Soviet Video & Illustration Archives

[Theokritos]

In this thread short video clips from the early days of Soviet hockey will be presented, starting in the post-war years and proceeding in chronological order. Comments are welcome.

All newspaper quotes sourced from ice-hockey-stat.com unless noted otherwise.

1945-1946
1946, Feb.24: CDSA Moscow - Krylya Sovietov Moscow 2-0 (bandy)

1946-1947
1946, Dec.22: Dinamo Riga - Dinamo & Kalev Tallinn 5-1
1947, Jan.25: Spartak Moscow - CDKA Moscow 2-0
1947, Jan.26: Dinamo Moscow - CDKA Moscow 2-1

1947-1918
1947, Dec.17: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 3-3
1948, Jan.7: Dinamo Riga -Dinamo Moscow 4-1
1948, Feb.17: VVS Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 1-1
1948, Feb.26: Moscow Selects - LTC Prague 6-3

1948-1949
1948, Dec.12: Dinamo Moscow - Spartak Moscow 3-2
1949, Feb.12: CDKA Moscow - Spartak Moscow 9-2
1949, Feb.16: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 7-2

1949-1950
1949, Dec.4: CDKA Moscow - Spartak Moscow 3-2

1950-1951
1950, Dec.18: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Leningrad 11-3
1951, Jan.23: VVS Moscow - CDKA Moscow 5-1
1951, Apr.22: East Germany - Soviet Union 2-21

1951-1952
1952, Jan.24: VVS Moscow - CDSA Moscow 3-2

1952-1953
1953, March 20: Norway - Soviet Union 2-10

1953-1954
1953, Dec.29: Dinamo Moscow - AIK Solna 4-0
1954, Feb.7: Krylya Sovietov Moscow - Nacka SK 10-1
1954, Feb.12: Soviet Union - Czechoslovakia 3-5
1954, Feb.14: Soviet Union - Czechoslovakia 2-0
1954, Feb.16: Soviet Union - Switzerland 13-1
1954, Feb.26: Soviet Union - Finland 7-1
1954, Mar.1: Soviet Union - West Germany 6-2
1954, Mar.2: Soviet Union - Czechoslovakia 5-2
1954, Mar.5: Soviet Union - Sweden 1-1
1954, Mar.7: Soviet Union - Canada 7-2

1954-1955
1954, Oct.23: Soviet Union ("Dinamo Moscow") - Krefelder EV 7-0
1954, Nov.: Dinamo Moscow training session
1955, Jan.7: Soviet Union - Sweden 4-2
1955, Jan.12: Soviet Union - Czechoslovakia 3-0
1955, Feb.26: Soviet Union - Sweden 2-1
1955, Mar.2: Soviet Union - United States 3-0
1955, Mar.6: Soviet Union - Canada 0-5

1955-1956
1955, Nov.27: EC Bad Tölz & SC Riessersse - Soviet Union B 1-7
1955, December 3: Brighton Tigers - Soviet Union 1-2
1955, December 12: Soviet Union - Harringay Racers 7-1
1955, December 15: Soviet Union - Harringay Racers 4-0
1955, December 17: Soviet Union - Switzerland 11-1

Click to read more...

 

[Theokritos]

Who is who:

Babich, Yevgeni:
Right wing, one of the best players in the 1940s and 1950s USSR. Played for the Army team up until 1950 and again from 1953-1957. In between (1950-1953) he was with the Air Force team VVS. Posts #2, #13, #14, #20, #32,

Blinkov, Vsevolod:
Soccer and bandy ace who was among the best Soviet hockey forwards in the late 1940s. Played for Dinamo Moscow and was picked for the 1948 Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague. Posts #2, #32, #35.

Bobrov, Vsevolod:
Left wing, one of the best Soviet forwards in both soccer and hockey. Played for the Army team up until 1949 and again from 1953-1957. In between (1949-1953) he was with the Air Force team VVS. Struggled with knee injuries and didn't get along with Anatoli Tarasov who was first his team mate and later his coach. Posts #2, #13, #20, #32,

Bocharnikov, Boris:
Defenceman for Dinamo Moscow, picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. Switched to VVS Moscow in 1948 and became their player-coach in 1949. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Posts #32, #35.

Chernyshov, Arkadi:
Posts #2, #20, #32, #33,

Dubinin, Viktor:
Writer for Komsomolskaya Pravda. Post #32.

Fyodorov, Valentin:
Member of the coaching council of the Moscow Selects when they faced LTC Prague in 1948. Post #32.

Ganusauskas, Zenonas:
Post #35.

Granatkin, Valentin:
Post #36.

Igumnov, Alexander:
Post #32.

Ilyin, Sergei:
Soccer star, also played bandy for Dinamo Moscow. Post #2.

Klavs, Edgars:
Latvian player, with Dinamo Riga. In 1946 he had a meeting with Sergei Savin and handed him hockey equipment and a copy of the rules, which paved the way for the first Soviet championship in Canadian hockey. Posts #16, #18.

Komarov, Vasili:
Defenceman for Dinamo Moscow in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Post #35.

