President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RFH) Vladislav Tretiak in an interview with , he said that he had not celebrated the New Year for 17 years in a row, and for the first time in a long time he managed to do so in 1975 in Canada.
On December 31, 1975, a friendly match between CSKA and Montreal took place in Canada, which ended in a draw – 3: 3. In 1989, Tretyak, who played for CSKA and the national team of the USSR, became the first Soviet hockey player to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. In 1997, he was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame, which named him the best hockey player of the 20th century.
— How do you usually celebrate the New Year?
— When I played hockey, I didn’t celebrate the New Year in the Soviet Union for 17 consecutive years. At first, he played for four years for the youth team, which assembled in December. Then, as you remember, after the Izvestia Prize tournament, the first and second teams of the USSR left for Canada or the USA. Once there was a trip to Holland for several matches.
We usually played on December 31st. Do you remember the legendary match “Montreal” – CSKA (3:3)? And only then could I drink champagne. Because the next match took place on January 9 against Boston. And then our head coach Konstantin Loktev allowed us to go to the embassy in Montreal. The tables were set there, our consuls were there, and we celebrated until four in the morning. There was dancing, glasses clinking, because we had a good match with the Canadiens. And the next day we went to the public baths.
That’s when we celebrated like human beings. The rest of the time it was just hotels and hockey. I remember we went to Japan for a friendly game against the Winnipeg Jets. In 1977, Bobby Hull went there. We played two exhibition games there, then we went to America.
There, the organizers brought us glasses of sake. But imagine, they were taken away from us in the national team: “Tomorrow is the match! And we watched the Canadians march. They could do whatever they wanted.
And now I celebrate the New Year at home, at the Zagorianka dacha, with the whole family,” Tretyak told .
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
