One possible reason why the Russians don't excel in international puck anymore is the fact that its best players from '72 (Tretiak comes to mind) are now coaching in North America. Can't blame them for following the money.
Canada - Russia Super Series II
- Thread starter Kreskin
- Start date
I think if I had just lost five games in a row to Canada and was out-scored 25 - 7 over those five games, I would definitely want someone else to play Canada next year.
Number of registered players by country
Number of registered hockey players, provided by respective countries federations. Note that not every country is available.
Country Players % of Population Canada 543,390 1.64% United States 435,737 0.15% Czech Republic 83,589 0.82% Russia 77,202 0.05% Sweden 67,747 0.75% Finland 62,886 1.2% Germany 30,344 0.04% Switzerland 25,106 0.33% Japan 20,540 0.02% France 15,621 0.02% Slovakia 9,402 0.17% Austria 9,007 0.1% Italy 7,258 0.01% Norway 6,356 0.14% Latvia 4,836 0.21% Denmark 4,255 0.08% Kazakhstan 2,931 0.02% Belarus 2,930 0.03% Ukraine 2,238 0.01% Slovenia 980 0.05%
Number of registered players by country
Number of registered hockey players, provided by respective countries federations. Note that not every country is available.
Country Players % of Population Canada 543,390 1.64% United States 435,737 0.15% Czech Republic 83,589 0.82% Russia 77,202 0.05% Sweden 67,747 0.75% Finland 62,886 1.2% Germany 30,344 0.04% Switzerland 25,106 0.33% Japan 20,540 0.02% France 15,621 0.02% Slovakia 9,402 0.17% Austria 9,007 0.1% Italy 7,258 0.01% Norway 6,356 0.14% Latvia 4,836 0.21% Denmark 4,255 0.08% Kazakhstan 2,931 0.02% Belarus 2,930 0.03% Ukraine 2,238 0.01% Slovenia 980 0.05%
Something wacky with those numbers. I suppose some of those countries don't bother registering many of the participants.
Ya gotta remember that most of Russia's hockey players used to be in the army...
You are probably right. Here are some other numbers. Artificial rinks: Canada - 5500, U.S.A. - 2500, Russia - 92 ....Which only proves how crazy we are........Maybe not.....almost every tiny little town in Canada has a hockey rink.....Every merely small town has an artificial rink. We pay a lot for our hockey superiority........:lol:
God Rick.....I coached minor hockey for seventeen years.....It was all getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 am.....it will likely always be like that. The only thing that bugged me was that Russians could come over and play on Canadian junior teams and take the place of a Canadian player who'd been in the system for fifteen years or so. Junior team owners wanted big Russian names who would draw the big crowds......I understand it. I just don't like it.
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I thought the Russians were going to make a game out of it but they fell apart in the third period. They were tied 1 - 1 going into the third. The Canadian team picked up three goals in the third to win it 4 - 1. I almost wish the Russians would win a game to make it interesting.
Some of you older guys likely remember Hall of Famer Ken Yackel. He was from the West Side of St Paul, here in Gopherland. A great puckster and coach. And a great baseball player as well.
Here in the largely Hispanic part of town, our kids used to love to play puck. But the city took away all resources from our youth programs and gradually, the kids left the sport. Today, the city scholastic hockey system is just about dead. Ditto for Minneapolis. All of the resources went into building the Xcel Center, Target Center, and Mariucci Arena in order to benefit the corporate fatcats. And we were left with nothing
I just cannot tell you how much I loved watching scholastic puck. The times I watched the kids playing in Yackel arena are moments I will treasure for life. Winter can be harsh here in Gopherland. But watching the kids having such fun made it all worth while.
Alas, Yackel arena is like a ghost town today. Gone are the days when our kids used to successfully take on suburban school districts that had far more resources and bigger teams than we did. How I loved to see our kids work so hard and so well!
But those days are no more. A very sad day for Gopher and for Gopherland.
Here in the largely Hispanic part of town, our kids used to love to play puck. But the city took away all resources from our youth programs and gradually, the kids left the sport. Today, the city scholastic hockey system is just about dead. Ditto for Minneapolis. All of the resources went into building the Xcel Center, Target Center, and Mariucci Arena in order to benefit the corporate fatcats. And we were left with nothing
I just cannot tell you how much I loved watching scholastic puck. The times I watched the kids playing in Yackel arena are moments I will treasure for life. Winter can be harsh here in Gopherland. But watching the kids having such fun made it all worth while.
Alas, Yackel arena is like a ghost town today. Gone are the days when our kids used to successfully take on suburban school districts that had far more resources and bigger teams than we did. How I loved to see our kids work so hard and so well!
But those days are no more. A very sad day for Gopher and for Gopherland.
Ken Yackel.........Didn't he play for a while with the Bruins? The name rings a bell but I don't know him. He must have been pretty good for them to have named an arena after him. I'll have to ask around about him...
Ken Yackel.........Didn't he play for a while with the Bruins?
AMAZING!!! What a memory!!!!
He played part of one season in the NHL for the Bruins and had about 5 years of minor league puck. In truth, I thought he had a better chance of playing major league baseball (he was captain of our baseball team at the University of Minnesota) but he stuck with puck because of his great love for the game.
GREAT job, Juan --- you really know your hockey!;-)
AMAZING!!! What a memory!!!!