Kopchebokov, Lev:
Writer for Sovietsky Sport. Post #13.

Kozlov, Mikhail:
Member of the coaching council of the Moscow Selects when they faced LTC Prague in 1948. Post #32.

Korotkov, Pavel:
Player-coach in bandy and hockey. Led the Army hockey team in 1946-1947 before switching to VVS Moscow. Posts #2, #32.

Lapainis, Roberts:
Latvian goaltender who played for Latvia at the 1936 Olympics and for Dinamo Riga in the first Soviet hockey championship (1946-1947). Post #12, #16.

Liiv, Karl:
Estonian goaltender. Played for Dinamo Tallin before switching to Dinamo Moscow in 1949. Post #16.

Medvedev, Nikolai:
Bandy player for Dinamo Moscow who switched to hockey in 1947. Played forward. Post #35.

Mellups, Harijs:
Latvian goaltender, leading goalie of the late 1940s. Picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. First played for Dinamo Riga, then for VVS Moscow. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Posts #16, #17, #32, #34,

Mikhailov, Nikolai:
Secretary of the Communist youth organization KOMSOMOL, ran a campaign against Canadian hockey in 1947-1948 and publicly attacked the Soviet Sports Committee in the name of bandy ("Russian hockey"). Post #21.

Morgunov, V.:
Writer for Sovietsky Sport. Post #22.

Nikanorov, Vladimir:
Renowned defenceman for the Army team (1946-1952). Picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. First partnered Alexander Vinogradov, later Nikolai Sologubov. Post #32.

Nilov, Nikolai:
Defenceman for Spartak Moscow (1947-1950) and Krylya Sovietov Moscow (1950-1954). Post #35.

Novikov, Ivan:
One of the leading forwards of the late 1940s. Played for Spartak Moscow and was picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. Switched to VVS Moscow in 1948. Also a successful tennis player. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Post #32.

Petersons, Arvīds:
Latvian forward who played for Latvia at the 1936 Olympics and for Dinamo Riga in the first Soviet championships. Posts #12, #16.

Petrov, Dmitri:
Goaltender, played for the Army team in 1946-1947 and for Spartak Moscow from 1947 to 1950. Repeatedly singled out for conceding weak goals. Posts #35, #36.

Romanov, Nikolai:
Head of the Soviet Sports Committee, one of the crucial figures behind the introduction of Canadian hockey in Russia in 1946. Figured the game should be picked up because it was an Olympic sport (as opposed to bandy). In 1947-1948 he successfully countered an anti-hockey campaign that could have spelled the end for Canadian hockey in Russia. Posts #19, #21.

Savin, Sergei:
Head of the soccer and hockey/bandy department of the Soviet Sports Committee, one of the crucial figures behind the introduction of Canadian hockey in Russia. Brought the rules and equipment from Latvia in 1946 and observed the Olympics in Switzerland in 1948. Also served as a referee in early Soviet league games. Posts #18, #19.

Seglin, Anatoli:
Defenceman for Spartak Moscow in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. Post #32.

Sokolov, Boris:
Post #32.

Stavrovsky, Viktor:
Post #35.

Šūlmanis, Roberts:
Latvian forward who played for Dinamo Riga before switching to VVS Moscow in 1949. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Post #12, #16.

Tarasov, Anatoli:
Posts #2, #20, #32, #35

Tarasov, Yuri:
Younger brother of Anatoli Tarasov. A notable player in his own right, he was picked for the 1948 Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Post #32.

Trofimov, Vasili:
Soccer star who was also among the top hockey forwards in the early years of Soviet hockey. Played for Dinamo Moscow and was picked for the 1948 Moscow Selects when they faced LTC Prague. Posts #2, #22, #32, #35.

Vanyat, Yuri:
Writer for Sovietsky Sport. Posts #20, #35.

Vinogradov, Alexander:
Bandy player who became one of the leading defencemen in early Soviet hockey. Played for the Army team in 1946-1947 and from 1953 to 1955 and for VVS Moscow from 1947 to 1953. Posts #2, #13, #32.

Vītoliņš, Harijs:
Latvian forward who played for Dinamo Riga. Posts #12, #16.

Voroshilov, Kliment:
Communist war hero, high ranking general of the Red Army. Served as second deputy chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers from 1946-1953 behind Stalin and Molotov. Took a liking to hockey in 1947-1948. His embrace of the game made the KOMSOMOL stop their campaign against hockey. Post #21.

Yakushin, Mikhail:
Soccer ace who also played and coached bandy with Dinamo Moscow. Post #2.

Yegorov, Vladimir:
Played and coached bandy and hockey with Krylya Sovietov Moscow. Served as assistant coach of the Soviet national team from 1951-1960 and in 1956 was one of the first three hockey coaches to receive the title "Merited Trainer of the USSR" (together with Tarasov and Chernyshov). Won a domestic championship with Krylya Sovietov in 1957. His observations on the Canadians from 1958 can be found here. Posts #2, #32.

Zhiburtovich, Pavel:
Post #22.

