but then Makarov recovers the puck in the corner and makes a good rush to get the puck deep with help from Krutov. When Germany tries to make another rush Krutov backchecks and wins the puck for Fetisov who passes it to Makarov. Then Makarov skates the puck up the ice and protects it in the corner before he finds Kasatonov in the slot who passes it to Bykov (who just came onto the ice when Krutov changed) for a shorhanded goal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTDDs3ad69A&t=61m40s

Here Makarov, Krutov and Fetisov makes some great plays to keep possesion but in the end it becomes overconstructive and Makarovs pass to Fetisov gets intercepted and Ruzicka gets a chance to move in on the Soviet net but the Soviets manage to recover the puck and instead of just throwing it away in panic after what happened they hold on to the puck again and Krutov gets a scoring chance at the other end after a brilliant pass from Kasatonov. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrSAm2OhKg&t=48m19s

Here is another example of where the unit recovered after a mistake. Fetisov makes a really strange pass to Kasatonov back in his own zone when Kasatonov already is covered by a swedish player. But Kasatonov and Makarov manages to recover the puck and pass it to Fetisov who rushes up ice and takes a slapshot towards the swedish net. This is from a game against Sweden during the 83/84 season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweTp2-mAQE&t=38m28s

Here Fetisov makes a risky move at the beggining but get the right bounce. Look at the rest of the shift though. Great puck-movement from the unit again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTDDs3ad69A&t=105m28s

Here Makarov is abit overconstructive against Team Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup and Lemieux can keep the puck in the offensive zone but Makarov quickly recovers and forces a turnover against Messier and scores a shorthanded goal against Fuhr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeJ3lCpU6U&t=40m30s

What I believe to be one of the main reasons for the Green Units success when it comes to keeping puck possession while penalty killing was the breakout speed of Krutov and Makarov. My impression is that the teams where so scared of the speed of the two wingers which made it easier for them to turn back and kill time. Here we have some other examples of quick counter attacks and shorthanded goals from the unit.

Here Makarov gets a shorthanded breakaway against Edmonton Oilers at the 85/86 Super Series when he gets into a footrace with Kurri. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xQAQyiLbyY&t=71m45s

Krutov scores a shorthanded goal against Sweden at the 1987 Canada Cup. Look at how he controlls the rolling puck at top speed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06yewzXc1I&t=49m25s

Makarov scores a great shorthanded goal against USA at the 1985 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyLkjl25ueE&t=95m10s

Krutov gets a breakaway against Czechoslovakia at the 1985 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrSAm2OhKg&t=68m59s

Makarov makes a good move on a quick counterattack against Czechoslovakia at the 1983 WHC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-a8aR_vkcc&t=4m56s

Here is another shorthanded goal. Makarov steals the puck and gets it to Krutov who combines with Kasatonov before scoring against USA at the 1987 Canada Cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFsfKFGuHoE&t=99m26s

I have some other clips too which I will post later but I think that this is enough for today. Anyway like you can see in these clips the members of the Green Unit could at times turn penalty killing into real entertainment. And it did not seem to matter who the opponent were because the Green Unit could play keep-away while penalty killing against anyone.

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[Dennis Bonvie]

Great stuff!

A reminder of just how frickin' good the Green Unit was, as well as how advanced Soviet coaching was.

 

[Theokritos]

A treat to watch, although I haven't watched all of the clips yet. I wish something this was done more often as it's a real handy way to highlight the character and skills of historic players.

BTW, "overconstructive" is my new favourite term. Is that an actual expression in Swedish (I mean the Swedish equivalent, if there is one) or did you just come up with it?

 

[Batis]

BTW, "overconstructive" is my new favourite term. Is that an actual expression in Swedish (I mean the Swedish equivalent, if there is one) or did you just come up with it?

"Överkonstruktiv" the swedish equivalent is quite often used in the sports language in Sweden. So if you google "överkonstruktiv" you will pretty much only get a whole lot of sports articles. Yeah I like the term too and I actually had no idea that it is not used in other languages.

 

[Batis]

So here we have some more examples of the Green Units puck possession while penalty killing.

Here Makarov skates the puck out of the defensive zone and gets into a shooting position against the Quebec Nordiques during the 85/86 Super Series. The shot goes wide and the puck returns to the neutral zone along the boards where Kasatonov picks it up. Kasatonov then passes the puck back to Makarov who skates around with it in the neutral zone for awhile before getting the puck in deep again. All in all they kill off around 20 seconds here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmOBYdu2DFQ&t=23m8s

Here Krutov and Makarov is once again out on the penalty kill against Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque and Coffey. Makarov intercepts a pass from Bourque in the neutral zone and then Makarov and Krutov skates around and kills some time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9KewrS6fM&t=126m12s

