Soviet Ice Hockey Superstars Flame-Out in NHL

After joining the National Hockey League this year with much fanfare and great expectations, Soviet ice hockey stars have been less than super.

The names Krutov, Makarov, Larionov, Fetisov and Kasatonov once struck fear into the hearts of opponents around the world and there was every reason to assume they would make it big on North American ice.

After all, they were the backbone of the awesome Soviet teams that accumulated seven world championships and two Olympic gold medals.

But not one Soviet was selected to play alongside Canadian superstars such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in Sunday’s All-Star game nor do any Soviet names appear among the league’s top 20 scorers.

“When you talk about the Russians I hear that some teams are not satisfied,” said New Jersey Devils Coach John Cunniff, whose team has three Soviet defensemen.

The prime example is the Vancouver Canucks, who expected to join the league’s elite with the addition of Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov, two-thirds of the famed KLM line.

With half the season over, the Canucks are mired in last place in their division and Coach Bob McCammon’s diplomatic assessment of their situation reveals lowered expectations.

“Basically I think they’ll make a good team better but they won’t make a bad team good,” McCammon told Reuters.

“These guys have played a lot of hockey for the national team and a few are past the best part of their career,” said McCammon.

Both coaches said that the adjustment to North American life and NHL-style play has been much harder than expected.

“I think they didn’t realize how tough the league was,” Cunniff told Reuters.

McCammon cited the demanding 80-game schedule, adding that the elite Red Army and Soviet national teams rarely faced competition of their own caliber.

“They’re used to playing 45 games a year and maybe five tough games. Here they’ve played over 40 games already and they haven’t seen an easy game yet,” McCammon said.

Krutov, 29, once considered the best left wing in the world, has labored to score just eight goals.

He and his compatriots, still dazzling skaters and puck handlers at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, often appear lost trying to fit into the NHL style where battling along the boards is preferred to the free-wheeling European game.

Larionov, 29, lobbied hard for the right to finish his career in the NHL, but with only 12 goals and 20 assists he has not approached the form he displayed throughout the 1980s.

“Everything is different,” Larionov said recently. “Play is much more physical, much more difficult every night. Everybody wants to hit the Russians.”

McCammon said Larionov is handling the change much better than Krutov, who followed reluctantly at his compatriot’s urging. “Larionov is doing very well. He’s committed to changing to a North American style of life,” McCammon said.

Krutov and Devils defenseman Sergei Starikov, 31, have not fared well away from Soviet Coach Viktor Tikhonov’s watchful eye and training regimen. Both have succumbed to temptation and put on unwanted pounds.

Starikov has been such a disappointment that Cunniff shipped him off to the Devils’ minor league affiliate.