Soviet Video & Illustration Archives

[Theokritos]

I don’t want to go off topic here, but the history of the bandy rules is quite complicated.

Thanks for the insight.

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.

Why the German moniker?

Also, the Russians would have been part of the Nordic association if only them and the Finns were present at the congress?

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Why the German moniker?

Well, the German moniker was because the language spoken at these meetings was in German as far as I know. The LIHG for example used French as their official language at meetings.

Also, the Russians would have been part of the Nordic association if only them and the Finns were present at the congress?

Since the Russians had the majority of their international exchanges with the Nordic countries, they became a natural a part of this ”fraternity”.

One of the Russian delegates was very aware of the differences between ice hockey with a ball in the Nordic countries and Russia, versus the ice hockey with a puck played on the continent. So he proposed to the Finns that they should permanently name their game bandy, so it wouldn’t get confused with the game where a puck and "Canadian sticks" was used. The Russian delegate was met with skepticism from the Swedes, but when the Swedes later learned of all the differences between the two sports from the LIHG, they too realized that they needed to create a bandy association.

Initially the Swedes wanted to have a congress in 1909, but since the first LIHG congress was held in May 1908, there was a different kind of urgency. Finland pressed on to have a bandy congress at about the same time in 1908 (May), ending up having one in the fall of 1908. At that first bandy congress in Helsinki, Sweden had to cancel their participation. So only Finnish and Russian delegates were present.

Finland and Russia agreed on majority of the rules, but the Swedes weren’t impressed and did not accept them. They didn’t like that the rules were mainly based on the Finnish ones with certain modifications.
So in 1909 during a congress in Stockholm, the Nordic bandy association was formed. Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Russia were present. Norway was also invited but did not reply. New unified rules were adopted, but the Russians never used these.

This Nordic bandy association never really took off, as a rift emerged between Finland and Sweden for a couple of years, this due to different opininions regarding a tournament named Balck’s Cup. This wasn’t resolved until 1911.

The next bandy congress was held in 1912 (Stockholm). Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia and Denmark were present. A few changes to the rules was made. This was the last meeting of the Nordic bandy association as the 1913 congress was cancelled, and then of course WW I broke out.

It was a turbulent few years at this point, and it wasn’t until after WW I that countries got organized again.
I think it’s also interesting that it was in early 1928 that the question was raised in Russia for the first time if to cultivate Canadian ice hockey or bandy hockey. I believe it was in the journal ”Физкультура и спорт” (Fizkultura I Sport) that they had this debate. After a careful analysis the article was unfavourable of the Canadian ice hockey. The article was written by a Russian football player (Mikhail Romm) and I think it had a bit of impact regarding the direction the Russians took at that point.

 

[Sanf]

The next bandy congress was held in 1912 (Stockholm). Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia and Denmark were present. A few changes to the rules was made. This was the last meeting of the Nordic bandy association as the 1913 congress was cancelled, and then of course WW I broke out.

Thanks for all the info. Small parts of it was familiar to me, but lot of new information.

I know that in 1912 congress Denmark and Russia tried to forbid the swings on the downpart of the ball which makes the ball fly across the field (well obviously). Can´t remember who proposed it. Norway, Sweden and Finland didn´t agree. There was also disagreement about goalie throwing the ball. I remeber it because these rule changes were ridiculed in Finnish paper. Said they would complitely change the nature of the game.

To make it even slightly on topic it does make me understand better how Soviets adapted hockey so easy. Granted I have seen only snippets about how bandy was played in Russia. They did seem to play bandy much closer to the ice. Its not a total "nature changer", but those aren´t small differences either.

 

[Theokritos]

Well, the German moniker was because the language spoken at these meetings was in German as far as I know.

Thanks. Sometimes I forget the international importance German has had prior to WW1.

Finland and Russia agreed on majority of the rules (...) So in 1909 during a congress in Stockholm, the Nordic bandy association was formed. Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Russia were present. Norway was also invited but did not reply. New unified rules were adopted, but the Russians never used these.

(...)

