Why did Anatoli Fedotov make the Soviet Canada Cup team in 1987?

[Peter25]

In the 1986-1987 season Anatoli Fedotov played 18 games for Dynamo Moscow scoring 2 goals and 3 assists. He was only the 6th leading defenseman in scoring in his own club team. In his career Fedotov did not play in any other major tournament except for the 1987 Canada Cup.

In the fall of 1987 Soviet Union had better and more established defensemen than Fedotov who were left off from the national team. Sergei Starikov and Vladimir Konstantinov of CSKA were left off the team. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov and Mikhail Tatarinov of Dynamo Moscow were also far better than Fedotov who played for the same club team. They did not play in the Canada Cup.

It always boggled my mind why Fedotov was chosen to play in this tournament. Was it simply an experiment? Maybe, but other than Fedotov the Soviets iced their best team in that tournament (from their top players only Mikhail Tatarinov, Sergei Yashin and maybe Mikhail Vasilyev were missing).

EDIT: Typo on the header: It should be Fedotov, not Fedorov.

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[Killion]

^^^ Was this not at the time that Viktor Tikhonov was essentially running the Soviet Hockey System and PARANOID the stars would defect left Mogilny, Bure and others off the National Team rosters?

 

[Peter25]

^^^ Was this not at the time that Viktor Tikhonov was essentially running the Soviet Hockey System and PARANOID the stars would defect left Mogilny, Bure and others off the National Team rosters?

I don't see your point here.

For example Tikhonov picked up promising young players like Valeri Kamensky and Igor Kravchuk to the Canada Cup team. They did not defect.

Tikhonov was usually pretty rational in selecting players to major tournaments as his winning record proves, but the selection of Fedotov to play in 1987 Canada Cup was not one of Tikhonov's best moments.

 

[Kharlamov17]

Sergei Starikov and Vladimir Konstantinov of CSKA were left off the team.

I believe that Konstantinov may still have been playing center at that time, before making the full time transition to defense.

 

[Yakushev72]

In the 1986-1987 season Anatoli Fedotov played 18 games for Dynamo Moscow scoring 2 goals and 3 assists. He was only the 6th leading defenseman in scoring in his own club team. In his career Fedotov did not play in any other major tournament except for the 1987 Canada Cup.

In the fall of 1987 Soviet Union had better and more established defensemen than Fedotov who were left off from the national team. Sergei Starikov and Vladimir Konstantinov of CSKA were left off the team. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov and Mikhail Tatarinov of Dynamo Moscow were also far better than Fedotov who played for the same club team. They did not play in the Canada Cup.

It always boggled my mind why Fedotov was chosen to play in this tournament. Was it simply an experiment? Maybe, but other than Fedotov the Soviets iced their best team in that tournament (from their top players only Mikhail Tatarinov, Sergei Yashin and maybe Mikhail Vasilyev were missing).

EDIT: Typo on the header: It should be Fedotov, not Fedorov.

In 1987, Fedotov was considered to be an up and coming defenseman of the future. He starred in the 1986 WJC alongside other D men like Konstantinov, Tatarinov and '87 CC teammate Igor Kravchuk. I can only guess that Tikhonov liked his speed, skating ability and toughness, and thought that those qualities would progress in a way that never in fact happened. I thought that Fedotov was a sound and reliable player, but certainly not one to be a cornerstone of the defense.

 

[Yakushev72]

^^^ Was this not at the time that Viktor Tikhonov was essentially running the Soviet Hockey System and PARANOID the stars would defect left Mogilny, Bure and others off the National Team rosters?

There was no evident paranoia about defection in 1987, because it was a non-issue. It was too radical a step for players to contemplate in 1987, and there was no real recruitment of defectors by NHL franchises at that time. Mogilny's defection in 1989 was before the dissolution of the USSR, and was a big shock to everyone!

Probably the biggest reason for Fedotov's presence in 1987 was the absence of Bilyaletdinov, the current national team coach. Tikhonov liked to maintain defense partnerships from club teams, and Z. Bilyaletdinov and V. Pervukhin were frequent partners on the Soviet national team. With Bilyaletdinov missing, Tikhonov made the decision to pair Pervukhin with Fedotov for the Canada Cup, since Fedotov was also from Moscow Dynamo. That could easily be all there was to it.

 

[obskyr]

There was no evident paranoia about defection in 1987, because it was a non-issue. It was too radical a step for players to contemplate in 1987, and there was no real recruitment of defectors by NHL franchises at that time. Mogilny's defection in 1989 was before the dissolution of the USSR, and was a big shock to everyone!

Probably the biggest reason for Fedotov's presence in 1987 was the absence of Bilyaletdinov, the current national team coach. Tikhonov liked to maintain defense partnerships from club teams, and Z. Bilyaletdinov and V. Pervukhin were frequent partners on the Soviet national team. With Bilyaletdinov missing, Tikhonov made the decision to pair Pervukhin with Fedotov for the Canada Cup, since Fedotov was also from Moscow Dynamo. That could easily be all there was to it.

That was exactly the case. Fedotov was Pervukhin's partner in Dynamo.

