Book Feature Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey, Part 1: 1946-1956 (by Jim Genac)

[Jim Genac]

'Path to the Summit' is a book trilogy that tells the history of Soviet hockey and the story of how the Soviet Union constructed a hockey power to rival Canada’s very best. Part 1 primarily focuses on the first decade of Soviet hockey from 1946 - 1956

The commonly accepted narrative is that the Soviet Union first took up hockey on December 22, 1946. Nine years after that inauspicious beginning, the Soviets were both World and Olympic Champions; a meteoric rise that replicated the stunning performance of their athletes at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

In all those other sports, the dramatic rise to success was achieved by studying the West and incorporating Western sports knowledge to mould Soviet sports training. But in hockey, Soviet success was allegedly engineered with no previous exposure to the game, no help from outside sources, and all a result of the efforts of one man - Anatoli Tarasov.

It makes for a wonderful tale, but it's pure myth.

The trilogy explores the untold story behind the Soviet Union's journey to the 1972 Summit Series. In Part 1 we examine the detailed history the Soviets had with hockey before 1946, the internal struggles to establish the sport, the political battles that shaped its direction, and the extraordinary contribution Canada's Lloyd Percival made. With a clear link to the very first Soviet hockey season, Percival's theories would provide Anatoli Tarasov with the blueprint he needed to create his vision of total hockey.

The book can be ordered on Amazon by searching "Path to the Summit" and/or Jim Genac. This link will take you to the Amazon.com site. If accessing from outside of the United States, please search for the book in the Amazon domain of your country of origin: https://a.co/d/d5Mj7wX

The Amazon page provides a small sample of the book and lists the table of contents.

About the Author:

I live in Vancouver, Canada. At the age of 9, I attended Game 4 of the 1972 Summit Series. After playing minor hockey up to the Midget level (what we would now call U18), I took up coaching and advanced through the Canadian coaching levels to 'Advanced 1' (which during the 1980s and 1990s was the second highest Canadian coaching certification level). After the 1981 Canada Cup, I undertook a personal quest to better understand how the Soviet Union was developing hockey players.

In February/March 1987, I had an opportunity to expand my knowledge of how the Soviet Union were developing hockey players when the Vancouver Canucks invited Anatoli Tarasov to come to Vancouver as part of a coaching exchange (it was part of an initiative by the Vancouver Canucks to secure the release of two Soviet players they had drafted and bring them to the NHL. The players were Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov).

I reached out to Anatoli Tarasov and he invited me to spend the week as his guest while he worked with the NHL club. During that week, Mr. Tarasov and I had numerous opportunities to discuss hockey. At the end of that week, a hockey clinic was arranged wherein Mr. Tarasov conducted both dryland and on-ice practices with Bantam and Midget aged players (U15-U18) at the University of British Columbia. This clinic was attended by approximately 50 'junior trainers'.

In May/June 1987, Mr. Tarasov returned to Vancouver for a double hip operation that had been arranged by the Vancouver Canucks. I visited him at Vancouver Hospital after the operation and met with him numerous times as he recuperated in his downtown Vancouver hotel suite. I was afforded the opportunity to extensively discuss hockey training in the NHL, Canadian youth training and youth training in the Soviet Union. We also had a lively discussion about hockey philosophy. The desire to write this trilogy sprang from those meetings and after the trilogy is complete, there will be a fourth book about that 1987 visit. Mr. Tarasov's had succinct observations about the NHL and what he believed the Vancouver Canucks should be doing to build a winning organization.

I would like to thank Marcel for inviting me to discuss my first book on this forum. It is an outstanding site for the exchange of hockey knowledge and I am honoured to be able to contribute to its content.

Click to read more...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

This looks great!

 

[Habsfan18]

This looks great!

It is!

 

[Theokritos]

@Jim Genac: Thank you very much for joining us.

Having already read this book, I can only second what Habsfan18 has said. As I've stated elsewhere: A must-read for everyone interested in hockey history, easily ranks within the top 3 Western publications on the history of Soviet hockey (together with Lawrence Martin's "Red Machine" and Paul Harder's thesis).

Jim, let's start with the fact that you were able to meet and discuss with Tarasov himself back in 1987. What impression did he make on you and what can you tell us about facing him in person?

 

[Jim Genac]

@Jim Genac: Thank you very much for joining us.

Having already read this book, I can only second what Habsfan18 has said. As I've stated elsewhere: A must-read for everyone interested in hockey history, easily ranks within the top 3 Western publications on the history of Soviet hockey (together with Lawrence Martin's "Red Machine" and Paul Harder's thesis).

Jim, let's start with the fact that you were able to meet and discuss with Tarasov himself back in 1987. What impression did he make on you and what can you tell us about facing him in person?

I'll start off by talking about how I was able to meet him.

Between 1981 and 1987, I had spent hundreds of hours researching Soviet hockey as best I could. I pulled up microfiche of newspapers from the 1970s, sourced any possible books, hunted down educational thesis at the University of British Columbia… anything to somehow try and understand why the Soviets seemed to be doing a better job at developing hockey players than we in Canada were. Not only wasn’t there much information but the best descriptions of what they were doing to train their young players was contained in Ken Dryden’s book ‘Face Off At the Summit’ (and a similar Macleans magazine article) where he talked about visiting the CSKA training facility outside Moscow.