The next bandy congress was held in 1912 (Stockholm). Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia and Denmark were present. A few changes to the rules was made. This was the last meeting of the Nordic bandy association as the 1913 congress was cancelled, and then of course WW I broke out.

Interesting. Perel (I cited his book above) doesn't know anything of these events respectively the Russian involvement. He just refers to some Russian rules codified in 1906 and to the formation of an All-Russian hockey federation in 1914.

 

[Sanf]

Interesting. Perel (I cited his book above) doesn't know anything of these events respectively the Russian involvement. He just refers to some Russian rules codified in 1906 and to the formation of an All-Russian hockey federation in 1914.

I don´t know the deeper reasons for that, but I believe that the Russian representative on those first congresses (atleast the one kept in Finland at 1908 and the one kept during Olympics in 1912) was sport multitalent Russian-Swedish Paul (Pavel) Lidvall Son (edit. Actually brother) of architect Johan Frederik (Fyodor) Lidvall. Their family was forced to go back to Sweden during revolution. Maybe it was not worth remembering by Soviets?

edit. RGO can correct if I am wrong

 

[Theokritos]

I don´t know the deeper reasons for that, but I believe that the Russian representative on those first congresses (atleast the one kept in Finland at 1908 and the one kept during Olympics in 1912) was sport multitalent Russian-Swedish Paul (Pavel) Lidvall Son (edit. Actually brother) of architect Johan Frederik (Fyodor) Lidvall. Their family was forced to go back to Sweden during revolution.

Right. From Perel's book you do get the impression that early 20th century bandy was a pastime of the upper class. The Yusupov team you have already mentioned was associated with the "St. Petersburg Society of Skating Lovers" (it's the same team @Robert Gordon Orr mentions above as touring other European countries in 1907), in Moscow some of the leading teams were those of the "Moscow River Yacht Club" and the "Sokolniki Club of Sports Lovers", and so on. Pretty bourgeois and aristocratic. Certainly an environment where the family of a Swedish tailor (Johan Lidvall, father of Fredrik/Fyodor Lidvall and Paul/Pavel Lidvall) cutting clothes for the tsar's court would fit in.

Another aspect: since there was no All-Russian hockey (bandy) federation prior to 1914, who was it who was actually representing Russia at those Nordic meetings resp. how far-reaching where their powers within Russia in reality? I guess Paul/Pavel Lidvall was entitled to speak for the local organization in St. Petersburg, but beyond that? It's pretty telling that the early LIHG membership of "Russia" was actually the membership of one individual club (Sokolniki Moscow), just like the Oxford Canadians Hockey Club was initially representing "Canada" at the LIHG and (in soccer) Real Madrid was representing "Spain" at the UEFA.

 

[Sanf]

Another aspect: since there was no All-Russian hockey (bandy) federation prior to 1914, who was it who was actually representing Russia at those Nordic meetings resp. how far-reaching where their powers within Russia in reality? I guess Paul/Pavel Lidvall was entitled to speak for the local organization in St. Petersburg, but beyond that? It's pretty telling that the early LIHG membership of "Russia" was actually the membership of one individual club (Sokolniki Moscow), just like the Oxford Canadians Hockey Club was initially representing "Canada" at the LIHG and (in soccer) Real Madrid was representing "Spain" at the UEFA.

Hard to say. I went to my notes and the Russian delegate in the first Congress is mentioned to represent "St Petersburger eishockeyliga und Moskwa". Paul Lidvall was selected the chairman of the first temporary comitee. Two other Russian representives were Richard Lepach and Adolf Laumann. I have strong reasons to believe that all of them were actually from St. Petersburg. I have no idea how much power they had. But RGO said that Russians never adapted the rules that were codified in the second congress in 1909 (personally I have no information about that congress) so probably not that much?

This is interesting topic, but it takes the actual topic rather in siderail.