Zikmund, Zdenek:
Son of a Czech family. One of the leading forwards of the late 1940s. Played for Spartak Moscow and was picked for the Moscow Selects to face LTC Prague in 1948. Switched to VVS Moscow in 1948. Also a successful tennis player. Perished in the 1950 airplane crash. Post #32.

 

[Theokritos]

1946, February 24th: CDSA Moscow - Krylya Sovietov Moscow 2-0

Bandy, not Canadian hockey



Like all of Europe, Russia was playing "hockey with the ball" (also known as bandy) before "hockey with the disc" (Canadian hockey) became prevalent. Not only the object of play and the sticks were different: at the competitive level, bandy was played on soccer-size surfaces with 11 players per side.

Here we get to see footage from the 1945-1946 season of the Soviet bandy circuit. This circuit consisted of regional league competitions and several Cup knock-out tournaments. In the 1945-1946 season, three of the main competitions (Championship of Moscow, Cup of Moscow, Cup of the were USSR) were won by the Army club (later named CSKA, but back then still CDSA).

The players we get to see were all professional athletes. During the winter months they were practicing and playing bandy, during the rest of the year soccer. The Army team, led by captain (=player-coach) Pavel Korotkov, included Anatoli Tarasov, Vsevolod Bobrov, Yevgeni Babich and Alexander Vinogradov, all of whom would later feature prominently in "hockey with the disc". Their fiercest rival that season was Dinamo Moscow with players such as Mikhail Yakushin, Vasili Trofimov, Sergei Ilyin, Vsevolod Blinkov (all of them legit soccer stars) and, of course, Arkadi Chernyshov. Having eliminated Dinamo in the semifinal of the Soviet Cup, the Army team proceeded to face Krylya Sovietov Moscow (with Vladimir Yegorov) in the final.

As you can see in the video, bandy as a game of skating and stickhandling provided the Russians with a solid foundation of skills for "hockey with the disc". But of course, the differences are also notable. The rhythm and pace of game is very different with so many players on such a large rink.

Another notable difference: the goaltenders play without sticks. Switching from that style of goaltending to Canadian hockey was quite a challenge.

In his book Совершеннолетие (1968=2nd edition), Tarasov recalls that in the early days of the Soviet league one goaltender played without a stick (like a bandy goaltender) and another, struggling to come to terms with the small goal, attempted to stay on his knees as much as possible. The leading goaltender of that era was Harijs Mellups from Latvia - an area where Canadian hockey had already been played prior to WW2, unlike in Russia.

During the same season, 1945-1946, Russian bandy teams played some exhibition games in hockey with the disc. Anatoli Tarasov, who had received a lecture on Canadian hockey while attending the State Central Institute of Physical Culture prior to WW2, was reportedly among those explaining the basics of the game to the other players. In the following winter, 1946-1947, the first Soviet championship in Canadian hockey was organized. All of the Russian clubs that participated fielded teams of bandy players.

 

[Sanf]

Goal size is very curious on that one. I don´t know about the rules across the bandy world, but to my knowledge bandy goal has always been bigger.

Here are couple of old Bandy photos from Finland

Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat. (according to the blog I found the photo is from 1930´s

War time picture from 1943

 

[Theokritos]

Goal size is very curious on that one. I don´t know about the rules across the bandy world, but to my knowledge bandy goal has always been bigger.

Good question. Here is a photograph from Chelyabinsk with the same curious goal size. Presumably the photo is also from the early post-war years:

Meanwhile the following pictures from mid- to late 1950s Moscow show that by then larger goals were used:

http://hockey99.ru/uploads/posts/2015-05/thumbs/1431888164_bezymyannyy-14.jpg

http://hockey99.ru/uploads/posts/2015-04/1430319136_bezymyannyy-31_cr.jpg

What had changed in the meantime? The international bandy federation had been founded:

In the 1940s, the Nordic countries Finland, Norway and Sweden set up a joint rules committee. In the early 1950s, the Soviet Union decided to break out of its isolation in international sport and started a friendly exchange with the said Nordic countries.

The federation was formed on 12 February 1955 at Hotell Malmen in Stockholm, Sweden, by representatives from Finland, Norway, the Soviet Union and Sweden. (...) When FIB was formed in 1955, it introduced the same rules for bandy all over the world. Especially in Russia and other Soviet Republics, different rules had been used prior to this.

Perhaps the last sentence also refers to the goal size?

 

[Sanf]

That actually is mindblowing. And I admit I am bit of shamed that I didn´t know this. I went to Finnish newspaperarchives and found article from 1928 Työväen Urheilulehti (Workingclass sportmagazine to translate it freely). Finnish and Russian "union" teams played two matches at Leningrad. The main focus is about the Russians refused to play both games with the international rules. Writer (part of the team?) describes Russian bandy as mix of Ice hockey and Bandy. Goal was significally smaller. Also goaltenders were allowed to use sticks. If I understand it correct there was 25 cm sideboards that were allowed to use (edit. and Russians significantly got advantage from using those to trick the Finns). Also there may have been rule that the ball may not be lifted above shoulder.