 

[Peter25]

That was exactly the case. Fedotov was Pervukhin's partner in Dynamo.

Bilyaletdinov was Pervukhin's partner in Dynamo. Was Bilyaletdinov injured during the 1987 Canada Cup?

Dynamo had also Mikhail Tatarinov who was a superior player to Fedotov. Tatarinov played alongside Pervukhin in the Rendez Vous 1987 and he was great.

 

[obskyr]

Bilyaletdinov was Pervukhin's partner in Dynamo. Was Bilyaletdinov injured during the 1987 Canada Cup?

Dynamo had also Mikhail Tatarinov who was a superior player to Fedotov. Tatarinov played alongside Pervukhin in the Rendez Vous 1987 and he was great.

Bilyaletdinov was paired with Mikulchik by that time.

 

[Peter25]

Igor Kravchuk is another interesting choice. In 1986-1987 he played 22 games for Salavat Yulayev Ufa and scored no goals and had one assist. Yet he made the Canada Cup team.

 

[seventieslord]

Igor Kravchuk is another interesting choice. In 1986-1987 he played 22 games for Salavat Yulayev Ufa and scored no goals and had one assist. Yet he made the Canada Cup team.

We probably shouldn't judge defensemen by their point production in the highly imbalanced Soviet league.

 

[Theokritos]

We probably shouldn't judge defensemen by their point production in the highly imbalanced Soviet league.

Plus, assists were still awarded rather sparingly.

 

[Peter25]

We probably shouldn't judge defensemen by their point production in the highly imbalanced Soviet league.

I didn't mean that Kravchuk was a bad choice. He played an excellent tournament in the 1987 Don Koharski Cup. He scored four assists in five games and he usually played in the second defensive pairing with Igor Stelnov getting plenty of playing time against the best players of the other team. Kravchuk was a lot better than Fedotov who I feel was the weakest link of the Soviet defense in the 1987 Don Koharski Cup.

In retrospect the Soviets should have left Fedotov and Vasili Pervukhin off the team and replaced then with likes of Ilya Byakin, Vladimir Konstantinov or Mikhail Tatarinov.

 

[Peter25]

And it is correct that the stats for Soviet defensemen in their own league were a bit underrated.

Igor Stelnov scored just 0+2 points in 37 games for the CSKA in 1986-1987 season. Yet he made the national team in the 1987 Don Koharski Cup where he scored 1+4 points in 8 games. Stelnov probably didn't get much PP time in his club team playing behind Fetisov and Kasatonov, but 0+2 for the whole season is still very little for a national team defender.

Another good example is Vladimir Malakhov. He scored zero goals (along with eight assists) in his final season of 1991-1992 in Russia, but scored three goals in the 1992 Olympic games and 14 goals and 52 points next season in the NHL.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

1987 Don Koharski Cup

I've seen a lot in my time as an administrator here, so here's some advice.

If your goal is to get this thread to devolve into talk about the officiating in this series, then this is the best way to do it.

And if that's your goal, the best way to do it is to start (or resurrect) a thread on that topic, not to derail this one.

 

[Namba 17]

It was a golden age of soviet hockey. We had luxury of a choice. Off course, there were some stars, whose places in the national team were almost guaranteed, but after them there were about 3-5 equal players battled for each vacant spot in the team.
Right now it may seems strange, because we know what happened after. We know, that, say, Konstantinov became a star and Fedotov became not, but in that particular time for the one particular tournament it was absolutely possible, that Fedotov was in batter shape. Or suited better for some particular tasks. Or some other players had mini injuries. They were all good players and can all have a good tournament. The only person, who knew it for sure, is dead now and as far as I know he didn't express his opinion about that decision.
I'd bet on just better shape in that particular moment.

 

[Peter25]

It was a golden age of soviet hockey. We had luxury of a choice.

I have to disagree. The golden age of Soviet hockey was the 1970s and early to mid 1980s. In 1987 hockey in the Soviet Union was in decline which is why a player like Fedotov made the team. Defensemen who were still in their primes in the early 1980s were never really replaced, such as Vasilyev, Bilyaletdinov, Pervukhin and Babinov. These four formed the Soviet defense of the 1981 team along with Kasatonov and Fetisov.

 

[Namba 17]

I have to disagree. The golden age of Soviet hockey was the 1970s and early to mid 1980s. In 1987 hockey in the Soviet Union was in decline which is why a player like Fedotov made the team. Defensemen who were still in their primes in the early 1980s were never really replaced, such as Vasilyev, Bilyaletdinov, Pervukhin and Babinov. These four formed the Soviet defense of the 1981 team along with Kasatonov and Fetisov.

In 1987 Fetisov - Kasatonov were the 1st pare and were in their prime. For another 4 spots coaches had a choice of: Billyaletdinov, Pervukhin, Tatarinov, Stelnov, Kravchuk, Gusarov, Starikov (here we talk about stars and at least great D-men) and a bunch of one-two year wonders such as Fedotov. Two years later you may add Zubov, Konstantinov and Malakhov to this list (exclude smb, sure, but the replacement is there). Three years later - Zhitnik, Yushkevich, Mironov and Karpovtsev.
Gimme such a decline 7/7 24/24.