Abit later in the same shift they hold on to the puck for more than 20 seconds. Look at the way Krutov skates the puck away from Lemieux and makes the move against Coffey. Really great play. And after Makarov and Krutov makes a linechange Svetlov, Semenov, Fetisov and Kasatonov continues to hold on to the puck in a impressive way and kill off the last part of the penalty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9KewrS6fM&t=126m48s

Here we have Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Kasatonov against Boston Bruins during the 88/89 Super Series. Look at Fetisovs backhand pass to Larionov. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAT7baeoyP0&t=42m43s

Here Fetisov and Kasatonov is passing the puck between each other before getting the puck in deep against Canada during the 1984 Olympics. Abit later in the shift Fetisov makes another couple of moves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3MdKksINRo&t=81m34s

Here Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Kravchuk is out for the final part of a penalty kill against Sweden during the 1988 Olympics. I personally find the way Makarov moves with the puck to be pretty amazing. It just looks so effortless when he moves past defencemen on the outside. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inyKfHhV-MA&t=34m49s

Here we have another nice shift by Krutov, Makarov, Kasatonov and Fetisov against Montreal Canadiens during the 85/86 Super Series. First a nice passing play between Krutov, Makarov and Kasatonov at the end of which Krutov get a chance. Then Krutov and Kasatonov breaks up 2 zone entry attempts from the Canadiens. After breaking up the second attempt Kasatonov passes the puck to Makarov who skates around with the puck before passing to Fetisov who dumps the puck in deep. Then the Soviets breaks up another attempted attack and Khomutov gets a scoring chance after a nice move. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1d3NWl1nN4&t=10m14s

Makarov makes some really nice moves during the final seconds of a penalty kill against Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeJ3lCpU6U&t=44m40s

Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Kasatonov creates some scoring chances against USA at the 1985 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyLkjl25ueE&t=96m20s

Here we have some more shorthanded goals.

Krutov scores a shorthanded goal against Team Canada in the final of the 1981 Canada Cup. Sure the defensive effort from Lafleur is pretty brutal during this play but Krutovs patience is still very impressive in my opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfly1A00HOQ&t=40m50s

Krutov scores against Switzerland at the 1987 WHC after some forechecking by Makarov. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Ke8oGZ0gM&t=43m0s

Here Makarov intercepts the puck after a lucky bounce off the bench door. He then passes the puck to Krutov who makes a pass to Gusarov and then gets the puck back and takes a shot. Krutov then recovers the puck and assists on a shorthanded goal by Bykov. It seems like Bykov had a knack for scoring shorthanded goals straight from the bench. Here after a linechange with Makarov and in an earlier clip he did the same after a linechange with Krutov. The opponents here is HC Kocise during the 1989 European Cup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzQyTHalWXM&t=5m24s

Some final thoughts. In my opinion the way that the Green Unit killed penalties was very effective. I mean if you have the ability to consistently kill off 20-30 seconds on a penalty kill by holding on to the puck you will dramatically decrease your opponents chances to score during those shifts. Sure you will sometimes make mistakes but as I showed in the earlier post the members of the Green Unit were very good at correcting the mistakes they made and often came back and created a scoring chance themselves during the same shift. This "project" was a real treat to work on as I got to rewatch some of the best hockey ever played. I mean the 1984 Canada Cup semifinal between Canada and the Soviets and the final series at the 1987 Canada Cup really is absolutely amazing hockey. Perhaps the best ever played.

 

[steve141]

Thanks, great work.

 

[Batis]

So I thought that I should add that it is clear that the other forward "pairings" (Bykov-Khomutov and Svetlov-Semenov) who killed alot of penalties for the Soviet national team during the mid/late 80s also excelled at this skill. While they were not able to keep puck possession as consistently as the members of the Green Unit they still made a number of very impressive shorthanded plays. Here are some of them.

Khomutov and Bykov puts on a show against the Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque and Coffey powerplay unit at the 1987 Canada Cup. Really great moves here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeJ3lCpU6U&t=18m0s

Khomutov puts on another stickhandling show. This time against USA at the 1985 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyLkjl25ueE&t=28m16s

Khomutov intercepts a pass and makes a great move to create a scoring chance against Finland at the 1987 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1zqKo48b-E&t=15m50s

Khomutov shows off his great puck handling abilities once again during the 1986 WHC against Finland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qMG75JtwwE&t=26m27s

Well this one is more a case of good forechecking/being at the right place when Bykov scores a shorthanded goal after Coffey makes a mistake with the puck during the 85/86 Super Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xQAQyiLbyY&t=56m11s

Svetlov with some great moves before he finds Fetisov who scores a shorthanded goal all alone with Hasek against Czechoslovakia during the 1987 WHC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYQ0de60wIk&t=32m17s

Here we have the time that I mentioned earlier when Svetlov and Semenov (along with Fetisov and Kasatonov) has taken over after Krutov and Makarovs great shift against Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. Really impressive puck possession from them here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9KewrS6fM&t=127m23s

Svetlov scores a shorthanded goal against Canada during the 1987 Canada Cup assisted by Semenov. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9KewrS6fM&t=70m17s

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Thank you for posting these. They're fascinating and beautiful to watch. It reminds me of watching the Russian 5 in Detroit, albeit not on the PK.

