Our Russian friend, Elena Segal, inspired an earlier article members should recall: "More Insight into Russian Hockey Training". We can thank Elena again for the current Russian hockey reflections, as she expressed her pride in Ballet being an important part of the great Tarasov's teaching plan.
For sure the video below should be helpful to everyone in the game. At the same time, I've watched it several times through my old eyes, and I see its Russian hockey reflections being especially helpful for my fellow coaches.
-- Dennis Chighisola
Old Soviet (Russian) Hockey Reflections
To begin, we lucked out and got the full length movie, "Of Miracles and Men". It's an awesome movie, but it is long. So, you might want to save this for a time when you can relax and truly enjoy it. Following the movie, I'll add a number of my own Russian hockey reflections... I think it was appropriate to start the movie with a view of a neighborhood outdoor rink, because I saw them on nearly every street corner in Moscow when I studied there in 1979. When they talked about the USSR's wartime battles with Germany, I recalled seeing the monuments built on the outskirts of Moscow, those acting as reminders of just how close the Germans came to taking that city. I also recall one the Soviet Sports Committee's members -- a guy just a little older than my dad, telling us that he was lucky to be one of the few men from that era still alive. Yes, the war took its toll on an entire generation.
I'm sure members have heard about bandy before, but it was good that you got to see a few clips of it being played, and it should have also helped to understand how it influenced the Soviets ultimate move to hockey.
I hope coaches weren't shocked to discover that Anatoli Tarasov had never seen an ice hockey game before being put in charge of the Soviet program. That just goes to show you, though, that the other things he had going for him were probably more important than a long playing resume. (I say as much in a brief video called "A Video Some Hockey Gurus Don't Want You To See" (I named it that mainly because it has been pulled from YouTube a few times).
I'd like coaches to also think long and hard about what Tarasov said about inventing his own style of play, but I'll paraphrase, "To copy someone else is to only be second best." Think long and hard on that one, coaches, because it's influenced me greatly over the past 30-years or so.
I'd never known Tarasov's want to have young kids smiling as they trained -- it surely does make sense, but I had a similar standing joke with all the younger kids who trained with me. In fact, someone even had a professionally drawing cartoon of me with the inscription, "Coach Chic says, 'No havin' fun!'" :) I'd actually announce that as a rule each time a new group of beginners started with me, and it usually took about 10-seconds for some little guy (or girl) to giggle out loud, which caused everyone else to start giggling, too.
Oh, boy, I'm watching that movie again (for about the third time), and hoping other coaches see how Tarasov got teammates to love one another. It was evident later in the movie, as the Soviets' most famous line talked about playing together.
I also hope coaches and other members see the value in Tarasov's idea of players using the whole ice, and not being too trapped to old fashion "lanes".
Interestingly, Gretzky is credited with the idea of going where the puck was going, yet it's said in the movie that Tarasov's entire system was based on that concept -- long before anyone had ever heard of The Great One.
Hardly important here, but I have a picture of Boris Mikhailov and I on a hockey bench together in St Petersburg, Russia (taken during my return to that country after The Wall had come down). The pic is in storage right now, but maybe I can get a copy of it posted here someday.
After all these years, I still found it fascinating to hear about the negotiations and background for the famous Showdown at the Summit, or the first meeting of NHL All-stars and the Soviet National Team.
I think a major Russian hockey reflection in the aftermath of the '80 Olympics was the comparison of the coaching methods advanced by Tarasov -- the romantic, and Tikhonov -- the cynic. Can we coaches learn something from that comparison? I definitely think so.
As I always look forward to, the early parts of this movie show a lot of great drill ideas. (I know my past players will recognize a lot of those drills as ones they had to do in their training with me.) So, while I hope coaches took some notes there, I included this movie here so that you can go back and rerun segments any time you want.
Lastly, if you have any thoughts -- on the movie or my comments, please leave your sentiments below.
