Details of a red car. Five domestic hockey players who delighted Canada

Soviet hockey in the last century was a stunning revelation for Canada, the birthplace of this game. In the country of maple leaves, there was no doubt that the best hockey players played here, but the time came - and local fans applauded players from the Soviet Union, and then from Russia. Who impressed audiences in Canada and other Western countries the most?

Vsevolod Bobrov

The great Soviet athlete, who played equally well on the green field and on ice. The first victories of Soviet ice hockey are associated with his name - at the 1954 World Championship and at the 1956 Winter Olympics. Tall, long-armed, physically powerful Bobrov skated quickly, brilliantly tricked, led the puck and covered it with a powerful body. And the signature Bobrovsky trick, when he threw the puck, laying a turn behind the gate, was called his name at all.

“We were struck by the efficiency of the Russians, the ability to play at an unusually fast pace. The best player of the tournament, no doubt, was the Russian striker Bobrov. Thomas Campbell.

Valery Kharlamov

Their trio with Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov was brilliant, but it was Valery who shone brighter in it than his partners, although he was not an egoist on ice. A filigree stroke at high speed, the ability to instantly make a decision, deceive a defender and a goalkeeper, turn a chance into a hockey beauty - that's all Kharlamov. Valery's classic goal - this one, in the Super Series-74 - can be reviewed many times and still not understand what he did, what did he leave three field players and the goalkeeper with his nose?

"What he did with the puck was incredibly beautiful," said the brilliant Canadian forward Bobby Clark, known for his toothless smile.

Vladislav Tretiak

Not only Soviet strikers delighted sophisticated fans abroad. We have never had a shortage of strong goalkeepers: Nikolai Puchkov, Viktor Konovalenko, Vladimir Myshkin... But Tretyak stood out against this background too. Already at the age of 20, he participated in the Super Series - and it was then that he won the hearts of Canadian fans. A phenomenal reaction, a confident game on the ribbon made Vladislav one of the stars of the Super Series. At the end of his career, he was invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the restructuring had not yet come, and the matter did not burn out. However, this did not upset Tretiak - Canadian fans applauded him even when he played in the form of CSKA and the USSR national team.

Pavel Bure

"Russian Rocket" - such a nickname was invented for the Russian striker. He was the last great talent from the army laboratory of Viktor Tikhonov, but already in 1991 he left for the NHL, because overseas there were more chances to appreciate his hockey. And this assessment was excellent, especially since Pavel was one of the first Russian league stars. Bure had all the advantages of a Soviet hockey player: speed, focus on breaking through to other people's gates from anywhere on the site. And, of course, performance: he has 849 points in 737 matches.

Alexander Ovechkin

Ovechkin is already great, he's already an NHL legend, and it doesn't take any handicap to compare him to local legends - Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne. Ovi is loved in the USA and Canada for his team spirit, for his versatility on the ice, for his constant passion, thanks to which, even at the age of 37, he rejoices like a child at every abandoned puck. Perhaps soon he will even overtake Gretzky himself in the number of goals in the NHL, and there is no doubt that fans of all continents will give him a standing ovation.