Viktor Sergeyevich Konovalenko (; 11 March 1938 – 20 February 1996) was a Soviet ice hockey goaltender. He led the Soviet team to the Olympics gold medals in 1964 and 1968, to the IIHF World Championships title in 1963–1968, 1970 and 1971, and to the European title in 1963–68 and 1970. He was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in the Soviet league in 1970 and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2007. Konovalenko played his entire career from 1956 to 1972 for Torpedo Gorky (now Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod); he never won a national title, and once placed second (in 1961). As a goaltender of the Soviet team he replaced Nikolai Puchkov, and in 1971, he was succeeded by Vladislav Tretiak. In retirement he worked as a goaltender coach with Torpedo Gorky and later became director of the Torpedo Gorky sports arena, which was renamed to the

Konovalenko Sports Palace Konovalenko Sports Palace is an indoor sporting arena located in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The capacity of the arena is 4,300 and opened in 1967. It was the home arena of the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod ice hockey team of the Russian Super League until ...

after his death.

References

External links

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Viktor Konovalenko at CCCP International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konovalenko, Viktor 1938 births 1996 deaths Sportspeople from Nizhny Novgorod Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic ice hockey players of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in ice hockey Soviet ice hockey goaltenders Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod players