| USSR
1972-79: MVP of the Decade |
V
A L E R Y K H A R L A M
O V
CAREER
HIGHLIGHTS
- Played for CSKA Moscow
and Team USSR
- USSR Gold (11): 1968,
1970-1973, 1975, 1977-1981
- WC Gold: 1969-1971,
1973-1975, 1978-1979
- Olympics Gold: 1972,
1976
- Played in the Summit Series 72, Superseries
75-76, 76-77, 78-79, 79-80, Challenge
Cup 79
- National Awards:
MVP USSR League 1972
USSR All Stars 1971-1976, 1978
Scoring Leader (G) 1971
Scoring Leader (PTS) 1972
Merited Sports Master (USSR ZMS) 1969
- International Awards:
WC Best Forward 1976
IIHF All Stars 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
IIHF Hall of Fame 1998 |
HOCKEY
RETROSPECTIVE:
REMEMBERING THE LEGEND |
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KHARLAMOV and TEAM CCCP
 A
complete international hockey statistics
of Valery Kharlamov and all legends
of Soviet hockey by Team
CCCP International @chidlovski.com
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USSR 1970-1979: MVP of the Decade
VALERY KHARLAMOV:
The Soviet MVP of the Decade
  Valery
Kharlamov:
T I M E L I N E
1948-1981 |
January
14, 1948 Born in
Moscow, USSR near the Sokol subway
stop
1962
Accepted to the CSKA Red Army
youth hockey program
March
1968 Won his 1st
USSR Gold with the CSKA
Fall
1968 Assigned to
play with Boris Mikhailov, RW
and Vladimir Petrov, C on the
line to become one of all-time
best
December
1968 1st game for
the Team USSR
January
19, 1969 Scored his
1st goal for the Team USSR vs.
Canada
March
1969 1st game at
the WC in Stockholm (03.15.69);
1st goal at the WC vs Sweden (03.16.69);
won 1st WC Gold (03.30.69); received
Soviet ZMS title (Russian Hall
of Fame)
September
1969 Won his 1st
European Champions Cup with CSKA
March
8, 1971 Scored his
1st hat-trick with the Team USSR
in the exhibition game vs. Finland
April
1971 Won his 1st
USSR Elite League Best Sniper
Award and elected to the USSR
All Stars
February
5 , 1972 Hat trick
vs. Finland in his 1st game at
the Olympics (05.02.72); 1st Olympics
Gold (13.02.72); won the IIHF
Best Scorer Award (16 pts)
April
1972 Elected to his
1st IIHF All Stars (WC'72)
June
1972 Won 1972 USSR
MVP Award
September
2, 1972 Scored 2
goals vs NHL pros in the legendary
USSR vs Canada Summit Series
June
1973 Won 1973 USSR
MVP Award
December
1973 Top 10 Best
USSR Sports Personalities
December
1975 1st Superseries
with the CSKA vs NHL clubs
February
14, 1976 Scored the
clutch goal vs. Czechoslovakia
(4-3) and won his 2nd Olympics
Gold
Spring
1976 Won IIHF Best
Forward Award and All Stars at
the WC'76;1st car accident
November
16, 1976 Played his
1st post-accident USSR Elite League
game vs. Krylya Sovetov
December
16, 1976 1st post-accident
game for the Team USSR, hat trick
vs Sweden at the Izvestia Cup
June
1978 Won his last
(7th) USSR All Stars Award
April
1979 Won his last
(8th) WC Gold
May
1981 Won his last
(11th) USSR Gold
August
5-9, 1981 Won his
last tournament (European Champions
Cup, Best Scorer)
August
18, 1981 Last game
for the Team USSR vs Finland in
Helsinki
August
27, 1981 Tragic life-ending
accident on Leningrad-Moscow Route
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On the 73rd kilometer of a busy Moscow-St. Petersburg
highway, there is a memorial stone that says
"The star of Russian hockey
had fallen down here"
Built by a hockey fan who wished to remain anonymous,
the monument marks the place where the greatest
legend of Russian hockey, Valery Kharlamov died
in a car accident on August 17, 1981. He was 33.
Russian hockey brought many names that became world
hockey legends. Kharlamov was a legend among the
legends of Russian hockey. He was a true genious
of the game. Not only that he dominated the game
in the 1970s, he became a truly inspirational pesonality
for generations of Russian players.
The magnitude of his personality and his impact
on Russian players and fans goes well beyond his
life span. One of the top NHL prospects from Russia,
Ilya Kovalchuk wasn't even born when Kharlamov's
life was suddenly abrupted in that tragic accident
in 1981. The biggest honor in his life was to wear
Kharlamov's number 17 on his jersey at the 2002
Olympics.
What Kharlamov did on the ice wasn't something
that one can learn from a hockey school or a book.
It was a God given gift. Many of his moves captured
on film became classics of the world hockey.
"I love to play beautifully", once said
camera-shy Kharlamov about his style in a media
interview. The goals that he scored belonged rather
to a poetry book than to a business manual. His
moves on the ice weren't precalculated "Red
Machine" patterns but rather truly amazing
moves of a hockey genious. In all their beauty and
unpredictability, those were his moves. I doubt
that they could have been repeated or reenacted
by anyone.
Unlike Wayne Gretzky in Canada, Kharlamov wasn't
a record breaker. In fact, some of his teammates
scored more in their careers. There were faster
skaters. There were players with more powerful slapshots.
And, of course, there were many players that were
much better than Kharlamov in their own zone. Kharlamov's
phenomen wasn't about just numbers or statistics.
He wasn't a universal player but a unique one.
The secret of Kharlamov goals can't be figured
out in a frame-by-frame replay on a tape. The father
of Russian hockey, legendary Anatoly Tarasov once
outlined the key components of the game,
the three speeds of hockey - the speed of moving,
the speed of reflexes and the speed of thinking.
Kharlamov's play was a perfect match of all three
blended with the magic of his personality.
The Summit is 1974 project is proud to name Valery
Kharlamov the Most Valuable Soviet Player
of the Decade. He played with Vladislav
Tretiak and Alexander Maltsev, Boris Mikhailov and
Vladimir Petrov. He scored magnificent goals to
Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito, Jiri Holecek and Gerry
Cheevers. Legends of world hockey, Bobby Hull and
Vladimir Martinec, Phil Esposito and Borje Salming,
Ivan Hlinka and Gordy Howe eyewitnessed Kharlamov's
magic when he played against their teams. By all
means he was one of the game dominators and the
brightest star on the Red Army and Team USSR roster
of the 1970s.
To name only a few, his goals in both '72 and '74
USSR vs. Canada Summits, game winning goal in the
'76 Olympics final game belongs to the world hockey
classics. His comeback after a career ending accident
in 1976 was a miracle. The accident on August 27,
1981 was a national tragedy in Russia. Kharlamov
is no longer with us but his legacy and his impact
on hockey players and fans go well beyond his life
time.
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