“Drunkard, why are you awarding him?”. How did the legendary Soviet hockey players Fetisov and Makarov argue?

Krutov – Larionov – Makarov, Fetisov – Kasatonov are considered one of the greatest fives in the history of world hockey. This connection dominated opponents for quite some time, who could not find a way to control it. As you know, the better and closer the players communicate outside the ice, the higher the level of mutual understanding directly on the site. If we accept this judgment, the casual fan may have the feeling that the legendary quintet of CSKA and the members of the Soviet team are family friends and are inseparable from the ice. But this impression is deceptive: as in any men’s team, various frictions, quarrels and misunderstandings regularly arose in the relations between Krutov, Larionov, Makarov, Fetisov and Kasatonov.

The most famous conflict in this combination was the fight between Fetisov and Kasatonov, due to the fact that Vyacheslav went abroad, after which his partner was condemned by Kasatonov. But there were also lesser-known scandals involving legendary hockey players.

At the 1985 World Championships in Prague, the USSR national team failed – the team of Viktor Tikhonov won only a bronze medal. Given the hegemony of the Soviet team in international tournaments in those years, such a result was not found satisfactory by both the leaders of our hockey and the fans. In addition to the sad outcome of the world championship, the Soviet team had another very serious problem – the legendary quintet led by Igor Larionov was on the verge of collapse.

The conflict between Sergey Makarov and Vyacheslav Fetisov, which occurred during the awarding of the national team, was blamed. Makarov shouted towards Fetisov: “Drunk, why are you giving him a prize?”. Fetisov’s revenge was terrible – after that he personally asked Tikhonov to remove the infamous striker out of five.

“At a meeting in Prague, Fetisov addressed me on behalf of the four of them: “We don’t want him to play with us.” I promised to think– said Viktor Tikhonov.

As a result, the coach responded positively to the request of the CSKA captain and the USSR national team, replacing Fetisov’s younger brother Anatoly for Makarov. The newcomer played quickly enough with Krutov and Larionov and relatively painlessly replaced the striker who had argued with Fetisov. But in the updated combination, this trio did not last long – soon the Fetisov brothers had an accident in which Anatoly died tragically.

“What a handsome man! Talent! Like the current Dzagoev. Everything is with him. If Tolya had not died in an accident, Makarov would not have been in this five. By the way, I helped Fetisov’s parents find a new apartment, they could not live in the old one. Every corner gave them their sons.” “Then Fetisov and Makarov became friends again. Hockey combined. How many times there were at least dogs on the bench – I had to sit them down. “said Tikhonov.

Participants in this conflict more than once called the story of Tikhonov a fiction, assuring that in fact there was nothing close to it.

“They tried to argue with us more than once. When Vyacheslav was demoted from captains to CSKA, and the letter “K” went on my sweater. Tikhonov once said that after the defeat at the 1985 World Championships in Prague, I called Fetisov a drunk. Lie! “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be walking life side by side after a career,” he said. Sergey Makarov stated.

And Igor Larionov admitted that he no longer remembers the circumstances of this story.

“Firs-sticks, I don’t remember such a conflict! Yes, we sometimes had differences of opinion, but someone naming someone a name… Since the incident is not in my memory, it must be that everything was not so serious.said the Professor.

Whatever the case, conflicts and misunderstandings did not prevent the five greatest in the history of world hockey from achieving results on the ice and showing a great game.

“Give me five of these guys and 15 others who can just walk around, and that’s the team that won the Stanley Cup. And if you add Tretiak at his best, it’ll be the greatest team in history.”– said the first general manager of the NHL Players Association Alan Eagleson.