1954 Swedish Report About Soviet Hockey Salaries

[Canadiens1958]

After the Soviets won the gold medal at the 1954 World Championships, interest about their program grew. The issue of whether they were true amateurs was raised.

1954 report out of Sweden suggested numbers about their compensation.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yG4rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jpkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6937,1608934

If remotely accurate it is understandable why 1950s Soviet and other European hockey stars chose to play at home instead of the NHL or in North America.

 

[Theokritos]

Great find. So the Red Army players received $750 per month and every player got a $1,250 bonus for winning the WHC. The comment by Vern DeGeer (to the right below the article) tells us what the NHL bonus structure was in 1953-1954: $1,000 per player for finishing first in regular season, another $1,000 for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals and then another $1,000 for winning the Cup. Unfortunately DeGeer doesn't tell us what the regular NHL salary was. We know that in 1961 it amounted to $7,500. I think it's safe to say that's more than what the Soviet players earned over the same period of time (one playing season) and if we factor in the bonus money it gets considerably more. But on the other hand the Soviets got their salary 12 months a year while many NHLers worked other jobs during the off-season. No doubt the elite of the Soviet hockey players were well-off economically compared to the average Russian.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Salaries

Great find. So the Red Army players received $750 per month and every player got a $1,250 bonus for winning the WHC. The comment by Vern DeGeer (to the right below the article) tells us what the NHL bonus structure was in 1953-1954: $1,000 per player for finishing first in regular season, another $1,000 for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals and then another $1,000 for winning the Cup. Unfortunately DeGeer doesn't tell us what the regular NHL salary was. We know that in 1961 it amounted to $7,500. I think it's safe to say that's more than what the Soviet players earned over the same period of time (one playing season) and if we factor in the bonus money it gets considerably more. But on the other hand the Soviets got their salary 12 months a year while many NHLers worked other jobs during the off-season. No doubt the elite of the Soviet hockey players were well-off economically compared to the average Russian.

1964 salaries for teachers across Canada:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PZotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jp4FAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6708,5416683

so in comparison to seasonal professionals, teachers had July and August off, Soviet, European and NHL players did well. But the key question remains were 1950s, 1960s NHL salaries enough to attract top European talent?

After all the excellent Czech hockey player Jaroslav Drobny chose professional tennis:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaroslav_Drobný

 

[Hobnobs]

1964 salaries for teachers across Canada:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PZotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jp4FAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6708,5416683

so in comparison to seasonal professionals, teachers had July and August off, Soviet, European and NHL players did well. But the key question remains were 1950s, 1960s NHL salaries enough to attract top European talent?

After all the excellent Czech hockey player Jaroslav Drobny chose professional tennis:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaroslav_Drobný

If I remember correctly. Sterner was offered $10.000 for 3 years.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1957 Soviet Tour Pocket Money

Story about the CAHA providing pocket money to the Moscow Selects. Typical salary for a Canadian worker was well under $100.00 a week:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tk8vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e6gFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=7163,934316

 

[Canadiens1958]

No Wonder

If I remember correctly. Sterner was offered $10.000 for 3 years.

No wonder he went back to Europe. North American players post WWII were refusing hockey contracts in that range - pro-rated to one season, if it meant leaving the home town or where they were established with a job, home and family.

 

[lostriver]

If remotely accurate it is understandable why 1950s Soviet and other European hockey stars chose to play at home instead of the NHL or in North America.

Soviets could not just chose to play in NHL at that time, they had to defect.

 

[Killion]

Soviets could not just chose to play in NHL at that time, they had to defect.

Ya, and if there was any clue or inkling that any one of them might me so predisposed to trying that on they wouldnt be on a touring team no matter how talented. Serious serious repercussions circa 50's through 60's & into the 70's, 80's. Youd be leaving family, relatives behind. Essentially hostages. Theyd be paying the price for your so called freedom in the West.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Others

Soviets could not just chose to play in NHL at that time, they had to defect.

