Study of the penalty killing of Soviet forwards during the 1960-1990 time frame

[Batis]

So lets keep going. Here comes the players in the 6-10 range from the 70's/early 80's.

6. Alexander Maltsev

Ice time finishes: Tied for 1st at the 1970 WHC, 2nd at the 1976 WHC, 2nd at the 1978 WHC, 2nd at the 1981 WHC, 3rd at the 1980 WOG, 4th at the 1976 WOG, 6th at the 1974 Summit Series, 7th at the 1976 Canada Cup, 8th at the 1972 Summit Series

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 2 goals against over 34 min, 26 sec

As mentioned earlier the penalty killing of Alexander Maltsev was probably the most positive surprise for me during this study. I think that the fact that Maltsev did not spend that much time on the penalty kill during the Summit Series of 1972 and 1974 may have been what had given me the impression that he wasn't really a main-stay on the Soviet penalty kill. But when looking at the whole picture during this study it was obvious that Maltsev was one of the many great penalty killers of his era as evident by his strong ice time finishes.

Maltsevs penalty killing was mainly built on his ability to play keep-away with the puck which considering his skill level may not be that surprising. As you can see in the videos below Maltsev could make playing keep-away look very easy. In Maltsevs strongest tournaments he mainly killed penalties with Starshinov (1970 WHC), Mikhailov and Kharlamov (1976 WHC), V. Golikov and A. Golikov (1978 WHC), Lebedev and Krutov (1980 WOG) and V. Golikov (1981 WHC. So he also showed that he was capable of having success with many different players.



Incredible shorthanded play by Maltsev during this shift at the 1974 Summit Series where he turns Hull inside out and gives Anisin a great chance to score.



Great shorthanded shift from Maltsev and Starshinov at the 1970 WHC where they keep the puck away from Sweden with some great passing.



Another example of Maltsevs puck possession ability against USA at the 1981 Canada Cup.

 

[Batis]

7. Victor Shalimov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1976 WHC, 2nd at the 1976 WOG, Tied for 2nd at the 1981 Canada Cup, 2nd at the 82/83 Super Series, 8th at the 1974 Summit Series

Overall stats: 2 goals forward and 3 goals against over 28 min, 42 sec

Victor Shalimov who was top 2 in shorthanded ice time at 4 different tournaments/series was another positive sursprise for me. In my opinion Shalimov have a strong case for having been the best penalty killing forward during the 75/76 season when he finished 1st and 2nd in ice time in the two international tournaments playing with Yakushev and Shadrin. Then in the early 80's Shalimov formed a strong penalty killing pairing with Shepelev.

What made Shalimov a strong penalty killer was in my opinion his skating and stickhandling. These abilities made him a very good puck possession player and a constant threat when it comes to quick counterattacks.



Really great shorthanded shift from Shalimov and Yakushev at the 1974 Summit Series. Shalimov scores at the end of the shift after having already made some strong plays.



A strong shorthanded shift from Shalimov and Shadrin against Czechoslovakia at the 1976 Olympics. Shalimov shows some puck possession skills when he skates the puck out of trouble.



Strong shift from Shalimov and Shepelev against Minnesota North Stars during the 82/83 Super Series.

 

[Batis]

8. Alexander Golikov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1979 WHC, 1st at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 4th at the 1980 WOG, 7th at the 1976 WHC, 8th at the 1978 WHC

Overall stats: 1 goal forward and 2 goals against over 22 min, 38 sec

Alexander Golikov had a very high penalty killing peak just like his brother Vladimir. Alexanders national team career was relatively short though which prevents him from a higher placement on this list. The forward pairing of the Golikov brothers was incredible in 1979-1980 though and their ability to put pressure on the powerplay units with their forechecking really was very impressive and effective.

While Alexanders Golikovs penalty killing peak possibly was higher than for example Shalimovs peak the thing is that the difference in absolute peak is very small and Shalimov had more top quality tournaments over a longer time period which in my opinion puts him slightly ahead here.



Truly great shorthanded shift from the Golikov brothers (plus Pervukhin and Bilyaletdinov) against the NHL All-Stars at the 1979 Challenge Cup. With their forechecking they don't give the powerplay even a moment of peace and time to set up.



Another strong shorthanded shift from the Golikov brothers at the 1979 Challenge Cup. Impressive that A. Golikov after a long shift still has the energy to forecheck Lafleur and prevent him from picking up speed with the puck from behind the net at the end of the shift. Lafleur makes a great pass though but still impressive forechecking from Golikov in my opinion.