That is ofcourse from 1928 and I don´t know if those were official rules. (edit. though it is mentioned that those would have been the national bandy rules in Russia.)

Maybe @Robert Gordon Orr here may enlighten us more about this.

 

[Theokritos]

I went to Finnish newspaperarchives and found article from 1928 Työväen Urheilulehti (Workingclass sportmagazine to translate it freely). Finnish and Russian "union" teams played two matches at Leningrad. The main focus is about the Russians refused to play both games with the international rules. Writer (part of the team?) describes Russian bandy as mix of Ice hockey and Bandy. Goal was significally smaller.

Great research!

 

[Sanf]

Also in in newspaper Karjala describes the differnces in bandy at Russia in 1926. Explanation was given that at Neva the short and narrow bandy fields forced them to make changes. Ball was made bigger and heavier (heavier ball was also mentioned at the Union game article). Sticks had heavier blades and it was more flexible. Also the adaption of "Ice hockey boards" is mentioned in this article too. All of this was made that the ball wouldn´t leave the field so easily.

Overall if all of these "rules" are correct the Russian Bandy was played much closer to the ice than Bandy as it was played in Nordic countries. And resembled much more Canadian hockey.

 

[Theokritos]

Also in in newspaper Karjala describes the differnces in bandy at Russia in 1926. Explanation was given that at Neva the short and narrow bandy fields forced them to make changes. Ball was made bigger and heavier (heavier ball was also mentioned at the Union game article). Sticks had heavier blades and it was more flexible. Also the adaption of "Ice hockey boards" is mentioned in this article too. All of this was made that the ball wouldn´t leave the field so easily.

Overall if all of these "rules" are correct the Russian Bandy was played much closer to the ice than Bandy as it was played in Nordic countries. And resembled much more Canadian hockey.

I've managed to find a source.

In his 1955 book Хоккей в СССР (Hockey in the USSR), A. S. Perel reports that several rule changes were made to Soviet bandy in 1952. Among others:

• The size of the goal was increased significantly (from 3.04 : 1.2 m to 3.5 : 2.1 m)
• The length of the field was decreased slightly (100-105 m instead of 105-110 m)
• The minimum weight of the ball was lowered (from 80 g to 68 g) while the maximum weight remained the same (90 g)

In 1954 more rule changes followed: the ball got much lighter (58-62 g instead of 68-90 g).

Presumably these changes were made to bring Soviet bandy in line with Nordic bandy. In 1955 the USSR was a founding member of the international bandy federation together with Norway, Sweden and Finland.

So the small fields at the Neva the 1926 newspaper is referring to were either a local respectively regional phenomenon or else a temporary one.

 

[Sanf]

I've managed to find a source.

In his 1955 book Хоккей в СССР (Hockey in the USSR), A. S. Perel reports that several rule changes were made to Soviet bandy in 1952. Among others:

• The size of the goal was increased significantly (from 3.04 : 1.2 m to 3.5 : 2.1 m)
• The length of the field was decreased slightly (100-105 m instead of 105-110 m)
• The minimum weight of the ball was lowered (from 80 g to 68 g) while the maximum weight remained the same (90 g)

In 1954 more rule changes followed: the ball got much lighter (58-62 g instead of 68-90 g).

Presumably these changes were made to bring Soviet bandy in line with Nordic bandy. In 1955 the USSR was a founding member of the international bandy federation together with Norway, Sweden and Finland.

So the small fields at the Neva the 1926 newspaper is referring to were either a local respectively regional phenomenon or else a temporary one.

Yeah its most likely that the smaller fields was only a forced situation. Still it is interesting did it mold how the game was played in Russia. I have researched bit about the very early stages of bandy in Finland and Russia and St. Petersburg definitely is the home of bandy in Russia. They were talking about the Russian rules already in 1917 when the Russian team "Jussupoffit" (Yusupov Garden from then Petrogad) visited Finland.

This is going bit far on OT

 

[sawchuk1971]

1946, February 24th: CDSA Moscow - Krylya Sovietov Moscow 2-0

Bandy, not Canadian hockey



Like all of Europe, Russia was playing "hockey with the ball" (also known as bandy) before "hockey with the disc" (Canadian hockey) became prevalent. Not only the object of play and the sticks were different: at the competitive level, bandy was played on soccer-size surfaces with 11 players per side.

Here we get to see footage from the 1945-1946 season of the Soviet bandy circuit. This circuit consisted of regional league competitions (like the Championship of Moscow) and several knock-out tournaments (Cup of the Soviet Union, Cup of Moscow). In 1945-1946 season, all three competitions were won by the Army club (later named CSKA, but back then still CDSA).

The players we get to see were all professional athletes. During the winter months they were practicing and playing bandy, during the rest of the year soccer. The Army team, led by captain (=player-coach) Pavel Korotkov, included Anatoli Tarasov, Vsevolod Bobrov, Yevgeni Babich and Alexander Vinogradov, all of whom would later feature prominently in "hockey with the disc". Their fiercest rival that season was Dinamo Moscow with players such as Mikhail Yakushin, Vasili Trofimov, Sergei Ilyin, Vsevolod Blinkov (all of them legit soccer stars) and, of course, Arkadi Chernyshov. Having eliminated Dinamo in the semifinal of the Soviet Cup, the Army team proceeded to face Krylya Sovietov Moscow (with Vladimir Yegorov) in the final.

