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Club 1974:
Dynamo Moscow
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Vladimir Yurzinov
Coach, Team USSR 1974
USSR Merited Sports Master (1963)
USSR Merited Sports Coach (1976)
Club: Dynamo Moscow
Born: 2/20/1940
If anyone were entitled to write a bestselling book about the Russian hockey history, it would definitely be Vladimir Yurzinov. Formally educated as a journalist, Yurzinov played as a center forward for Tarasov and Chernyshev and coached with Tikhonov, Kulagin and Fetisov. The key in Yurzinov's story is his never stopping ability to keep an open mind and search for the new trends and styles.
As a player, Yurzinov had a career of a solid technically savvy elite center. After 15 seasons with the Dynamo Moscow, he managed to set up his team's all time scoring record, to win gold medals with the Team USSR at the world championships and established a reputation of one of the best Russian forwards of the 1960s.
After his retirement from playing hockey in 1972, Yurzinov became an extremely successful coach. Throughout his career, Yurzinov was named a coach of the year in Russia, Latvia, Finland and Switzerland. In 1989, he brought the Dynamo Riga to their best result in the USSR ever (silver medals). He brought the Dynamo Moscow to their first gold medals ever in 1992. He coached TPS Turku to the two gold medals in Finland in 1993 and 1995.
At the 1974 Summit Series, Yurzinov was in his first season as a national team coach. After his coaching debut with the KooVee club in Finland in 1972-1974, he was appointed as head coach of Dynamo Moscow and got an offer from Boris Kulagin to server also as Team USSR assistant coach. Many of the Team USSR 1974 players were former Yurzinov's teammates from the time he played hockey. Transition from playing to coaching went really smooth for a 44-year old Yurzinov.
On a national team level, Yurzinov worked for 15 years with a legend of the Soviet coaching, Victor Tiknonov. They won many international tournaments including numerous World and European title, Olympics, Canada Cup and many more. Interestingly enough, besides strictly professional knowledge of hockey, Yurzinov developed a reputation of a person with great never aging communication skills. He was able to coach successfully top NHL stars and the AAA level players, coach with such different personalities and leaders as Viktor Tikhonov in 1976-1987 and Slava Fetisov in Salt Lake City in 2002.
In 1998, Yurzinov brought Team USSR to the silver medals at the Winter Olympics in Nagano. "I was one step away from becoming a great coach," said Yurzinov after a 0-1 loss to the Czech squad in the final game. Although his coaching career is far from being over, Vladimir Yurzinov IS a great coach.
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Career Statistics
| Competitions |
Years |
GP |
G |
| USSR League |
1957-72 |
489 |
239 |
| Team USSR |
1961-69 |
53 |
25 |
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CAREER HIGHLIGTS:
Player's Career:
- Played as a Center Forward for
the Team USSR and Dynamo Moscow in the USSR Elite
League
- Dynamo Moscow Captain in 1962-68
- WC Gold: 1963, 1969
- National Awards:
USSR Hall of Fame (player), 1963
Coaching Career:
- USSR Elite League Clubs: Dynamo Moscow,
Dynamo Riga
- Dynamo Moscow Head Coach in 1974-80
and 1990-92
- Dynamo Riga Head Coach in 1980-89
- Russia Gold: 1992
- International Leagues: KooVee
and TPS Turku in Finland, EHC Kloten in Switzerland
- KooVee Player-Coach in 1972-74
- TPS Turku Head Coach in 1992-98
- Finland Gold: 1993, 1995
- Team USSR Coach in 1974-87
- WC Gold: 1975, 1978-79, 1981-83, 1986
- Winter Olympics Gold: 1976, 1984
- Team USSR Coach at the Summit Series 1974
- National Awards:
USSR Hall of Fame (coach), 1976
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