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PROFILE:
Vsevolod Bobrov (1922-1979),
USSR Merited Sports Master (ZMS SSSR, 1948),
USSR Merited Sports Coach (ZTR SSSR, 1967),
IIHF Hall of Fame (1997, players category).
Player's Career:
- Played as a Left Wing with the Red Army clubs
(CDKA, CDSA, CSK MO, VVS) and scored 243 goals in
130 games in the USSR Elite Hockey League in 1947-1957
- USSR Gold 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956
- USSR Elite League Scoring Leader in 1948, 1951,
1952.
- World Championship Gold in 1954, 1956
- European Championship in 1954-1956
- Olympics Gold in 1956
- WC Best Forward (1954)
- WC Scoring Leader (1957)
- In Team USSR, scored 91 goals in 57 games
- Besides hockey, played in the USSR Soccer and
Bandy Elite Leagues.
Coaching Career:
- VVS Head Coach in 1951-1953
- Spartak Moscow Head Coach in 1964-1967
- USSR Gold in 1967
- Team USSR Head Coach in 1972-1974
- WC Gold in 1973-1974
- European Championship Gold in 1973-1974
- Head Coach of VVS, CSKA, Chernomorets, Kairat
in soccer.
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BOBROV
Vsevolod (Seva) BOBROV is a legend of Russian
sports. To say that he was "only" a great hockey
athlete is to mention just a part of the phenomenon of
Bobrov. His world class performance as a star player in
soccer, bandy and hockey arguably makes him one of the
top sports personalities in the Soviet history. For people
in Russia in the 1940's and 1950's, Bobrov was a household
name. His talent, style and success made him the major
attraction to the sports arena of that time. He was the
only person who was the captain of the national team in
both soccer and hockey.
Bobrov was a pioneer of the Russian hockey. He was a
star of the first Soviet Championships and averaged well
above one goal per game in these tournaments. In 1954,
the Soviet hockey team made its smashing international
debut at the World Championship in Stockholm. Led by its
legendary captain Bobrov, the team won the gold and Bobrov
earned the Best Forward Award. Bobrov was already 32 at
that time. In 1956, Bobrov and Team USSR won the Olympics.
His age and many career-ending injuries didn't allow him
to enjoy too many seasons with the Soviet team on the
international arena.
It's a common observation that a very few outstanding
sportsmen manage to become outstanding coaches. Bobrov
became a great soccer and hockey coach. Ironically for
a person who played most of his career with the Red Army
clubs, Bobrov became a coach of the CSKA's rivalry. He
brought the Moscow Spartak to several National Championships
in the years when it was unthinkable to challenge the
Red Army club. Alexander
Yakushev, Vladimir
Shadrin, Yevgeny
Zimin, Alexaner
Martyniuk - those are just a few Team USSR players
that graduated from Bobrov's Spartak.
Bobrov was appointed the head coach of the national team
when his former linemate, legendary Anatoly
Tarasov, made a sensational decision to retire
from the Team USSR after the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo.
Unlike his famous predecessor, Bobrov was not a dictatorial
coach. A former player with strong individual skills,
he preferred to neither force players into a strict hockey
schema nor intimidate them with the mastery of psychological
trickery used quiet often by Tarasov. As noted by eyewitnesses,
Bobrov always treated his players with respect and supported
their independent thinking.
The reason of his departure from coaching Team USSR in
1974 remains a mystery of the Soviet hockey. Coaches usually
resign after a major competition flop. Bobrov left after
winning World Championship in Finland. The story says
that Team USSR was losing to Czechoslovakia. In the second
intermission, the top Soviet official entered the locker
room where Bobrov was outlining the plan of a comeback
in the third period. Bobrov turned to the intruder and
just said:
"Close the door. From the outside, please."
The official turned red and left the room. Team USSR
won. Bobrov had to go too. Disobedience to the system
could not be forgiven even to the champions.
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