Anatoli Tarasov

Anatoli Vladimirovitch Tarasov (Анатолий Владимирович Тарасов) (December 10, 1918 - June 23, 1995, both in Moscow) was an ice hockey coach, styled by Encyclopædia Britannica "the father of Russian hockey", who established the Soviet Union as "the dominant force in international competition". He was one of the first Russians to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

After World War II, Tarasov was asked to put together a hockey program from scratch. He helped found a hockey department at the Red Army's sports club, CSKA Moscow with little more than several old hockey rulebooks. Before then, the most popular ice sport in Russia and the Soviet Union was bandy, a sport similar to field hockey. The Russian style of hockey, with its emphasis on skating skill, offense and passing, is still heavily influenced by bandy.

Tarasov served either as coach or co-coach of CSKA Moscow from 1946 to 1975, except for three short breaks in 1960, 1964 and 1972. He was named coach of the Soviet national team in 1958, a post he held until 1972.

At CSKA Moscow, he won 19 Soviet titles, including all but five from 1955 to 1975 and three instances of winning four titles in a row. He led the Soviet national team to 9 straight world championships, including 3 Olympic gold medals (for most of his tenure, the Olympic championship was considered the world championship). In 1972, the Soviets lost the world championship for the first time in nine years, and Tarasov was fired.

Tarasov was known for his ruthless training methods, tough discipline among his players and innovative, instinctive decisions. Many of his methods are continued by his daughter Tatiana Tarasova.

Kontinental Hockey League has a division bearing his name.

Bibliography

A. V. Tarasov (1971). Ice Hockey of the Future. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport.

References