Vladislav Tretiak

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Olympic medal record
Men's Ice Hockey
Gold	1972 Sapporo	Men's Team
Gold	1976 Innsbruck	Men's Team
Silver	1980 Lake Placid	Men's Team
Gold	1984 Sarajevo	Men's Team

This article is about the hockey goaltender. For the fencer, see Vladislav Tretiak (fencer).

Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak MSM (Russian: Владисла́в Алекса́ндрович Третья́к; born April 25, 1952 in the village Orudyevo in Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union, now Russia), was a goaltender on some of the most successful hockey teams of the Soviet Union and is considered one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of hockey although he never played in the National Hockey League.

Tretiak's mother was a middle school physical education teacher (his father taught Russian literature) and although he initially followed his brother as a swimmer, as a child Tretiak was known to excel at many sports and is remembered for his ambition to master all of them. However, like many children of his generation, he loved hockey and was accepted to the elite hockey school of the Central Sports Club of the Army (known by its Russian abbreviation as TsSKA or CSKA). He apparently started playing goal as a bargain in return for a cherished TsSKA hockey jersey, and because no one else wanted to play the position.

Tretiak was well-known in the USSR by 1971, when he was named to the Soviet Ice Hockey League's First All-Star Team, while playing for the powerhouse Red Army team, CSKA Moscow. He also played well in the 1972 Winter Olympics, in which the Soviets took the gold medal.

Tretiak became internationally famous after his outstanding performance in the Summit Series in 1972, when he helped surprise the world, and more importantly, the Canadian team, en route to a narrow loss to the Canadians.

Tretiak recalled, when explaining how he made the Canadian victory so narrow:

“He meticulously told me, as a goalie, how to play all those big Canadian shooters. Then he shook my hand and left. I can’t explain why he came to give me secrets against his own players. Maybe he felt pity at how inexperienced I was among all the Canadian veterans. Maybe he felt pity for me, pity for a boy he was sure that Phil Esposito was going to tear apart. I most sincerely wish to thank Jacques Plante for his advice.”

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A famous story told of how Canadian scouts seriously underestimated his ability prior to the Series; they witnessed him let in eight goals on a particular night, not knowing that he had been married the previous evening (and most of the team had been in attendance).[1] Out of the entire Soviet roster, Canadian players and fans held Tretiak in the highest regard and respect. Canada detected Plante's influence right away, but the acrobatic Tretiak brought more than insider information to the Summit Series. "If there is a comparison I would make for an NHL goalie to Tretiak," remarked Paul Henderson, whose last-minute goal in Game 8 for Canada eked out the narrowest of victories, "it would be Terry Sawchuk."^{[citation needed]}

Tretiak was one of the most famous players of the Series along with Esposito and Henderson. As a result of Tretiak's stellar performance, many NHL teams wanted to draft him — the Montreal Canadiens ultimately did, in 1983 — and Tretiak was willing, but the move was blocked by the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation.

Tretiak went on to star for the Soviet Union, helping them win gold medals in the 1976 Winter Olympics, and again winning gold in the 1984 Winter Olympics and the 1981 Canada Cup. Tretiak also back-stopped the Soviets to ten IIHF World Championships victories and nine in the IIHF European Championships. However, in the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Miracle on Ice left an embarrassing stain on Tretiak's otherwise sterling record. Tretiak was pulled by Viktor Tikhonov in the first period in favor of Vladimir Myshkin, following his team's lackluster effort, which resulted in a goal by the Americans by Mark Johnson as the first period ended.

With that exception, Tretiak's goaltending record is virtually unblemished. He was a First All-Star in the Soviet League every year from 1971 until 1984. In those fourteen years, he won thirteen league titles with the Red Army team, and was named MVP of the league five times. Tretiak won the Golden Hockey Stick, awarded to the best player in Europe in 1981, 1982, and 1983. In 1978, Tretiak was awarded the Order of Lenin.

Tretiak retired in 1984, fittingly following a 2-0 victory over Czechoslovakia. In 1990, Mike Keenan hired Tretiak as goaltender coach for the Chicago Blackhawks, a position which he still holds and which has allowed him to coach some of the top goalies of the past 15 years, such as Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek and Jocelyn Thibault. Tretiak has personally said that coaching was the next best thing to playing in the NHL. In fact, Belfour and Hašek met in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. Belfour was guarding net for the winning Dallas Stars, and Hasek had won his fifth Vezina Trophy with the Buffalo Sabres.

Tretiak was awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1984)^[1]. He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989, the first Soviet player to be so honored. In 2000, he was voted Best Russian Hockey Player of the 20th century[2]. He was a vital cog for some of the most dominant hockey teams in history and is now considered one of hockey's greatest ambassadors.

Tretiak was elected to the State Duma as a member of United Russia party in December 2003, representing the riding of Saratov. He is chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport, and Youth. He continues to teach hockey skills in North America and Russia.

On April 25, 2006 (his 54th birthday), Tretiak was elected head of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, capping his rise to the pinnacle of the Russian hockey elite. He obtained 93 out of the possible 96 votes, with the remaining three voters abstaining. A few days later, on April 28, 2006, the Governor General of Canada awarded Tretiak the Meritorious Service Medal in a ceremony at Rideau Hall. Tretiak earned the award for, among other things, his founding of the Friends of Canada organization to foster good relations between Canada and Russia[3]. He was the first Russian to be conferred this honor.

Tretiak's wife, Tatiana, is qualified as a Russian literature teacher, although she no longer works. He has two children, a son, Dmitri, who is a dentist and a daughter, Irina, who is a lawyer. Tretiak hopes that Dmitri’s son Maxim, born 1996, will follow in his footsteps as a professional hockey player.

[edit] References

1. ^ (1985) Panorama of the 1984 Sports Year (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport, p. 37.

[edit] External links

• Tretiak's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Vladislav Tretiak at Hockey CCCP International
• Tretiak's biography and statistics at 1972summitseries.com

Preceded by: Viacheslav Fetisov	Soviet MVP 1983	Succeeded by: Nikolai Drozdetsky
Preceded by: Sergei Makarov	Soviet MVP 1981	Succeeded by: Viacheslav Fetisov
Preceded by: Valeri Kharlamov	Soviet MVP 1974, 1975, 1976	Succeeded by: Helmut Balderis