The Soviet Hockey Program

[Killion]

^^^ thats awesome Theo, thanks so much for creating that timeline. Fascinating.

 

[Theokritos]

^^^ thats awesome Theo, thanks so much for creating that timeline. Fascinating.

Thanks. It's bound to get updated occasionally when new information is uncovered.

 

[Killion]

Thanks. It's bound to get updated occasionally when new information is uncovered.

Ya, you really hit all the right notes. Fascinating study in the workings of the Soviet system, Politburo if you will in an abbreviated & condensed format. Any number of those dates & periods, happenings if you will, obviously volumes of background worthy of pursuit for those interested. As a primer on Tarasov & the whole scene, most excellent.

 

[Theokritos]

Eight months later, I finally got the Bobrov careerography finished.

 

[Theokritos]

Vsevolod Bobrov (1922-1979)

Early years

Born in Morshansk, December 1922. Parents: Mikhail, occupied in sheet metal forming, and Lidya, an embroidery and sewing worker. Two siblings: Sister Antonina (*1917) and brother Vladimir (*1920). After moving around the family settles in Sestroretsk at the Gulf of Finland, ~35km/20mi from Leningrad (St. Petersburg). The Bobrov brothers grow up playing soccer and bandy there, encouraged by their father who trains with them every weekend and buys them quality skates from Norway.
Winter 1935-36: Vsevolod leads Sestroretsk school team to bandy championship of the Leningrad Region.
1937: Vsevolod finishes middle school (7-Year-School) and begins to attend factory apprenticeship school at the local Voskov plant to become a toolmaker.
1938: Vladimir Bobrov, a better learner than Vsevolod, graduates from secondary school (10-Year-School) and is drafted into the Soviet army.
1939: Vsevolod promoted from second/reserve to first team of the Voskov plant.
Winter 1939-40: Voskov bandy team with Vsevolod narrowly avoids relegation from First Division of Leningrad Championship. After the season Vsevolod is invited to join top team Dinamo Leningrad.
Winter 1940-41: He wins Leningrad Championship with Dinamo.

In Omsk (1941-1944)

June 1941: German Invasion of the Soviet Union. Bobrov family relocated to Omsk (Siberia, ~2,600km/1,600mi from Leningrad) as the "Progress" armaments factory where Mikhail Bobrov works is moved away from the front. Having just finished his term of service, Vladimir Bobrov is called back to the Soviet Army due to the war.
Autumn 1941: Vsevolod wins Omsk Cup in soccer with Progress factory team.
Winter 1941-42: He is talk of the town in Omsk with his outstanding bandy performances for the Progress team.
Early 1942: Having received anti-aircraft training, Vladimir Bobrov is sent to the front. Allegedly at least as talented an athlete as Vsevolod, he is wounded several times in engagement between 1942 and 1945 which brings an end to his sporting ambitions.
August 1942: Vsevolod is drafted into the army. He is saved from being sent to the Battle of Stalingrad by Army captain Dmitry Boginov from Leningrad who has played soccer and bandy with the Bobrovs back at home.
1942-1944: Vsevolod attends the Military Academy in Omsk where he receives training as junior officer and plays for the soccer and bandy team.

Army team, first period (1944-1949)