He played part of one season in the NHL for the Bruins and had about 5 years of minor league puck. In truth, I thought he had a better chance of playing major league baseball (he was captain of our baseball team at the University of Minnesota) but he stuck with puck because of his great love for the game.
GREAT job, Juan --- you really know your hockey!;-)
I am trying to find an online photo of the arena but managed to dig up this bio data:
44 Isabel Street East: Ken Yackel West Side Arena; Built in 1972. The structure is a one story, 25920 square foot, ice rink and arena that is owned by Ramsey County. Ken James Yackel (1932-1991) was born in St. Paul, was a three-sport star from St. Paul's Humbolt High School, graduating in 1949, was an Olympic, collegiate, and professional hockey player (defenseman as a collegiate and right wing as a professional,) was a high school, collegiate and amateur hockey coach, and died of cancer in South St. Paul, Minnesota. Ken Yackel played for the St. Paul 7-Up-Koppys team of the AAHL in 1950-1951, the U.S. Olympic Team 1951-1952, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1952-1953, 1953-1954, 1954-1955, and 1955-1956 (WCHA First Team All-Star and NCAA West First All-American Team,) the Cleveland Barons of the AHL in 1955-1956, the St. Paul Peters of the CHL in 1956-1957, the Saskatoon Regals/St.-Paul Saints of the WHL in 1957-1958, the Providence Reds of the AHL in 1958-1959, the Boston Bruins of the NHL in 1958-1959, the Providence Reds of the AHL in 1959-1960, the Minneapolis Millers of the IHL in 1960-1961, 1961-1962, and 1962-1963 (Leo P. Lamoureux Trophy as top scorer, IHL First All-Star Team, and IHL Second All-Star Team,) and the Muskegon Zephyrs of the IHL in 1963-1964 and briefly coached the Edina, Minnesota, Hornets High School team in 1956-1957, The Minneapolis Millers in 1960-1961, the U. S. National team in 1965, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey team in 1971, and the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL in 1980-1981. Ken Yackel was a 1986 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and also was involved in the John Mariucci Inner City Hockey Association, a program designed to encourage hockey development among inner city youth. The Ken Yackel hockey school was started in 1963 by Ken Yackel, Sr., and is now operated by Ken Yackel, Jr., in Redwood City, California...
44 Isabel Street East: Ken Yackel West Side Arena; Built in 1972. The structure is a one story, 25920 square foot, ice rink and arena that is owned by Ramsey County. Ken James Yackel (1932-1991) was born in St. Paul, was a three-sport star from St. Paul's Humbolt High School, graduating in 1949, was an Olympic, collegiate, and professional hockey player (defenseman as a collegiate and right wing as a professional,) was a high school, collegiate and amateur hockey coach, and died of cancer in South St. Paul, Minnesota. Ken Yackel played for the St. Paul 7-Up-Koppys team of the AAHL in 1950-1951, the U.S. Olympic Team 1951-1952, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1952-1953, 1953-1954, 1954-1955, and 1955-1956 (WCHA First Team All-Star and NCAA West First All-American Team,) the Cleveland Barons of the AHL in 1955-1956, the St. Paul Peters of the CHL in 1956-1957, the Saskatoon Regals/St.-Paul Saints of the WHL in 1957-1958, the Providence Reds of the AHL in 1958-1959, the Boston Bruins of the NHL in 1958-1959, the Providence Reds of the AHL in 1959-1960, the Minneapolis Millers of the IHL in 1960-1961, 1961-1962, and 1962-1963 (Leo P. Lamoureux Trophy as top scorer, IHL First All-Star Team, and IHL Second All-Star Team,) and the Muskegon Zephyrs of the IHL in 1963-1964 and briefly coached the Edina, Minnesota, Hornets High School team in 1956-1957, The Minneapolis Millers in 1960-1961, the U. S. National team in 1965, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey team in 1971, and the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL in 1980-1981. Ken Yackel was a 1986 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and also was involved in the John Mariucci Inner City Hockey Association, a program designed to encourage hockey development among inner city youth. The Ken Yackel hockey school was started in 1963 by Ken Yackel, Sr., and is now operated by Ken Yackel, Jr., in Redwood City, California...
Back in those days Gopher, you almost had to be a Canadian or a really good American to play in the NHL. There was a bit of shovanism(sp) that mostly disappeared by the time of the 72 series......
Memory? If I go to the store for more than two items, I need a list.............:smile:....sometimes I lose the list....
The word is chauvinism but I prefer your spelling.
Anyways, Ken Yackel played baseball in the off season and he did not dedicate himself to puck as he should have in order to prepare for the NHL Interestingly, Mariucci was captain of the University of Minnesota Gophers when KY played and he never made it to the pros. It's all a matter of preparation, I suppose.
Anyways, Ken Yackel played baseball in the off season and he did not dedicate himself to puck as he should have in order to prepare for the NHL Interestingly, Mariucci was captain of the University of Minnesota Gophers when KY played and he never made it to the pros. It's all a matter of preparation, I suppose.
My spelling is at times creative....:roll:
You know sometimes it is only a matter of chemistry. Ken Yackel was up for a while with the Bruins. If the chemistry was right he could have stuck and became a regular. After so many years it is hard to say what really happened but it sounds like he was a pretty good player. I always envied NHL players because they made a very good living doing something they loved......True of all professional athletes I suppose.
It was a really chippy game tonight. That little free for all they had was bound to happen sooner or later.