Former head coach of the Russian national ice hockey team Vladimir Krikunov in an interview with , he said that he once met New Year’s on the road in Lithuania in the company of a truck driver.
From 1976 to 1982 Krikunov played for Dynamo Riga, then played for Dynamo Minsk for two years.
— Remember your most amazing New Year.
“When I was a hockey player in the USSR, I met almost every New Year abroad,” Krikunov told . – Either with the second team somewhere, then with the Wings of the Soviets, he flew overseas for the Super Series with NHL clubs, then with Dynamo Moscow, he went to Sweden for the Achern Cup . We were often taken from Riga to Moscow teams for reinforcements.
Once, before the New Year, we went to Germany with Dynamo Minsk. We returned on December 31 at five o’clock in the evening, in Brest, we crossed the border there. And so I left the car there on purpose, I wanted to be home at midnight. And on the train with us, the truck driver was driving with Transavto. He loaded beer in Berlin before the New Year. And his German, the karschik who brought the beer, didn’t notice him and ran him over. He screams, and the German, in fear, hits him again with a harsher punishment. Anyway, I drove to the hospital. But that didn’t seem like a big deal, they let me go home.
His partner has just left with a truck and he was sent to the USSR by train. And he also has to go to Riga. So we met the driver – they asked when we would definitely arrive in Brest. So he asked for a ride. I say let’s go. Moreover, a trucker knows all the roads. At the same time, there were no navigators, everyone went there using the map. And so he immediately tells me where to go.
I rush at top speed, once we almost go off the road. There were also no winter tires, all-season tires on wheels. But he was driving as best he could – New Year’s. The road was snowy at first, but closer to Latvia it started to rain, the water on the highway was easier. But I still haven’t succeeded. There were still a hundred kilometers to go. We were just passing through Pasvalis, a small town in Lithuania. We look – they started shooting. That’s it, twelve struck. We drank beer with us and they noted it down. And they drove.
Every time now, when I pass through Lithuania, I remember celebrating New Year’s Eve at this place.
How do you conduct beer?
– He drank a little. The trucker finished the bottle. I drove him home, then home, fifty minutes late.
Source : MatchTV
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