August 1944: Sports department of TsDKA (Central House of the Red Army) calls Junior Lieutenant Bobrov to Moscow after he has finished the Academy in Omsk. He plays soccer for the team of the Military Aviation School. Having watched him play, sports journalist Yury Vanyat predicts a bright future for him.
Winter 1944-45: Bobrov is the star of the TsDKA bandy team that wins Moscow Cup and USSR Cup. Among his teammates are Anatoly Tarasov, Yevgeny Babich and Aleksandr Vinogradov.
May 1945: German surrender ends war in Europe. Soviet soccer league reopens. Bobrov gives his debut for TsDKA under coach Boris Arkadyev.
September 1945: TsDKA finish second, one point behind Dinamo Moscow. Bobrov is top scorer of the league with 24 goals.
October 1945: Wins USSR Cup with TsDKA soccer team.
November 1945: Loaned to Dinamo Moscow soccer team as a reinforcement player on their much-heralded tour of England. First encounter with Canadian hockey as Bobrov and his teammates attend a game while in London.
Winter 1945-46: Wins Moscow Cup and USSR Cup with TsDKA bandy team again.
May 1946: Suffers a torn meniscus and a cruciate ligament rupture in a soccer game against Dinamo Kiev. TsSKA proceeds to win the championship without him.
October 1946: A premature comeback attempt shows that Bobrov needs surgery.
Winter 1946-1947: Canadian hockey introduced at TsSKA and other clubs. First Soviet Championship in "hockey with the puck". Bobrov is sidelined due to his knee injury.
December 1946: The TsSKA hockey team (featuring Babich and Vinogradov) is in danger of failing to qualify for the final stage of the Championship. In a desperate move player-coach Pavel Korotkov convinces Bobrov to put on skates despite of his condition. Playing in his first game of Canadian hockey, Bobrov scores two or three goals as TsSKA defeat VVS (Air Force) 5-3 and suceed in qualifying.
January 1947: Bobrov undergoes his first knee surgery in Belgrad. The surgeon advises him to take the next season off.
October 1947: TsSKA soccer team defends title. Bobrov who plays against medical advise is top scorer again with 14 goals (tied with two other players).
Winter 1947-48: Anatoly Tarasov becomes player-coach of TsSKA hockey team. With their forward line of Bobrov (LW), Tarasov (C) and Babich (RW), TsSKA win the championship. Bobrov is the most successful scorer of the league by far with 52 goals in 18 games.
February 1948: Europe's leading hockey team LTC Prague in Moscow.
September 1948: Third soccer championship in a row for TsSKA. Bobrov second best scorer in the league despite missing several games due to the lingering knee issue.
Winter 1948-49: TsSKA defend hockey title. Bobrov second best scorer in league.
April-October 1949: Bobrov misses more than half of the soccer season as his knee bothers him. Tensions with coach Arkadyev. Dinamo Moscow win soccer championship ahead of TsSKA.

Air Force team (1949-1953)

October 1949: Bobrov leaves TsSKA to join the team of VVS MVO ("Air Force of the Moscow Military District") that Vasily Stalin is trying to turn into a powerhouse. He initially plays on a forward line with Viktor Shuvalov (C) and Anatoly Arkhipov (RW).
January 1950: On its way from Moscow to Chelyabinsk, an aircraft carrying 11 players of VVS (including player-coach Boris Bocharnikov) crashes while approaching Sverdlovsk airport. None of the passengers survive. Bobrov who has not been on the flight is appointed new player-coach.
February 1950: Yevgeny Babich joins the rearranged Air Force team and plays RW on the first forward line with Bobrov (LW) and Shuvalov (C).
March 1950: VVS finish 4th in Soviet hockey championship. Bobrov is the top scorer with 36 goals.
September 1950: VVS also 4th in soccer league. Bobrov rarely plays due to his knee condition.
Winter 1950-51: Led by the Bobrov line, VVS win the hockey championship for the first time. Triumphant season for Bobrov who scores 42 goals. TsDKA (under Tarasov) knocked down to 4th place behind Dinamo Moscow (Chernyshov) and Krylya Sovietov Moscow (Yegorov).
February 1951: Hockey national team instituted.
1951: Bobrov undergoes his second knee surgery in Moscow which improves his condition.
September 1951: VVS finish 10th out of 15 teams in the soccer league. Bobrov begins the season healthy, but soon picks up a new injury and is sidelined again.
Winter 1951-52: VVS defend hockey title. Bobrov top scorer again with 37 goals.
February 1952: Soviets join IIHF and eye participation in the 1953 World Championship.
July 1952: Soviet Union participate in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Despite being considered past his prime in soccer, Bobrov is invited to the soccer national team by coach Boris Arkadyev and becomes the teams' best scorer with 5 goals in 3 games. Nevertheless the Soviet Union doesn't get past the Round of 16 after a 1-3 defeat against Yugoslavia. Furious about the failure, Iosif Stalin dissolves the Army soccer team under Arkadyev.
October 1952: VVS under Bobrov finish 11th in soccer league and get relegated from the first tier. Bobrov's knee is injured once again and this time it doesn't only affect his running but also his skating.
Winter 1952-53: Bobrov's injury puts him out for the hockey season. Yevgeny Babich replaces him as playing-coach of VVS and leads the team to the third championship in a row.
February 1953: With Bobrov sidelined, the Soviet hockey federation abstains from registering for the World Ice Hockey Championship. National coach Tarasov bemoans this decision.
March 1953: Death of Iosif Stalin. His son Vasily soon finds himself arrested and the VVS MVO sports club is disbanded.
Summer 1953: With both the Air Force and the Army out of the soccer circuit, Bobrov decides to joins Spartak Moscow.
August 1953: A final injury in an international friendly between Spartak and Honvéd Budapest puts an end to Bobrov's soccer career.

