The commonplace phrase in sports that the goalkeeper is half the team is the best fit for hockey. This is a game where each team is represented by more than twenty players, but only the goalkeeper spends all the time on the ice, because field players are constantly changing.
The Soviet hockey school gave the world the famous Vladislav Tretyak and this predetermined the fate of other talented goalkeepers. It was impossible to avoid a comparison with the master of the Soviet hockey school for any talented goalkeeper. Someone flashed and disappeared from the hockey horizon, others for a long time remained in the hearts of hockey fans. Arthur Irbe is the goalkeeper who belongs to the second group. Over the years of his career, he has become a favorite of fans of several countries.
Childhood
Arthur Irbe is a hockey player. Year of birth - 1967. Born in the capital of Latvia, the city of Riga, he spent his childhood in the then indivisible Soviet Union. The love of sports has been instilled since childhood. True, serious disagreements with parents were born on this basis. Arthur's dad, Ari Irbe, a former athlete himself, insisted on athletics, being an opponent of hockey. And here Arthur helped his character, insisting on his decision, the teenager took up hockey at a serious level.
First club
Latvia in the highest hockey league of the Soviet Union was represented by one club - Dynamo Riga. The fate of a talented young man was determined initially. If you play, then only for Dynamo. Despite the dimensions that are small enough for hockey (Arthur’s height was 173 centimeters), it was already clear at a young age that the debut in the adult team was just around the corner. And so it happened. At the age of 19, Irbe made his debut for the main team of Dynamo and literally within six months became the main goalkeeper of the Riga club. What is most surprising, Irbe Arthur won the competition from the experienced Vitaly Samoilov (Olympic champion).
At that time, the situation in hockey was such that any talented hockey player on the army line was taken to the base club of the national team of Moscow CSKA. And again, Arthur showed integrity, refusing the persuasion of various kinds of officials.
USSR team
In 1989, Irbe Arthur began to be constantly involved in games for the USSR national team. According to the results of the 1989 World Cup, Arthur has a gold medal, but in fairness it should be noted that Irbe was a reserve goalkeeper at that championship. The next season in the national team Arthur began in the same status, but the case helped. The main goalkeeper of the national team Sergey Mylnikov was injured, and Irbe perfectly seized the opportunity. The 1990 World Cup again turned out to be a triumph for our hockey players, and Irbe Arthur was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the tournament following the results of the championship.
The collapse of the Soviet Union
The 90s began with a huge political upheaval. The seemingly unshakable Soviet Union began to crumble into pieces. Native to Arthur Irbe Latvia also gained independence, becoming a separate state. Many athletes faced the choice of which country to play for: Russia, which became the successor of the USSR, or the newly created independent state. In January 1991, Irbe made his choice: to play at the national team level only for the Latvian national team.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Union Championship also ceased to exist. There was no point in remaining in Latvia, where there was one strong club throughout the country. And in 1991, Irbe Arthur decides to continue his sports career in the NHL.
Career in the NHL
Already after the successful season of 1989, Irbe got to the notice of North American hockey scouts. Following the draft of that year, Arthur Irbe was chosen by Minnesota under a common 196 number. True, Irba did not have to play for the “Northern Stars”. As a result of the chain of complex exchanges, the rights to the goalkeeper began to belong to the NHL rookie, the club from San Jose.
As mentioned above, many experts were quite skeptical about Irbe's ability to play on a serious level. But already the first season in the NHL pleased skeptics. Arthur was confidently the main goalkeeper of the “San Jose Sharks” and for the five seasons spent he became a real idol for the fans of “Sharks”. The newcomer to the League could not claim much, but even local victories for inexperienced fans were worth a lot.
Over the years of his career in the NHL, Irbe has played 13 full-fledged seasons. On his track record are overseas clubs such as San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes. During the performance in the strongest hockey league in the world, Arthur won 568 matches, of which 33 he defended without goals.
Speaking in the NHL, Irbe did not forget his homeland. Nine times in the Latvian national team, Arthur Irbe participated in world hockey championships, twice participated in the Winter Olympic Games. His role for Latvian sport was so great that he was entrusted with the right to fly the national flag at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Italian Turin.
Ending a sports career
In 2005, at the age of 38, Arthur Irbe returned to his homeland. Having played a couple of seasons almost as a playing coach, he decided to end his hockey career. In 2008, Arthur Irbe - a hockey player, whose photo you see in the article, appeared in a new role for himself. He became the coach of his first professional club, Dynamo Riga. In 2009, Irbe accepts a new challenge - working as a goalkeeper coach in the NHL. “Washington Capitals” signs a contract with him, and Arthur coaches the club’s goalkeeper team for three seasons. Further, Irbe's coaching career includes working with the Latvian team and the Buffalo Sabers club.
Equipment
Many athletes have various kinds of superstitions in relation to their own ammunition. Arthur Irbe was no exception. The hockey player poured his hockey ammunition to the holes. Often the teammates observed the following picture: during flights or relocations, while the rest of the players went about their business, the Latvian goalkeeper independently repaired his worn-out uniform. The hockey mask of Irbe also carried a certain tribute to conservatism.
Arthur Irbe is a hockey player who until the last played in models of the 80s, with a visual grille instead of the now so familiar visor. However, this did not prevent him from remaining one of the strongest goalkeepers in the world.
Arthur Irbe (hockey player): biography, interesting facts
Another difference from teammates was noticed at the pre-training. While everyone else was doing stretching and preparing for classes on ice, Arthur Irbe calmly in the locker room was engaged in solving another puzzle. He explained his choice by the fact that, in addition to muscles, the brain also needs a warm-up. Despite such extraordinary actions, in all teams the partners were very friendly towards Irba, calling Michelin for their outward resemblance to an advertising doll of the same company.
Another fact of the biography of an excellent goalkeeper went unnoticed by the fans, but it made life difficult for the goalkeeper himself. The fact is that once Irbe very much bit her own dog. Most went to the right hand. The question was about amputation of the hand, and only the skill of the surgeons saved Irbe's hand. But still, Arthur could not fully play with this hand. This explains the fact that in the game the club very often Irbe was not up to par. But despite this, due to his character, willpower, desire to become a leader, Arthur Irbe achieved world recognition, becoming on a par with the strongest hockey goalkeepers of the planet.