 

[Batis]

A treat to watch, although I haven't watched all of the clips yet. I wish something this was done more often as it's a real handy way to highlight the character and skills of historic players.

Agreed. I remember that VMBM made some of these kind of posts to highlight specific skills of players during the Top-50 Non-NHL Europeans project. If I remember correctly it was about Martinec ability to pickpocket and Petrovs defensive game. And it was during that project that I got the idea to do this but I have not had the time to actually do it until now.

Thanks, great work.

Thank you for posting these. They're fascinating and beautiful to watch. It reminds me of watching the Russian 5 in Detroit, albeit not on the PK.

You are welcome. Glad that you enjoyed the footage.

 

[Batis]

So I decided to take a closer look at how the members of the Green Unit did statistically while penalty killing. To do this I studied the available games from seven tournaments/series (Canada Cup 81, 84, 87, Super Series 82/83, 85/86, 88/89 and Rendezvous 87) during the time period of the Green Unit. I will here present data such as estimated ice time on the penalty kill and goal differential while penalty killing from each of these tournaments/series. It should be noted that the estimated ice times of course has a margin of error considering how difficult it is to decide exactly when a on the fly line change takes place when watching a game on video. Because of this I decided to call it a tie whenever two players were within 10 seconds of each other in total ice time. And while it wasn't easy to do these estimated ice times for the forwards it was even more difficult to do it for the defencemen. Because of this I will only present the forward data today since I feel like I have to go through a number of the PK-shifts one more time before I feel comfortable presenting the data for the defencemen. Despite these difficulties I feel like the estimated ice times should give us a pretty accurate picture of the penalty killing hierarchy on the Soviet national team and CSKA Moscow during these tournaments. When it comes to goal differentials (goals forward minus goals against while penalty killing) I only counted the players who played at least 1 shorthanded minute per game during that tournament/series and when two players had the same goal differential the player with more ice time ranked ahead.

Canada Cup 1981 (4 out 7 games) Soviet national team

Ice time
1. Vladimir Golikov: 4 gp: 8 min, 23 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Sergei Shepelev: 4 gp: 7 min, 27 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Viktor Shalimov: 4 gp: 7 min, 24 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Sergei Makarov: 4 gp: 6 min, 15 sec: 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
4. Viktor Zhluktov: 4 gp: 6 min, 7 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
6. Irek Gimaev: 3 gp: 5 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Vladimir Krutov: 4 gp: 4 min, 58 sec: 1 goal forward, 2 goals against
7. Alexander Skvortsov: 4 gp: 4 min, 58 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Alexander Maltsev: 1 gp: 2 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Nikolai Drozdetsky: 4 gp: 1 min, 45 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Igor Larionov: 4 gp: 0 min, 4 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Vladimir Golikov: 0 (0-0) over 8 min, 23 sec
2. Sergei Shepelev: 0 (0-0) over 7 min, 27 sec
2. Viktor Shalimov: 0 (0-0) over 7 min, 24 sec
4. Viktor Zhluktov: 0 (0-0) over 6 min, 7 sec
5. Irek Gimaev: 0 (0-0) over 5 min, 28 sec
6. Alexander Skvortsov: 0 (0-0) over 4 min 58 sec
7. Alexander Maltsev: 0 (0-0) over 2 min, 38 sec
8. Sergei Makarov: -1 (1-2) over 6 min, 15 sec
9. Vladimir Krutov: -1 (1-2) over 4 min, 58 sec

Canada Cup 1984 (all 6 games) Soviet national team

Ice time
1. Sergei Makarov: 6 gp: 8 min, 59 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 6 gp: 8 min 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
3. Anatoli Semenov: 6 gp: 8 min, 19 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
4. Sergei Svetlov: 6 gp: 7 min, 50 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Alexander Skvortsov: 6 gp: 7 min, 11 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Irek Gimaev: 6 gp: 6 min, 9 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Mikhail Varnakov: 6 gp: 5 min, 49 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Sergei Shepelev: 5 gp: 1 min, 31 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Vladimir Kovin: 6 gp: 1 min, 23 sec: 0 goals forward,1 goal against
10. Igor Larionov: 5 gp: 0 min, 58 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Mikhail Vasiliev: 4 gp: 0 min, 57 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: During this tournament Gimaev played both the defence and forward position on the penalty kill. I still included him here and this is his combined stats from both positions.