Strong shift from A. Golikov paired with Petrov at the 1979 Challenge Cup. Golikov intercepts a pass from Potvin and scores a shorthanded goal early on in the shift.

 

[Batis]

9. Valery Kharlamov

Ice time finishes: 1st at the 1972 WHC, 2nd at the 79/80 Super Series, 3rd at the 1976 WHC, 5th at the 1972 Summit Series, 5th at the 75/76 Super Series, 6th at the 1978 WHC, 7th at the 1974 Summit Series, 8th at the 1969 WHC

Overall stats: 1 goal forward and 2 goals against over 30 min, 43 sec

Valery Kharlamov was a consistent feature on the Soviet penalty kill throughout the 70's even if he rarely was one of the top penalty killers when it comes to ice time. His incredible stickhandling and great skating ability made him a great puck possession player on the penalty kill. Although considering just how great of a player Kharlamov was and especially how great he was when it comes to ragging the puck at even strenght I personally expected him to have been even more outstanding when it comes to playing keep-away on the penalty kill. To take an example of what I mean I would say that Kharlamov and Makarov were roughly equals when it comes to ragging the puck at even strenght but when it comes to playing keep-away with the puck while shorthanded Makarov was clearly superior. Still Kharlamov was really great at this as well but perhaps not as great as he had the potential to be.



Great shorthanded shift from Kharlamov and Vikulov showing some puck possession against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series. (already posted in the Vikulov post)



Kharlamov makes some nice moves after "stealing" (being given) the puck against Canada during the 1974 Summit Series.



Kharlamov scores a great shorthanded goal against Canada during the 1972 Summit Series. Before the goal Canada had some strong pressure though.

 

[Batis]

10. Helmuts Balderis

Ice time finishes: 3rd at the 1976 Canada Cup, 4th at the 1978 WHC, 4th at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 5th at the 1977 WHC, 6th at the 79/80 Super Series, 7th at the 1979 WHC, 7th at the 1980 WOG

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 3 goals against over 18 min, 16 sec

Helmuts Balderis formed a very strong penalty killing pairing with Zhluktov in the late 70's. I find it very interesting that two so completely different players could work so well together both on the penalty kill and at even strenght. But they really complemented each other so well and had some strong penalty killing performances during their time together.

Considering that Balderis both could skate like the wind and stickhandle with the best of them it should not come as a surprise that he excelled at playing keep-away with the puck.



Great shorthanded shift from Balderis against Canada at the 1976 Canada Cup. Both some skating with the puck and a nice pokecheck against Orr to clear the zone.



Great example of Balderis ability to play keep-away with the puck while shorthanded.



Here you can see an example of Balderis amazing skating. Later in the shift he tries to do to much with the puck though.

 

[Batis]

Some additional comments:

I found ranking this era of penalty killers somewhat easier than the earlier generation since it in my opinion was easier to find some seperation between the top players here (Zhluktov, V. Golikov, Mikhailov, Petrov and Shadrin) than it was to do the same between the other group (Almetov, Loktev, Starshinov, Firsov and Mishakov). This is not to say that there was some big differences in quality between the top players of this era but I definitely found ranking this group to be easier. At the end of this ranking list it got far more difficult though and there was some players who I had to leave out in the end (Yakushev and Lebedev) who I felt compared favourably to the last players on this list (Kharlamov and Balderis) when it comes to penalty killing. Anyway this is roughly how I view this era.

Zhluktov
V. Golikov
Mikhailov/Petrov
Shadrin
Maltsev
Shalimov/A. Golikov
Kharlamov
Balderis/Yakushev
Lebedev

Another interesting player to discuss is Vladimir Repnev who only played in two international tournaments throughout his career (1974 WHC and 1976 Canada Cup) but led the only one of those tournaments from which we have available footage in ice time. It should be noted though that the 1976 Canada Cup roster was missing many of the top notch penalty killers at that point in time (Shadrin, Mikhailov, Petrov, Kharlamov and Yakushev plus that Shalimov got injured early in the tournament) so the competition was not what it could have been. Still that Repnev beat out all the other forwards for the lead in ice time still does suggest that he probably was a strong penalty killer on his club team Krylia Sovetov. And this got me thinking that it would be interesting to look at the penalty killing of Krylia Sovetov at the 75/76 Super Series considering that they had loaned in some of the top penalty killers like Shadrin and Shalimov. Considering that the only available game is the 6-12 loss to the Buffalo Sabres the goal differential stats probably won't look that pretty but interesting to see the ice time numbers.

