Olympics 1992 winter hockey team. Russia champion! Official poster of the Games

On February 14, the Olympic hockey tournament in Pyeongchang starts. On the eve of the Games, we remember all the teams that have become, without exaggeration, legendary. Our series is opened by the united CIS team, which won gold in 1992 in Albertville.

No flag or anthem. What's in common with Pyeongchang?

Whenever hotheads start talking about the inadmissibility of participation in the Olympics without a flag and an anthem, Albertville is remembered. 26 years ago, we already went to the Games without any identification marks. Do not count as such Olympic rings. However, this did not prevent our hockey team: firstly, to win gold, and secondly, to be perceived as the Russian team. Or as the USSR national team, as you like. It would seem that the parallels are not only quite appropriate, but should also warm the soul of Oleg Znarok and his assistants. However, the participants of that Olympics themselves have a slightly different opinion.

“There was nothing to do with the current situation, when the Russian team will have to compete at the 2018 Games under the Olympic flag, then there was nothing. In those days, the IOC went to meet us halfway, given the transformations in the country. We were offered this option, for which we were grateful, ”says Olympic champion Vyacheslav Butsaev.

And it's true, then the IOC rather extended a helping hand to us. In December 1991, the final collapse of the Soviet Union took place, and two months later the Olympic Games were scheduled. It was unrealistic to imagine them without a great sports power, albeit in a truncated composition and under a different sign. While the republics that became independent were in no hurry to create sports federations, in Albertville they were represented by the United Team.

Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

The collapse of the USSR hit hard on many sports in our country. In football, we lost not only the great Valery Lobanovsky and the entire Ukrainian school, but also, say, technical Georgians. It's no secret that players from the Baltics, led by Arvydas Sabonis, set the tone in Soviet basketball. In hockey, everything was arranged a little differently. Considering that the USSR national team consisted of 90% of Russian hockey players, in other union republics, the game with the puck was poorly developed, if not completely in its infancy. That is why the hockey stars of the newly independent states preferred the Russian team. They were well aware that Albertville 1992 was perhaps the last chance to win something.

“It doesn't matter which country. The title of Olympic champion will be with you forever. When people see your gold medal, they don't even ask what country you won it for. They just say, “Wow! You are an Olympic champion! Everyone, you understand? It doesn’t matter if you did it as part of Jamaica or the USA, ”Darius Kasparaitis said years later.

Lithuanian Kasparaitis is not the only one who was born outside of Russia, but at the 1992 Games he represented the United Team. In addition to the 19-year-old defender, who would later be given the nickname "Unfriendly Ghost", that team included Belarusian Sergei Bautin, as well as Aleksey Zhitnik and Sergei Petrenko - Ukrainians by birth. It is curious that in 10 years Zhitnik will not come to Salt Lake City due to dissatisfaction in his homeland with his game for the Russian national team.

Albertville was the fourth Olympics for the legendary coach. Behind Viktor Tikhonov were not only victories in Sarajevo and Calgary, but also a painful defeat in Lake Placid from American students. That same "Miracle on Ice", which is reflected in folklore from all sides, could cost Tikhonov a post in the national team 12 years before Albertville. Viktor Vasilyevich was taking the national team to France in a completely different status, and few people called that team the “Red Machine”. The CIS team, assembled on the ruins of its former glory, was not considered the favorite of the Olympic tournament. At home, she was predicted, at best, medals.

Tikhonov himself, even though he was considered a master, who had proved everything to everyone a long time ago, began to be attacked by the press much more often. legendary open letter Igor Larionov in the magazine "Spark" did not pass without a trace. In a rapidly changing society, the Soviet coach was presented as a dictator. It was obvious that Viktor Vasilyevich was living out his coaching century. He was fired from the post of head coach of the national team after failing at the 1992 World Cup. But a few months before that, he will bring Olympic gold country that no longer exists.