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Sergei Makarov: 0 (0-0) over 8 min, 59 sec
2. Vladimir Krutov: 0 (0-0) over 8 min, 38 sec
3. Irek Gimaev: 0 (0-0) over 6 min, 9 sec
4. Anatoli Semenov: -1 (0-1) over 8 min, 19 sec
5. Sergei Svetlov: -1 (0-1) over 7 min, 50 sec
6. Alexander Skvortsov: -1 (0-1) over 7 min, 11 sec

Canada Cup 1987 (8 out of 9 games) Soviet national team

Ice time
1. Vladimir Krutov: 8 gp: 19 min, 17 sec: 4 goals forward, 4 goals against
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 8 gp: 18 min, 48 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Sergei Makarov: 8 gp: 17 min, 29 sec: 4 goals forward, 3 goals against
3. Andrei Khomutov: 8 gp: 17 min, 26 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
5. Anatoli Semenov: 8 gp: 12 min, 3 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergei Svetlov: 4 gp: 6 min, 24 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
7. Andrei Lomakin: 8 gp: 5 min, 26 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Igor Larionov: 8 gp: 1 min, 37 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Yuri Khmylev: 8 gp: 1 min, 16 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Semak: 6 gp: 1 min, 6 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Valeri Kamensky: 8 gp: 0 min, 44 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
12. Sergei Nemshinov: 4 gp: 0 min, 35 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
13. Sergei Priakin: 8 gp: 0 min, 22 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Sergei Makarov: 1 (4-3) over 17 min, 29 sec
2. Vladimir Krutov: 0 (4-4) over 19 min, 17 sec
3. Anatoli Semenov: 0 (1-1) over 12 min, 3 sec
4. Sergei Svetlov: 0 (1-1) over 6 min, 24 sec
5. Vyacheslav Bykov: -1 (0-1) over 18 min, 48 sec
6. Andrei Khomutov: -1 (0-1) over 17 min, 26 sec

Rendezvous 1987 (both games) Soviet national team

Ice time
1. Vladimir Krutov: 2 gp: 4 min, 26 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Sergei Makarov: 2 gp: 4 min, 11 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Vyacheslav Bykov: 2 gp: 3 min, 5 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Sergei Svetlov: 2 gp: 3 min, 3 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Andrei Khomutov: 2 gp: 2 min, 21 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
6. Alexander Semak: 2 gp: 1 min, 12 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Anatoli Semenov: 1 gp: 0 min, 51 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)

1. Sergei Svetlov: 0 (0-0) over 3 min, 3 sec
2. Vladimir Krutov: -1 (0-1) over 4 min, 26 sec
3. Sergei Makarov: -1 (0-1) over 4 min, 11 sec
4. Vyacheslav Bykov: -1 (0-1) over 3 min, 5 sec
5. Andrei Khomutov: -1 (0-1) over 2 min, 21 sec

Super Series 1982/83 (all 6 games) Soviet national team

Ice time
1. Viktor Zhluktov: 5 gp: 11 min, 57 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Viktor Shalimov: 5 gp: 10 min, 39 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
3. Alexander Skvortsov: 6 gp: 8 min, 32 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Sergei Shepelev: 6 gp: 7 min, 51 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
4. Vladimir Krutov: 6 gp: 7 min, 46 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
6. Igor Larionov: 6 gp: 6 min, 37 sec: 0 goals forward, 2 goals against
7. Vyacheslav Bykov: 5 gp: 2 min, 50 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Sergei Kapustin: 5 gp: 2 min, 32 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
9. Mikhail Vasiliev: 5 gp: 1 min, 56 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
10. Alexander Kozhevnikov: 4 gp: 1 min, 43 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
11. Sergei Svetlov: 3 gp: 1 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
11. Anatoli Semenov: 3 gp: 1 min, 38 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
13. Alexander Gerasimov: 3 gp: 0 min, 34 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Alexander Skvortsov: 0 (0-0) over 8 min, 32 sec
2. Sergei Shepelev: 0 (0-0) over 7 min, 51 sec
3. Viktor Zhluktov: -1 (0-1) over 11 min, 57 sec
4. Viktor Shalimov: -2 (0-2) over 10 min, 39 sec
5. Vladimir Krutov: -2 (0-2) over 7 min, 46 sec
6. Igor Larionov: -2 (0-2) over 6 min, 37 sec

Super Series 1985/86 (3 out of 6 games) CSKA Moscow

Ice time
1. Sergei Makarov: 3 gp: 13 min, 21 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
2. Vladimir Krutov: 3 gp: 12 min, 17 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrei Khomutov: 3 gp: 7 min, 42 sec: 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
4. Vyacheslav Bykov: 3 gp: 5 min, 12 sec: 1 goal forward, 0 goals against
5. Irek Gimaev: 3 gp: 3 min, 55 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Alexander Gerasimov: 3 gp: 3 min, 46 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
7. Mikhail Vasiliev: 3 gp: 2 min, 5 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
8. Nikolai Drozdetsky: 3 gp: 1 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Sergei Shepelev: 3 gp: 0 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Note: During this series Gimaev played both the defence and forward position on the penalty kill. I still included him here and this is his combined stats from both positions.