 

[Namba 17]

Great, as always!
Thank you very much for it.

 

[Canadiens1958]

10. Helmuts Balderis

Ice time finishes: 3rd at the 1976 Canada Cup, 4th at the 1978 WHC, 4th at the 1979 Challenge Cup, 5th at the 1977 WHC, 5th at the 79/80 Super Series, 7th at the 1979 WHC, 7th at the 1980 WOG

Overall stats: 0 goals forward and 3 goals against over 18 min, 16 sec

Helmuts Balderis formed a very strong penalty killing pairing with Zhluktov in the late 70's. I find it very interesting that two so completely different players could work so well together both on the penalty kill and at even strenght. But they really complemented each other so well and had some strong penalty killing performances during their time together.

Considering that Balderis both could skate like the wind and stickhandle with the best of them it should not come as a surprise that he excelled at playing keep-away with the puck.



Great shorthanded shift from Balderis against Canada at the 1976 Canada Cup. Both some skating with the puck and a nice pokecheck against Orr to clear the zone.



Great example of Balderis ability to play keep-away with the puck while shorthanded.



Here you can see an example of Balderis amazing skating. Later in the shift he tries to do to much with the puck though.

Following your thread and frankly am extremely puzzled by your qualifiers of the Soviet PK skills.

3 goals against for Balderis in 18min and 12 second of usage. Frankly is not impressive and very poor. Converts to almost 10 goals against in 60 minutes.

Contemporary NHL PK - best would be Bob Gainey. 1977 on the ice for 11 PPGA over 80 games touching app 462 minutes or under 6 minutes a game, Gainey's share would be about 3:30 to 4:00 minutes of PK time a game.


Balderis would be on the ice for 3.6 to 3.65 more PPGA than Gainey given equal playing time.

Bob Gainey Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Comparing to Bob Gainey in 1977 - much greater sample space or any Gainey season shows that Soviet PKers were average to weak. Flashy - playing keep away as opposed to efficient simply icing the puck.

 

[Theokritos]

Comparing to Bob Gainey in 1977 - much greater sample space or any Gainey season shows that Soviet PKers were average to weak. Flashy - playing keep away as opposed to efficient simply icing the puck.

This would be more interesting if you didn't compare the #1 penalty killer of the NHL & one of the best defensive forwards in the history of the league with the guy Batis rated as #10 among the Soviet PK during the 1970s and early 1980s.

 

[Batis]

Following your thread and frankly am extremely puzzled by your qualifiers of the Soviet PK skills.

3 goals against for Balderis in 18min and 12 second of usage. Frankly is not impressive and very poor. Converts to almost 10 goals against in 60 minutes.

Contemporary NHL PK - best would be Bob Gainey. 1977 on the ice for 11 PPGA over 80 games touching app 462 minutes or under 6 minutes a game, Gainey's share would be about 3:30 to 4:00 minutes of PK time a game.


Balderis would be on the ice for 3.6 to 3.65 more PPGA than Gainey given equal playing time.

Bob Gainey Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Comparing to Bob Gainey in 1977 - much greater sample space or any Gainey season shows that Soviet PKers were average to weak. Flashy - playing keep away as opposed to efficient simply icing the puck.

I have already stated that I have based my ranking lists almost exclusively on usage and the eyetest (plus previous penalty killing reputation where such exists). The reason why I did not put that much weight on goal differential stats is that the ice time sample for most players is not big enough for the goal differential level to start to really set in considering that the stats between different 20-minute sections has proved to vary much for the players with much total ice time in this study. For players with say 50 minutes or more of total ice time I think that some conclusions can be started to be made considering their goal differential stats but even then I would not put too much stock on it. Not compared to the ice time finishes and what the eye-test tells me anyway.

And as far as I remember I have only compared the penalty killing of different Soviet forwards with each other and so far not compared them to any North American players so I don't really understand why you felt the need to jump in with a comparison of that kind. But regarding your comment on that the Soviet penalty killers were average to weak it is worth pointing out that in the games against the best that the NHL had to offer (best on best Team Canada and NHL All-Stars) during the time frame of the latest ranking list (1970-1982) the Soviets scored 5 shorthanded goals and only let the opponents powerplay score 6 goals. Seems like fairly high level group of penalty killers to me.

