The popularity that the players of the hockey team had in the Soviet Union, and later in Russia, is unlikely to boast other athletes.
Famous Russian hockey players are becoming almost national heroes that everyone knows - from schoolchildren to senior citizens. Their biographies, sporting achievements, personal life are discussed in companies, covered in the press, and closely monitor their overseas successes. If in the USSR information about the players was not particularly distributed among the population of a huge country (many hockey players were considered military personnel), nowadays it is not difficult to find out everything about your idol.
Heroes of our time
It is difficult to put in one article all those who deserve the title of “the most famous hockey players of Russia,” but I would like to think about several particularly successful players separately.
One of the celebrities of Russian hockey is Evgeni Malkin, who, despite a number of frankly unsuccessful seasons, still proved to be a real national team leader. Participation in three world championships and two Olympics (2006 and 2010) indicates the high skill and effectiveness of this hockey player. Eugene began his sports career in Magnitogorsk, where his father, who himself played hockey in his youth, had put his son on ice skates since the age of three.
Among the trophies of Evgeni Malkin there is the title of “best rookie of the season” (2004), and the prize “Golden Helmet”, which is awarded to the best striker, awards of the championships of Russia and the world, but Olympic gold has not been won. Like many other famous Russian hockey players, Eugene successfully played in the overseas hockey league.
NHL Stars
With the fall of the iron curtain, Soviet hockey players had a unique opportunity to try their hand at the most titled and famous hockey league, which gathered the cream of world hockey in their teams. The famous hockey players of the USSR and Russia showed themselves differently in the NHL. For some, this was the beginning of a dizzying career (Pavel Bure, Vyacheslav Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Sergey Fedorov), and someone was lost in the harsh world of the NHL, where the strongest survive (Victor Nechaev, Sergey Mylnikov, Andrey Zyuzin).
Famous Russian hockey players got into the clubs of the national overseas league in different ways: some just fled the country (Alexander Mogilny, Sergey Fedorov), others were looking for the opportunity to officially leave their native walls (Sergey Pryakhin, Sergey Starikov, Vyacheslav Fetisov). Today, for young and promising athletes, such detective stories seem unrealistic: to get into the NHL, one's own talent and perseverance are enough.
Modern stars of Russian hockey in the NHL
Today, Russian hockey players have a large representation in the overseas hockey league. They successfully play in various American and Canadian clubs, deserving the respect and honor of local fans. Artemy Panarin, Nikita Soshnikov, Fedor Tyutin, Dmitry Orlov, Mikhail Grigorenko - famous Russian hockey players spend a lot of strength and energy to defend their right to play in the main teams of the NHL.
Many of the legionnaires are regularly called up to the Russian team to participate in the European and World Championships, as well as Olympic tournaments. It is difficult to imagine the Russian team without such NHL stars as Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Nikolai Kulemin.
NHL Hockey Hall of Fame
The first representative in this hall was our illustrious goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak, later Valery Kharlamov and Vyacheslav Fetisov joined him. Only the most outstanding players from around the world enter this room. Pavel Bure, Igor Larionov were also awarded this honor for their great contribution to the development of world hockey.
There is also a coach of the USSR hockey team in this hall - Anatoly Tarasov. Despite his ambiguous and not always simple relations with both players and party functionaries, without which no sport in the former Soviet Union could do, he was highly appreciated by overseas experts, especially after a series of matches with representatives of the NHL star team.
The future of Russian hockey
Despite a number of failures that the Russian hockey team suffered at the last Olympic tournaments, fans do not lose hope that their idols will still be able to become the best team in the world. Such fame as that of the Soviet Union team just does not go to anyone. To really become champions, star names alone are not enough. Daily hard work, loyalty and devotion to the chosen profession are the invariable components of success.
The lists of all hockey players in Russia (famous and novice players) are updated every year with new names that the country can rightfully be proud of. Perhaps it is precisely the new generation of hockey players who have replaced the “old guard” who will be able to regain their former glory and respect, which the players of the USSR national team were rightly proud of. And songs will be dedicated to our contemporaries, as their titled predecessors did.