As head coach of Russia's national hockey team and a former hockey great himself, Aleksandr Yakushev is one of the country's sporting legends. He has two Olympic gold medals to his name, seven world championship prizes, and three times was awarded the title of best Soviet hockey-player while playing for the famous Spartak club. The Russia Journal met with Yakushev who reminisced about hockey and life, then and now.

"All in all, I can't complain about my life, yet a certain feeling of dissatisfaction remains," Yakushev says. "I missed some important events because of injuries; the 1968 Olympics in France, for example. I couldn't play because of a knee injury. I regret that immensely, but that's the way sport is. And then, I would have liked to win the Soviet best player title more than three times.

But the thing is, you have to remember we were up against CSKA and that was tough competition. [CSKA, the Central Army Sports Club, was considered the top Soviet team and Spartak's constant rival].

Back then, CSKA was more or less the Soviet national team under another name. All the national players were in CSKA, and they had all the national coaches as well. There was a principle then that everyone followed in the hierarchy of the sports world, and that was that the national team's interests come first. That meant that CSKA's management could take the best players from other teams, that they had to get used to playing with other national team players. It was hard to oppose a team like that. It wasn't just a question of sporting ability either; there were other pressures to take into account.

Referees, for example, were under enormous pressure. Even if there was nothing deliberate about the way they favored CSKA, the team had such a reputation that, consciously or unconsciously, referees would be biased in its favor. Not that CSKA needed any special treatment, not with the great players they had!

We couldn't escape politics, either. Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was known to be a real hockey fan. When his health deteriorated seriously, his doctors would prescribe him unusual medicine: hockey matches. He loved watching hockey, and his health would show a marked improvement the moment he entered the Central Stadium's VIP box. Even when the game was unexciting and the stands half-deserted, Brezhnev still showed obvious enjoyment.

When at a hockey match, Brezhnev was just an ordinary spectator, not General Secretary of the Party. There was only one occasion that I know of, when he used his authority in connection with hockey.

Matches usually began at 7 pm, but suddenly the starting time got shifted to 6.45 pm and stayed that way. Later on, we learnt that this was done because Brezhnev couldn't get home from hockey matches in time to watch the evening news. He hated missing the news, so the USSR Hockey Federation was ordered to start all hockey matches fifteen minutes earlier.

I suppose Brezhnev supported CSKA - at least, it was them he came to watch most often. As I said, CSKA had all the best players back then, and Brezhnev got a lot of enjoyment out of their performances.

I remember this one episode. In 1969, Spartak beat CSKA 3:1 in a USSR national cup finals match. During the game, a goal scored by CSKA's Vladimir Petrov was disallowed for being off-sides. You should have seen the fuss! CSKA's legendary coach Anatolii Tarasov judged the referee's decision unfair and just walked his team off the ice. The fans were completely divided, some were cheering, others booing. There was a hell of a noise up in the bleachers.

It took thirty minutes to sort everything out. Finally, the incident was resolved and both teams went back out onto the ice. Still, the Central Sports Committee punished Anatolii Tarasov for this incident then had him sacked and stripped of his title of USSR Honored Coach. It just goes to show how politics can interfere in sports. This kind of story really sticks in the memory.

Later, hockey matches were played in the small stadium instead of the central stadium. That caused a problem because Brezhnev found it hard to climb the stairs to the VIP box on the second floor. An elevator had to be specially built just for Brezhnev.

Spartak had some high-ranking fans as well, but we couldn't match our competitors in that respect. CSKA, being the army team, had patronage in the defense ministry, but we in Spartak had to rely on ourselves.

Even so, Spartak was always a strong competitor. We were so motivated when playing against CSKA, we didn't even need to be psyched up. My most memorable match was in 1967 when we scored a really impressive victory and came away with the champion's title.

RJ: Did CSKA ever try and lure you into their ranks?

Yakushev: When I was young, they made me an offer, but I turned it down. At that time, I had my military service deferred. By the time I was due to go to the army, I was already playing for the national team. One day, three servicemen came to my house to draft me and I had to pretend I wasn't home. As soon as they were gone, I contacted my team managers and they did something to get me out of military service. If it hadn't been for that, I would certainly have ended up playing for CSKA.

