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Anatoly Vladimirovich Tarasov (; 10 December 1918 – 23 June 1995) was a Russian
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
player and
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
. Tarasov is considered "the father of Russian ice hockey" and established the Soviet Union national team as "the dominant force in international competition". He was one of the first
Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...
to be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...
, having been inducted in 1974 in the
builders Builder may refer to: Construction * Construction worker, who specializes in building work * Carpenter, a skilled craftsman who works with wood * General contractor, that specializes in building work ** Subcontractor * Real estate developer, who ...
category. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the
IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...
in 1997. Tarasov also played and managed in the sport of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, but is best known for his work in developing the USSR's ice hockey program. He is the father of figure skating coach Tatiana Tarasova.


Ice hockey career

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Tarasov was asked by the Ministry of Sports of the USSR to put together a hockey program from scratch. He helped found a hockey department at the
Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...
's sports club,
CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
with little more than several old hockey rule books. Before then, the most popular ice sport in Russia and the Soviet Union was
bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...
, a sport similar to field hockey, but played on ice. The Russian style of hockey, with its emphasis on skating skill, offense and passing, is still heavily influenced by bandy. Tarasov served either as coach or co-coach of CSKA Moscow from 1946 to 1975, except for three short breaks in 1960, 1964 and 1972. He was named coach of the Soviet national team in 1958, a post he held until 1960. He was then an assistant coach of Soviet national team to
Arkady Chernyshev Arkady Ivanovich Chernyshev (; March 16, 1914 – April 17, 1992) was a Russian ice hockey, football and bandy player, who played in the Soviet Top Hockey League. As a coach, he led Dynamo Moscow and the Soviet Union national ice hockey team ...
from 1963 until 1972. When hockey was introduced in the USSR, Tarasov, like the rest of the nation, fell in love with the game. It was his ideals and philosophies that shaped the Russian game into what it is today - fast, graceful, non-individualistic, and patriotic. To him, real teamwork was based on a common aim - comradeship and caring for each team member. This is why he introduced a rule that, in order to make the line-up, the team had to approve of each player. Tarasov devised many new training methods. Most of them centered on passing, for he felt passing was the key to their success, "after all, the ultimate aim of a pass was to get a free player. So if our opponents make 150 passes in a game against our 270, this means we had 120 more playing opportunities." His practices included the use of pylons and simple drills that would have looked silly to North Americans, but to the Russians they had great meaning as they looked to perfect each skill. While performing these, he had his players in constant motion. He called this the assembly method. Tarasov was a
player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
for
HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow (, ''Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow'') is a professional ice hockey club based in Moscow, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is referred to in the West as "Central R ...
in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and coached notable players, including
Boris Afanasiev Boris Ivanovitch Afanasiev (; August 8, 1913 – 1983) was a Russian ice hockey goaltender, coach, and football player. Career Afanasiev was first a football player. He played for CDKA Moscow from 1929 to 1933. He then played for Dukat Moscow in ...
, Aleksandr Komarov,
Grigory Mkrtychan Grigory Mkrtychevich Mkrtychan (, , 3 January 1925 – 14 February 2003) was a Soviet and Russian ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink w ...
,
Nikolai Sologubov Nikolai Mikhailovich Sologubov (; 8 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Russian ice hockey defenceman who won a gold and a bronze medal with Soviet teams at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, respectively. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame i ...
,
Andrey Starovoytov Andrei Vasilyevich Starovoytov (; 16 December 1915 – 22 March 1997) was a Russian ice hockey administrator, referee and player. He won three Soviet ice hockey championships as a player, and was later an ice hockey referee at eight World Champ ...
, and
Dmitry Ukolov Dmitry Matveevich Ukolov (; October 23, 1929 – November 25, 1992) was a Russian ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union. Ukolov played for HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow (, ''Centr ...
. Many great players developed under his system in the 1960s. Among these were: Vitaly Davydov,
Anatoli Firsov Anatoli Vasilievich Firsov (; 1 February 1941 – 24 July 2000) was a Russians, Russian ice hockey left wing and center, who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, USSR. In the IIHF World Championships, he won the scoring title four times ...
,
Vyacheslav Starshinov Vyacheslav Ivanovich Starshinov (; born May 6, 1940, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian former ice hockey player, coach and executive. Starshinov played in the Soviet Hockey League for HC Spartak Moscow, scoring 405 goals in 540 league games ...
,
Veniamin Alexandrov Veniamin Veniaminovich Alexandrov (; 18 April 1937 – 6 November 1991) was a Soviet ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He played for CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Mo ...
,
Alexander Ragulin Alexander Pavlovich "Rags" Ragulin (; 5 May 1941 – 17 November 2004) was a Russian ice hockey player. He is considered one of the best defensemen in Soviet ice hockey history, winning three Olympic gold medals and ten world t ...
,
Alexander Yakushev Alexander Sergeyevich Yakushev (; born January 2, 1947) is a Russian former ice hockey player and coach. As a member of the Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team, he played in the Summit Series, the Ice Hockey World Championships, and the ...
,
Konstantin Loktev Konstantin Borisovich Loktev (April 16, 1933 – November 4, 1996) was a Soviet ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He played for HC CSKA Moscow. He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964 ...
, and goalie, Viktor Konovalenko. They were followed by other great players who would represent the Soviet Union in the 1972
Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (), or Series of the Century (), was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet nation ...
against Canada, including
Boris Mikhailov Boris Mikhailov may refer to: * Boris Mikhailov (Comintern), representative of the Communist International to the US in 1929-30 * Boris Mikhailov (photographer) (born 1938), fine art photographer * Boris Mikhailov (ice hockey) Boris Petrovich M ...
, Vladimir Petrov,
Valeri Vasiliev Valeri Ivanovich Vasiliev (; 3 August 1949 – 19 April 2012) was a Soviet ice hockey defenceman, who played for Dynamo Moscow. Internationally he competed for the Soviet Union. An eight-time Soviet all-star, Vasiliev was captain of the nationa ...
,
Alexander Maltsev Alexander Nikolayevich Maltsev (; born 20 April 1949) is a Russian former professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward and politician. Maltsev began his sports career at the Olimpiya Kirovo-Chepetsk of his hometown of Kirovo-Chepetsk ...
,
Valeri Kharlamov Valeri Borisovich Kharlamov (, ; 14 January 1948 – 27 August 1981) was a Russian ice hockey forward who played for CSKA Moscow in the Soviet League from 1967 until his death in 1981. Kharlamov was a speedy, intelligent, skilled and domina ...
,
Viacheslav Fetisov Viacheslav Alexandrovich "Slava" Fetisov State Duma, MP (; born 20 April 1958) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman, coach, politician and sports official. He played for HC CSKA Moscow for 13 seasons before joining the National ...
, and a brilliant young goaltender named
Vladislav Tretiak Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak State Duma, MP ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. ...
. Tarasov was a big factor in the development of Tretiak, who was destined to become one of the most skillful and cherished goalies in international history. In the earliest days of his career, Tarasov had him doing three practices a day as hard as possible while using the maximum consumption of oxygen (MCO). According to Tretiak, "If I let in just one puck, Tarasov would ask me the next day "What's the matter?" If it was my fault (and it usually appears to be the goalkeeper's fault), my punishment would follow immediately. After everybody else had gone home I had to do hundreds of lunges and somersaults. I could have cheated and not done them at all, since nobody was watching me—the coaches had gone home too! But I wouldn't even have considered doing one less lunge or somersault. I trusted Tarasov, trusted his every word, even when he criticized me for letting the pucks in my net during practice." At
CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
, he won 19 Soviet titles, including all but five from 1955 to 1975 and three instances of winning four titles in a row. He helped lead the Soviet national team to 9 straight
world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
, including 3 Olympic gold medals (for most of his tenure, the Olympic championship was considered the world championship). After the
1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...
, Tarasov was fired. Tarasov was known for his ruthless training methods, tough discipline among his players, and innovative, instinctive decisions. Many of his methods are continued by his daughter Tatiana Tarasova. He died in 1995 after a long illness.