 

[Theokritos]

1948, February 26th: Moscow Selects - LTC Prague 6-3



Fearing public humiliation at the hands of the experienced Czechoslovaks (which wouldn't have gone over well with Stalin), the first two games (February 23th and 24th) were labeled as "joint training sessions" with limited attendance and with the best Soviet players absent. LTC won those two games 11-7 and 10-1. The next three games featured the best players the young Soviet hockey program could ice and were open to the public. Apparently they were only held due to the insistance of the Soviet coaching council versus the political authorities. The council included Pavel Korotkov, Vladimir Yegorov, Alexander Igumnov, Anatoli Tarasov, Arkadi Chernyshov, Valentin Fyodorov and Mikhailov Kozlov. The latter two are pretty much unknown entities to me.

The Soviet roster:

F:
Vsevolod Bobrov - Anatoli Tarasov - Yevgeni Babich
Zdenek Zikmund - Vsevolod Blinkov - Vasili Trofimov
Ivan Novikov, Yuri Tarasov

D:
Alexander Vinogradov - Vladimir Nikanorov (C)
Boris Sokolov - Anatoli Seglin
Boris Bocharnikov

G:
Harijs Mellups​

The first of three games was won 6-3 by the Soviets (a result labeled a "sensation" by Prague newspaper Mladá fronta), the second game 5-3 by LTC Prague and the third game ended in a 2-2 tie. (Out of the 11 goals the Soviets scored overall, 5 were scored by Bobrov.)

Unfortunately the quality of the footage is very modest, but the available comments by contemporaries still give a lot of insight.

Viktor Dubinin (Komsomolskaya Pravda) on the 6-3 game:
"LTC generally employs an attacking style. Their defencemen followed their forward to our goal and tried to lock our team in its own zone... One indubitable advantage of our players was obvious: their speed on skates. The reason for the defeat of the famous LTC team was primarily because their well-developed tactical scheme was upset by extremely fast pace of the Soviet game. Already at the beginning of the game, the Czechoslovak defence was troubled by Bobrov's lightning-fast breakthroughts and the fast game of Babich and Tarasov. And still, LTC continued to follow their previously adapted scheme... The first forward trio of Babich, Bobrov and Tarasov and the substitute trio of Blinkov, Trofimov and Zikmund played brilliantly. As the game continued, they went through the defence of LTC more and more, and they scored goal after goal, even though the Czechoslovak forwards helped their defencemen and despite of the wonderful performance of the Czechoslovak goaltender."

Команда ЛТЦ играет вообще в атакующем стиле (...) Защитники ее уходили к нашим воротам вслед за атакующим нападением, пытаясь запереть нашу команду в ее зоне защиты (...) одно несомненное преимущество наших хоккеистов — скорость хода на коньках. Причина поражения знаменитой команды заключалась прежде всего в том, что ее точно разработанные тактические каноны была опрокинуты исключительно быстрым темпом игры советских хоккеистов. Уже по началу игры зашита чешской команды была обеспокоена молниеносными прорывами Боброва и быстрой игрой крайних нападающих Бабича и Тарасова. Однако команда ЛТЦ все же продолжала играть по заранее принятой схеме. (...) Блестяще играли тройка нападающих Бабич, Бобров и Тарасов и сменная тройка Блинков, Трофимов, Зигмунд. Они все чаще проходили сквозь защиту ЛТЦ, которой помогали уже и нападающие, и, несмотря на замечательную игру чехословацкого вратаря, забивали гол за голом.

On the 3-5 game:
"LTC clearly played more carefully than in the first game. Against the usual tactical scheme, the defencemen didn't leave their own zone. And yet, the exceptionally high speed of the Soviet game still earned them results. LTC was in trouble. But soon the game changed and the pace became sluggish. The referees frequently stopped the game and with incomplete teams on the ice (at times three were playing against three), there were a lot of events in front of the Soviet goal."

Команда играла явно осторожнее, чем в первый раз. Защита не покидала своей зоны, несмотря на непривычность этого тактического приема. И все же исключительно высокий, даже для такой команды, как ЛТЦ, темп игры советских хоккеистов снова дал свои результаты. Положение для ЛТЦ было угрожающим. Однако вскоре игра изменилась. Темп ее стал вялым. Частые остановки игры судьями, неполные составы команд (временами игра шла три на три) привели к большому количеству случайных моментов у ворот советской команды.

More to follow.

 

[Theokritos]

More to follow.