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Andrei Khomutov: 1 (1-0) over 7 min, 42 sec
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 1 (1-0) over 5 min, 12 sec
3. Irek Gimaev: 0 (0-0) over 3 min, 55 sec
4. Alexander Gerasimov: 0 (0-0) over 3 min, 46 sec
5. Sergei Makarov: -1 (0-1) over 13 min, 21 sec
6. Vladimir Krutov: -1 (0-1) over 12 min, 17 sec

Super Series 1988/89 (all 7 games) CSKA Moscow

Ice time
1. Sergei Makarov: 7 gp: 15 min, 13 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 7 gp: 12 min, 4 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
3. Andrei Khomutov: 7 gp: 9 min, 51 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
4. Igor Larionov: 7 gp: 9 min, 28 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
5. Vladimir Krutov: 5 gp: 9 min, 6 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
6. Sergei Nemshinov: 7 gp: 7 min, 25 sec: 1 goal forward, 1 goal against
7. Alexander Chernych: 7 gp: 4 min, 52 sec: 0 goals forward, 1 goal against
8. Valeri Zelepukin: 7 gp: 3 min, 13 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
9. Yuri Khmylev: 4 gp: 1 min, 45 sec: 1 goal forward. 0 goals against
10. Valeri Kamensky: 7 gp: 1 min, 12 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against
11. Yevgeny Davydov: 7 gp: 1 min, 8 sec: 0 goals forward, 0 goals against

Goal differential (more than 1 minute per game played)
1. Sergei Makarov: 0 (1-1) over 15 min, 13 sec
2. Vyacheslav Bykov: 0 (1-1) over 12 min, 4 sec
3. Andrei Khomutov: 0 (1-1) over 9 min, 51 sec
4. Igor Larionov: 0 (0-0) over 9 min, 28 sec
5. Vladimir Krutov: 0 (1-1) over 9 min, 6 sec
6. Sergei Nemshinov: 0 (1-1) over 7 min, 25 sec

Some comments about the penalty killing stats of Makarov, Krutov and Larionov.

Sergei Makarov:
Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1984 Canada Cup, 1st at the 85/86 Super Series, 1st at the 88/89 Super Series, 2nd at Rendezvous 1987, Tied for 3rd at the 1987 Canada Cup, Tied for 4th at the 1981 Canada Cup, Did not play in the 82/83 Super Series due to injury.

Goal differential: 1st at the 1984 Canada Cup, 1st at the 1987 Canada Cup, 1st at the 88/89 Super Series, 3rd at Rendezvous 1987, 5th at the 85/86 Super Series, 8th at the 1981 Canada Cup, Did not play in the 82/83 Super Series due to injury.

Makarovs penalty killing stats are very impressive in my opinion. In the 30 games that he played during these tournaments/series he averaged 2 minutes and 11 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game. Over the total of 65 minutes and 28 seconds that he played on the penalty kill during these 30 games he was on the ice for 6 goals forward and 8 goals against. So when Makarov was on the ice the opponents powerplay only went plus 2 over the course of more than an hour of powerplay time. When we consider that 10 of those 30 games were against NHL All-Star calibre teams it becomes even more impressive. In the 10 games against Team Canada (8 games) and the NHL All-Star team (2 games) Makarov averaged 2 minutes and 19 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game and was on the ice for 3 goals forward and 5 goals against. And this was done while facing powerplay units such as Gretzky, Trottier, Bossy, Lafleur, Potvin or Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque, Coffey or Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Bourque, Wilson.

Vladimir Krutov:
Ice time finishes: 1st at Rendezvous 1987, 1st at the 1987 Canada Cup, 2nd at the 1984 Canada Cup, 2nd at the 85/86 Super Series, Tied for 4th at the 82/83 Super Series, 5th at the 88/89 Super Series. Tied for 7th at the 1981 Canada Cup,

Goal differential: 2nd at the 1984 Canada Cup, 2nd at the 1987 Canada Cup, 2nd at Rendezvous 1987, 5th at the 82/83 Super Series, 5th at the 88/89 Super Series, 6th at the 85/86 Super Series, 9th at the 1981 Canada Cup.