“Kindergarten” or, if foreign, “Kindergarten” - that was the name of the United Hockey Team, which Tikhonov brought to Albertville. The head coach had to assemble the squad for the 1992 Games in the face of an unprecedented shortage of personnel. CSKA was no longer the base club of the national team. Almost all more or less prominent "army" rushed across the ocean. Both the already experienced and well-deserved Fetisov, Larionov, Krutov and Makarov, as well as the young green ones, went to the NHL. The calculation that the trio Mogilny - Fedorov - Bure, shining on youth championship of the world, will become the successor to other legendary combinations, did not materialize. By 1992 they had all crossed the Atlantic, albeit in different ways.

The average age of that team did not even reach 24 years. For a number of players, such as Zubov, Yushkevich and Kovalev, the Olympics became the first big tournament in their careers. The last one was 18 years old at the beginning of the tournament. Vyacheslav Bykov and Andrey Khomutov looked like veterans and real superstars against their background. Having chosen the Swiss Fribourg instead of Quebec, they never tried their hand at the NHL, but they helped the team take Olympic gold when no one expected it. A bunch of Bulls – Khomutov demonstrated in Albertville such an exemplary passing game that at times it seemed that the third partner did not need them at all. As a result, they scored 11 goals for two, and Andrei Khomutov became the second scorer in the hockey tournament.

Club triplets as salvation

Instead of dominating the national team of CSKA players in Albertville, we saw a truly unique picture. Tikhonov assembled a team from blocks, adhering to the principle of club triples. Even to the stars of Fribourg, who have an "army" past, he assigned Yuri Khmylev, the forward of the Wings of the Soviets, who strengthened CSKA on an overseas tour. But if the club registration of the first link of the CIS team was very conditional, then the rest looked well-played and ready to take the initiative at any moment.

The main support for Khomutov and Bykov came from the Spartacists. Despite the fact that Tkachuk appeared more often in place of Boldin in the club, and the red-and-whites did not impress in control matches, at the Games themselves, the Borshchevsky - Boldin - Prokhorov link showed itself in all its glory. Nikolai, despite his modest size, not only scored seven goals, but also attracted the attention of Toronto scouts. Prokhorov, on the contrary, played rather in a punchy manner, but also interested the NHL clubs. Soon he went to St. Louis.

The third link was run by Dynamo. The most experienced of them was Sergei Petrenko. He also acted as the tip of the attacks. Young Kovalev unreasonably often retired, which slightly spoiled the impression of the prohibitive number of feints and unexpected maneuvers with which he baffled his rivals. Well, everything could be forgiven to Alexei for only one goal to the Americans in the semi-finals. Aleksey Zhamnov in their trio acted as a conductor, never scoring a single goal. In the fourth link, the Moscow "soldiers" of Kovalenko - Butsaev - Davydov gathered.

Golden Route across Canada with Lindros

“The beginning of the Games somewhat relaxed us, because we met not with the strongest rivals - the Swiss and Norwegians. Next game with our age-old rivals, the CSFR team was unsuccessful for us. Basically, we lost it. Tikhonov scolded us for this defeat for a very long time, so on next matches we came out extremely mobilized. They defeated the hosts of the French tournament, then had a difficult match with the Canadians, winning it. The match with the Finns also turned out to be quite simple, as, indeed, with the Americans in the semifinals, ”recalled Igor Boldin.

It was Boldin, not being the main star of the United Team, who scored the winning goal in the final. Decisive battle with Canada stood out to match the sign. The founders of hockey did not win Olympic gold for exactly 40 years. In Albertville, the Canadians brought a powerful team led by Eric Lindros, the first pick in 1991 and a future NHL superstar. For two periods on the ice was an equal game, and on the scoreboard - zeros. The tension was such that the air could set fire to a match. And then the Canadian goalkeeper makes an unfortunate mistake! Sean Burke missed the puck, started up by Butsaev from zero angle.