Yet Jaroslav Drobny defected to play tennis - money was much better. As did Rudolf Nereyev in 1961 - again money was much better:

http://www.nureyev.org/rudolf-nureyev-biography-defects-to-the-west-1961/

 

[lostriver]

Yet Jaroslav Drobny defected to play tennis - money was much better. As did Rudolf Nereyev in 1961 - again money was much better:

http://www.nureyev.org/rudolf-nureyev-biography-defects-to-the-west-1961/

well, if you check wiki articles for both of them, you will see that money was not the prime reasons for their defections.

top level soviet athletes were definitely pros and not amateurs. on top of salaries, successful athletes also received other goodies like fast-tracked apartments (most of the housing in the USSR was provided by the State and common folk had to wait sometimes for decades to get one), cars, country cottages, etc. but at the end they did stay put in the 50s and 60s not because they were better compensated, but for the reasons described by Killion.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Post WWII Displaced Persons

well, if you check wiki articles for both of them, you will see that money was not the prime reasons for their defections.

top level soviet athletes were definitely pros and not amateurs. on top of salaries, successful athletes also received other goodies like fast-tracked apartments (most of the housing in the USSR was provided by the State and common folk had to wait sometimes for decades to get one), cars, country cottages, etc. but at the end they did stay put in the 50s and 60s not because they were better compensated, but for the reasons described by Killion.

If we ignore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soviet_and_Eastern_Bloc_defectors

and the countless displaced persons from the Soviet Union - Ukrainians, Belorussians, etc who refused to be repatriated back to the Soviet Union, leaving families behind to come to Canada, the USA, and other democracies.

No reports of reprisals, in fact many were able to write letters back and forth, support family members back in the Soviet Union with regular packages, etc, visit before the fall of the iron curtain, finally reuniting with survivors after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Suggest readers look at hockey salaries in a global perspective.

1874 to date Baseball Salaries:

http://sabr.org/research/mlbs-annual-salary-leaders-1874-2012

Pro Tennis look at the earnings of some of the pros:

http://everything.explained.today/Pancho_Gonzales/

 

[Canadiens1958]

Lew Hoad Contract

To get a reasonable comparable on hockey salaries, compare the 1957 Lew Hoad contract for two years - linked:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=24ItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cJkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=7187,1528480

To the 1956 contract offered by Cleveland AHL to Nikolai Puchkov, $20,000

To the five year entry deal for $105,000 that Jean Beliveau signed with the Canadiens to leave Quebec.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1950 Pro Tennis

1950 pro tennis contracts - look at the salaries women pros were getting.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NoMtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dpkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=5491,7398230

Compare to the leading NHL players. No wonder Drobny opted for tennis.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1956 Ron Howell

1956, Ron Howell, Harry Howell's younger brother had a choice, accept an offer from the New York Rangers, had played a few games including the just finished playoffs, or continue a CFL career with the hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ron Howell chose football. Reasoning explained in the following:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OI0jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eJkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6754,3320866

 

[Hardyvan123]

1956, Ron Howell, Harry Howell's younger brother had a choice, accept an offer from the New York Rangers, had played a few games including the just finished playoffs, or continue a CFL career with the hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ron Howell chose football. Reasoning explained in the following:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OI0jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eJkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6754,3320866

Interesting stuff but what conclusions to draw or speculate around here?

 

[Hawksfan2828]

Great find. So the Red Army players received $750 per month and every player got a $1,250 bonus for winning the WHC. The comment by Vern DeGeer (to the right below the article) tells us what the NHL bonus structure was in 1953-1954: $1,000 per player for finishing first in regular season, another $1,000 for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals and then another $1,000 for winning the Cup. Unfortunately DeGeer doesn't tell us what the regular NHL salary was. We know that in 1961 it amounted to $7,500. I think it's safe to say that's more than what the Soviet players earned over the same period of time (one playing season) and if we factor in the bonus money it gets considerably more. But on the other hand the Soviets got their salary 12 months a year while many NHLers worked other jobs during the off-season. No doubt the elite of the Soviet hockey players were well-off economically compared to the average Russian.

Well, think about what that money could "buy" in the Soviet Union at the time - not very much...

The best perk for the players was probably improved living conditions and not having to wait in line for hours for rations, or even getting better food than the typical citizen of the USSR.. Of course the ability to actually leave the country to compete meant they had access to products as well so that was a nice position to be in when the typical Russian didn't have that freedom or access..

 

[Killion]

1956, Ron Howell, Harry Howell's younger brother had a choice, accept an offer from the New York Rangers, had played a few games including the just finished playoffs, or continue a CFL career with the hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ron Howell chose football. Reasoning explained in the following:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OI0jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eJkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6754,3320866

Interesting stuff but what conclusions to draw or speculate around here?

Well, what kinds of conclusions do you draw from Ron Howell's comments in that article Hv?....