Legacy

Tarasov was inducted into the inaugural class of the
IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...
in 1997. Having helped to build the Soviet hockey program from scratch, he became the first Soviet man to be enshrined in the
Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
as a builder. He posthumously received the
Wayne Gretzky International Award The Wayne Gretzky International Award is a lifetime achievement award given by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. It was established in 1999, to honor international individuals who have made major contributions to the growth and advancement o ...
in 2008. U.S. coach
Lou Vairo Louis Joseph Vairo (born February 25, 1945) is an American former ice hockey coach and administrator. He served as head coach of the United States men's junior team at five IIHF World U20 Championships, and the United States men's team at fou ...
attended a clinic by Tarasov in 1972 and stated, "He told me you don't coach with your feet, you coach with your heart and your brain, and you have to have leadership qualities, drive the boys, work them hard, but do everything you can to support them". Today, the Russia-based
Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...
has a division bearing his name, in recognition of his role in the development of ice hockey in the country. When referencing Canada, the Soviet Union's long-time rival, Tarasov famously said "the Canadians battled with the ferocity and intensity of a cornered animal". "Our players were better conditioned physically and stronger in skills than the Canadian professionals. But we could not match them in heart and desire, always the strongest part of the Canadian game". On 10 December 2019,
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celebrated his 101st birthday with a
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.


Bibliography

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References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarasov, Anatoli 1918 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Russian sportsmen Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery Footballers from Moscow Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Ice hockey player-coaches IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Men's association football forwards PFC CSKA Moscow managers PFC CSKA Moscow players Russian football managers Russian men's footballers Russian ice hockey coaches Soviet bandy players Soviet football managers Soviet men's footballers Soviet ice hockey coaches Soviet Union national ice hockey team coaches