Canadians were honored with just one puck, and winning goal Boldina was born from finishing off after a throw by Boreshchevsky. With less than two minutes left in the final match, the Maples were desperately trying to level the score. Having taken possession of the puck in his zone, Canada rushed to the attack, the puck was picked up by Eric Lindros and crossed the blue line, making a pass, which was interrupted by Vyacheslav Bykov. After recouping with his regular partner Khomutov, he went into the zone and delivered an irresistible shot at the gates of the Canadian team. This was a spectacular point in the fabulous campaign of our team for gold. The last Russian gold at the White Games.

In 1992 the United hockey team under the leadership of the great Viktor Tikhonov, she won Olympic gold in Albertville. In the final with a score of 3:1, the Canadians were beaten. That championship was the last for domestic hockey players on this moment. Maybe it's time to repeat history (and the conditions seem to be similar)? In the meantime, let's recall who won that memorable Olympics and what they are doing now.

“Refusing means giving up!” Why the Russian national hockey team wants to go to the Olympics

Even under a neutral flag.

Goalkeepers

Works in the system of Podolsk "Vityaz" as a goalkeeping coach. The famous Dynamo player, national champion in 1990, 1991 and 1992. In addition to gold in 1992, he won silver in 1998.

Andrey Trefilov

Until 2006 continued playing career in Germany, where he lives to this day. Trefilov decided to connect his future life with agency affairs. He is a hockey agent. Like Shtalenkov, he won silver in 1998 in Nagano.

Nikolai Khabibulin

He played in the NHL for a long time, the last club of Khabibulin was Chicago. Won the Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay. Now he lives in the USA, is engaged in family affairs. My Olympic medal for 1992 received only during the Olympics in Salt Lake City 10 years later.

Defenders

Lives in Miami, takes care of his family, works in real estate. resumed professional career in the Lithuanian national team, dreams of going with the team to the World Cup. Leads a weekly column about the NHL at the "Championship". Included in the League of Legends of World Hockey.

Dmitry Mironov

He played for CSKA and Wings of the Soviets, after which he moved to North America, where he played in the NHL for a long time. Mironov's last club in the National League was Washington. He currently lives in Toronto and is in business.

Igor Kravchuk

Two-time Olympic champion. For a long time he lived in Montreal, but at the beginning of this season he received an offer to work in the coaching staff of Mike Keenan in Kunlun. Keenan has already been dismissed, and Kravchuk continues to work.

Sergei Bautin

A native of the Gomel region of the Byelorussian SSR. He started playing hockey in Murmansk. He spent a long time in America, speaking in the NHL. He played in the championships of Sweden, Germany and even in Japan. Now lives in the USA, is the head coach of the Colorado U16 team from a small youth league western states.

Dmitry Yushkevich

Yushkevich decided to take up coaching career. Now he is part of Igor Nikitin's headquarters at CSKA, holding the position of assistant head coach. Known for his difficult nature. It was for this reason that he left Lokomotiv, where he had previously helped Alexei Kudashov.

Lives in New York, brings up children. Ukrainian defender, who began his professional career in the Kyiv "Falcon". Albertville Olympic champion and silver medalist at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Member of the Triple Gold Club. He plays in the League of Legends of World Hockey and is engaged in business. Lives in Miami. Since 1992, he moved to the NHL, where he completed his professional career.

One of the best Russian defenders of all time became a coach. He ended his career at SKA, where he then worked in the coaching staff. He also worked at CSKA, and currently holds the post of head coach of HC Sochi, replacing Vyacheslav Butsaev.

forwards

Khomutov is a three-time Olympic champion, which already deserves great respect. In 2014, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. At the end of his career, he began working as a coach, led a number of Swiss teams. Has Swiss citizenship. Now he lives in Switzerland, works as the head coach of the Sarin-Friborg team of the second division.