1) Salary of $8500 while generous enough essentially eaten up due to the high cost of living in NYC or environs.

2) Travel with 70 games (35 road) not only grueling but exhausting. A "lifestyle" not a "profession" nor a "job". All consuming. And at the end of the season? You HAVE to work. Swingin a shovel, pick axe... factory... about all they could get.

3) Loss of control over ones destiny. You could be sent down, traded... some of clearly NHL caliber instead opted to play out their careers in the old WHL, the Q, Semi-Pro Senior etc. $$$ just as good (better paid in some cases). Control over your life, where you lived.

.... all kinds of reasons, could go on & on.... so no, its not surprising that talent be it of Swedish, Finnish, Canadian or American or whatever origin opted to play an entirely different sport professionally whereby the money was just as good if not better; allowed them to pursue outside interests... still allowed them to play decent level of hockey at home while raising a family, in Howells case, working with his father in the families fur business.... the positives he mentioned, "playing with his brother" & the "pension"... the former, absolutely that wouldve been great however as a Ranger, youd never be Playoff Bound. No Bonuses.... And as for the then much vaunted "NHL Pension"?. I had to laugh at that comment. Not a nice laugh either. Pretty despicable & his comments speaking to just how naive' the players were but then cant blame them, no one thought the NHL's owners etc could possibly be that bent... Saved himself a lot of grief over that scam. Absolutely criminal what the NHL pulled on the players from 1947 on through the 70's.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1950s CFL

Well, what kinds of conclusions do you draw from Ron Howell's comments in that article Hv?....

1) Salary of $8500 while generous enough essentially eaten up due to the high cost of living in NYC or environs.

2) Travel with 70 games (35 road) not only grueling but exhausting. A "lifestyle" not a "profession" nor a "job". All consuming. And at the end of the season? You HAVE to work. Swingin a shovel, pick axe... factory... about all they could get.

3) Loss of control over ones destiny. You could be sent down, traded... some of clearly NHL caliber instead opted to play out their careers in the old WHL, the Q, Semi-Pro Senior etc. $$$ just as good (better paid in some cases). Control over your life, where you lived.

.... all kinds of reasons, could go on & on.... so no, its not surprising that talent be it of Swedish, Finnish, Canadian or American or whatever origin opted to play an entirely different sport professionally whereby the money was just as good if not better; allowed them to pursue outside interests... still allowed them to play decent level of hockey at home while raising a family, in Howells case, working with his father in the families fur business.... the positives he mentioned, "playing with his brother" & the "pension"... the former, absolutely that wouldve been great however as a Ranger, youd never be Playoff Bound. No Bonuses.... And as for the then much vaunted "NHL Pension"?. I had to laugh at that comment. Not a nice laugh either. Pretty despicable & his comments speaking to just how naive' the players were but then cant blame them, no one thought the NHL's owners etc could possibly be that bent... Saved himself a lot of grief over that scam. Absolutely criminal what the NHL pulled on the players from 1947 on through the 70's.

A few other points. Ron Howell's numbers.

CFL
http://cflapedia.com/Players/h/howell_ron.htm

Hockey
http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/howelro01.html

1.) As a Canadian in the CFL, performing at the elite level - 1958 Outstanding Canadian and All-Star Ron Howell was able to command a premium salary.

2.) Also he could dedicate himself more time to the family fur business while supplementing his income. Until 1961 the CFL did not have an interlocking schedule, so playing six regular season road games and the odd playoff game meant a short bus or train trip to Toronto < one hour in each direction. Ottawa and Montréal were < seven hours in each direction.

3.) a number of players, notably Red Kelly, refused trades to New York or Chicago
because of the high cost of living. Some would opt for early retirement or a job in the Toronto area while playing Senior A hockey.

 

[Killion]

.... a number of players, notably Red Kelly, refused trades to New York or Chicago because of the high cost of living. Some would opt for early retirement or a job in the Toronto area while playing Senior A hockey.

Oh you bet.... or theyd opt for post secondary, get a degree. As weve discussed elsewhere a pro hockey career back in the day wasnt exactly a bed of wine n' roses. Essentially Seasonal Employment. The vast majority of the players from hardscrabble blue collar backgrounds, large families, northern mining & resource towns, farms... their own educations cut short at Junior, hockey a way out. If they had options as Ron Howell & plenty of others did, theyd often take them. The business of course has changed much but you still get the odd outlier who even with all the money in todays game will drop out, go to University or even pursue another sport.