Krutovs penalty killing stats are also very impressive. He averaged 1 minute and 57 seconds of shorthanded ice time over the 34 games that he played in. Over the total of 66 minutes and 28 seconds that he played on the penalty kill he was on the ice for 6 goals forward and 11 goals against. What separates Krutov and Makarov when it comes to goals against is that the Makarov-Larionov pair was more successful than the Krutov-Larionov pair was when they played together. When Makarov and Larionov killed penalties together they were not on the ice for a single goal against while Krutov and Larionov was on the ice for 3 goals against when they played together (2 during the 82/83 Super Series and 1 during the 1987 Canada Cup). Something that should be mentioned in Krutovs favour though is that he was even more instrumental in the 6 shorthanded goals that the Krutov-Makarov pair scored during these games than Makarov was as Krutov had 4 goals and 2 assist on those goals compared to Makarovs 2 goals and 2 assists. And while Krutov averaged less shorthanded ice time per game than Makarov did overall he actually had a slightly higher ice time in the games against Team Canada and the NHL All-Star team as he averaged 2 minutes and 26 seconds per game during those 10 games. Krutov was on the ice for 3 goals forward and 6 goals against there.

Igor Larionov:
Ice time finishes: 4th at the 88/89 Super Series, 6th at the 82/83 Super Series, 8th at the 1987 Canada Cup, 10th at the 1984 Canada Cup, 11th at the 1981 Canada Cup, Did not play in the 85/86 Super Series, Played at 1987 Rendezvous but did not get any ice time on the penalty kill.

Goal differential: 4tt at the 88/89 Super Series, 6th at the 82/83 Super Series, Did not play 1 minute per game at Canada Cup 1981, 1984, 1987 or Rendezvous 1987, Did not play at the 85/86 Super Series.

As you can see Larionov did not spend that much time killing penalties throughout the 80's. Larionovs best penalty killing performance during this sample size of games came during the 88/89 Super Series where he not was on the ice for a single goal against over 9 minutes and 28 seconds of shorthanded ice time. Overall Larionov averaged 35 seconds of shorthanded ice time over the 32 games he played in and he was on the ice for 0 goals forward and 3 goals against over the 18 minutes and 44 seconds of shorthanded ice time that he played. In the 9 games that Larionov played against Team Canada and the NHL All-Stars he averaged 16 seconds per game and was on the ice for 0 goals forward and 1 goal against.

Finally some general thoughts and analysis of the Soviet penalty killing forwards of the 80's.

Even if I consider Krutov-Makarov to be the strongest Soviet penalty killing forward pair of the 80's I think that it is very clear that the Soviets had a number of very strong penalty killing forward pairs during this time frame. In the beginning of the time frame Shepelev-Shalimov was one (with Kapustin filling in from time to time) and Zhluktov-Skvortsov was another very impressive pair. Even if the Golikov brothers were at the end of their primes here I think that they also deserve to be mentioned. It was not part of this study but I seem to remember the Golikov brothers showing some extraordinary penalty killing during the 1979 Challenge Cup and that they also killed alot of penalties during the 1980 Olympics. Alexander Golikov did not play in any of the tournaments included here but Vladimir Golikov led all Soviet forwards in shorthanded ice time during the 1981 Canada Cup playing first with Maltsev and then with Gimaev.

During the mid/late 80's the two main penalty killing pairs outside of Krutov-Makarov was Bykov-Khomutov and Semenov-Svetlov. And as previously mentioned both of these penalty killing pairs also excelled at the puck possession while penalty killing skill which really turned the Soviet penalty kill during that time period into real entertainment with 3 forward pairs who could play keep-away at a very high level.

Here is a list of how the forwards with at least 15 minutes of total shorthanded ice time ranks when it comes to goal differential over the entire sample. As it obviously is much harder to keep a low goal differential the more minutes you play on the penalty kill the players are ranked based on how many minutes it took for every -1 in goal differential. And even then I would argue that it probably is a disadvantage to have much total ice time since it is more likely to have a unsustainable goal differential over 15-20 minutes than it is over 60 minutes. As an example of this Vladimir Krutov had a goal differential of 0 (4-4) over 19 minutes and 17 seconds and Sergei Makarov 1 (4-3) over 17 minutes and 29 seconds during the 1987 Canada Cup which both are more ice time than Shepelev and Gimaev who tops this list with a goal differential of 0 had. So some mental adjustments of the numbers is still needed in my opinion.

1. Sergei Shepelev: 0 (0-0) over 17 min, 17 sec:
2. Irek Gimaev: 0 (0-0) over 15 min, 32 sec:
3. Andrei Khomutov: -1 (2-3) over 37 min, 20 sec: -1 every 37 min, 20 sec:
4. Sergei Makarov: -2 (6-8) over 65 min, 28 sec: -1 every 32 min, 44 sec:
5. Vyacheslav Bykov: -2 (2-4) over 41 min, 59 sec: -1 every 21 min, 0 sec:
6. Alexander Skvortsov: -1 (0-1) over 20 min, 41 sec: -1 every 20 min, 41 sec:
7. Viktor Zhluktov: -1 (0-1) over 18 min, 4 sec: -1 every 18 min, 4 sec:
8. Vladimir Krutov: -5 (6-11) over 66 min, 28 sec: -1 every 13 min, 18 sec:
9. Anatoli Semenov: -2 (1-3) over 22 min, 51 sec: -1 every 11 min, 26 sec:
10. Sergei Svetlov: -2 (1-3) over 18 min, 55 sec: -1 every 9 min, 28 sec:
11. Viktor Shalimov: -2 (0-2) over 18 min, 3 sec: -1 every 9 min, 2 sec:
12. Igor Larionov: -3 (0-3) over 18 min, 44 sec: -1 every 6 min, 15 sec:

