Victor Nikolaevich Blinov is a Soviet hockey player. Born September 1, 1945, died July 9, 1968. What mean numbers. What a short life. But how brightly it was necessary to live and leave its mark on history, so that after almost 50 years after your death you were remembered by grateful fans!
Carier start
Blinov Victor was born in the year of the Great Victory - 1945. In Omsk, where the family of the future hockey player lived, the first sports steps were taken. Near the house was the rink of the Dynamo stadium, where he and his friends spent all his free time.
Omsk "Spartak"
At the age of 16, in 1961, he was accepted into the hockey team of the Omsk “Spartak”. A year later, Victor Blinov made his debut in the adult team of masters in a match against one of the leaders of Soviet hockey - Moscow Dynamo. In that match, impudent owners managed to take away points from Muscovites, ending the match in a draw. A fast, powerful, powerful defender, he immediately attracted the attention of specialists. Particularly memorable were the incredible power of shots on goal by a gifted defender of the Omsk. Blinov was able to throw the first goal in the USSR hockey championship in the eighth match, equalizing the score in the game against the Novokuznetsk “Metallurgist”. “Omsk” won in that game with a score of 3: 1. This season, the young defender played for the club only 10 matches, but in the next two years he becomes an indispensable player in the team. Victor, speaking for Omsk “Spartak”, managed to distinguish himself in 80 matches 13 times. According to the results of the 1964 season, he becomes the owner of the honorary title "Master of Sports of the USSR". Rumors of a Siberian nugget diverge throughout the country. Young hockey player receives an invitation to Moscow “Spartak”
Moscow "Spartak"
At that time, the “red-white” was coached by the legend of domestic sports - Vsevolod Bobrov. In the team, for which such hockey stars as the Mayorov brothers, Victor Singer, Vyacheslav Starshinov, then played, the young defender was not lost. Fans crowded into the stadium to watch the rising hockey star. Not recognizing authorities, he scored goals for famous goalkeepers. Under his power tricks, the stars of domestic hockey fell. In the first match for the new club, Blinov Viktor opened the score to his abandoned goals. In the first year of playing for Spartak, he scored 5 times. In the second season already 7 times upset goalkeepers rivals. Triumphant for him and the team was 1967. The club won the gold medals of the USSR hockey championship, and Victor became the country's best scorer. That season, a pair of Spartak Moscow defenders - Alexei Makarov and Viktor Blinov - struck the entire hockey world of the Soviet Union with their over-performance. Each of them scored 17 goals into the opponents' goal, thereby dividing the title of “best attacking defender”. This was the defender of the new formation, combining the qualities of an ideal player of the future: strong, tough, perfectly standing on skates and having a crazy throw. Three times as part of Spartak, Victor Blinov, a new generation hockey player, became the silver medalist of the USSR championship. In the 4 years that fate gave him, he played 141 matches for Moscow Spartak and scored 36 goals.
USSR team
Viktor Nikolayevich made his debut in the national team at the age of nineteen, in a match against the Canadian national team. He met with the founders of hockey 11 times out of 32 matches played for the USSR national team. In all games in the form of a national team, he scored 10 goals. The World Hockey Championship and the 1968 Olympic Games were the climax of his career. In the match against the national team of Sweden (3: 2), at the Olympics, the young defender, having abandoned himself and made an assist, became one of the best on the court. In total, in that tournament, Blinov Victor scored 4 goals in 7 matches. It should be noted that before the start of the tournament, the Western media, recognizing the strength of the USSR national team, nevertheless gave Canadians a palm in their forecasts. And in vain: the USSR team wins the Olympic Games and the 1968 world hockey championship, defeating the Canadian team in a decisive match with a score of 5: 0.
The rest that killed the young defender
Upon returning home after such a successful performance, all the hockey players of the team were awarded the title "Honored Master of Sports of the USSR". So, by the age of twenty-three, Victor becomes the owner of all the highest hockey world and domestic awards. He is at the peak of his popularity. It seemed that the player had a stellar future. Going on vacation in the summer of 1968 to his homeland in Omsk, Victor dreams of a good break from the difficult season. About how the rising star of Soviet hockey rested in those years, few knew. In Soviet times, it was not customary to make dirty linen in public. Therefore, many fans could never have imagined that their idol had long been addicted to the bottle. According to friends of the hockey player, his father accustomed him to this addiction, who, working as a shoemaker, sent his teenage son daily to the store for vodka. Entirely and completely surrendering to himself on the court, he was relaxing to the fullest outside the hockey rink on vacation. Several weeks of constant drinking with fellow countrymen did their job. He had a heart attack. They did not call an ambulance, and no one knew about it when Blinov returned to Moscow.
The death of the Olympic champion
Returning to Moscow at the beginning of July , Viktor is undergoing a medical examination. Perhaps if he had made a cardiogram of the heart, doctors would have discovered the disease. But the defender, apparently fearing that he might be expelled from the team, did not. Even the healthiest organism when combining sports and drinking alcohol will fail. On that fateful day, July 9, 1968, in training, unable to withstand physical exertion, the heart of a young and bright player forever stopped. His selfless game, fully giving his strength for the good of the team, he earned the love and respect of the fans.
Tournament in memory of Victor Blinov
In Omsk, in the homeland of the Olympic champion, since 1987, a pre-season tournament in memory of V. Blinov has been held annually. In honor of the hockey star, a sports and concert complex in the city of Omsk is named. At the entrance to the complex there is a monument to the athlete. Victor Nikolaevich Blinov is included in the Domestic Hockey Hall of Fame. One of the most gifted defenders of Soviet hockey was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.