Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak, MSM ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for the

Soviet Union national ice hockey team The Soviet national ice hockey team was the national men's ice hockey team of the Soviet Union. From 1954, the team won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships ...

. Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport, he was voted one of six players to 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 m ...

's (IIHF) Centennial All-Star Team in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries. He is the current president of the

Ice Hockey Federation of Russia The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (russian: Федерация хоккея России, ''Federatsiya Khokkeya Rossii'') is the Sport governing body, governing body overseeing ice hockey in Russia. In 2019 Russia had 110,624 ice hockey playe ...

and was the general manager of the Russian 2010 Winter Olympic team.

Early years

Tretiak grew up in the USSR. His parents are from

Dmitrovsky District Dmitrovsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. The districts' name generally derives from or is related to the male first name Dmitry. *Dmitrovsky District, Moscow, a district in Northern Administrat ...

."''Третьяк обмолвился, что он корнями-то украинец, родители его с Сумщины''" - "''Tretiak has mentioned that he is of Ukrainian-roots, his parents are from Sumy''" His father served 37 years as a military pilot, and his mother was a physical education teacher. Although he initially followed his brother as a swimmer, as a child Tretiak excelled at many sports, and is remembered for his ambition to master all of them. However, like many children of his generation, he loved hockey, and at age 11 entered the

Children and Youth Sports School A sports school (russian: Детско-Юношеская Спортивная Школа, ДЮСШ) is a type of educational institution for children that originated in the Soviet Union. Sports schools were the basis of the powerful system of ph ...

of the Central Sports Club of the Army (known by its abbreviation CSKA). His first trainer was Vitaly Erfilov. He began playing goaltender when he saw that no one else had the desire or courage to play the position.

International playing career

Although Tretiak did not play his first hockey game until the age of eleven (1963), he was well known in the USSR by 1971 (aged 19), when he was named to the Soviet Ice Hockey League's First All-Star Team, while playing for the powerhouse

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

team,

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

. He also played well in the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

, in which the Soviets took the gold medal. Tretiak became internationally famous after his outstanding performance 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 ic ...

in 1972, when he helped surprise the world, including the Canadian team, en route to a narrow loss to the Canadians. A famous story was told of how Canadian scouts seriously underestimated his ability prior to the series; they witnessed him let in eight goals on a particular night, not knowing that he had been married the previous evening (and most of the team had been in attendance). Of the entire Soviet roster, Canadian players and fans held Tretiak in the highest regard and respect and Tretiak was one of the most famous players of the Series along with

Phil Esposito Philip Anthony Esposito ( , ; born February 20, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive, and current broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in t ...

, Paul Henderson, Alexandr Iakushev and

Valeri Kharlamov The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

. As a result of Tretiak's stellar performance, many

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

teams wanted to draft him –

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

ultimately did, in 1983 – and Tretiak was willing, but the Soviet government did not let him leave. During the 1976 Super Series, Tretiak put on a dominant performance against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, holding them to a 3–3 tie despite his team being outshot 38–13. Tretiak went on to star for the Soviet Union, helping them win gold medals in the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

, and again winning gold in the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

and the

1981 Canada Cup The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union national ice hockey team ...

. Tretiak also back-stopped the Soviets to ten

IIHF 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 ...

victories and nine in the

IIHF European Championships The Ice Hockey European Championship was an annual ice hockey tournament for European countries associated with the International Ice Hockey Federation. A total of 66 European Champions were crowned in between the years 1910 and 1991. Independe ...

. In the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

, a USSR team loss to team USA in a medal round game denied Tretiak a chance at another gold. The Soviet team won silver, as they had the second-highest number of points in the tournament.. Though he was only 32 in 1984 and still capable of playing top-level hockey, Tretiak retired. It is said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and asked the national team coach Viktor Tikhonov for a training regime, in which he could live at home and come to the training camp before games. Since the rest of the team spent most of their time away from home in the training camp, Tikhonov refused. This move by Tikhonov contributed to Tretiak's decision to retire.

Post retirement

Tretiak was one of the guests who spoke at the ceremony during which the

retired the jersey number of

Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was a Liber ...

on 29 January 2007. Dryden had been one of Team Canada's goaltenders during the 1972 Summit Series, opposite Tretiak. Tretiak retired in 1984, following a 2–0 victory over

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He was awarded

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1984). In 1987 Tretiak wrote an autobiography, ''Tretiak, The Legend''. He was named to the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in 1989, the first Soviet player to be honored. In 1990,

Mike Keenan Michael Edward Keenan (born October 21, 1949) is a Canadian professional hockey coach who most recently coached the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League. Previously, he served as head coach and/or general manager with several NHL team ...

hired Tretiak as a goaltender coach for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

, which allowed him to coach goaltenders such as

Ed Belfour Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of ...

Dominik Hašek Dominik Hašek (, ; born January 29, 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who mostly played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders of all time, Hašek also played for t ...