As you can see in the video, bandy as a game of skating and stickhandling provided the Russians with a solid foundation of skills for "hockey with the disc". But of course, the differences are also notable. The rhythm and pace of game is very different with so many players on such a large rink.

Another notable difference: the goaltenders play without sticks. Switching from that style of goaltending to Canadian hockey was quite a challenge.


During the same season, 1945-1946, Russian bandy teams played some exhibition games in hockey with the disc. Anatoli Tarasov, who had received a lecture on Canadian hockey while attending the State Central Institute of Physical Culture prior to WW2, was reportedly among those explaining the basics of the game to the other players. In the following winter, 1946-1947, the first Soviet championship in Canadian hockey was organized. All of the Russian clubs that participated fielded teams of bandy players.

wow...no body checking....

 

[Theokritos]

wow...no body checking....

In bandy? No. In hockey with the puck, as played in Russia from 1946 on, there initially was no bodychecking either, but that changed ca. 1950 as the Soviets got ready to enter the international competitions.

 

[Theokritos]

1946, December 22: Dinamo Riga - Dinamo & Kalev Tallin 5-1


Edit: Unfortunately the video is not available anymore.

In the Baltic countries, Canadian hockey had been played competitively since the late 1920s. Thus, the teams from Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania) were the only ones in the 1946 Soviet Union that could draw on their experience with the game. The Riga team featured two veterans who had represented Latvia (then still independent) at the 1936 Winter Olympics: forward Arvīds Petersons and goaltender Roberts Lapainis. Among the players was also a certain Harijs Vītoliņš: the grandfather of the short-time NHL player with the same name.

Here's what the Sovietsky Sport paper had to say about the game (courtesy of ice-hockey-stat.com): "From the first minute, the significant superiority of Riga was apparent. Arvīds Petersons, Roberts Šūlmanis and Harijs Vītoliņš skate well and have mastered the technique of the game. Having gained posession of the puck, they skillfully use their entire half of the field and, having picked up speed behind the goal, they quickly break through to the front at high speed. The puck is tied to their stick. (...) Excellent passing and mutual support in the attack allows the Latvians to seize the initiative almost all of the time. (...) The speed of the Estonians is lower. (...) The shortcomings of the Estonians: Poor mutual support and excessive running on the tips of their skates [?] which does not generate the speed of the Latvians who run in wide circles."

A paper from Latvia was not quite as impressed with the performance of their own team: "Šūlmanis and Vītoliņš were better than others in this first game, but in order to succeed in future matches, Riga need to improve the quality of their play."

 

[Theokritos]

1947, January 25: Spartak Moscow - CDKA Moscow 2-0



Here's how the commentator characterizes Canadian hockey: "This game is fast-paced and requires players to have good physical fitness."

Эта игра отличается быстрым темпом и требует от игроков хорошей физической подготовки.

Sovietsky Sport (sourced from here) reports: "The Army club played below their capabilities. They were sluggish and passive. Even Babich and Vinogradov didn't show the same fire we have seen in previous games. (...) The Army team started to go to the offence, but due to their confusion and unsystematic attacks, the defensive line of Spartak had no trouble preventing them from breaking through. (...) Only the rare rushes of Babich made the Spartak defensemen nervous, but Babich didn't have the support of his partners and quickly calmed down (...) In a turmoil, the CDKA defense made a number of gross tactical mistakes."
Note: Vsevolod Bobrov missed the game as well as almost the entire season (only 1 game played). In January 1947 he had his first knee surgery.

Some very interesting concluding thoughts by Sovietsky Sport writer Lev Kopchebokov: "Undoubtedly, Canadian hockey has earned all of our citizenship rights. However, the rude forms of the game must immediately come to an end. We need to work hard on the technique, especially the shooting (...) We see the same players engage in soccer, in Russian hockey and now in Canadian hockey too. Isn't the load too heavy for them?"


(Personal note: Shoutout to Katharina F. for her help with this entry.)

 

[Theokritos]

1947, January 26: Dinamo Moscow - CDKA Moscow 2-1



The following day the Army team faced Dinamo Moscow in the decisive game of the season. They only needed a tie, but lost 1-2 and thus conceded the championship to Dinamo Moscow. Unfortunately the clip is pretty short.

Sovietsky Sport reports that it was a fierce game with several penalties. Dinamo is singled out for their defensive stickwork which "saved them two times". They went ahead 1-0. In the third period CDKA was fighting with tiredness and Babich had to be rested. Dinamo made it 2-0. In the end the Army team managed to score one of their own, but that was it.

 

[Theokritos]

General thoughts on those 1946-1947 clips:

The Baltic clubs had an experience edge on the Russians, but the superior talent of the best Russian bandy players made up for it. Results of the Baltic clubs against Russian clubs:

• Riga: 4-2 vs Dinamo Leningrad, 4-6 vs Spartak Moscow, 1-1 vs VVS Moscow, 4-0 vs Arkhangelsk
• Tallinn: 3-7 vs Spartak Moscow, 2-2 vs Dinamo Leningrad
• Kaunas: 12-1 vs Uzhgorod, 1-5 vs Dinamo Moscow, 1-5 vs Arkhangelsk, 2-7 vs VVS Moscow

Unsurprisingly, the clips of the two CDKA games show that skating and stickhandling were already on a pretty decent level. What caught my eye is how frequently the athletes used their backhand, whether it's to get past an opponent or to pass or clear the puck. Tactically, however, the games were still on a very basic level with a lot of back-and-forth rushes and individual attempts.

The characterization of puck hockey as fast-paced and physically demanding would stick.

Also interesting to see that already in the very first season there were complaints about the "rude form" of the game.

 

[Sanf]

General thoughts on those 1946-1947 clips:

The Baltic clubs had an experience edge on the Russians, but the superior talent of the best Russian bandy players made up for it. Results of the Baltic clubs against Russian clubs:

• Riga: 4-2 vs Dinamo Leningrad, 4-6 vs Spartak Moscow, 1-1 vs VVS Moscow, 4-0 vs Arkhangelsk
• Tallinn: 3-7 vs Spartak Moscow, 2-2 vs Dinamo Leningrad
• Kaunas: 12-1 vs Uzhgorod, 1-5 vs Dinamo Moscow, 1-5 vs Arkhangelsk, 2-7 vs VVS Moscow

Unsurprisingly, the clips of the two CDKA games show that skating and stickhandling were already on a pretty decent level. What caught my eye is how frequently the athletes used their backhand, whether it's to get past an opponent or to pass or clear the puck. Tactically, however, the games were still on a very basic level with a lot of back-and-forth rushes and individual attempts.

The characterization of puck hockey as fast-paced and physically demanding would stick.

Also interesting to see that already in the very first season there were complaints about the "rude form" of the game.

I have always thought it to be slightly weird that the Latvian team didn´t do better. I mean they had fine results, but considering that the players were experienced hockey players and had played in fine European level. Klavs, Vitolins, Petersons... And Sulmanis was later playing in VVS Moscow.

Though it´s worth mentioning that both Riga and Tallinn had goalies that were later taken to bigger Moscow teams. Mellups (apparently it was Lapainis playing in that particular game though) played at VVS and Karl Liiv at Dynamo (probably one of the best estonian hockey players of all time if not the best).

 

[Theokritos]

I have always thought it to be slightly weird that the Latvian team didn´t do better. I mean they had fine results, but considering that the players were experienced hockey players and had played in fine European level. Klavs, Vitolins, Petersons... And Sulmanis was later playing in VVS Moscow.

I guess this tells us something about the talent and skill level of the Russian bandy players. (The Soviet Union won the first 11 [!] bandy world championships in a row, starting in 1957.) Otherwise even the first Soviet hockey national team would hardly have stood a chance against one of the leading European hockey clubs, LTC Prague, in 1948.

Though it´s worth mentioning that both Riga and Tallinn had goalies that were later taken to bigger Moscow teams. Mellups (apparently it was Lapainis playing in that particular game though) played at VVS and Karl Liiv at Dynamo (probably one of the best estonian hockey players of all time if not the best).

Yes, goaltending was certainly the one area where their bandy background didn't help the Russians much. As we've now learned, Russian bandy goals had the same height as hockey goals but they were 3.04 meters wide and the goaltenders played without sticks, so it's understandable that the leading clubs from Moscow would turn to Latvia and Estonia for goaltenders with actual hockey experience. And Harijs Mellups of course was the leading hockey goaltender in the Soviet Union up until his premature death in 1950.

 

[Theokritos]

Another point of significance the Baltic countries have had for early Soviet hockey:

When the Soviet Sports Committee decided that Canadian hockey should be picked up in the USSR because it was included in the Olympic program, they didn't know much about the sport. But they were aware that it had already been played in the Baltic countries, so the head of the football and bandy department, Sergei Savin, travelled to Kaunas and to Riga to look for information. There he had a meeting with Latvian hockey player Edgars Klavs (already mentioned by @Sanf in his last post) who gave him a Canadian stick, a puck and a Latvian copy of the rules of the game. Savin took the stuff to Moscow and a Russian translation of the rules was pinned. This paved the way for the first Soviet championship in Canadian hockey in December 1946 and January 1947.

 

[Theokritos]

1947-1948

The second season of Canadian hockey in Russia held some crucial events.

