Sergei Makarov enjoyed a good NHL career, but his legacy should not be judged by his North American career.Makarov's greatest feats occurred during the 1980's when he played for the communist regime in the old Soviet Union. Because of that regime and the ever existent Cold War, we rarely saw Makarov play other than at world championships, Olympics, Canada Cups and NHL exhibitions. Because of the political and social settings we were raised to hate him, yet secretly we marveled at his awesome skills.
Makarov was a crazy legged skater, blessed with dazzling speed and agility. He was as dangerous of a one-on-one player as there ever has been, emulating the bold and sudden dashes of his idol Valeri Kharlamov. He had a laser of a shot and as much of a goal scorer's mentality as the Soviet system allowed. But he was every bit as lethal with his great passing game, be it short give-and-goes or impossible breakout passes.
He played 11 years for CSKA Moscow of the Soviet league with his team winning the league title each season. He also participated in 3 Winter Olympic Games and 11 World Championships and has been a member of 13 gold medal-winning teams: Canada Cup (1981), World Jr. Championships (1977, 1978), Olympics (1984, 1988), World Championships (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990).
An 11-time Soviet National League All-Star and 8-time World Championship First-Team All-Star, Makarov also was a 2-time winner of the "Gold Stick" award as the outstanding player in Europe.
Full Sergei Makarov biography
No comments:
Post a Comment