Ice hockey in Russia

Ice hockey in Russia
Alexander Semin scores the first goal in the 2008 World Championship Final.
Country	Russia
Governing body	Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
National team(s)	Men's national team; Women's national team
First played	1932
National competitions
Kontinental Hockey League[1]
Club competitions
Gagarin Cup
International competitions
IIHF World Championships Winter Olympics World Cup

Ice hockey in Russia is one of the most popular sports in the country.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

History

In 1908, representatives of Russian ice hockey received an invitation to visit Paris to discuss the possibility of uniting hockey fans, along with France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. On 15 May 1908, the First Congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation was formed without Russia and Germany.^{[citation needed]}

The Russian Hockey Federation was added to the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG) (as the IIHF was known then) on 12 February 1911, as the seventh member.^{[citation needed]}

The USSR ice hockey championship began to be played out in 1946. At first, the All-Union hockey section was organizing the championships. Since 1 July 1959, the organization has become known as the USSR Hockey Federation, which has united the leadership of hockey with the ball and hockey with the puck. On 17 October 1967, the Federation was divided into the Federation of Ice Hockey (USSR) and the USSR Ice Hockey Federation.^{[citation needed]}

Nominally hockey in Russia was engaged in the Federation of Hockey Russian SFSR, formed in 1959. The Federation of Hockey of the Russian SFSR / Russia (FHR) was established on 12 November 1991. On 19 January 1992, the FHR officially became the successor to the USSR Hockey Federation.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 May 1992, former Soviet player Vladimir Petrov was elected president of the FHR. On 8 April 1994, Petrov was removed from the post of president, Valentin Sych was elected the new president. On 21 April 1997, the president of FHR, Valentin Sych was killed. On 30 May 1997, Alexander Steblin was elected the new president. On 21 April 2006, Steblin resigned, and former legendary Soviet goaltender three-time Olympic champion Vladislav Tretiak was elected president of the FHR.^{[citation needed]}

Domestic League

On 26 March 2009, at the joint meeting of the clubs of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the Russian Hockey Federation and the leadership of the KHL, the Youth Hockey League.^[12]

On 23 March 2010, at the joint meeting of the clubs of the Higher League, the leadership of the Russian Hockey Federation and the Kontinental Hockey League created the Higher Hockey League.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 August 2015, at an extraordinary conference of the FHR, decisions were made on changes in the structure of the management of the Federation. Instead of the FHR Council and the executive committee of the FHR, the Federation Board was established. Arkady Rotenberg was elected chairman of the board.^{[citation needed]}

Ice hockey was further popularized by Canadians introduced to the Soviet Union in 1932.^[13] During the Soviet Union period the Soviet Championship League was the premier ice hockey league. After the fall of communism it was followed by the Russian Superleague and then the Kontinental Hockey League.^[14]

Anatoly Tarasov is considered the father of Russian ice hockey.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

National team

Main articles: Soviet Union national ice hockey team, CIS national ice hockey team, Russia men's national ice hockey team, and Russia women's national ice hockey team

The Soviet Union entered its first Winter Olympics tournament in 1956, and was successful from the start, much due to the players having an earlier experience of bandy, also called "Russian hockey". The Soviet Union would dominate the hockey world championship and Olympic tournaments from the 1950s to 1980s.^{[20][21][22][23][24]} The Soviet Union enjoyed a position where it could use its best players while Canada and many others were barred from doing that as their players were classified as professionals.^{[citation needed]}

During the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, many Russian hockey players defected to the United States to play in the National Hockey League (NHL) with such notable players as Viacheslav Fetisov,^[25] Alexander Mogilny,^[26] and Sergei Federov.^{[27][28][29][30]}

On the international stage, Russia considers Canada its major hockey rival.^[31]

During this period the Russian national team, having won the 1993 World Championship, for a long time remained without medals at all. And only in recent years, the Russian team began to return its former strength. And if at the World Championships in Moscow in 2007 Russians stumbled in the semifinals, then in 2008, the year of the official 100th anniversary of hockey, they regained the title of world champions after defeating the Canadians in Quebec. A dramatic final match, during which Russia lost 2: 4, ended in victory in overtime with a score of 5: 4. A year later at the 2009 championship in Bern, the Russian team confirmed its title, again defeating the national team of Canada in the final with a score of 2: 1.^{[citation needed]}

