World-famous Canadian hockey player Ivan Cournoyer this year marks 73 years. Many consider him the legendary NHL player. The athlete has a huge number of matches and goals scored against opponents.
Biography and characteristics of the famous hockey player
Ivan Cournoyer is a hockey player from Quebec, a province in Canada. He was born on November 22, 1943 in the city of Drummondville. The real name of the athlete Ivan Serge Cournoyer, and Ivan was named in Russia already.
From an early age, the hockey player had a special craving for a tree. At a young age he was fond of carving. At the beginning of the 60s, at the dawn of his career, Ivan personally selected the stick, he could also make it or improve it on his own.
Cournoyer was a unique player, he carried out a wrist blow quickly, accurately and powerfully. In training, the athlete used a heavy lead washer. His calves were so muscular that he had to sew leggings specifically on order. The hockey player was distinguished by explosive speed, professional equipment and unquenchable energy.
The beginning of the sports career of the Canadian striker
The first four years (from 1961 to 1964), Ivan Cournuaye performed as a member of the Montreal Canadiens junior HC at number 12. Then he continued to play in the NHL under the same number.
Initially, Ivan Serge Cournoye in the team played the role of a highly specialized majority striker. This allowed him to figure out where on the site you can most advantageously use your speed. Among the teammates, Ivan was especially distinguished and soon began to take a constant position of the rightmost forward.
The athlete is only 1 m 70 cm tall and weighs 78 kg, but despite the small dimensions for the hockey player, he was one of the league’s most powerful forwards. Also, Ivan Cournaye possessed incredible speed, for which he received the nickname Runner.
The Montreal Canadiens hockey club has devoted 16 years to the hockey club. Throughout his career, Cournaye Ivan has never put on a helmet. In the 60s, it was allowed to play without protection on the head. And when this became mandatory, the hockey player came up with an exception (veterans were allowed not to wear a helmet). Therefore, Ivan's face has a large number of scars.
Hockey player in the USSR super series - Canada
Ivan Serge Cournuaye, whose biography is full of interesting facts and events, is well known to Russian fans. In 1972, he took part in the USSR super series - Canada. These are eight friendly matches between two national teams consisting of professional hockey players from Canada and the USSR.
In a friendly game, Cournuille, Ivan was remembered by many Russian athletes. One of the Soviet defenders compared the Canadian striker with the train, he was so struck by his speed. It was after this meeting that the fans gave Ivan the Russian name Ivan. The young player had a fashionable head of hair and a wide nose.
During friendly matches, Ivan met such Russian hockey professionals as Vladislav Tretyak, Alexander Yakushev and Valery Kharlamov.
The USSR super series - Canada became one of the most important world news at that time, and even today fans remember this meeting as a top-level game. The match between Soviet and Canadian professional hockey players in Canada was called the Red War.
Achievements and Successes
Over sixteen seasons on the Montreal Canadiens team, Ivan Cournaye won the Stanley Cup ten times . His result exceeded only Henri Richard. Also in 1973, Ivan received an annual prize - Conn Smythe Trophy. Ivan is a six-time participant in the NHL All-Star game.
In 1982, the Canadian hockey player became an honorary member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ten years ago, the Cournayer sweater with the 12th number was posted at the Montreal Sports Center at the Bell Center.
On the account of the legendary athlete - 968 games held, in which he scored 428 goals and made 435 assists.
Ivan Cournaye was lucky to play in the same team with such world-famous hockey players as Pete Mahovich and Larry Robinson, Henri and Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Serge Savard.
Captain Montreal Canadiens
After eleven years in Montreal, Ivan became the team captain. In 1975, Henri Richard passed the bandage to the club commander Cournoyer. Since that time, the legendary hockey player began to have health problems.
The right striker had a pinched nerve in the spine, which led to an unquenchable and sharp pain in the leg.
Injury of the famous hockey player, leading to the departure from the sport
In 1977, the Canadian striker was seriously injured. Therefore, Ivan Cournaye had to lie under the surgeon’s knife. A complex spinal surgery was performed, which required almost a year of rehabilitation. For a whole season, the hockey player did not go on the ice.
In 1978, temporary relief came, and the athlete returned to the game, but a recent back injury noticeably affected the speed of riding. Cournaye spent about seventy matches and scored more than twenty goals on almost one foot.
Constant pain in the spine did not allow the athlete to play at full strength. Therefore, in 1979, at the insistence of the vice president of Montreal Canadiens, Ivan Serge Cournoye ended his hockey career.
Athlete Filmography and Coaching
In 2002, Cournaye starred in the documentary "USSR - Canada. More Than Hockey." The director of the series of five series was Alexander Korshikov, the operator - Victor Cheprasov. In the film of the sports genre, along with the Canadian striker, Russian hockey stars appeared: Vladislav Tretyak, Gennady Tsygankov, Alexander Ragulin, Alexander Yakushev, etc. The series shows in detail the events of forty years ago. The film tells how the matches were held in Canada and Russia in the 70s, how the life of world hockey changed after the super series.
Ivan Cournoyer, whose biography, achievements and characteristics are known to many fans of the NHL, tried himself as a coach. In 2008, he led the Montreal Canadiens team of veterans in the Legends Classic game.
Ivan Serge Cournoyer: life after the end of a sports career
Hockey fans are interested in the life of the legendary Montreal player to this day. They are interested in knowing what he did after the end of his sports career.
Some sources report that Ivan Cournoyer currently resides in Canada, in the city of Blainville. He settled in a cozy and quiet area in a personal mansion.
Today, the former Canadian hockey player is 72 years old. He is still in good shape. Ivan doesn’t go on skates anymore, because several years ago the former athlete underwent another operation to remove the remains of the patella on both legs.
After the hockey player’s career, Ivan Cournuaye often thought about his future. In the 2000s, he went to study at a vocational school and successfully graduated from it. Now Ivan is a professional woodcarver and is considered a very good craftsman.
In the Cournayet mansion there are many products made by him personally. For example, he is very proud of the front door with a carved profile of Napoleon. The legendary Montreal player also makes clubs, and his favorite work is the wooden Sherwood.
After a career as a hockey player, Ivan became addicted to golf. He regularly attends various tournaments. Not far from his house is a golf club, which is often Cournaye.