Like Khomutov, he has Swiss citizenship. He won two Gagarin Cups as head coach of Salavat Yulaev and SKA. For a long time he worked side by side with Igor Zakharkin. Lives in Switzerland, devoted himself to family affairs. Coach-consultant of the Fribourg-Gotteron club.

Yuri Khmylev

Olympic champion Yuri Khmylev was one of the first to leave the Wings for the NHL. For several years he played for Buffalo and St. Louis. Daughter Olga Khmyleva works as a journalist for the International Ice Hockey Federation, and Khmylyev himself is a scout for the Sabres.

Andrey Kovalenko

Russian Tank Andrei Kovalenko plays in the World Hockey League of Legends in his spare time, but Kovalenko's main occupation is defending the rights of hockey players and coaches in the KHL trade union he leads. A very responsible position that requires constant communication with players and clubs.

Ovechkin did not understand Kovalchuk. hockey world- on the decision of the IOC

Almost everyone in hockey is in favor of going to the Olympics under neutral flag. Except NHL players.

He put HC Sochi on its feet. It was Butsaev who led the Leopards for three seasons, which in 2014 joined the ranks of the KHL participants. After missing the playoffs in the 2016/17 season, he was dismissed, giving way to Sergei Zubov. Now he is actively looking for a job.

Evgeny Davydov

Another Olympic champion in 1992 as part of the United Ice Hockey Team, who scored three goals and made three assists in eight matches during the tournament. Currently, he continues to play in veteran tournaments as part of the USSR Hockey Legends team.

He lives in Switzerland, last season he played for the Fisp team, despite his advanced age. Earlier, on March 23, 2016, he was appointed sports director this Swiss club. 1994 Stanley Cup winner with the Rangers. The third of the Russians who scored 1000 points in the NHL regular season.

Zhamnov is one of the most successful people currently playing on that team. He has already worked as the general manager of Vityaz and Atlant, and currently holds a similar post at Spartak. In addition, Zhamnov heads the scout service of the Russian national team.

Sergey Petrenko

The famous Dynamo player works with the younger generation. Petrenko - Anatoly Antipov's assistant in the youth hockey club Dynamo Moscow. At the 1992 Olympics, he played eight matches and scored two goals.

Faithful assistant of Igor Zakharkin. Both worked together at Salavat Yulaev, and then moved to Khanty-Mansiysk. Zakharkin was fired from Ugra during the current season, and Borshchevsky left the club with him. Currently looking for work.

Igor Boldin

The center forward of the League of Legends of World Hockey. He works as a coach in the children's school of his native team - Moscow "Spartak". He constantly comes to the games of Spartak in the KHL, plays for Spartak veterans.

Coached the junior team. Now Prokhorov tries himself as an expert on Russian television and speaks in the press, and is also looking for coaching work.

Qual. match Poland - Denmark 6-4, 9-5

Group A

M	Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	AND	IN	H	P	washers	Glasses
1	USA		3-3	4-1	2-0	6-3	3-0	5	4	1	0	18-7	9
2	Sweden	3-3		2-2	3-1	7-3	7-2	5	3	2	0	22-11	8
3	Finland	1-4	2-2		5-1	5-3	9-1	5	3	1	1	22-11	7
4	Germany	0-2	1-3	1-5		5-2	4-0	5	2	0	3	11-12	4
5	Italy	3-6	3-7	3-5	2-5		7-1	5	1	0	4	18-24	2
6	Poland	0-3	2-7	1-9	0-4	1-7		5	0	0	5	4-30	0

Group B

M	Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	AND	IN	P	washers	Glasses
1	Canada		4-5	5-1	3-2	6-1	10-0	5	4	1	28-9	8
2	Russia	5-4		3-4	8-0	8-1	8-1	5	4	1	32-10	8
3	Czechoslovakia	1-5	4-3		6-4	4-2	10-1	5	4	1	25-15	8
4	France	2-3	0-8	4-6		4-3	4-2	5	2	3	14-22	4
5	Switzerland	1-6	1-8	2-4	3-4		6-3	5	1	4	13-25	2
6	Norway	0-10	1-8	1-10	2-4	3-6		5	0	5	7-38	0