• Games in Moscow were still played in the Dinamo stadium (a big outdoor arena for soccer and athletics), but the makeshift boards and penalty box from the 1946-1947 footage had been replaced by proper equipment.
• The youth organization of the Communist party of the USSR ran a campaign against Canadian hockey that could very well have spelled the end for the game in Russia. But the head of the Soviet Sports Committee, Nikolai Romanov, was able to parry the attack thanks to the personal liking a member of the Soviet government took to the game with the puck.
• Sergei Savin, head of the football and hockey department of the Sports Committee, travelled to Switzerland to observe the 1948 Olympic hockey tournament at St. Moritz. Impressed with the Czechoslovaks who finished 2nd, he invited the leading Czechoslovak club LTC Prague to Moscow. This was the first encounter of the young Soviet hockey program with a foreign hockey power, a very important step in their development.

 

[Theokritos]

1947, December 17: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 3-3



Since Dinamo stadium was the only hockey arena in Moscow, some evenings saw two consecutive games there (one at 5 pm, the other at 7 pm). On the specific day at hand, the Air Force team VVS Moscow edged out Dinamo Riga 4-3 before CDKA (with Bobrov, Babich and Tarasov) took on Dinamo Moscow (with Chernyshov).

I'm going to paraphrase what Sovietsky Sport journalist Yuri Vanyat wrote in his game report (as usual sourced from ice-hockey-stat.com):

• Compared to the game between VVS and Riga, this one "did not leave a vivid impression". Both teams were "too nervous" and "not in combat form". But "the pace of the match was good". In the third period, however, the pace was slowed down by bad ice.
• CDKA used plenty of substitutes. Dinamo didn't and towards the end their players were "clearly tired".
• In the first period CDKA had a 5-vs-3 powerplay and "tactically correctly", as Vanyat says, locked Dinamo "in their own half" [not third!]. But they didn't score on that opportunity.
• Bobrov had several scoring chances and scored two goals. But Vanyat remarks: "This talented athlete often neglects the interest of the team and doesn't listen to friendly comments by his partners. If Bobrov were to play for the team in the same manner as, for example, Babich, the strength of the CDKA team would increase significantly."

 

[Theokritos]

After the 1947-1948 season had gotten under way, the Communist youth organization Komsomol (de-facto the youth wing of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) under Nikolai Mikhailov used their paper Komsomolskaya Pravda to start a campaign against Canadian hockey. They argued that the promotion of Canadian hockey was harmful to Russian hockey alias bandy. In his memoires Nikolai Romanov, head of the Soviet Sports Committee who had pushed for and organized the introduction of Canadian hockey, writes:

"All of a sudden, in January 1948, an article entitled "A legal question" appeared in Komsomolskaya Pravda, which accused the Sports Committee – and me personally – of destroying Russian hockey in favour of Canadian Hockey, that this was unforgivable, and so on..."
(Quoted after Paul Harder.)​

The Sports Committee countered with an article in their own outlet, the Sovietsky Sport paper, titled "Unnecessary Resistance", but Komsomolskaya Pravda replied with an aggressive call to "Restore the Rights of Russian Hockey!" In his thesis, Paul Harder writes:

"Sovietsky Sport could not win a war of words with the Komsomol. The fact that his rival insisted on referring to ball hockey as 'Russian hockey' put the Sports Committee on especially treacherous ground. One must not forget that these events were unfolding in 1948, in the high years of Stalinism. Attempting to replace a Russian cultural institution with a foreign innovation could quite easily be considered a capital crime."​

However, as chairman of the Sports Committee, Nikolai Romanov was a member of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. He now turned to the second deputy chairman of the Council: Marshal Klim Voroshilov. Romanov writes:

"I reported the essence of Komsomolskaya Pravda's criticism to K. E. Voroshilov and expressed our disagreement. I explained in detail that puck hockey – sometimes called Canadian hockey – has many good qualities and is useful for the youth. Moreover, we must prepare for the future – for the Olympic games. We asked K. E. Voroshilov to watch a game of puck hockey. He agreed... Already, towards the end of the first period, judging by his comments and questions, I felt that K. E. Voroshilov liked the game."
(Quoted after Paul Harder.)​

Briefed by Romanov and enamoured by the game, Voroshilov took on Komsomol secretary Nikolai Mikhailov who also attended the game.

"During a break Voroshilov asked Mikhailov: 'What is this hockey called?' He answered that is was called both Canadian hockey and puck hockey. Voroshilov jokingly said that this was incorrect, and that [puck hockey] should henceforth be called Russian hockey, because it suits the character of the Russian person: it requires courage, split-second reactions, resourcefulness and great endurance. And if necessary you can fight. All these qualities have to be developed in the Soviet youth. He made a special emphasis of the fact that he intended to recommend that the sport be developed in the Soviet Army."
(Quoted after Paul Harder.)​

Faced with the fact that a high-ranking member of the government and popular military official was now embracing puck hockey, the Komsomol decided to drop its opposition to Canadian hockey.

Source: Paul Harder, Developing World Championship Ice Hockey In The USSR: The Inside Story 1946-1972 (Ottawa, 2004). Available online as PDF.

 

[Theokritos]

1948, February 17: VVS Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 1-1



Goals: In the first period VVS went ahead 1-0 on a goal by Pavel Zhiburtovich. In the second period Dinamo equalized through Vasili Trofimov.

