36 years ago Sokol Kyiv became the bronze medalist of the USSR Championship

10 best matches in the history of the Kyiv Sokol

36 years ago Sokol Kyiv became the bronze medalist of the USSR Championship

February 26 marks three dozen years since the Kyiv Sokol won bronze medals in the Allied Hockey Championship. Editorial Sport.ua recalls the best matches of the capital club, which, after several years of non-existence, is now experiencing a renaissance.
1. USSR Championship. Sokol – Khimik (Voskresensk) – 7:1 (3:0, 2:1, 2:0). 02/26/85. Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 6700 spectators.

Of course, the best of the best and most memorable is the bronze duel! Toward the end of the pre-perestroika winter, the Falcons, in a duel with a direct competitor, won the right to be called the third club team of the most hockey country in Europe! It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Falcon was adored in the then Golden-Domed. Moreover, football Dynamo in the previous season-84 fell very low – it was already 10th in the USSR championship. And the sporting sympathies of the people of Kiev gave a tangible tilt in the direction of hockey. In, it would seem, in a thoroughly footballized city!

Actually, as such, the struggle did not work out: towards the end of the first period, the wards Anatoly Bogdanov scored three goals against the opponents with an interval of a minute, and the fate of the bronze was decided. In the future, the Ukrainian team only increased its advantage. I'll mark a double Nikolai Narimanov. And the Kyiv newspapers of that time were full of caricatures: the proud Sokol on a pedestal looks down on the Dynamo player and condescendingly calls: “Keep up, fellow countryman!”

2. Super Series-90. Falcon – Minnesota North Stars (NHL) – 5:0 (1:0, 2:0, 2:0). 09/19/90. Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 4000 spectators.

Falcon impressed me! The Kievans taught us a lesson in maneuvering the game, against which my stars looked very unattractive, ”these words of the Minnesota coach Bob Gainey – the best assessment of the game of Kiev that evening. Indeed, subordinates Anatoly Bogdanov then were inimitable! And the Enkhaelians really had enough stars! Among them is a young Mike Modano (a season earlier he was almost the main contender for the Calder Trophy – the prize for the best debutant of the league, but in the end lost the trophy Sergei Makarov) and Olympic champion Neil Broten (a direct participant in the miracle on ice-80, when the American hockey students sensationally beat the famous “Red Car” in Lake Placid under the leadership of Viktor Tikhonov), and winner of the Canada Cup-84 Brian Belose (he was honored to participate in the NHL All-Star Game three times) and a tenacious, uncompromising Czech defender Frantisek Musil (world champion-85) and Finn Ilkka Sinisalo (he will spend that season in Minnesota, and in general will become a Philadelphia legend – its top scorer among Europeans), and another Finn – the future world champion goalkeeper Jarmo Mullis. In a word, the constellation! But a hat-trick Anatoly Nydy and confident game at the gates of the Kievites of the Latvian Cyper Vitaly Samoilov (By the way, the Olympic champion of the Kalgari-88, as evidenced by the corresponding postage brand released in Latvia!) Made the arrogant North Americans to lay down their weapons.

. A modern reader may ask: why was there so few spectators at a meeting of local favorites and overseas stars? The fact is that the Soviet economy began to slide into a steep peak that year, interest in sports competitions among the workers fell significantly, and the prices for tickets were bitten. The totality of these factors was minimized by the likelihood of a andhal. I wonder if the organizers later shore themselves due to the decision to increase the prices for tickets? One way or another, and after an outstanding victory, the Sokola players were expected by an unprecedented bonus – as much as 400 Soviet rubles each. There was a candle game, agree!

3. The USSR Championship. “Falcon” – CSKA – 7: 4 (2: 2, 3: 0, 2: 2). 10.04.88. Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 7000 spectators.

Oh, this convincing gain of the Soviet Hegemon (and, to a certain extent, world) hockey! I remember, in the course of the meeting, about 8 minutes before the final siren (the score was 6: 2), my father told me: decades later the fans will remember, they say, how we defeated CSKA in the 88th! They already started to celebrate in the stands! True, soon Igor Larionov and Andrey Khomutov The army team was slightly reduced, but the last word in this enchanting game remained with the Kyivians: the final account established Valery Botvinko. And then the legendary defenders played the army Fetisov – Kasatonov, and two powerful triple attacks Makarov – Larionov – Davydov (Krutov missed the game due to injury, and Victor Tikhonov I tried different options in the first three) and Khomutov – Bykov – Kamensky. And seven goals from the Kiev residents missed Alexey ChervyakovFor which the season was the only one in the famous army club. I think that the game in the capital of Ukraine largely determined his hockey fate: he did not fix it to CSKA and went to Voskresensk next season, where he spent the best years of his career.