 

[Canadiens1958]

I have already stated that I have based my ranking lists almost exclusively on usage and the eyetest (plus previous penalty killing reputation where such exists). The reason why I did not put that much weight on goal differential stats is that the ice time sample for most players is not big enough for the goal differential level to start to really set in considering that the stats between different 20-minute sections has proved to vary much for the players with much total ice time in this study. For players with say 50 minutes or more of total ice time I think that some conclusions can be started to be made considering their goal differential stats but even then I would not put too much stock on it. Not compared to the ice time finishes and what the eye-test tells me anyway.

And as far as I remember I have only compared the penalty killing of different Soviet forwards with each other and so far not compared them to any North American players so I don't really understand why you felt the need to jump in with a comparison of that kind. But regarding your comment on that the Soviet penalty killers were average to weak it is worth pointing out that in the games against the best that the NHL had to offer (best on best Team Canada and NHL All-Stars) during the time frame of the latest ranking list (1970-1982) the Soviets scored 5 shorthanded goals and only let up 6 goals. Seems like fairly high level group of penalty killers to me.

Directly but indirectly the comparison is there for the taking by default.

Step back and look at the title. It is penalty killing. Not scoring while shorthanded. The distinction is very clear and has always been so.

Your time frame(1960-1990)covers three distinct eras of the PK in international hockey.

1960 thru the 1968-69 season when icing was not permitted on the PK. So the ability to move the puck or control it from the defensive zone to the centre red line and beyond was critical on the PK.

Fall 1969 thru the 1975-76 season. Adjustment period on the PK. Possession or icing choices had to be made.

Post 1975-76. More of a traditional NA PK. Icing became the main choice.

Hence the Balderis v Gainey comparison.

Question your numbers. 6 PP goals allowed to Canada best-on-best between 1970 and 1982. Guess the 1974 Summit Series is not included? Quick count shows that perhaps Canada scored 7 PP goals that series alone.

The Soviet PK during that time frame was interesting. Few interesting elements that worked the first time but not sustainable. Once the games against the pros began the various possession PKs faded quickly.

 

[Batis]

Question your numbers. 6 PP goals allowed to Canada best-on-best between 1970 and 1982. Guess the 1974 Summit Series is not included? Quick count shows that perhaps Canada scored 7 PP goals that series alone.

I said against the best the NHL had to offer so the WHA Team Canada was not included in those numbers. But you are right about that that the 1974 Summit Series was not the finest hour for the Soviet penalty killing. That is only one series though and overall during that time frame in a rather large sample against the strongest possible opponents (best-on-best Team Canada and NHL All-Stars) the Soviets had excellent goal differential numbers as I have already showed.

 

[Batis]

The Soviet PK during that time frame was interesting. Few interesting elements that worked the first time but not sustainable. Once the games against the pros began the various possession PKs faded quickly.

The penalty killing performances of Makarov and Krutov (among others) suggests that you are completely out to lunch regarding that the possession based penalty killing tactic faded quickly once the games against the pros began. In fact during the 80's I would argue that the penalty killing of the Soviets was almost as puck possession based as it was during the 60's before the rule change. In the 70's though the Soviet penalty kill was somewhat less built on puck possession than during the 60's and 80's. But that tactic was still used very consistently then as well.

 

[Canadiens1958]

I said against the best the NHL had to offer so the WHA Team Canada was not included in those numbers. But you are right about that that the 1974 Summit Series was not the finest hour for the Soviet penalty killing. That is only one series though and overall during that time frame in a rather large sample against the strongest possible opponents (best-on-best Team Canada and NHL All-Stars) the Soviets had excellent goal differential numbers as I have already showed.

Previously the WHA qualifier was not included.

I said against the best the NHL had to offer so the WHA Team Canada was not included in those numbers. But you are right about that that the 1974 Summit Series was not the finest hour for the Soviet penalty killing. That is only one series though and overall during that time frame in a rather large sample against the strongest possible opponents (best-on-best Team Canada and NHL All-Stars) the Soviets had excellent goal differential numbers as I have already showed.

So the Soviet PK was designed to stop stronger opposition as opposed to weaker?

 

[Batis]

Previously the WHA qualifier was not included.


