On January 21, 1947, the capital of Russia took another small citizen into its arms. Gusev Alexander Vladimirovich was born - the future legend of world hockey.
Hockey player childhood
Sasha appeared on the ice rink for the first time at the age of four. The future conqueror of sports went on the ice on beautiful skates, acquired by his father abroad. Soon, little Alexander Gusev was already perfectly balanced on ice. Having matured a little, Sasha began to think seriously about big sport. He, like many boys of that time, really wanted to get into the ranks of the hockey team of the Moscow army. But the first attempt to become a graduate of CSKA was not very successful. The army coach, looking at Alexander in the game, decided that the boy still needed to grow a little for hockey. However, Sasha, always distinguished by excessive perseverance, turned to his mother with a request for help. His parent worked at that time as an accountant in an army club. So Alexander was in the ranks of the CSKA children and youth team.
Adolescence
Soon the club management decided to send Gusev and Kharlamov for an internship in Chebarkul. Thanks to two young hockey players, the Ural team soon moved to a higher division.
In 1965, a long-awaited event takes place in the life of an athlete. Alexander Gusev is finally included in the main part of the army team. From this moment, the career of a promising young defender begins to grow rapidly upward. As part of the Moscow Army Club, Alexander became the winner of the hockey championship of the Soviet Union seven times, won silver medals three times and also won the USSR Cup three times.
National team games
Alexander Gusev was remembered by hockey fans not only for a brilliant game held as part of CSKA, but also for equally excellent performances for the national team of his native country. Older fans of the puck game still remember how Gusev repeatedly helped out the team in the most crucial matches. One of the most successful hockey games is still considered a duel against the Swedish national team during a tournament organized by the Izvestia newspaper. It was Gusev who managed to score the winning goal against the opponent’s goal.
Another memorable game was a meeting with the Canadian national team in the 1974 super series. The USSR team for a long time acted as catching up on the field. But Gusev managed to restore balance in the score, having scored a puck so necessary for his team.
Two years later, Alexander won gold at the Olympics, where he also held matches as part of the formidable “red car” (that was the name of the invincible team of the Soviet Union for all hockey fans).
Wise maturity
1977 was one of the most unsuccessful for the Soviet Union hockey team. Having suffered a double fiasco from Sweden at the World Cup, head coach Boris Kulagin decides to resign. He leaves the post not only of the chief leader of the national team, but also leaves the coaching chair of the army team, at the helm of which he has been for many years.
The new head coach of CSKA is Viktor Tikhonov, who from the first days begins to produce a real revolution in the slender army ranks. The mentor of the capital's army team decided to update the already matured composition of the team. Many players, whose age has already gone beyond thirty, were forced to leave army sweaters and retire for a well-deserved rest.
Alexander Gusev was not a general exception to the rule. He leaves his dear second number to the rising star of the army team Vyacheslav Fetisov, and he leaves for the SKA Leningrad club, which occupies far from the most leading positions in the national hockey championship. However, the flexible disposition of character does not allow the hockey meter to keep evil on the honored coach of the USSR. According to Gusev, this decision was simply an ordinary necessity.
Coach and Major
Having made a worthy season for a club in the northern capital, Gusev earned the rank of major and managed to graduate from LVIFK, where he received two higher educations. Now Alexander could stand at the helm of the hockey team, as well as command the army battalion. The former athlete never happened to be the squad commander, but he was able to become a real commander in chief for the players of the Tver hockey club SKA MVO.
Alexander Gusev: hockey player
Gusev was not accidentally known among his colleagues in the hockey shop as a real ice break. According to the athlete himself, he did not like to play on the field only the role of a defender. He liked to connect to his team during the attack, create dangerous situations near someone else's penalty area and, of course, with a successful combination of circumstances, hit the opponents' gates himself. Alexander did not tolerate obvious injustice on the field. He defended his innocence, like most hockey players, with a stick, which served as the only weapon in a fight with players of the opposite team.
The biography of Alexander Gusev may seem at first glance unappealing. However, the statistics with which the player of CSKA came to the end of his career can even amaze foreign hockey masters. Gusev Alexander Vladimirovich - Hockey player with a capital letter. The athlete has 64 goals scored in 313 matches in the national championship. In international meetings, Gusev scored twelve goals. These indicators are more than decent for a player on the defensive line.
On the 60th anniversary of the celebrated player of the USSR national team, President of Russia Vladimir Putin himself congratulated him.
At this point in time, Gusev Alexander Vladimirovich is a player in the Hockey Legends team, with whom he traveled almost the entire country. He devotes his free time from training to taking care of his grandson, as well as to his summer home business.