4. The Championship of the USSR. “Falcon” – “Dynamo” (Moscow) – 5: 0 (3: 0, 2: 0, 0: 0). 11/20/87. Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 3000 spectators.

Until a certain time, the Moscow Dynamo was the most uncomfortable rival for the Kievites. Even CSKA had already folded the weapon in front of the falcons, and Dynamo is still in any way. When the hockey Kyiv in the All -Union Arena was represented by the Dynamo team, she repeatedly celebrated victories over the Moscow teammates, but the trade union brand matches against Dynamo did not give Moscow. However, in the second half of the 1980s and the falcon several times upset the eternal Soviet vice champions. In the fall of 1987, Sokola was a successful scrick! Not even half of the first period, and Nikolai Narimanov (twice) and Anatoly Naida accurate throws made the Falcon's bid to win the match weighty. And the gate Yuri Shundrov (as, in fact, Alexandra Vasilyeva, who played the last couple of minutes of the match, thus making his contribution to the historical success) Muscovites did not print that November evening, but Evgeny Shastin and Dmitry Khristich brought the advantage of the people of Kiev in the account to the overwhelming.

5. USSR Championship. CSKA – Sokol – 2:5 (0:2, 1:0, 1:3). 11/24/88. Moscow. Palace of Sports. 4000 spectators.

Paired with Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bure a pupil of Ufa hockey played in CSKA Alik Gareev (probably, he did not impress with his actions on the court, because, having played only 8 matches, he soon left the army club, going to the Russian hockey province – to Kalinin), but instead Larionova in the top three with Makarov and Krutov the future defector went on the ice (in a couple of years he will run away from the hotel where the USSR national team lived during the Goodwill Games in Seattle and end up in the Detroit Red Wings) Sergei Fedorov. It is noteworthy that the teams scored two goals in the minority (on a parity basis) in that match. In many ways, the game was made by the Kiev five, which consisted of a pair of defenders Shiryaev – Lubnin and three forwards Sinkov – Naida – Botvinko. And, of course, the reliable game of the unforgettable Yuri Shundrov laid a solid foundation for victory in Belokamennaya.

6. USSR Championship. Spartak (Moscow) – Sokol – 2:7 (0:0, 0:4, 2:3). 09/21/82. Moscow. Palace of Sports. 3000 spectators.

A most curious match: not a single goal has yet been scored at the equator of the match, and after the final siren there were nine of them, the lion's share of which was the result of the attacking efforts of the Kyivans! The shock golepad of the Falcon fell on the epilogue of the second period. For 121 seconds, the guests from the capital of Ukraine hit the red-white gates four times, and twice they did it in the minority! In the third period, the advantage of Falcon in the account only increased. I will note the double of Sergei Zemchenko – the bronze medalist of the 1981 World Championship among youth teams as part of the USSR national team. Let me emphasize: at the very beginning of the 1980s, Sokol was just making its way to the top lines of the standings, without even dreaming of championship medals. However, Spartak was declassed.

7. USSR Championship. Spartak (Moscow) – Sokol – 4:8 (0:1, 0:3, 4:4). 02/17/89. Moscow. Small sports arena. 3000 spectators.

The advantage of the people of Kiev was total! Only when the score was 8:1 in their favor did they allow themselves to slow down, and the red-whites scored three goals in a row. I note that in the epilogue of the match, the place at the gates of Falcon instead of Yuri Shundrov took a young (then he was not even 22) Evgeny Brul. Doubles scored Evgeny Shastin (both goals scored in the majority) and Valery Botvinko. Again, Spartak was more than convincingly beaten by the Falcons in Moscow!

8. Cup of the USSR. Sokol – Izhstal (Izhevsk) – 16:5 (5:1, 7:1, 4:3). 04/09/79.Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 4500 spectators.

Oh, it was real madness! Attacking hockey is above all! Romance of the late 1970s! On the eve of the World Cup, which was to be held in Moscow, the cup competitions became a kind of warm-up for the fans. In the course of the Sokol-Izhstal match, the competition in who outruns whom was replaced by a rivalry in the plane, who outweighs whom. The then leader of the second most powerful Soviet hockey division – Izhstal – at that time scored 333 goals in his league! And he was determined to continue the scoring extravaganza in the cup draw. However, the people of Kiev were corny stronger, and the game once again reminded them that they don’t play hockey without defense. It is noteworthy that in one of the cash desks of the Sports Palace, the poster inviting to the cup competitions before the match was decorated with a forecast, probably a Sokol fan – 10:1. As it turned out, the impudent artist was still a pessimist! As a result, the difference between the rivals turned out to be even more tangible! Hat trick Anatoly Demin became the highlight of the match. And Sokol later won its group and eventually reached the semi-finals, where they lost to the future owner of the honorary trophy – the Moscow army team – 1:5. However, this was already after the World Cup, which was won by the Soviet team. The cup semi-final is the first significant achievement of the Falcons.