So the Soviet PK was designed to stop stronger opposition as opposed to weaker?

I thought that the words "the best that the NHL could offer" made it obvious that WHA Team Canada was not included.

Regarding your question, once again it was only one series. With the same logic I could use the 1972 Summit Series where Team Canada only scored 2 powerplay goals and let in 3 shorthanded goals to say that Canadian players were average to weak when it comes to powerplays. But that would be a ridiculous conclusion based on one series.

 

[Canadiens1958]

The penalty killing performances of Makarov and Krutov (among others) suggests that you are completely out to lunch regarding that the possession based penalty killing tactic faded quickly once the games against the pros began. In fact during the 80's I would argue that the penalty killing of the Soviets was almost as puck possession based as it was during the 60's before the rule change. In the 70's though the Soviet penalty kill was somewhat less built on puck possession than during the 60's and 80's. But that tactic was still used very consistently then as well.

1987 Canada Cup the Soviets in 4 games against Canada allowed 5 PPG in 23 opportunities or a success ratio less than 80% on the PK.

http://bigmouthsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1987-canada-cup.pdf

In five other tournament games against other opposition Canada scored 5 PP goals in 5 games on 19 opportunities.

The results do not support your claims.

 

[Batis]

1987 Canada Cup the Soviets in 4 games against Canada allowed 5 PPG in 23 opportunities or a success ratio less than 80% on the PK.

http://bigmouthsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1987-canada-cup.pdf

In five other tournament games against other opposition Canada scored 5 PP goals in 5 games on 19 opportunities.

The results do not support your claims.

The Soviets also scored 3 shorthanded goals in the 4 games against Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. So over all those powerplay opportunities Canada only managed to have a goal differential of plus 2 against the Soviets. Which considering that Canadas first powerplay unit was Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Coffey and Bourque indicates that the Soviet penalty killing performance was outstanding. And having watched those games focused on the Soviet penalty killing I can tell you that their performance really was outstanding.

 

[VMBM]

Following your thread and frankly am extremely puzzled by your qualifiers of the Soviet PK skills.

3 goals against for Balderis in 18min and 12 second of usage. Frankly is not impressive and very poor. Converts to almost 10 goals against in 60 minutes.

Contemporary NHL PK - best would be Bob Gainey. 1977 on the ice for 11 PPGA over 80 games touching app 462 minutes or under 6 minutes a game, Gainey's share would be about 3:30 to 4:00 minutes of PK time a game.


Balderis would be on the ice for 3.6 to 3.65 more PPGA than Gainey given equal playing time.

Bob Gainey Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Comparing to Bob Gainey in 1977 - much greater sample space or any Gainey season shows that Soviet PKers were average to weak. Flashy - playing keep away as opposed to efficient simply icing the puck.

Most of the Soviet forwards in question were also a helluva lot better offensively than Gainey. Wouldn't players like Lafleur, Bossy, Trottier etc be more interesting and relevant comparisons?

 

[Theokritos]

So the Soviet PK was designed to stop stronger opposition as opposed to weaker?

Exactly. Finally it's been figured out! The Soviet PK was designed to let in as many goals as possible against weaker opposition. The rule is: The weaker the opposition, the more goals they conceded.

And let's forget about sample size (one tournament/series vs many tournaments/series). And let's also forget that what a player/team does against stronger opposition matters more than what the player/team does against weaker opposition, even though you have emphasized this very difference yourself more than just once:

How many of the points scored by either Huck or Firsov in International were against NHL quality opposition.

Conversely looking at the quality of the opposition is ignored and by some is viewed as irrelevant.

Complete body of work vs superficial, as in looking at the sv% numbers against the level of opposition, importance of the playoff games, finals, deciding games.

...like many other outstanding players Makarov had the ability to elevate his game against other outstanding players while playing bored against weak opposition.

Let's ignore all of that and instead draw an illogical conclusion that does not do the post and poster you're replying to any justice. Sounds totally fair and reasonable to me.

(Trust I don't need the "rolleyes" emoticon here.)

 

[Batis]

Exactly. Finally it's been figured out! The Soviet PK was designed to let in as many goals as possible against weaker opposition. The rule is: The weaker the opposition, the more goals they conceded.

It turns out that Firsov followed this design to perfection. Just look at these numbers.

