Russia and the former Soviet Union have an incredibly rich hockey history only bettered by that of Canada. But who is the greatest Russian ever?

It's a question that is hard to answer because of the Cold War and the communists Iron Curtain politics. While many of today's fans will claim Sergei Fedorov or Pavel Bure or maybe Alexander Mogilny is the greatest ever, it is almost impossible to determine Russia's greatest player from a Canadian's vantage point.

While the top Russian and eastern European stars are now allowed to come to North America and pursue a career in the NHL, this was not always so. Not until the late 1980's were the top older players given permission to leave. Prior to that point the only time we saw the Russians was in major tournaments such as the Canada Cup and the Olympics. What we did get to see of them left us in awe of the immense skill and team work.

While we have had a chance to watch such as Soviet superstars like Larionov, Makarov and Fetisov, their best years were all behind the Iron Curtain. Those three get much consideration when discussing the topic of the greatest Russian players. Vladislav Tretiak of course also gets high rankings. However very arguably the greatest Russian player was Valeri Kharlamov, and we were almost completely robbed of enjoying his immense package of skills.

Valeri Kharlamov played during the 1970's prior to the arrival of Larionov and Makarov and co. His skating was unequalled and his passing and shooting was simply uncanny. He perhaps had the greatest arsenal of skill of any player ever, maybe even more so than Gretzky or Lemieux, but we never had the chance to really determine that. One European hockey expert described Kharlamov as a combination of Mike Bossy and Pavel Bure.

How good are his credentials? He won 2 Olympic Gold Medals, 8 World Championships with the USSR National team and numerous USSR league championships with Moscow Central Red Army. Whenever an NHL team would have an exhibition game against the Red Army, Kharlamov was a target of cheap and dirty play. They would brutally dominate the small Russian because they feared his ability. Stop Kharlamov from scoring was half the battle against the Soviets, the other half of course was trying to score against Tretiak.

Valeri Kharlamov was taken from us far too soon however. On August 27, 1981 he died from injuries that occurred as a result of a terrible car crash as he and his wife were returning from a summer's vacation.

и мы были ограблены невозможностью наслаждаться его безмерным набором умений.

Орр играл еще более "ебануто" в атаке чем даже нынешний Гончар

Кроме Грина и Бернса (бывший нападающий), сегодня, имхо, нет вообще атакующих защитников в прямом смысле этого слова

То, что эффективность игроков можно обсуждать только в контексте своей эпохи - имхо верно.

Ну как же - Кирюша Кольцов, реально в прошлой жизни был поклонником Б. Орра.

Чем Буре одаренней Харламова?

Но он по-своему уникальный перец

Харламова лучше сразу за скобки выносить, как и Грецки, хоккей в их исполнении выходил за рамки классических "техника, скорость, игровое мышление...".

Другими словами, оценить их потенциальную эффективность в нынешнем хоккее трудно или невозможно - в отличие от одаренных "физически" игроков, вроде Буре и Лемье?

Да, про гирю впечатлило

Что там он? 30 кг одной рукой мог поднять? Это много ?