For 9-12 places
Switzerland 7-2 Poland Norway 5-3 Italy For 11-12 places Poland 4-1 Italy For 9-10 places Norway 5-2 Switzerland

1/4

Russia- Finland 6-1 Czechoslovakia - Sweden 3-1 USA - France 4-1 Canada - Germany 4-3 pb
For 5-8 places Germany 5-4 France Sweden 3-2 Finland For 7-8 places Finland 4-1 France For 5-6 places Sweden - Germany 4-3

1/2

Russia- USA 5-2 Canada - Czechoslovakia 4-2

For 3rd place

Czechoslovakia - USA 6-1

The final

Russia- Canada 3-1

Officially, the Russian team was called amorphously the CIS team. As if this is a team of Chushmeks, Georgians, Moldovans ... or someone else - a tribute to national humiliation. But don't kid yourself, it was the Russian national team and even Kasparaitis had a Russian passport.

The best scorer of the Russian national team:

Khomutov A. - 14 (7+7)

Sniper:

Chomutov A. - 7 goals

Olympic Top Scorer:

Junot D. - Canada 15 (6+9)

Symbolic team of the championship:

Goalkeeper:

Leblanc R. - USA

Defenders:

Mironov D. - (Russia) - Kravchuk I. - (Russia)

Forwards:

Lindros E. (Canada) - Bykov V. (Russia) - Loub H. (Sweden)

Victory under the Olympic flag

The last Olympic victory of our team today took place at the Olympics in Albertville. In the final, the CIS team beat the Canadians.

The French city of Albertville became the capital of the 1992 Olympics, and all the matches of the hockey tournament were held in Maribel.

Our team performed under the name of the CIS team, or the "United Team", as they called it in the West. The team had neither a flag nor an anthem - instead of a red banner they raised olympic flag and the Olympic anthem was played. The abbreviation USSR disappeared, but the bright red uniform, the authoritative coach Viktor Tikhonov, as well as excellent craftsmanship remained.

"No, we clearly understood that behind us is a huge country, no matter how it is called. There was an understanding of who we were playing for. And there was a patriotic ideology that was drummed into us all our lives. A very effective thing, in fact, because we did not ask questions that could unbalance us, but went out on the ice and did the job. Nothing was written on the form - only the names on the back. And on the front side - emptiness. The flag was Olympic and the anthem too. When it sounded before the matches, I “turned off the sound” and played in my head “Unbreakable Union…”. And it turned on!"- said the striker Vitaly Prokhorov.

The CIS national team at these Games was staffed with young hockey players, since all the leading players went overseas. During the Calgary Games four years earlier, many predicted that the stars of the USSR youth team Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov And Pavel Bure become the next big three. But by the start of the games in Albertville, all three were already playing in the NHL. In the off-season of 1989, officials of the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation released many hockey players to the West. Over the next two seasons, 34 national team players left the Soviet Union. By the 1991/92 season, 23 more national team players left the country, including Valery Kamensky, Vladimir Konstantinov And Vyacheslav Kozlov.

"After the Canada Cup, Tikhonov spoke with many of those who had not yet left for the NHL so that they would stay until the 92 Olympics. Indeed, at the Canada Cup there were already enough Enkhael players who could not play in Albertville: Fedorov, Kasatonov, Tatarinov, Gusarov, Semak ... Many remained: Zhamnov, Zhitnik, Dima Mironov, Malakhov, Kovalenko, Butsaev, Shtalenkov, Borshchevsky, me. Human

nine ten. And then everyone went," Vitaly Prokhorov recalled.

At the preliminary stage, all participants were divided into two groups of six teams, and according to the "each with each" system, the top four were determined, who got into the knockout games.