V. Morgunov in Sovietsky Sport (source): "Dinamo played below their capabilities and they still had an undeniable advantage throughout the game. Happy with the draw, the Air Force team defended deep and was repeatedly penalized for deliberate delay of the game."

 

[Canadiens1958]

1948, February 17: VVS Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 1:1



Goals: In the first period VVS went ahead 1-0 on a goal by Pavel Zhiburtovich. In the second period Dinamo equalized through Vasily Trofimov.

V. Morgunov in Sovietsky Sport (source): "Dinamo played below their capabilities and they still had an undeniable advantage throughout the game. Happy with the draw, the Air Force team defended deep and was repeatedly penalized for deliberate delay of the game."

Looks like a version of various NHL rules from the pre forward pass era.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

That is ofcourse from 1928 and I don´t know if those were official rules. (edit. though it is mentioned that those would have been the national bandy rules in Russia.)
Maybe @Robert Gordon Orr here may enlighten us more about this.

I don’t want to go off topic here, but the history of the bandy rules is quite complicated.
As we know the Russians loved skating and had played the game on skates with a stick and a ball at least since the 1860s, as it was the favorite sport of several generations of Russian Emperors (Aleksandr II, Aleksandr III, Nicholas II) and other aristocrats.

As always, the Englishmen are the ones who ”modernized” the game by bringing rules from England. Many from England lived in St.Petersburg in the late 1880-90s, owning various factories and other businesses in the area.

The first implemented bandy rules in Russia were drawn up in 1897. The base/foundation came from the English football rules. The first national game with rules was played in St.Petersburg the following year, and the first international in 1899 when St.Petersburg travelled to Viipuri (Vyborg). Viipuri at that time was part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, but all the their players were Finnish of course.

The port town of Vyborg and St. Petersburg had been close trading partners for many, many years and several of the players on both sides were businessmen, dealing with each other.
A railway track was built in 1870 between the cities, so it was rather easy to travel.

Bandy thrived in Russia. In 1906 there was a four team league in St.Petersburg, and Moscow had more than a dozen teams as early as 1908.

The problem was that all the European countries that played bandy at the time, used different variations of the rules. They also allowed for some flexible interpretation of these rules, depending on the playing conditions (played outdoors). 2x30, 2x40 or 2x45 min of playing time. They played seven, eight or eleven aside. The rule was basically not fewer than seven players and no more than eleven. The size of the playing field varied a great deal. A rubber ball was used most of the time, but in Finland for example, as early as 1902 they often played with a wooden puck.

There was always a conflict between the teams during international games, and usually both teams had to give up on some of their own rules and meet halfway.

When the St.Petersburg Eislaufverein team travelled around Europe in 1907 they encountered these rule problems in every country, in Germany, Finland and Sweden.

Just like with ice hockey at the time, the organizers realized that the rules had to be unified across the borders. The controversy reached its peak after a game played in Helsinki between the local Finnish team and St.Petersburg. The day after the game, one of the local newspapers criticized Polyteknikerna (from Helsinki) for breaking the rules that they had agreed on with St. Petersburg, and they didn’t like the fact that the Finnish captain had an argument with the referee. This prompted an angry response a few days later from Polyteknikerna. The players objected to the negative article, but the newspaper mantained its criticism of their play, their attitude and unsportsmanlike conduct. As it turned out, apparently the St. Petersburg players were not so pleased either by some of the rules (i.e. having the goalkeeper throwing the ball).

The rules used up to this point by Finland were the Swedish Football Association rules, but they proved to be partly inadequate and partly different from the Russian and English rules. So it was decided that new rules should be worked on, so that they would be unified in Sweden, Finland and Russia.

In 1908 there was an international bandy congress held in Helsinki on the iniative of Finska Bollförbundet. The ones who submitted their interest to attend included, Finska Bollförbundet, Svenska Fotbollsförbundet plus the bandy organizations in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw. In the end, the Swedes withdrew because of a cholera epidemic, so only Finnish and Russian delegates were present.
It took the delegates five hours to agree on the new bandy rules. The congress also agreed to form a Nordic Ice hockey Association (Nordische Eishockeyvereinigung). The aim was to get all the Nordic countries on board and unify the rules. At this time they sometimes named it ice hockey and sometimes bandy.

The Russians were members of the LIHG (Ice Hockey with a puck), but had their membership cancelled in 1911, when the LIHG committee voted in favor by 5 votes to 1, to cancel the membership of Sport Club Sokolniki from Moscow. The proposition to exclude Russia came from the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation who didn’t like the fact that Russian delegates did not appear regularly at the meetings and when they did, they didn’t have any mandate to take any decisions.

Despite the civil war raging in Russia (1917-1922), bandy matches took place in Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg), with championship games being played. So the Russians kept bandy alive for many years. The sad thing was that most of the bandy players from St.Petersburg got either killed or had to emigrate, leaving a void in the activities for several years.

I went a bit off topic, and I didn’t really answer your question, as I covered the earlier years. But the entire rule issue is a bit complicated. One has to dive into the contemporary sources of that time from all these different countries to get a better understanding, and that's a whole book in itself.