Here's what Arkadi Chernyshov wrote in a Moscow paper after the games against LTC Prague:

"What is striking is the ease with which they handle the stick and the puck, their fast skating, their good orientation on the ice and, finally, the teamwork of the whole squad. Particularly noteworthy is their ability to lift the puck into the air when they make short passes. With this technique they skillfully move the puck over the stick of the opponent.

In the attack, when entering the offensive zone, they are actively supported by their defensemen. Just like the forwards, the defensemen pose a direct threat to the goal of the opponent - at the risk of leaving their own goaltender alone.

It's characteristic for LTC that their forwards don't shoot from afar or from a steep angle. They don't consider that useful. Instead they prefer to continue playing the puck until they are in the danger zone in front of the goal.

Substitution of the entire team except the goaltender happens every two or three minutes, which enables the players to preserve their energy and play at full speed throughout the whole game.

The Moscow players surprised the Czechoslovaks with fast skating, endurance, capacity of work and ability to play combinations - adopted, as our Czechoslovak guest said, from bandy. The games also highlighted several flaws in the game of our players, for example the inability to make use of the body. There is a lot of work ahead when it comes to refining our techniqual skills and to learning the tactics of the game."

 

[Theokritos]

1948, January 7: Dinamo Riga -Dinamo Moscow 4-1


Edit: Unfortunately the video is not available anymore.

A clip I had initially overlooked.

Unfortunately we don't get to see Riga goaltender Harijs Mellups in action.

A Lavian paper wrote: "Dinamo Moscow has excellent skating technique, but they're far behind Dinamo Riga when it comes to puck handling, tactics, combinations and shots." Sovietsky Sport echoed the Latvian report: "The players from Riga used to lag behind the those from Moscow in skating speed, but in this games both teams were equal in pace. However, the technical and tactical advantage was on the side of the home club. They played as a team, had good shots on goal and passed the puck with accuracy."

 

[Theokritos]

1948, December 12: Dinamo Moscow - Spartak Moscow 3-2



The quality of the video footage leaves something to be desired, but the game report by Yuri Vanyat in the Sovietsky Sport paper is very interesting. Some excerpts:

Vanyat says the late winter affected the preparation of the Moscow teams for the championship.

Both teams had been successful in the prior seasons, but they had to stomach several roster changes now.

Dinamo:
Defenceman Boris Bocharnikov had switched to the air force team VVS Moscow and was replaced by Vasili Komarov. Vanyat: "The cautious and composed Komarov, somewhat inferior to Bocharnikov in speed and physical strength, has played with more positional competence." Vanyat liked what he saw from Dinamo overall: "In general, their game has left a favourable impression. No doubt the team will again be one of the most serious contenders for the championship." He also liked their young goaltender Viktor Stavrovsky. However, he also reports an issue: "Without Blinkov (he has switched back to bandy) and with Trofimov not yet hitting his stride, the pace of the Dinamo attack left much to be desired, except for episodic moments."

Spartak:
They introduced four new players at once – "inferior in class to their four predecessors", Vanyat says, even though he grants that newly acquired forward Zenonas Ganusauskas (a Lithuanian from Spartak Kaunas) had a successful debut. The Spartak defence is rated as "still reliable", with Nikolai Nilov showing "himself to be on the good side". Other players are singled out for criticism: Goaltender Dmitri Petrov was "obviously weak" and let in a shot "from 20-25 meters", while forward Valentin Zakharov "spoiled the team game" by trying to "break through the the Dinamo defence alone".

In the first period Spartak were attacking with "great enthusiasm" and in "harmony", but the Dinamo defence was "rebutting the onslaught with confidence and composure." They didn't attack much themselves though, except when the "main three" were substituted by the "young guys" – which, as Vanyat notes, Dinamo did "regularly, regardless of the course of the game". Which tells us that changing players regularly was not yet something to be taken for granted. Spartak on their part played "almost without replacements". And just one year earlier Dinamo themselves had not yet changed regularly themselves, as opposed to the Red Army club.