In Albertville, the CIS team played with club troikas: Spartak with Prokhorov, Boldin And Borshchevsky; "army" Kovalenko – Butsaev – Davydov, "Dynamo" Kovalev – Zhamnov – Petrenko; finally, superlink Bykov – Chomutov with those who joined them Khmylyov.

"In those conditions, this was the only way to gain an advantage over rivals. Now this may not work, but after spending several years together, we really understood each other with our eyes closed. At the same time, during the preparation for the Olympics, Tikhonov used different models and did not immediately come to this one. We did not have any confidence that we would get to Albertville precisely as a link. But ten days before the start of the Games, test matches began, and we managed to prove ourselves in matches with Austria and Canada. But that they take all three of us and will put us together, we understood only five days later", - said Prokhorov.

The CIS national team got into a group with the teams of Canada, France, Czechoslovakia, Norway and Switzerland. Here the first three lines, having lost one game each, were occupied by Canadians, ours and Czechoslovaks. Canada ceded to the CIS 4:5 , but beat Czechoslovakia 5:1 , taking first place in additional indicators. The second place was taken by the team Viktor Tikhonov, which was prevented from rising higher by the defeat of the Czechoslovaks (3:4). The Swiss and Norwegians were left out of the quarterfinals, letting the French go ahead, who, in addition to victories over their competitors, gave battle to Canada (2:3) and Czechoslovakia (4:6), and only our team managed to beat the French without any problems 8:0 .

"The beginning of the Games somewhat relaxed us, because we met with not the strongest opponents - the Swiss and Norwegians. The next game against our age-old rivals, the CSFR team, was unsuccessful for us. Basically, we lost it. Tikhonov scolded us very much for this defeat.

for a long time, so we went to the next matches extremely mobilized. They defeated the hosts of the French tournament, then had a difficult match with the Canadians, winning it. The match with the Finns also turned out to be quite simple, as, indeed, with the Americans in the semi-finals," the striker recalled Igor Boldin.

In the quarterfinals, our hockey players beat the Suomi team - 6:1 and reached the semi-finals, where they were to meet with the US team. Beating the Americans 5:2 , the CIS national team passed the final, where Canada was waiting for our hockey players.

"I remember the wild mood to win before the final match with the Canadians. We took over from the great players of the previous generation who left for the NHL. These people were winners, and this is very important - you just do not understand what a loss is. No, they also sometimes lost, but the defeat in any major tournament was a disaster. Less than a year before Albertville, I competed in the 1991 Canada Cup, where we finished fifth. We ourselves had such an explosion of emotions that we did not want to return to the country! Fifth place is a disgrace. And those who played six months later in France remembered this feeling very well.", - recalled striker Vitaly Prokhorov.

The match for gold with the Canadians turned out to be extremely hard. They haven't won a gold medal in 40 years Olympic Games, and the 1992 tournament was supposed to revive hope in the nation. After all, the Soviet Union collapsed, and most of the best Soviet hockey players ended up in the NHL.

Canada sent a very formidable team, which included veterans with NHL experience such as defenseman Kurt Giles, as well as attackers Dave Hannan And Dave Tipette. Goalkeeper Sean Burke, who played in Calgary in 1988, there were disagreements over the contract with New Jersey, which allowed him to take part in his second Olympics. Finally, the first number in the 1991 draft Eric Lindros

stated that he would not sign a contract with the Quebec Nordiques, but would take part in Winter Games in France.

After 40 minutes of play, the numbers 0:0 were on the scoreboard. In the third period, the wards of Viktor Tikhonov, through the efforts of Boldin and Vyacheslav Butsaeva managed to score two goals. Canadians were able to play only one.

"The game with the Canadians was tough. The first two periods ended with a zero score, any mistake would have cost the victory in the tournament, and we understood this. The tension was incredible. And then Slava Butsaev scored a goal that the Canadian goalkeeper would dream about, in my opinion, it was Sean Burke, in nightmares. Slava threw from the goal line, and the puck, hitting either the shield, or the goalkeeper's skate, crawled into the near corner. It was a very important puck that allowed us to breathe easier. I scored my own goal, finishing off the puck after Borshchevsky's shot", Boldin said.

