Plus, and this may be a stupid way to look at it, but... from watching games, I really think Tretiak is a lot better than the next non-NHL European goalie, both before and after his time. Like, a lot better. So then, the question for me is, how did he become so much better than the others without having elite guys to look at and train under? If he had been dealt the hand Hall had been, developing in Detroit 'under' Terry Sawchuk, then only given the starter reins as a seasoned 24 year old rather than as a green 19 year old... would Tretiak have been even better?
I've been reading Tretiak's book, "Tretiak: A Legend". He had positive things to say about Konovalenko and other older Soviet goalies who were supportive, but his biggest influences were Anatoli Tarasov and Jacques Plante.
Tarasov identified Tretiak as his goaltender of the future when Tretiak was only 15, giving him chances to practice with the senior team, and started working intensively with him after the 1969 European U19 championship, when Tretiak was only 16. Tarasov thought Bohumil Modry was the most physically gifted goaltender he had seen, but Modry didn't apply himself in training. In Tretiak, Tarasov saw another Modry when it came to his physical gifts, and also someone who would apply hard work and intelligence to improve.
Tarasov established a task for himself; to make Tretiak the best goaltender. "The best in the country?" I asked. Anatoly frowned at me. "In the world! Remember this once and for all: In the world!" he said.
Tretiak said that Tarasov put an incredible workload on him. He had three practices a day, and Tarasov frequently invented new exercises just for him. He played in a game almost every day, sometimes for the juniors, the intermediates, or the seniors. And he had to carry a tennis ball with him everywhere off the ice, throwing it and catching it.
Tarasov and Tretiak took Plante as a model for goaltending. Here's Tarasov on Plante, from Tretiak's book.
I studied Plante and noticed that he was using a technique of recoil. He would skate far away from his net to meet the puck carrier, thus decreasing the angle of the shot, and then would recoil back to his net as the player approached. Aha, I though, we can use this technique. I was also stunned by his faultless ability to study his rivals. His intelligence was obvious. He knew how to play each forward that he faced from our team.
Per Tretiak's book, Jacques Plante was interviewed at the 1976 Canada Cup and said Tretiak was the best goaltender in the world. I'd like to get another source for that.
One amusing bit from the book was that Tretiak didn't believe Terry Sawchuk could be a real person.
There are many rumors about the goaltending profession, although truth is greatly mixed with legend. Once, for example, I read that one of the professional teams had a goalie who, in 110 games had not missed a single goal, and that on his face, he had more than four hundred scars. I think that this is a figment of someone's imagination.
Anyway, it's true that Tretiak didn't have great Russian or European goalies to learn from, but the coaching and attention he got from Tarasov as a teenager is probably unique in history. I doubt Sawchuk, Hall, or Plante received anywhere near as much direct instruction.
