Andrei Vasilyevich Starovoytov (russian: Андрей Васильевич Старовойтов; 16 December 1915 – 22 March 1997) was a Soviet ice hockey administrator, referee and player. He won three Soviet ice hockey championships as a player, and was later an ice hockey referee at eight World Championships. He was the general secretary of the Soviet Union Ice Hockey Federation for 17 years, and negotiated Soviet participation in the

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game i ...

. He was posthumously inducted into the

IIHF Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Interna ...

Early life

Starovoytov was born 16 December 1915. He started playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

and

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

as a youth in

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

during the 1930s. He later played as a

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

for

HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow (1946–present, russian: ЦСКА Москва, Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии, ''Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow'') is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. The club ...

from 1946 to 1951. He was part of the championship team in 1948, 1949 and 1950, and scored 10 goals in 50 games in the Soviet championships. He was coached by Anatoly Tarasov, and played with other notable teammates including,

Boris Afanasiev Boris Ivanovitch Afanasiev (russian: Борис Иванович Афанасьев; August 8, 1913 – 1983) was a Russian ice hockey goaltender, coach, and football player. Career Afanasiev was first a football player. He played for CDKA Mosc ...

, Aleksandr Komarov, Grigory Mkrtychan,

Nikolai Sologubov Nikolai Mikhailovich Sologubov (russian: Николай Михайлович Сологубов; 8 August 1924 – 30 December 1988Dmitry Ukolov. Starovoytov later served as an ice hockey referee in the top tier of Soviet hockey from 1951 to 1969. He officiated at the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

eight times including,

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

, the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, fro ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

. He was named one of the top ten referees in Soviet hockey in 12 different seasons. He was also a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF) referee council from 1969 to 1986.

Administration career

Starovoytov served as the general secretary of the Soviet Union Ice Hockey Federation from 1969 to 1986. During that period, the Soviet Union national ice hockey team won three gold medals at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, and 12 gold medals at the

. He negotiated with

Joe Kryczka Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

for the Soviet national team to play the

Canada men's national ice hockey team The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; french: Équipe Canada) is the ice hockey team representing Canada int ...

in what became known as the 1972

. The agreement was signed and announced on 18 April 1972, at the

Hotel International Prague The Hotel International Prague is a four-star hotel located in the Dejvice quarter of Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was completed in 1956 in the socialist realism style, and is a Czech cultural monument. The hotel has retained much of its ...

during the

1972 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 39th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 7 to 22 April 1972, and the Czechoslovakia national team won the tournament, the third t ...

, and approved by

Bunny Ahearne John Francis "Bunny" Ahearne (19 November 1900 – 11 April 1985) was a British ice hockey administrator and businessman. He served rotating terms as president and vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) from 1951 to 197 ...

and Fred Page of the IIHF. Starovoytov agreed to the eight-game series feeling that his Soviet players would be able to defeat Canadian professionals from the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

. His confidence was evident from an interview with journalist Red Fisher, where Starovoytov believed his country could win all eight games. Canada prevailed with four wins and a draw in eight games, but he was not deterred in having another competition. During the

1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 27, 1973, and January 6, 1974. The host Soviet Union national ice hockey team, Soviet team won the tournament with a perfect 5–0 record. This wa ...

, Starovoytov approached Canadian leaders Jack Devine and

Gordon Juckes Gordon Wainwright Juckes (; June 20 or 30, 1914 – October 4, 1994) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as the president and later the executive director of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and as a council membe ...

, regarding having another series. The

1974 Summit Series The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the ...

was agreed to be a six-games series versus professionals from the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

, but was later extended to eight games. The Soviets took the rematch with four wins and three draws in the eight games.

Later life and honors

Starovoytov received the Olympic Order in 1986 for contributions to ice hockey. He was made an honorary life member of the IIHF in 1986, and then was posthumously inducted as builder into the

in 1997, after he died 22 March 1997. The

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

annually honors its referee of the year with the Andrei Starovoytov Award, also called the "Golden Whistle".

References

External links

*
1949–50 HC CSKA Moscow team photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starovoytov, Andrei 1915 births 1997 deaths 1972 Summit Series HC CSKA Moscow players Ice hockey people from Moscow International Ice Hockey Federation executives IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Olympic officials Recipients of the Olympic Order Russian bandy players Russian ice hockey administrators Russian ice hockey officials Soviet ice hockey defencemen Sportspeople from Smolensk