With less than two minutes left in the final match, the Canadians were desperately trying to level the score. After taking possession of the puck in his own area, Canada rushed to the attack, the puck was picked up by Eric Lindros and crossed the blue line, making a pass that interrupted Vyacheslav Bykov.

Having recouped with his regular partner Andrey Khomutov, Bykov went into the zone and delivered an irresistible shot at the gates of the Canadian team. The puck whistled over the goalkeeper's trap. And that was the final victory.

Many recall the story that Tikhonov allegedly took the medal that was intended for the third goalkeeper Nikolai Khabibulin, and he was offended and then refused to play for the national team for a long time. Vitaly Prokhorov commented on it: " The fact that Tikhonov voluntarily took the Khabibulin medal for himself -

not true. It was IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch who came out with the initiative that for the merits of a coach who has won three gold medals in the last three Olympics, he should be given a medal. And from what fund, if they were not provided for coaches? Khabibulin was taken as the third goalkeeper, just so that the boy could see what the Olympics are. There were clearly two goalkeepers who had a chance to go on the ice - Shtalenkov and Trefilov. I don't understand what there is to be offended about. I wouldn't have had the brains for that, I would have given the medal to Tikhonov myself if I were in his place! It may be true that this story is blown up by journalists. And then there was the initiative of the President of the IOC. And he himself handed it to Tikhonov during the awards ceremony, as well as to all of us. Who should not be given a medal? Everyone played except one. Khabibulin did not take part in any game, moreover, he never undressed for them.

So, Bykov's goal marked the victory of the United Team (3:1) and extended the Canadians' 40-year losing streak. However, after that, the Russians began a sad series. The next five Olympics, the Russian team did not achieve victories.

CIS team

Goalkeepers: Michael Shtalenkov, Andrey Trefilov, Nikolai Khabibulin.
Defenders: Darius Kasparaitis, Dmitriy Mironov, Igor Kravchuk, Sergey Bautin, Dmitriy Yushkevich, Alexei Zhitnik, Vladimir Malakhov, Sergey Zubov.
Forwards: Andrey Chomutov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Yuri Khmylev, Andrey Kovalenko, Vyacheslav Butsaev, Eugene Davydov, Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Zhamnov, Sergey Petrenko, Nikolai Borschevsky, Igor Boldin, Vitaly Prokhorov.

At the ice hockey tournament of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, a set of medals among men was played for the 17th time.

According to the results of the 1991 World Cup in Olympic tournament all top division teams took part, three strongest teams division "A", as well as the hosts of the Games - the French. After the collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991, instead of the team of the Soviet Union, the team of the CIS performed under the flag of the IOC. All matches of the hockey tournament were held in Maribel.

At the preliminary stage, all participants were divided into two groups of six teams, and according to the "each with each" system, they determined the top four who got into the Elimination Games.

Group A brought together teams from the USA, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Italy. One of the favorites of the games, the Americans quite confidently advanced to the quarterfinals, only in last match tied with the Swedes 3:3. "Tre Krunur", in turn, lost more points in a duel with the third team - the Finnish national team - 2:2. Poland, having lost all their matches with a total score of 4:30, is in sixth place. And the fate of the last ticket to the playoffs was decided in the struggle between the Italians and the Germans. Ultimately, the decisive factor was their face-to-face meeting, in which the Italians, despite the fact that they managed to win back from a 2-0 score, still lost, having conceded three unanswered goals in the third period.