After a scoreless first period, Dinamo enjoyed "a big advantage" in the second period as Spartak "gradually got tired". They went ahead 1-0, but then Spartak started attacking again and managed to tie the score "to the noise of 20,000 spectators". In the third period Dinamo jacked up the pace "dramatically", only for Spartak to score an unexpected goal and make it 1-2. In the last ten minutes Dinamo put an "iron grip" on the opponent and overpowered Spartak who were on their last leg. The "methodical and persistent" attacks of Dinamo earned them two goals to turn the result around and win the game 3-2. The game winner was a "hard shot" by Nikolai Medvedev from the distance – the one Vanyat thought the Spartak goaltender should have stopped.

 

[Theokritos]

1949, February 12: CDKA Moscow - Spartak Moscow 9-2



Some things to catch in this video: The frequent use of the backhand (as in earlier videos) and one player switching to backward skating rather effortlessly (1:06 to 1:10).

From the game report by Valentin Granatkin in Sovietsky Sport:

"From the very first minute, CDKA set forward a fast pace, which Spartak was on board with. Dangerous chances were created on both sides. In this equal and intense fight, an unexpected letdown was produced by Spartak goaltender Petrov who inexcusably missed the puck after a shot by Bobrov from the middle of the rink.
The second lines are sent to the ice. [Spartak defenceman] Boris Sokolov is actively involved in helping his forwards. Spartak stubbornly attack the goal of CDKA, but a decisive performance by goaltender Grigori Mkrtychan prevents a goal. After a short rest, the Army team send out their first line again and they score another goal, again not without help by goaltender Petrov. The score remains 2-0 until the 17th minute when Bobrov scores his third goal to make it 3-0."

In the second period, CDKA's first line of Babich, Bobrov and Tarasov, "the strongest troika in the country", turned it up another notch and impressed the spectators "with their team game, their ability to move quickly, make timely and accurate passes to the partner and the resourcefulness and accuracy of their shots." They scored 5 goals (all by Bobrov) while Spartak only scored one (Boris Sokolov). Score after the second period: CDKA 8, Spartak 1. The third period started with "continuous attacks of Spartak" who were eager to make the result more respectable, but in they end they had to settle for a 2-9 defeat. Granatkin concludes that Vsevolod Bobrov "set a record in our hockey" by scoring "eight goals in a row" and that CDKA are in great shape to defend their title. "The physical fitness of the players allows the CDKA team to play the game at a fast pace. The collective game of the attackers, supported by a reliable defence, makes the club a good team which is difficult to beat. It should be noted, however, that the Spartak team had played four difficult games in the last 12 days while the CDKA team had more rest. This fact, of course, could not fail to affect the outcome of this important game."

 

[Theokritos]

1949, February 16: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Moscow 7-2



The decisive win that sealed the second championship of CDKA.

Yuri Vanyat (Sovietsky Sport) says that Dinamo came up with "persistent, sharp, dangerous" attacks, but they were stopped by the "calm and technically sound game of goaltender Grigori Mkrtychan". Meanwhile the Army team was "inspired, clever and resourceful" and, again, won the "admiration of the spectators". The admiration is also obvious in Vanyat's own verdict: "In its delicacy, graceful technique and ease, the athletic mastery was bordering on art."

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

@Theokritos this is amazing. finding these videos are a treasure.

Glad I stumbled upon this thread here. After seeing the Red Army documentary from 2013/2014, they mentioned hockey 'came around' especially after WWII. But the videos here are showing a different story to me. Was Bandy *the* sport to play in the Soviet era in the 1920's-30's? Or was hockey a mixture of both rules of bandy + ice hockey?

It's funny seeing posts #20 and #37 with the games themselves. Was it common for hockey to be played outdoors in the frigid temperatures?

Equipment-wise it looks like the sticks are longer length than usual? Again, with the era maybe(?) - little to no curve on blade.

 

[Theokritos]

Was Bandy *the* sport to play in the Soviet era in the 1920's-30's?