Considering the quality of opponents during these tournaments/series it is very impressive that Shepelev and Gimaev both managed to achieve a goal differential of 0 (0-0) over more than 17 and 15 minutes respectively. Shepelev was a main penalty killer during the 1981 Canada Cup and the 82/83 Super Series and had more of a stand-in role on the penalty kill during Canada Cup 1984 and Super Series 85/86. But he performed very well in both roles. Gimaev really was a very good "use me where it is needed" kind of a player. During both the 1984 Canada Cup and the 85/86 Super Series Gimaev played both as a forward and a defenceman on the penalty kill. At Canada Cup 1981 Gimaev took over for Maltsev (when he got injured) on one of the main penalty killing forward "pairings" with Vladimir Golikov. Still Gimaev never finished top 4 in ice time during any tournament but he was often a important part of the penalty kill because of his positional versatility.

Skvortsov and Zhluktov was a great penalty killing pair during the 1981 Canada Cup and the 82/83 Super Series which is reflected in their goal differential stats here. Skvortsov also had a pretty big role on the penalty kill during Canada Cup 1984.

Even if Makarov only is 4th on this specific list I think that he has a case for having the strongest goal differential stats considering how much ice time he had while still maintaining those strong numbers. And like I mentioned earlier he had long stretches which were extremely impressive from this perspective. If we look at only Canada Cup competition for example Makarov had a goal differential of 0 (5-5) over 32 minutes and 43 seconds. While Krutov may not quite measure up to Makarov when it comes to goal differential over this sample of tournaments/series the eyetest still tells me that the two forwards were pretty much equals when it comes to penalty killing. Perhaps with a small edge to Makarovs advantage thanks to his incredible ability to rag the puck. And at their best penalty killing wise (Canada Cup 84-Super Series 85/86-Rendezvous 87-Canada Cup 87) they were one of the greatest penalty killing pairs that I have ever seen.

Khomutov and Bykov was a really great penalty killing pair during the second half of the time covered by this study. During Canada Cup 1987 they even rivalled Krutov-Makarov as the top penalty killing forwards against very strong competition. One interesting thing that I noticed from that tournament is that Khomutov-Bykov often was out there with Fetisov-Kasatonov on the penalty kill while Krutov-Makarov most of the time killed penalties with other defencemen during that tournament. Both Bykov and Khomutov has very strong goal differentials here too especially considering how much time both spent killing penalties during this time frame.

Lets move on to the next strong penalty killing pair Svetlov and Semenov. Even if they probably "only" was the third strongest forward pair during the second half of the study they still impressed me alot and both their ice time and goal differential numbers are pretty strong.

Shalimov had some really strong penalty killing performances during Canada Cup 1981 and Super Series 82/83 on a pair with Shepelev. And even if Shalimovs goal differential stats here ranks near the bottom among players with more than 15 minutes played I would personally say that Shalimov during those two tournaments (especially in 82/83) was the leading force on the Shalimov-Shepelev pair while penalty killing. And it should probably be mentioned that both of Shalimovs goals against were scored by a certain Wayne Gretzky during Super Series 82/83.

I really had alot of fun working on these studies and I am actually thinking about doing a similar study about the Soviet penalty killing of the 70's. But first I will see if I can manage to get the estimated ice times for defencemen to be ready for presentation.

 

[Batis]

Getting back to examples of great puck possession from the Green Unit I also think that it should be noted that the members of the Green Unit not only used puck possession as a defensive tactic while penalty killing but also often when they were defending leads in other situations. Here we have two great examples of this.

When Sweden has pulled their goalie to play with six skaters to five the Green Unit (well mostly Makarov) holds on to the puck and don't let them get anything set up. It is pretty obvious that Makarov was more interested in killing off time here than to risk shooting at the open net and maybe give the puck away. Pretty incredible stickhandling he shows once again also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4ECggCYTI&t=15m20s

During the game against Boston in Super Series 88/89 Makarov, Krutov, Konstantinov and Starikov holds on to the puck for 51 seconds while playing four against four. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAT7baeoyP0&t=69m18s

 

[MaxV]

This is something that was obviously a huge priority for Soviet teams. Star players had to fill a variety of roles.