Army team, second period (1953-1957)

1953-54: Bobrov plays for the Army hockey team (by now "TsDSA") together with Babich and Shuvalov. TsDSA finish second behind Dinamo Moscow.
Feburary-March 1954: The Soviet Union appear at the World Ice Hockey Championship for the first time and win the title. Bobrov is named "Best Forward" of the tournament.
1954-55: Army club renamed TsSK MO (Tsentralny sportivny klub Ministerstva oborony, "Central Sports Club of the Ministry of Defence"). Wins domestic championship for the first time since 1950. Bobrov is the team's top scorer with 25 goals.
February-March 1955: Soviet Union finish second at the World Championships in Germany. The coaches of the participating countries vote Bobrov among the All-star forwards together with Bill Warwick (Canada) and Vladimír Zábrodský (Czechoslovakia).
1955-56: Bobrov plays for the Soviet national team, but sits out the domestic hockey season, possibly to rest his knee. The Army team defend their title without him. Given that Bobrov reportedly graduates from the Air Force Academy in 1956, that is probably what he uses his free time for.
January-February 1956: The Soviet hockey team wins the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Bobrov leads all European players in scoring.
1956-57: Bobrov plays another league season for TsSK MO, but the championship is won by Krylya Sovietov Moscow.
March 1957: Failure to win the world championship on home soil in Moscow leads to the dismissal of Arkady Chernyshov as national coach. Tarasov becomes his successor. Bobrov ends his hockey career. Later he is quotes as saying he would have played longer if he got along with Tarasov.

Away from hockey, first period (1957-1964)

1957-1960: Bobrov attends the Military Institute for Physical Culture and Sports and works as an attistant coach with the Red Army soccer team (first tier of the Soviet league).
1960: Graduation from the Institute.
1963: Bobrov's autobiography Самый интересный матч ("The most interesting match") is published.

Spartak Moscow coach (1964-1967)

February 1964: Bobrov becomes head coach of the Spartak Moscow hockey team, replacing Boris Afanasyev who stays as assistant coach for the remainder of the season. Spartak is headed for a 5th place finish when Bobrov takes over.
April 1964: Later credited by his players with establishing discipline and consistency, Bobrov leads his team to a 3rd place finish (one point behind Dinamo Moscow) in the Soviet league.
1964-1965: Bobrov's first full season as Spartak coach. The team manages to establish itself as the clear #2 behind TsSKA Moscow. Two young players draw attention to themselves for the first time: Goaltender Viktor Zinger (23) and forward Aleksandr Yakushev (turning 18 in January 1965).
1965-1966: Spartak 2nd behind TsSKA again.
1966-1967: Bobrov's most successful season as Spartak coach: his team snatches away the #1 spot from TsSKA Moscow and wins the Soviet championship. The victory is also a personal triumph for Bobrov over Tarasov. After the season he retires as Spartak coach.

Away from hockey, second period (1967-1972)

April 1967: Bobrov becomes head coach of the TsSKA soccer team in the first tier of the Soviet league.
1967: TsSKA under Bobrov finish 9th.
1968: TsSKA 4th.
1969: In the final season under Bobrov the TsSKA soccer team ends up 6th in the league.
1971: Bobrov's second book Рыцари спорта ("Knights of Sport") is published.