All the venues were outdoors, so it was depending on the season. But yes, during the winter bandy (which was simply called "hockey" before Canadian hockey became known) was the go-to sport in the USSR. Both children and professional athletes would usually play football (=soccer) during the summer and then switch to bandy during the winter. Even after the introduction of Canadian hockey, bandy remained popular in the Soviet Union. By 1957 the domestic production of bandy sticks still outnumbered the production of hockey sticks with 256,000 to 194,000. Of course, Soviet output figures don't always reflect the actual demand as the economy was centrally organized and planned, but since hockey was the sport promoted by the Soviet Sports Committee over bandy, the numbers are unlikely to be inflated in favour of bandy.

Or was hockey a mixture of both rules of bandy + ice hockey?

I don't quite understand this question.

It's funny seeing posts #20 and #37 with the games themselves. Was it common for hockey to be played outdoors in the frigid temperatures?

There were no indoor rinks in the Soviet Union in those days, so all the games were played outdoors. As you can see in this thread about the 1965-1966 Soviet League season, even then a part of the domestic schedule was still played outdoors, sometimes with temperatures as low as -18 degrees Celsius / -0.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Equipment-wise it looks like the sticks are longer length than usual? Again, with the era maybe(?) - little to no curve on blade.

Good observations. Straight blades were the norm in hockey before Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull made curved blades popular in the 1960s. Sticks were also longer for defensive purposes. The same thing can be observed e.g. in an NHL game from 1960 we have been discussing on this board (see posts #11 and #12 there).

 

[Theokritos]

1949, December 4: CDKA Moscow - Spartak Moscow 3-2



The opening game of the 1949-1950 season. Both teams play with two lines of five players, but only the starters are named:

CDKA (light shirts):

Vladimir Yelizarov – Anatoli Tarasov – Igor Kurbatov
Vladimir Menshikov – Vladimir Nikanorov
Grigory Mkrtychan​

Spartak (dark shirts):

Nikolai Nilov – Igor Netto – Elmars Bauris
Anatoli Seglin – Boris Sokolov
Dmitri Petrov​

Here's what the Soviet papers Sovietsky Sport (SS), Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) and Krasnaya Zvezda (KZ) wrote about the game.

First period:

SS: "The game begins with a swift attack by the army club. Their forward trio, led by Tarasov, breaks through to the Spartak goal, but they're too fussy in the goal area and fail to score. The Spartak players on their part counter with an attack on the opposing goal.
The teams change players. In the second unit of the Army team, the young player [Mikhail] Gashchenkov stands out notably. His swift runs on the wing make the experienced but not so fast Spartak defencemen Seglin and Sokolov nervous.
Another line change. The first five of CDKA are on the ice again. They attack hard and try to open the score. The Spartak defensemen shoot the puck into the other half. There it is picked up by Menshikov. His shot isn't successful and the puck lands on the stick of a Spartak foward. He quickly skates to the goal of the Army team and passes to [Vladimir] Novozhilov who puts the puck in the net. Spartak leads 1-0.
CDKA move Gashchenkov to the top five and drop Kurbatov to the second unit. Using the speed of the young player, the Army team begins to build their attacks on his breakthroughts. This tactic pays off. One of his lightning-fast attacks ends with an excellent throw that makes it 1-1."
KZ: "In the first two periods the game was hampered by heavy snowing. The puck did not slide well. The passes were inaccurate."

Second period:

SS: "In the second period, Spartak initially has a slight advantage. With quick combinations, Bauris, Nilov and Nettov take turns toward the goal of the Army team. In one of their appearances, confusion arises around the goal and Netto uses it to bring the score to 2-1.
The pace of the game is increasing. CDKA rush to the attack again and again, trying to get away from defeat."
KP: "For a long time, the attempts of the Army players to change the score failed to succeed. The Spartak defensemen skillfully destroyed their combination. Heavy snowfall significantly reduced the pace of the game and hampered the action of the players."