Group B brought together teams from Canada, the CIS, France, Czechoslovakia, Norway and Switzerland under its wing. Here, the first three lines, having lost one game each, were staked out by the Canadians, Czechoslovakians and our hockey players. Canada lost to the CIS 4:5, but beat Czechoslovakia 5:1, taking first place in additional indicators. Behind the founders of hockey is the team Viktor Tikhonov, which was prevented from rising higher by the defeat of the Czechoslovaks 3:4. The Swiss and Norwegians were left out of the quarterfinals, letting the French go ahead, who, in addition to victories over their competitors, gave battle to Canada - 2:3 and Czechoslovakia - 4:6, and only our team managed to beat the French 8:0 without any problems.

Thus, the teams determined the top eight, the participants of which competed for tickets to the semi-finals.

In the first match between the Canadians and the Germans, a sensation almost took place. Throughout the game, Germany did not want to give in to more skillful opponents in any way and reached the shootout, and only there the Canadians, due to their higher individual skill, managed to break the resistance of their rivals.

In the other two quarter-finals, in which the US and CIS teams faced the French and Finns, respectively, the favorites special problems did not experience: the Americans defeated the hosts of the Games 4:1, and our hockey players were stronger than the Suomi team - 6:1. And in last game At this stage, Czechoslovakia outplayed the Swedes 3:1 in a stubborn struggle, winning only in the final segment of the match.

The semi-final games were marked by the confrontation between Europe and North America. The teams of Canada and Czechoslovakia were the first to take to the ice. The match turned out to be uncompromising, and the scales in the third period tipped in favor of the North American team - 4:2, which in the final was to play with the CIS team, which beat the Americans 5:2.

The US team suffered a hard defeat in the semi-finals and could not tune in to fight for the bronze medals, losing to other losers - the Czechoslovaks - 1:6.

The match for gold, as befits a decisive duel, turned out to be extremely hard. After 40 minutes of play, the numbers 0:0 were on the scoreboard. But in the third period, Viktor Tikhonov's wards Boldina, Bykova And Vyacheslav Butsaeva managed to score three goals, for which the Canadians, led by Eric Lindros answered only one, and the main awards of the Olympics for the third time in a row went to our hockey players.

Last time. Bye.

Our team at these Games was staffed with young hockey players, as all the leading players went overseas to play for various professional NHL clubs.

This victory was the last for the national teams of the USSR / CIS / Russia in the framework of the Olympic Games.

These Games were the last for the Czechoslovak team, already at the next Olympics, this union broke up into two independent states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

All winners:

1. United team

Mikhail Shtalenkov, Andrey Trefilov, Nikolai Khabibulin, Darius Kasparaitis, Dmitry Mironov, Igor Kravchuk, Sergey Bautin, Dmitry Yushkevich, Alexey Zhitnik, Vladimir Malakhov, Sergey Zubov, Andrey Khomutov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Yuri Khmylev, Andrey Kovalenko, Vyacheslav Butsaev, Evgeny Davydov , Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Zhamnov, Sergei Petrenko, Nikolai Borshchevsky, Igor Boldin, Vitaly Prokhorov.

2. Canada

Sean Burke, Trevor Kidd, Brad Schlegel, Jason Woolley, Dan Ratushny, Brian Tutt, Adrian Plavsich, Kevin Dahl, Gordon Hines, Kurt Gilles, Randy Smith, Joe Junot, Chris Lindberg, Kent Manderville, Dave Tippett, Dave Hannan, Todd Brost , Eric Lindros, Wally Schreiber, David Archibald, Fabian Joseph, Patrick LeBeau.

3. Czechoslovakia

Piotr Brzyza, Oldrich Svoboda, Dragomir Kadlec, Leo Gudas, Jiri Schlegr, Miloslav Gorzhava, Robert Szwegla, Frantisek Prochazka, Bedrich Szczerban, Richard Szmeglik, Tomasz Jelinek, Otakar Janetsky, Ladislav Lubina, Petr Rosol, Robert Lang, Kamil Kashtiak, Patrik Augusta , Peter Veselovsky, Igor Liba, Radek Topal, Petr Grbek, Richard Zemlychka.