At the 2010 World Championships, held in Cologne, the Russian team took only second place, losing in the finals of the Czech team with a score of 1: 2. In 2012, the Russian team won gold for the fourth time. In 2014, she became a five-time champion, winning all of her matches, like in 2008, 2009 and 2012. In the final match, the Russian team defeated the Finnish national team with a score of 5: 2.^{[citation needed]}

Russian hockey differs from Russian football in the development of regional clubs. On the map of Russia there are strong in the economic and organizational plan hockey centers: Novosibirsk, Omsk, Magnitogorsk, Yaroslavl, Ufa, Kazan, Chelyabinsk.^{[citation needed]}

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended Russia and Belarus from all levels of competition.^[32]

References

1. "Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)". en.khl.ru. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
2. "Yes, Russian bears CAN play ice hockey". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
3. Bort, Ryan (23 January 2015). "'Red Army' Documentary Facts - Soviet Union Hockey Trivia". Esquire.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
4. Beaton, Andrew (21 January 2015). "Slava Fetisov and Russian Hockey: After the Miracle". WSJ. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
5. "Russians regroup on other side of the red line". Espn.com. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
6. Osnos, Evan (19 November 2014). "Cold War Puck: The Beauties of Russian Hockey". The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
7. Simon Richmond (15 September 2010). Russia. p. 83. ISBN 9781742203737. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
8. Mikhail S. Blinnikov (January 2011). A Geography of Russia and Its Neighbors. p. 238. ISBN 9781606239209. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
9. Sophie Penney (22 April 2016). "A clash of cultures…on ice | Varsity Online". Varsity.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
10. "Storymap: Hockey's 10 Most Popular Countries". Eurohockey.com. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
11. "Five myths about Russian ice hockey". PravdaReport.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
12. "Создается Молодежная хоккейная лига России". Retrieved 25 May 2018.
13. Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. p. 347. ISBN 9781598843002. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
14. Timur Ganeev (2 December 2015). "Kids on skates: How Russia's hockey stars learned their craft | Russia Beyond The Headlines". Rbth.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
15. Sax, David (19 November 2014). "Cold War Puck: The Beauties of Russian Hockey". The New Yorker. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
16. "Grandson reveals the downfall of the father of Soviet hockey — and what could have been in Summit Series | canada.com". O.canada.com. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
17. Bryant Urstadt (23 January 2015). "Learning from Russia's Red Army Hockey Team". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
18. Sullivan, Ronald (24 June 1995). "Anatoly Tarasov, 76, Innovative Coach of Hockey in Soviet Union". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
19. Garry Glave (8 March 2016). A Brief History Of International Ice Hockey. p. 32. ISBN 9781911090106. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
20. John Grasso; Bill Mallon; Jeroen Heijmans (14 May 2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. p. 260. ISBN 9781442248601. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
21. Victor, Jennifer Louis (22 October 2013). Sport in the Soviet Union. p. 57. ISBN 9781483155913. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
22. "New film: "Red Army": Left-wingers". The Economist. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
23. "Russians regroup on other side of the red line". Espn.com. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
24. "Greatest Russian Hockey Players Of All Time". SI.com. 31 December 1982. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
25. Mifflin, Lawrie (30 March 1989). "N.H.L. Team Signs First Soviet Player, And He's a Surprise". NYTimes.com. Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics (Ussr). Retrieved 20 October 2016.
26. Mcg, Robert (6 May 1989). "Soviet Hockey Star in Buffalo After Defecting to U.S. Team". NYTimes.com. United States; Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics (Ussr). Retrieved 20 October 2016.
27. "Hockey's great Cold War defectors | National Post". News.nationalpost.com. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
28. "Soviet Hockey Player Defects To Red Wings". Deseret News. 24 July 1990. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
29. "NHL - Russia's greatest hockey players, as told by Russian great Sergei Gonchar". Espn.com. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
30. "The Shifts that Changed the Game: The Defection". Arctic Ice Hockey. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
31. "World Cup of Hockey: Canada, Russia renew their historic rivalry - NHL on CBC Sports - Hockey news, opinion, scores, stats, standings". Cbc.ca. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
32. Lord, Sarah. "The War in Ukraine Shakes Up NHL and Hockey Worldwide". CNET.

External links

• Official website
• IIHF profile