9. Spengler Cup. 12/28/86. Sokol – VSZh (Kosice, Czechoslovakia) – 4:3 (0:3, 1:0, 3:0). Davos. Icestadion Davos. 5600 spectators.

At the Christmas tournament in mountainous Switzerland (Eisstadion Davos, the current name is Vaillant Arena, located at an altitude of 1560 m above sea level), Sokol Kyiv built, perhaps, the most outstanding comeback in its history. Losing, as it seemed then, hopelessly, after the first period to the current champion of Czechoslovakia with a difference of three goals (the future world champion, a native of Ukrainian Volyn, shone in the VSZH then Peter Bondra), the people of Kiev fought to the last and were rewarded: during the second and third periods, our countrymen scored four goals in response. The Kiev team scored the decisive goal in the majority (Valery Shiryaev), although it was precisely that numerical advantage that was played extremely unsuccessfully, because the players of the Kosice club threw the puck out of their zone several times. And the goal came not after the classic drawing of extra, but because of the sluggishness of the opponent's players during the shift, here Valery Shiryaev and ended up in the place of the central striker (although he was a defender!) and practically converted one-on-one.

What else do you remember? Unusual for the people of Kiev, a red and white uniform, with an abundance of advertising, but at the same time with a small chestnut branch, unlike the usual huge one, flaunting on the form of the Kyiv club. As a result, the Kiev team won the group stage of the tournament, but lost to the Canadians in the final – 6:9. Nevertheless, the Ukrainians delegated one representative to each line to the symbolic team of that Spengler Cup: the goalkeeper Yuri Shundrov, defender Sergei Gorbushin and attacker Anatoly Stepanishchev. I will add that soon this long-lived tournament will turn 100 years old. Its first winner back in 1923, by the way, was the British – the hockey club of Oxford University. I hope that the pandemic will not prevent the resumption of the tournament this year (the Spengler Cup was not held in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic).

10. Sokol – CSKA – 7:6 (1:1, 2:4, 4:1). 03/14/79. Kyiv. Palace of Sports. 6500 spectators.

Of course, without this game, which actually approved the Falcon among the allied elite, our list would be incomplete! To be honest, I was not at this match, I watched it on TV. I remember that the first two periods were shown live, and the third – at the end of the Vremya program. Naturally, in the Sports News of the main information program of one-sixth of the world's land, the final score of the match was announced, and I did not have time to turn off the sound of the TV receiver (what it was then – Spring or Electron, I don't even remember).

When it was announced that the debutants of the elite – the people of Kiev – won with a score of 7:6, at first the thought arose that the newsmen were mistaken. How is it that, losing after two periods to a team rich in world stars with a score of 3:5, my modest Sokol turned everything upside down in the final 20 minutes? But it really was! Yielding already in the course of the 3rd period 4:6, our countrymen pulled themselves together and scored three goals (Vadim Sibirko on the 45th Sergei Nelyubin on the 56th Sergey Davydov at the 60th minute), and, most importantly, managed to rewrite the history of their matches with the grand hegemon, having won the first victory over him! True, if we strictly adhere to the chronicle truth, CSKA won all previous victories over the predecessor of the Sokol, the hockey Kyiv Dynamo (the namesake of the famous football club, the army team sometimes shipped 13-14 goals, and once stopped even at the mark of 17). Despite the wonderful game of the legend #17 Valeria Kharlamova (on account of the famous hat-trick master in that match), Sokol celebrated the victory over the Tikhonov team!

Whatever storms swept over Ukrainian hockey at the turn of the century, now it seems that the national championship is gradually gaining an attractive look. And therefore, the current prominences of memories are not an exacerbation of nostalgic pain, but a guide to the future. Forgive me my whim, how I would like to again become part of the crowded stands of the Kyiv Sports Palace, non-stop, tirelessly chanting: “So-kol!”, “So-kol!”. And at the same time, so that players with a historical chestnut branch on their uniforms, overcoming all adversity, often make their way to the opponents' goal.

Don't forget to follow our social media pages Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Viber