Soviet national coach (1972-1974)

February 1972: After the release of Chernyshov and Tarasov as national coaches of the Soviet hockey team Bobrov is appointed the new head coach. Former goaltender Nikolay Puchkov becomes his assistant. Conflict between Bobrov and forward Anatoly Firsov (TsSKA) who is not called up to the national team anymore as is defenceman Vitaly Davydov (Dinamo Moscow).
April 1972: The Soviet national team finishes second behind Czechoslovakia in the World Championship in Prague. First Soviet failure to win a major tournaments after ten victories in a row since 1963. Contrary to the prediction of Tarasov, Bobrov keeps is job though. Assistant coach Puchkov however is replaced by Boris Kulagin (Krylya Sovietov Moscow).
September-October 1972: Summit Series against Team Canada. In their first encounter with a team consisting of NHL players, the Soviet national team under Bobrov narrowly loses with 3 to 4 games and wins the respect of North America.
March 1973: Alcohol issues, part 1: On an elevator in the Hotel Moskva ("Moscow") an intoxicated Bobrov gets into fisticuffs with another passenger.
April 1973: The Soviet national team under Bobrov wins the World Championship in Moscow and becomes title holders again.
Summer 1973: Alcohol issues, part 2: In Moscow a tipsy Bobrov steers his car into a bus. Apparently no one injured.
April 10th, 1974: After a 2-7 defeat against Czechoslovakia at the World Championship in Helsinki, Nikolay Nemeshayev from the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee has unkind words for Bobrov. His interference is brusquely rejected by the coach.
April 1974: Despite of the defeat against Czechoslovakia, the Soviet national team manages to win the world championship again.
April 20th, 1974: Alcohol issues, part 3: At the festive dinner rounding off the World Championship tournament, Bobrov gets intoxicated. In combination with his earlier altercation with Nemeshayev this leads to his dismissal as coach of the Soviet national team.

Away from hockey, third period (1974-1979)

1975: Bobrov coaches soccer club FK Kairat (in Almaty, Kazakhstan) in the second tier of the Soviet league.
1976: He becomes head coach of the TsSKA soccer team (first tier) again. In his first season the club finishes 7th.
1977: TsSKA end up 14th and narrowly avoid relegation to the second tier.
1978: This time TsSKA reach the 6th place in the league.
December 1978: Bobrov surprisingly and against his will reduced to coach the TsSKA junior team by Admiral Nikolay Shashkov, new head of the sports committee of the Ministry of Defence.
July 1979: Bobrov, aged 56, dies of a heart attack.

 

[Theokritos]

More excerpts from Paul Harder's Thesis.

Mass participation
Resting on the loose institutionalized framework established by the Hockey Section, the city tournaments increased in popularity, and competitions began to be organized at regional levels... in 1964 the system of tournaments according to simplified rules evolved into a nation-wide children and youth tournament knows as the Golden Puck... regional winners played city championships; city champions competed for provincial/republican titles and republican champions proceeded to play at the national level... boys who were registered with any organized team were strictly forbidden from playing... Anatoly Tarasov...in attendance at the 1968 national championship: "There are 5-7 players on every team that could play in any children's club teams. Earlier, I could name only one, and rarely two." ...Three to four million boys participated annually during the 1960's and 1970's... etc

Apparently some corrections are required:

There's no way 3-4 million kids participated in the Golden Puck at any one time in the late 60’s/early 70s considering the event was limited to 1 age group (14-15) at that time. It's my guess this figure represents overall participants throughout the years.

(...)

there are more teams and hockey schools in Russia today than there were in the Soviet Union.

That said, the overall hockey playing population (kids playing pond hockey, etc) that these schools draw from today is nowhere near what it was in Soviet times.

Not buying it. 3-4 million doesn't correlate with Golden Puck national participation rates provided by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation:
*1st year of the tournament (1964) - 54 participating teams
*The tournament's heyday of 1970s/1980s - 400 participating teams/yr
*2017’s tournament - 600 participating teams (11,000 athletes)
More from the FHR:
"Some of the tens or even hundreds of thousands of kids who participated in the Golden Puck went on to grow into champions of the country, world, and olympic champions".
Золотой шайбе - 47!
Более 600 команд сыграли в хоккейном турнире «Золотая шайба»

(...)

in 1972 the tourney expanded to include 11–13yo; and in 1975 the games were reformatted to include 3 age groups (10–12, 13–14, 15–16 years).