Firsov vs Czechoslovakia: 0 goals against over 9 minutes and 14 seconds of shorthanded ice time.
Firsov vs West Germany: 1 goal against over 1 minute and 8 seconds of shorthanded ice time.

 

[Canadiens1958]

The Soviets also scored 3 shorthanded goals in the 4 games against Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup. So over all those powerplay opportunities Canada only managed to have a goal differential of plus 2 against the Soviets. Which considering that Canadas first powerplay unit was Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Coffey and Bourque indicates that the Soviet penalty killing performance was outstanding. And having watched those games focused on the Soviet penalty killing I can tell you that their performance really was outstanding.

Still giving up 5 to score 3 is never a winning ratio. Calling the Soviet PK performance against Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup outstanding simply ignores the basic flaws the Soviet team had defensively.

20 GA (3 + 5 + 6 +6)over 4 games against Canada, or 5 a game. If their 4 on 5 PK defense was outstanding then why did it not carry over to even strength play? Basically the you have shown individually PK play as opposed to a team effort, a very insignificant consolation prize.

The four games took place between the 6th and 15th September. During which time the Soviet team blew 2 and 3 goal leads with regularity in three of the games. So obviously the coaching staff could not find a solution or in the alternative the players could not execute. Neither is an attractive explanation but does explain various defensive weaknesses including the Soviet PK.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Most of the Soviet forwards in question were also a helluva lot better offensively than Gainey. Wouldn't players like Lafleur, Bossy, Trottier etc be more interesting and relevant comparisons?

Again overlooking the prime objective in the NHL which is to kill the penalty. This changed briefly with the Oilers and the Gretzky era.

The comparison touches this distinct difference, the answer in the NHL favoured killing the penalty, best exemplified by the Toe Blake approach where he would use a spare defenceman as the 4th forward because a defenceman knew proper shot blocking techniques. Coaches did not want star offensive first players on the PK. No point losing a star player for up to 8 weeks with an injury from blocking shots incorrectly.

Defencemen and defensive forwards were schooled to block shots.

 

[Theokritos]

Still giving up 5 to score 3 is never a winning ratio.

Having a winning ratio while being shorthanded – that's the hurdle the Soviets have to take now? Being -2 after 22 PP opportunities for a Team Canada featuring Gretzky and Lemieux is a negative now? I sure hope you apply THAT standard to all teams in hockey history...

If their 4 on 5 PK defense was outstanding then why did it not carry over to even strength play?

These are two separate questions that shouldn't be lumped together. The thread is about PK, it wasn't stated that the Soviets were outstanding defensively at even strength.

Calling the Soviet PK performance against Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup outstanding simply ignores the basic flaws the Soviet team had defensively.

It would be very welcome if you could give us some specifics instead of making general statements.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Exactly. Finally it's been figured out! The Soviet PK was designed to let in as many goals as possible against weaker opposition. The rule is: The weaker the opposition, the more goals they conceded.

And let's forget about sample size (one tournament/series vs many tournaments/series). And let's also forget that what a player/team does against stronger opposition matters more than what the player/team does against weaker opposition, even though you have emphasized this very difference yourself more than just once:









Let's ignore all of that and instead draw an illogical conclusion that does not do the post and poster you're replying to any justice. Sounds totally fair and reasonable to me.

(Trust I don't need the "rolleyes" emoticon here.)

Logical coherence throughout my points. Be it Firsov/Huck or 1972 vs 1974 Soviet PK vs a Team Canada it is always there. Recognizing strengths and limitations of a player or a team when confronted with variable circumstances(this includes strength of opposition dynamics).

O6 era we had the luxury of observing the studying over 225 Howe vs Harvey games. Jagr vs Lidstrom games by comparison were few and far between. Reality that does not entitle anyone to arbitrarily invoke the lame sample space size argument.

Players, teams, coaches do not have the luxury of huge sample spaces. They all contribute to these huge sample spaces with their decisions and play, one play, shift, period, game season etc at a time. Some do it quickly and well, others never manage, most are somewhere in between.

Since 1974, almost 44 years the answer to the Soviet PK difficulties against 1974 Team Canada has been out there. Find it if you can.

 

[Theokritos]

Since 1974, almost 48 years the answer to the Soviet PK difficulties against 1974 Team Canada has been out there. Find it if you can.

No, you provide it if you can. And please kindly explain why the Soviet PK difficulties against 1974 Team Canada are somehow more relevant than better Soviet PK performances against better Canadian teams.