RJ: So, CSKA had the whole army from which to pick its players, like a sort of captive pool of talent?

Yakushev: Yes, and playing for a top team was also a way of getting out of the army. It was common in soccer, for example. As for hockey, anyone offered a chance to play for CSKA would accept without hesitation. Conditions there were better, and it was a step towards playing for the national team. There were plenty who couldn't resist the temptation. The most graphic example is Anatolii Fetisov. He also began with Spartak but ended up with CSKA. That was the policy - that all the best players should play under CSKA colors. Of course, it didn't really fit with the principles of sport, but everybody turned a blind eye.

Looking back over my career, I see our Olympic victories as major landmarks. But even more meaningful for sport, I think, was the series of friendly matches with Canadian professionals in 1972. The atmosphere was electric, there were so many outstanding players on both sides, and the fans just went wild.

We weren't able to socialize with the Canadians. They were bit standoffish and we didn't didn't end up breaking the ice, so to speak. Everything was too serious and official. But when we met again in Canada 15 years later, we had a lot of warm and friendly meetings, especially with Ken Driden, Ivan Courniuet, Serge Savart and Bobby Hall. Good guys, open-minded.

As for the Czechs, even before the infamous events of the spring of 1968 (Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia), our relations with the Czechs had not been very cordial. Essentially because at first, they were the experts and we were still just learning. But then the pupils went on to outplay their masters. We won the 1954 world championship, the first time we participated. We also won at the 1956 Olympics. The Czechs got jealous. The Czechs' resentment had been building up since 1945 when the Soviet Union imposed socialism on them.

The tanks in Prague in 1968 was the last straw. That was when it had become clear that there was no friendship between our "fraternal countries." At the world championships of 1969, 1970 and 1971, the Czechs looked at the USSR national team like a bull would when it sees red. Even the long-standing friendship between the two gatekeepers, Konovalenko and Dzurilla, had come to an end. The Czechs refused to shake hands with us, turned their backs on us. And they didn't just play a tough game, they were very rough and spat on our feet. It's not surprising that we often lost to the Czechs during the "cold war" period. But finally we did become friends!

RJ: Did USSR Sports Committee officials give you any "special instructions" before matches with the Czech team?

Yakushev: Not what you imply! I remember very well how our player, Gusev, was severely reprimanded for getting into a fistfight with a Czech player in 1975 at the "Izvestia Cup." Gusev was accused of "provoking quarrel between fraternal peoples."

RJ: Why do you think our team missed the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics? The team had some outstanding players, it was arguably one of the best teams in the history of Russian hockey!

Yakushev: There were problems with coordination. As I explained, the USSR national team had been formed of players "loaned" from specific clubs. The players from each club in the national team formed little, well-coordinated "units." As well, in Soviet times, major training sessions were organized before important championships and tournaments. That system meant that, unlike the Americans and Canadians, we are not good at playing impromptu.

At Nagano, our team definitely lacked coordination. It's hard for me to have to say this, but the only one who demonstrated top-notch play among the forwards was Pavel Bure. Almost all goals were scored thanks to his outstanding technique and his personal skills.

The world championship immediately following the Olympics was quite an unexceptional event and the upcoming championship in Norway promises to be little better. Nagano brought together the world's best players, while the Norwegian event will represent "the best of the second echelon."

I don't expect any surprises. Except that the Byelorussians could be a challenge to the favorites. The rivalry will be between the teams from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada and Finland, they're all pretty equal.

As for Russia, our team will apparently have to play without its NHL "legion" (Gonchar, Nikolishin, Zhamanov, Krivokrasov and Mironov will not be playing, and Bure, Kozlov and Kvasha are on post-trauma convalescence; the situation with Malakhov isn't clear yet), but still, the team will try its best to win.

RJ: What would be your best hockey team ever? One that brought together the best players from different countries.

Yakushev: Oh, that's a difficult question. There's so many candidates. As goalkeeper, I'd definitely like to see Vladislav Tretyak. The backs would be Bobby Orr and Vyacheslav Fetisov. Forwards... there's so many stars to choose from. Definitely Bobrov. Perhaps Gretski in the center. And Valery Kharlamov!