That way when you select the roster you can freely include all the top players and not be forced to include players like Telegin or Kulemin simply because there were no one else to kill penalties.

 

[Batis]

This is something that was obviously a huge priority for Soviet teams. Star players had to fill a variety of roles.

That way when you select the roster you can freely include all the top players and not be forced to include players like Telegin or Kulemin simply because there were no one else to kill penalties.

Great point. This is probably the reason why the Soviet national team often could play with four offensively strong lines. Especially at the height of Soviet hockey in the end of the 70's and the early 80's. Just look at some of their 4th lines from that time.

WHC 1979: Alexander Yakushev - Yuri Lebedev - Alexander Skvortsov
Olympics 1980: Vladimir Krutov - Yuri Lededev - Alexander Maltsev
WHC 1981: Andrei Khomutov - Viktor Zhluktov - Alexander Skvortsov
Canada Cup 1981: Andrei Khomutov - Viktor Zhluktov - Alexander Skvortsov
WHC 1982: Andrei Khomutov - Viktor Zhluktov - Nikolai Drozdetsky in the beginning of the tournament and then Irek Gimaev - Viktor Zhluktov - Nikolai Drozdetsky

 

[Batis]

Today I realized that I had completely missed that the games against New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils from Super Series 88/89 also are available on youtube which means that all CSKA games from that series are available. I have now updated the penalty killing study to include the numbers from those games.

And the Soviets showed some great penalty killing during these two games also. Just look at these two shifts against New York Islanders.

First Bykov and Khomutov has a very strong shift. Then Makarov and Krutov takes over and late in the boxplay Makarov scores a shorthanded goal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLfHOlnzFq4&t=28m28s

Here Bykov first scores a shorthanded goal on a breakaway. Then after that Khomutov gets a breakaway and forces the Islanders to take a penalty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLfHOlnzFq4&t=52m30s

 

[VMBM]

Even if the Golikov brothers were at the end of their primes here I think that they also deserve to be mentioned. It was not part of this study but I seem to remember the Golikov brothers showing some extraordinary penalty killing during the 1979 Challenge Cup and that they also killed alot of penalties during the 1980 Olympics. Alexander Golikov did not play in any of the tournaments included here but Vladimir Golikov led all Soviet forwards in shorthanded ice time during the 1981 Canada Cup playing first with Maltsev and then with Gimaev.

Yes, they and their dmen (Pervukhin and Bilyaletdinov, I think) were brilliant in the Challenge Cup. I think their penalty-killing was more about agressive forechecking and disrupting the NHL All-Stars' passing plays rather than about puck possession. But I remember them having some good scoring chances while shorthanded too.

I think NHL All-Stars' not-that-great power play in the Series has been sometimes used as proof of their lack of chemistry (because of the short preparation time). But I don't think that's fair; namely, the penalty killing of the Golikov brothers was really extraordinary in the series. Watch the first game, for example; when Golikovs are on the PK, NHL All-Stars don't seem to get anything going, but e.g. during their second PP of the game when they are playing against Balderis and Zhluktov, their passing works and they get good shots away, and finally Bossy scores after a great set-up by Perreault.

Bossy scored on PP in the 2nd game too, and this time it was while Golikovs were on the penalty kill. However, NHL were really struggling to get anything going before the goal, and it was rather a strong individual effort by Trottier (along the boards) and weakish goaltending by Tretiak (Bossy's shot wasn't very good) that contributed to the PP goal.

 

[Batis]

Yes, they and their dmen (Pervukhin and Bilyaletdinov, I think) were brilliant in the Challenge Cup. I think their penalty-killing was more about agressive forechecking and disrupting the NHL All-Stars' passing plays rather than about puck possession. But I remember them having some good scoring chances while shorthanded too.

I think NHL All-Stars' not-that-great power play in the Series has been sometimes used as proof of their lack of chemistry (because of the short preparation time). But I don't think that's fair; namely, the penalty killing of the Golikov brothers was really extraordinary in the series. Watch the first game, for example; when Golikovs are on the PK, NHL All-Stars don't seem to get anything going, but e.g. during their second PP of the game when they are playing against Balderis and Zhluktov, their passing works and they get good shots away, and finally Bossy scores after a great set-up by Perreault.

Bossy scored on PP in the 2nd game too, and this time it was while Golikovs were on the penalty kill. However, NHL were really struggling to get anything going before the goal, and it was rather a strong individual effort by Trottier (along the boards) and weakish goaltending by Tretiak (Bossy's shot wasn't very good) that contributed to the PP goal.

Thank you for confirming this. Yes based on what I remember from that series the forechecking and defensive play in the neutral zone from the Golikovs made it very difficult for the NHL All-Stars to even enter the offensive zone on the powerplay. And when doing this study I was very impressed with Vladimir Golikovs penalty killing performance during Canada Cup 1981.