, and

Jocelyn Thibault Joseph Régis Jocelyn Thibault (born January 12, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blac ...

. Keenan was so impressed with Tretiak's abilities in practice that he suggested the 38-year-old might still be able to play in the NHL. Tretiak said that coaching was the next best thing to playing in the NHL. After leaving the Blackhawks, Belfour wore uniform number 20 as a tribute to Tretiak. Numerous other goalies, including

Evgeni Nabokov Yevgeni Viktorovich Nabokov (russian: Евге́ний Ви́кторович Набо́ков; born July 25, 1975) is a Kazakhstani-Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Ta ...

, also wore number 20 as a tribute to Tretiak. In 2000, he was voted Best Russian Hockey Player of the 20th century. He was a vital cog for some of the most dominant hockey teams in history and is now considered one of hockey's greatest ambassadors. Tretiak was elected to the State

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

as a member of the

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

party in December 2003, representing the Saratov constituency. He is chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport, and Youth. He continued to work for the Chicago Blackhawks until the start of 2006–07 season. On 25 April 2006, his 54th birthday, Tretiak was elected head of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation. He obtained 93 out of the possible 96 votes, with the remaining three voters abstaining. A few days later, on 28 April, the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

awarded Tretiak the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...

in a ceremony at

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main b ...

. Tretiak earned the award for, among other things, his founding of the Friends of Canada organization to foster good relations between Canada and Russia. He was the first Russian to be conferred this honor. He also ran a goalie school at the Canlan Ice Sports in Toronto, Ontario. Called the Vladislav Tretiak Elite School of Goaltending, it was considered one of the most physically punishing goaltending schools in the world, and students could be refused admittance if not in top physical condition. He also ran a goalie school in Montreal during the 1990's where he trained many famous NHL goaltenders such as Jose Theodore and Martin Brodeur. Tretiak also ran a goalie hockey camp in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota in the early 2000s. On 28 March 2007, Tretiak went to Ottawa to discuss with Canadian officials the possibilities of holding another

during the summer of 2007, which would be 35 years after the initial event. Russian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mikhail Fradkov Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov ( rus, Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ frɐtˈkof; born 1 September 1950) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 2004 to 2007. An In ...

had also discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the possibilities of holding another event. In the end, a series was held in September 2007 between the national junior teams of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. On 21 December 2012, he voted in favor of the "Dima Yakovlev Law" in the State Duma. This legislation bars the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens. The legislation was the response to the

Magnitsky bill The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a Bipartisanship, bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President B ...

. Tretiak was the final torchbearer in the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

and lit the

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...

during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

along with

Irina Rodnina Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina ( rus, Ирина Константиновна Роднина, p=ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skating, figure skater, who is ...

Personal

Tretiak married his wife Tatiana (born 1950) on August 23, 1972, six weeks after they met. Their first son, Dmitri, was born the following year and their daughter, Irina, was born 3 years later. Tatiana is qualified as a Russian literature teacher, although she no longer works. Tretiak is a devout Russian Orthodox Christian.

Career statistics

Soviet League

International statistics

Super Series statistics

The

Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on the NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception w ...

were exhibition games between an NHL team and Soviet teams (usually a club from the

Soviet Championship League The Soviet Hockey Championship (russian: Чемпионат СССР по хоккею) was the highest level ice hockey league in the Soviet Union, running from 1946 to 1992. Before the 1940s the game of ice hockey was not cultivated in Russia, i ...

). Tretiak competed in three such series.

Records and honours

* First All-Star in the Soviet League consecutively each year from 1971 until 1984. In those fourteen years, Tretiak won thirteen league titles with the Red Army team, and was named

MVP 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 ...

of the league five times * In 1978, Tretiak was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

* First player born and trained outside North America to be inducted into the

Order For Merit to the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

3rd (2012) and 4th (2002) class (Russian Federation) * Order of Honour (Russian Federation) *

(USSR) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(USSR) *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

(USSR) *

Medal "For Labour Valour" The Medal "For Labour Valour" (russian: Медаль «За трудовую доблесть») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour dedicated and valorous labour or ...

(USSR) *

Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «60 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established and bestowed to m ...

(USSR) * In the

, he was given the honor of being the lighter of the Olympic Cauldron along with

. *

(Canada)

Support for other sports

Tretiak has supported the bid for

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 ...

to be recognized as an Olympic sport.rsport.ru
/ref>

References

External links

*
Vladislav Tretiak at Hockey CCCP International

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tretiak, Vladislav 1952 births Living people 21st-century Russian politicians Chicago Blackhawks coaches Eighth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) HC CSKA Moscow players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Hockey writers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1976 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Montreal Canadiens draft picks National Hockey League assistant coaches Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic ice hockey players of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union People from Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Russia men's national ice hockey team coaches Russian ice hockey administrators Russian sportsperson-politicians Russian Orthodox Christians from Russia Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Sixth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Soviet ice hockey goaltenders United Russia politicians