Third period:

KZ: "In the last period, the weather improved. The snow stopped falling and this immediately affected the pace of the game."
SS: "The Spartak players struggle to keep up with the ever-increasing pace of the game. Apparently the team is affected by the fact they didn't play a single preseason game. In the last 10 minutes, Nilov of Spartak is sent to the penalty bench for 5 minutes. However, the Army time doesn't have time to use their numerical advantage as Tarasov is also removed for 5 minutes.
Yelizarov has the puck. He moves well to the front line, goes around the goal and passes the puck back to Nikanorov who ties the game."
KP: "The attacks of the Army players became ever more insistent. At times the whole Spartak team was occupied with defending and could only launch occasional attacks. Still, five minutes before the end of the match, Nikanorov scored a goal with an accurate shot."
SS: "Nilov and then Tarasov return to the ice. In the last minute, another attack by the Army team follows and a spectacular shot by Tarasov brings his team the win."
KP: "Now Spartak made a tactical mistake that has already led to its defeat more than once. Their players threw themselves blindly into the defence and tried to maintain the draw. The whole Army team attacked. 30 seconds before the end, Tarasov scored the third and decisive goal for CDKA with a shot from a difficult position."
SS: "The champion has won a difficult, but very important victory. In the face of adverse weather (it was snowing throughout the game), the team has demonstrated an interesting, tactically well thought-out game."

 

[BadgerBruce]

I’m speechless. What an outstanding find, Sir!

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

love seeing these historical findings.. Thinking about archiving them myself!

Interesting to see the Stalin banners waving in the Spartak game.. Was he an avid fan of the sport? I remember doing some research on him and I may have glanced it over..

@Theokritos here's something I may have stumbled upon accidentally

Sokol vs. Spartak - early 80's:


Spartak Training Camp 1974-1975 (with the great Yakushev in the thumbnail!)

 

[Theokritos]

Interesting to see the Stalin banners waving in the Spartak game.. Was he an avid fan of the sport? I remember doing some research on him and I may have glanced it over..

Sorry for the very late reply.

Stalin himself wasn't, but his son Vasili. As deputy commander of the Air Force in the Moscow district, Vasili Stalin was the driving force behind the Moscow Air Force team (VVS MVO) that lured away stars like Bobrov and Babich from the Army team and dominated the Soviet league in the early 1950s.

@Theokritos here's something I may have stumbled upon accidentally

Sokol vs. Spartak - early 80's:


Spartak Training Camp 1974-1975 (with the great Yakushev in the thumbnail!)

I want to proceed to the 1970s and 1980s later on anyway, but at the pace I've been going so far it will take me years to get there.

 

[Theokritos]

1950, January 5: Sverdlovsk plane crash

In January 1950, the VVS hockey team was travelling from Moscow to Chelyabinsk by plane. However, bad weather prevented the aircraft from landing in Chelyabinsk and the flight was redirected to Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg). Approaching Sverdlovsk airport in a heavy snowstorm, the plane crashed into the ground and all 19 people on board were killed: 11 hockey players, their doctor, their massager and the six members of the crew. Players who perished:

• Harijs Mellups (23): from Latvia, the leading goaltender in early Soviet hockey
• Nikolai Isayev (37): backup goaltender
• Boris Bocharnikov (30): defenseman, playing-coach of the team
• Roberts Šūlmanis (37): from Latvia, former forward who had switched to defense
• Yevgeni Voronin (29): defenseman
• Yuri Tarasov (26): forward, the younger brother of Anatoli Tarasov
• Ivan Novikov (24): forward
• Zdenek Zikmund (33): forward
• Yuri Zhiburtovich (28): forward
• Vasili Volodin (25): forward
• Alexander Moiseyev (28): forward

Several others had the good fortunate of not being on the flight. Vsevolod Bobrov was supposed to be on it but missed it because he overslept. Administrator Nikolai Kolchugin had left the team prior to departure to pick up Bobrov and had remained in Moscow to buy him a train ticket and report him to the Sports Committee for his negliance. Viktor Shuvalov was left at home because he was from Chelyabinsk and an appearance against his home club would have incited the local fans. Alexander Vinogradov was either suspended or injured. And last but not least, former headcoach Matvey Goldvin had been released less than three weeks before in the aftermath of a 2-4 defeat against Dinamo Moscow.

 

[Theokritos]

1950, December 18: CDKA Moscow - Dinamo Leningrad 11-3



The Army club is wearing the monochrome shirts, is featuring Nikolai Sologubov on defence and is led by player-coach Anatoli Tarasov. Former Army forward Bobrov (who has switched to the Air Force club VVS) can be seen watching the game at 1:02/1:04.

 

[Theokritos]

1951, January 23: VVS Moscow - CDKA Moscow 5-1



After winning the domestic title three times in a row, the Army team has a down year in 1950-51. VVS Moscow, the star-studded Air Force team in the striped shirts, is taking over now. Among their players are Vsevolod Bobrov and Yevgeni Babich (on attack), Alexander Vinogradov and Viktor Tikhonov (on defence) and Grigori Mkrtychan (in goal). Personal slight for Army player-coach Tarasov: He takes as penalty that proves very costly. While he serves his two minutes in the box, the Air Force trio Bobrov – Shuvalov – Babich combines for three goals to turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-0.

 

[Theokritos]

1951, April 22: East Germany - Soviet Union 2-21



In 1950-51, the Soviet national team was finally instituted. The team played exhibition games against other Eastern Bloc countries in order to get ready for serious international competition. Czechoslovakia was the only opponent who gave the Soviets something to handle, Poland and in particular East Germany on the other hand were easy prey.

The Soviet team (coached by Chernyshov and Yegorov):

G: Grigory Mkrtychan (VVS).
D: Alexei Vinogradov (VVS), Pavel Zhiburtovich (VVS), Alfred Kuchevsky (Krylya Sovietov), Anatoli Kostryukov (Krylya Sovietov), Dmitri Ukolov (CDKA), Vladimir Menshikov (CDKA).
F: Yevgeni Babich (VVS), Anatoli Tarasov (CDKA), Vladimir Yelizarov (CDKA), Boris Petelin (Dinamo), Alexander Uvarov (Dinamo), Valentin Kuzin (Dinamo), Sergei Mitin (Krylya Sovietov), Alexei Guryshev (Krylya Sovietov), Pyotr Kotov (VVS).

The game in East Berlin (attended by Vasili Chuikov, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces in Germany) was an extremely one-sided affair as the East Germans (with the letting "DDR" on their shirts) were no match for the Russians. The top scorers were Babich with 6 goals, Tarasov with 4 and Kuzin with 3.

Overall the Soviets played six games against the East Germans in Berlin that April/May. They went into the double digits in every match and scored a whopping 115 goals while conceding just 5.

 

[Theokritos]

1952, January 24: VVS Moscow - CDSA Moscow 3-2



Closer than in the year before, but VVS still defend their title with a 3-2 victory over the Army team ("CDSA" after yet another name change) in the championship game. The Air Force club goes ahead 3-0 on goals by Bobrov (2) and Kotov (1) before Tarasov's site makes it close (goals by Mikhail Gashchenkov and Nikolai Sologubov).

 

[Theokritos]

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



Having joined the IIHF in 1952, the Soviet Union was all set to participate in the 1953 World Championship – until Bobrov injured his knee once again and it became obvious he wouldn't be able to play in the 1952-53 season. This prompted the Soviet hockey federation to change its mind, contrary to the wishes of Anatoli Tarasov (who had just become coach of the national team). Instead of travelling to Switzerland where the World Championship was held, the Soviet team went to Oslo to play several exhibition games against the national team of Norway. All of them ended with Soviet wins, including the one on video in front of 10,600 Norwegian fans.

Soviet team:

Nikolai Khlystov – Viktor Shuvalov – Yevgeni Babich
Valentin Kuzin – Alexander Uvarov – Boris Petelin
Alexander Cherepanov – Alexander Komarov – Mikhail Bychkov

Pavel Zhiburtovich – Alexander Vinogradov
Ivan Tregubov – Alfred Kuchevsky
Dmitri Ukolov

Nikolai Puchkov

The footage is pretty good and shows some interesting scenes and plays.

0:47 to 0:50: A shot from the Soviet left wing (Khlystov?) causes a rebound that both #16 (Babich?) and #7 (Shuvalov?) take a whack at. Looks like it's #16 who puts it in the net.
1:31 to 1:37: Nice passing combination by Soviet #13 and #15, but the Norwegian goaltender makes a save.