Red Army Great Krutov Passes

Vladimir Krutov was an awesome hockey player. Let me open with that.

Krutov died of liver failure at the age of 52.

Loathe to admit it (they were communists after all) at the time, but the Soviet Union ice hockey team were basically Brazilian soccer players on skates. The only nation capable of defeating them was Canada.

The net dominance of the Soviets was indisputable - which makes USA's Miracle on Ice easily one of the all-time great upsets. Probably the greatest of them all. That's how good they were. Back in the 1980s it was the height of the Cold War - Red Dawn and all that - and Canada closed ranks with the United States on that front. I don't know if we hated them in as much as we pitied the crap spewed by communists.

They were losers and the people in the West who supported them bigger failures. The attitude was Canada represented all that was free and good and that when we (hastily) put our best together (during the Canada Cups which was the only time we could ice our best players), we were better. Let's just say Canada and the Soviets were two great heavyweights. International hockey's Italy-Brazil in soccer.

They were machines. It's what we were told. Unemotional, atheists skating and fluttering around straddling between artistry and robotic mechanics. We didn't appreciate their artistry. We focused on the fact they rarely smiled and celebrated. The joke was if they did they would be sent to the Gulag or Siberia. Like I said, communists were losers and it dictated how we judged the players. Back in the 1970s, after Canada's Pyrrhic victory over the Soviets in 1972, the godless Soviet Red Army team would take on NHL teams.

Two games remain memorable, if not downright mythical and legendary. The first was the game against the Philadelphia Flyers - then the league's best - and the Broadstreet Bullies. Make no mistake about it. They were brutal. Mean. Insane even. Hanson Brothers magnified.

One problem. The Flyers were actually skillful and talented. The match, won 4-1 by Philadelphia, was typical of a Cold War showdown brought to a halt with absurd Soviet gamemanship when they pulled their squad off the ice after a non-call.

The other being the enchanted epic meeting with the once proud and powerful Montreal Canadiens. I don't think there ever was such a showdown with so much fervor in North American pro sports. The Habs managed to stare down and even outplay the Soviets. Our own team, imagine that, matching grace and glory eye for eye the greatness before them. Despite out shooting the Red Army 38-13, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

In hindsight, a proper scoreline between two legendary opponents. Obviously, this is a little revisionism on my part since at the time I highly doubt praise and respect were key to our outlook on the Russians. I'm sure some, the more wise among them, people called it as it was but for the large part, this was freedom and democracy against tyranny and communism.

Despite those two games, between 1975-1991 the Russians dominated the NHL with a 26-8-2 record.

One guy in my high school had the courage to wear a CCCP t-shirt. Not on political grounds, but purely in the interest of sports. "They're the best. We have to kill ourselves to just keep up with them" was his rationale. Of course, Canada had, at one point, Bobby Orr and by my time, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque. Surely these Canadian masters were as good, right?

That's no longer the point. I think Canada made its point. Rather, it's coming to terms with who the Soviets were. Their names are now enshrined in hockey folklore. Vladimir Tretziak, Vladimir Makarov, Igor Larionov, Viechislav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstontinov.

Their names filled us with fear and dread but awe and admiration like Garrincha, Tostao, Pele and Socrates scared the living hell out of soccer defensive units. Among them was Vladimir Krutov who was 1/3 of the famous KLM line.

The fall of the Berlin Wall signified, thankfully, the wretchedness of what was left of crappy communism. It ushered in an age of freedom so longed by peoples held under its dictatorship. It was so unhealthy; unnatural. It was time to get "Western" (cue 'Tiny Dancer' from WKRP) and get to know who the Soviets were. With glasnost and perestroika, came in new moments between Russia and the West.

For hockey, it meant the arrival of ex-Soviet players to the NHL. Sadly sold off like cattle by the last remnants of what was left of a cash-strapped (surprise!) communist regime.

By the 1990s, they were past their prime and hockey fans only got to see a glimpse of their magnificent talent. The were more like artifacts and relics from The Smithsonian than hockey players. They were productive, I find, under the the circumstances with various teams.

Times were changing indeed as the next generation of superstars were quietly defecting led by Sergei Fedorov (CSKA Moscow) who arguably became the greatest Russian player to play in the NHL. Later came, Pavel Bure and, I believe, Alexander Mogilny; the rest is history. In fact, Russian players became the bedrock of the Detroit Red Wings (of which Larionov played a key role) rebirth and dynasty of the 1990s led by the one man capable of understanding this great opportunity accorded them in Scotty Bowman. They still have one of the best Russian players in Pavel Datsyuk.

The Soviets produced technicallygifted players (shot accuracy, skating, passing etc.), still do in my opinion, and Vladmir Krutov was among them. Krutov only played one season and struggled most to adapt to North America. Makarov (scored 322 goals in 519 games)and Larionov were able to carve bigger careers. Perhaps.

It still doesn't detract from the fact Krutov was one of the best wingers in international hockey for a period in the 1980s.