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Great Athletes

Vladislav Tretiak

by Rusty Wilson

Sport: Ice hockey

Early Life

Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak was born in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union (now Russia), on April 25, 1952. His father was an air-force pilot, his mother, a physical-education teacher.

Vladislav Tretiak in 1972.

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(AFP/Getty Images)

The whole Tretiak family was athletic. In the Soviet Union, branches of the government, places of employment, labor unions, or other organizations sponsored sports clubs. Vladislav’s mother was a swimming instructor at one of these clubs, the Central Army Club in Moscow. His older brother was a swimmer for Dynamo, the club sponsored by the Soviet security police.

Vladislav was active in several sports. At first, he went to his brother’s club and tried swimming, then diving, gymnastics, and finally soccer. When he was ten, Vladislav asked his mother if he could go to work with her. As they were passing the ice rink on the way to the swimming pool, he noticed young boys playing ice hockey. Vladislav fell in love with the sport but was more in love with the uniforms. Soon afterward he tried out for the team. The only position open in which a uniform was available was goalie. Thus the career of one of the greatest goalies to play the game was born.

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The Road to Excellence

In 1967, four years after young Vladislav became a goalie to have a uniform, he moved up to the senior team of the famous Central Army Club. At fifteen, Vladislav became the team’s youngest player. He imitated his idols and learned the finer points of the game. Still, his age held him back. In July, when the team moved to another city to train, he was left behind to join the club’s junior team.

That year, his team won the national junior title and Vladislav was named the best junior goalie in the Soviet Union. In 1969, with Vladislav in goal, the juniors won the world championship. When he returned to his country he moved, at the age of sixteen, to the senior team.

The Emerging Champion

Vladislav seized the opportunity of his promotion to the senior team and dedicated himself to becoming the greatest goalie he could. Under the tutelage of the legendary coach Anatoli Tarasov, Vladislav suffered grueling exercises devised for him. As Vladislav’s reputation grew, Tarasov reminded him, “Don’t listen to compliments. When they praise you, they steal from you.”

Dedication was one of Vladislav’s strongest characteristics. The coaching staff ordered extra work that lasted long after all the other players and coaches went home. Vladislav stayed alone until he completed every exercise. By the end of the season, he was the Central Army Sports Club goalie. Vladislav led Central Army to the national championships, and later that year, 1970, he took the national team to the World Championships. He also led the team in defense of its World Championship in 1971.

In February, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan, Vladislav became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in Soviet hockey history. The nineteen-year-old led the powerful Soviet team to a 4-0-1 series record, including a 5-2 championship-game victory over Czechoslovakia. During the Olympics, the Soviets scored 33 goals while allowing only 13. However, later that same year, they lost the World Championship to Czechoslovakia, only to regain the title in 1973, 1974, and 1975.

In 1976, at Innsbruck, Austria, Vladislav again led the Soviets to an Olympic gold medal. This time they had a perfect 5-0 record while outscoring the opposition 40 goals to 11. Vladislav was rapidly becoming a living legend in hockey.

Continuing the Story

Beginning in 1972, the Soviets played a biannual series against all-star teams from professional teams in the West. In 1972, the Soviets played a team from the National Hockey League (NHL). The teams played eight times in twenty-six days. Vladislav was in goal for every game. Although the Soviets lost the series 4-3-1, Vladislav drew much attention by taking on some of hockey’s greatest players. In the games, both teams scored a total of 32 goals, proving that Vladislav was as good as the best in the NHL.

In 1974, the Soviet team faced an all-star team from the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Soviets won 4-1-3, with Vladislav allowing only 25 goals while playing in seven of the eight games. Many teams in the NHL and WHA showed interest in the young Soviet goalie. Still, his interest was with the Soviet team.

The Soviets won the World Championships title in 1977, 1978, and 1979. Then came the Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, and the United States’ “miracle team.” Just days before the start of the Games, the Soviets, who had beaten the NHL all-star team, destroyed the United States 10-3. The Soviets were the top team in the Olympic tournament, while the Americans were seeded seventh. The two teams met to determine the opponent for Finland in the title game.

On February 22, 1980, the Soviets and Americans faced off. By the end of the first period, the Americans were losing 2-1, but with one second left, Mark Johnson slipped a goal past Vladislav to tie the score at 2-2. As the second period began, Vladislav was mysteriously not in goal and did not return for the rest of the game. The Americans went on to win 4-3 and eventually won the gold medal. Vladislav never got over the defeat. “In the most difficult moments, I will always help the team, and the team believes in me,” he said four years after the defeat. “I will remember this the rest of my life.”

With Vladislav in goal, the Soviets went on to win the World Championships in 1981, 1982, and 1983. In 1984, at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Vladislav led the Soviets in regaining the Olympic gold medal. Afterward, he retired from hockey at the age of thirty-one.

In 1994, Vladislav’s uniform number 20 was retired during Living Legends Night at Moscow’s Ice Palace hockey rink. He was the first Soviet hockey player to have his uniform number retired. Later, Vladislav consulted as a part-time coach with the Chicago Blackhawks and continued to run goaltending training programs in the United States and Canada. He eventually became president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation.

Summary

Hockey fans will always compare goalies to Vladislav Tretiak. There will always be a legendary quality to the man. In 1989, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He attained this stature through hard work and dedication to his sport and his country.

Additional Sources

1 

Dolgopolov, Nikolai. “Tending the Goals.” Russian Life 50, no. 2 (March/April, 2007): 44-49.

2 

McDonell, Chris. Hockey’s Greatest Stars: Legends and Young Lions. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly Books, 2005.

3 

Tretiak, Vladislav. The Art of Goaltending. Edmonton, Alta.: Plains, 1989.

4 

_______. Tretiak, the Legend. Edmonton, Alta.: Plains, 1987.

5 

Tretiak, Vladislav, and Vladimir Snegirev. The Hockey I Love. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1977.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Wilson, Rusty. "Vladislav Tretiak." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_2282.
APA 7th
Wilson, R. (2009). Vladislav Tretiak. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Wilson, Rusty. "Vladislav Tretiak." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.