Throughout his career, Vladislav Tretyak won all possible trophies with the USSR national team. The great goalkeeper became a three-time Olympic champion and a ten-time world champion.
The goalkeeper won everywhere he could. However, one peak remained unconquered for the legend. The hockey player always had a desire to play in the strongest league on the planet – the NHL. Unfortunately, this will remain a dream. Although there was a chance to go overseas. Only, at that time, nothing depended on Tretyak. The goalkeeper was deceived and deprived of his cherished dream.
On April 25, Vladislav Alexandrovich turned 74 years old. On this occasion, we decided to recall how and why the great goalkeeper never went to the NHL.
A Proxy Father or General Tretyak
In the early 80s, the Soviet goalkeeper was of great interest to Montreal. As Tretyak later admitted, he himself would have very much liked to play for the Canadian club. After the first match of the club super series in the 1975/1976 season, the entire Forum gave the CSKA goalkeeper a standing ovation. Vladislav Alexandrovich believed that the Canadiens were the team most similar in style to the army men among all NHL teams. In 1983, the club drafted Tretyak with the overall 138th pick and began actively negotiating with the Soviet side.
Montreal was even ready to offer the goalkeeper a contract worth $1.5 million a year. But, alas, no one wanted to let one of the main stars out of the USSR.
So, the general manager of the Canadiens, Serge Savard, personally came to the country, with whom Tretyak had communicated during the 1972 Super Series. The official approached the chairman of the USSR Sports Committee, Marat Gramov. In response, the foreign guest was clearly told that they would not release the hockey player for any money.
More influential people even entered the negotiations. It is known that the Minister of Sports of Canada was actively monitoring the situation on the part of Montreal. The official participated in the dialogue. But even this did not help. And the Soviet cunning ultimately scared off the NHL representatives.
As Tretyak recounted, the secretary of the Central Committee, Mikhail Suslov, deceived the Canadians. He told them that the goalkeeper's father, an army general, was categorically against his son's move to Montreal. And Vladislav allegedly did not want to upset his parent either. After some time, interest from the Canadiens indeed diminished.
Moreover, in 1983, Ivan Moiseevich Tretyak – a general of the Soviet army – headed the Far Eastern District. Of course, this was a namesake. The real father of the hockey player held the rank of major. However, the Canadians believed it and backed off. This is how the great goalkeeper was not allowed into the NHL due to such a deception. The goalkeeper only learned about the deceit years later.
Tretyak's Career in the NHL
Tretyak did reach the strongest league in the world. However, already in the status of a coach. He spent a total of 14 seasons there! In 1989, Tretyak was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame. At the solemn ceremony, everything was as it should be: the anthem of the USSR upon entering the stage, a detailed account of the goalkeeper's achievements, a medal, and a gold ring. After the banquet, the ten-time world champion was invited to the bar for a beer. Usually, Tretyak did not like such outings, but this time he did not refuse – as he knew.
There, the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, Mike Keenan, approached him with the club's vice president and offered Vladislav Alexandrovich the position of goaltending coach for the team. By that time, it was possible to travel and work abroad. Although there were some minor problems at first. Ultimately, he stayed with the club from 1990 to 2004.
Greats like Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek went through the experience of working with Tretyak. During one of the practices, Mike Keenan even suggested that Tretyak get in goal for the Blackhawks in a real NHL game. He was so good in practice that he looked better than the current hockey players. The legendary goalkeeper almost agreed, but ultimately his wife advised him to decline. The image that had been built over his entire career could be ruined in just a couple of games.
By the way, it was Tretyak who once saved the career of the great Hasek. The Czech had just arrived in Chicago and started playing for the farm club – Indianapolis. Dominik was not doing particularly well there. In the two games that Vladislav Alexandrovich attended, he conceded 12 goals...
The goalkeeper was in decline and shared with the coach that he wanted to return to Europe. Tretyak advised him not to rush and tried to calm him down. Ultimately, he managed to dissuade the goalkeeper from the main mistake of his life. And he decided not to mention those 12 goals to the management. After some time, Hasek would break into the main team of Chicago, win two Stanley Cups in the NHL, and become one of the greatest goalkeepers in the league.
Although Tretyak's dream did not come true in the form he would have liked, the great athlete certainly left his mark on overseas hockey.