And to be honest, I simply couldn’t picture what Dryden was describing.

In 1986 I reached out to Clare Drake, the coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey club. Drake had watched Anatoli Tarasov conduct a coaching clinic in both 1970 and 1982 at the University of British Columbia. After contacting him, he provided me with his detailed notes of the on-ice session from the 1982 clinic (and we talked extensively on the phone). I still had difficulty capturing in my mind's eye what he was describing. When it was announced the Vancouver Canucks were bringing the infamous Anatoli Tarasov to Vancouver, Clare Drake encouraged me to reach out to him when he was in town.

I was apprehensive about the idea but when you read Tarasov’s books, the impression is made that he is a man who genuinely wants to talk with Canadians about hockey. It is almost a hokey theme that comes across as BS propaganda. Was it genuine? I wanted to believe it was.

I decided I HAD to meet this man. But how to do it? More importantly, could I do it?

I noted (I believe it was in Road to Olympus) that Tarasov never understood why it was that when he came to North America, people were always giving him letters written in English. He didn’t read English and he thought being handed letters in English was rude or ignorant. Obviously, the first thing I had to do was to get an introductory letter written in Russian.mI reached out to a colleague at work who was fluent in Russian and he drafted a letter introducing myself and asking for the opportunity to discuss how the Soviets trained hockey players.

So now what?

When the day came he was to start work with the Canucks, I headed down to Pacific Coliseum with the vague intention of somehow pulling a ‘Ferris Bueller’. (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a movie released in 1986 wherein the lead character was a bullshit artist who used chutzpah to boldly achieve outlandish things. It resonated with me because in high school I had a group of friends who routinely did outlandish things that were oddly reminiscent of Ferris Bueller. And I figured what the hell... why not do something similar to meet Tarasov?) So off I headed to the Pacific Coliseum with the notion that I could pretend to be a member of the media and then take it from there. What was the worst that could happen? That they wouldn’t let me in?

To my utter amazement, I got into the building. Once inside, I sat in the arena and waited for the practice to begin.

When Tarasov came out, he headed to the Canucks player's bench with a person who turned out to be his translator (Victor).

My first impression was one of shock. Mr. Tarasov was extremely overweight and he had great difficulty walking (I've attached a picture from the Vancouver Sun of him on the bench that day).

Once the practice was underway, I walked up, caught the attention of Victor, passed my letter through the glass to him, then Victor passed it to Tarasov. Tarasov immediately handed it right back to him and waved his hand (as to say ‘Read this for me’). I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. Was he actually annoyed at the possibility of receiving a letter written in English? If so my efforts were about to pay off handsomely. When Victor opened the letter, I could see him telling Tarasov, “It’s in Russian.”

Tarasov looked at me, took the letter, read it, and looked up again and pointed as if to say, “Is this you in the letter?” I said “Yes.” He immediately motioned for me to come around and join him on the player’s bench. I was giddy and nervous as hell.

Once on the bench, Tarasov apologized saying that he was working and couldn’t talk right now. I was welcome to stay with him on the bench and watch the practice. We could talk afterwards. I nodded and dutifully sat at one end of the bench, scarcely believing this was happening. During the practice, I furiously scribbled notes in a notepad I had brought. Tarasov had one written that he never understood why Canadians didn’t seem to take notes when watching his practices… was there nothing they could learn? So, I made sure it was evident I was taking lots and lots of notes. It wasn’t just about capturing what I could learn… it was about building upon the impression I had already made with my Russian-translated introduction letter.

After the practice, Tom Watt (the Canucks coach) came over to the bench and asked Tarasov if he wanted to speak to the team in the dressing room. Tarasov turned to me, apologized again, said his job wasn’t done, and asked if I would come back every day for the rest of the week. At some point, he would make time to speak with me.

(Tom Watt then arranged for me to get back into the building for the rest of the week).

I was in shock… I mean… could it have played out any better? I walked out of the Coliseum, emotions swirling inside of me. I was shaking my head in disbelief that my gambit to gain into Pacific Coliseum had worked. I was awestruck that this Soviet hockey legend was, in fact, as approachable as he was made out to be. And with the realization that I now had access to him for an entire week, I spent that first night madly revamping the scope and breadth of what I planned to talk to him about.

As for my impressions of Tarasov that first day... it was very evident that he was all business. The Vancouver media had touted his visit as a PR move by the Canucks. Under the guise of a coaching exchange, the visit in the eyes of the Vancouver hockey club was nothing more than an attempt by the Canucks to curry favour with the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation to eventually secure the release of Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov to play in the National Hockey League.

Anatoli Tarasov was fully aware of this (as he would comment to me later) however, he had other ideas. He approached it as a genuine coaching exchange. He was there to evaluate the Vancouver Canuck players, evaluate the coaching methods of Tom Watt, proactively contribute to the training plans Watt had drawn up and intended to provide a detailed assessment of what he believed the Vancouver Canucks could do to improve their hockey club. He was also intent on learning as much about the inner workings of an NHL hockey club as he could.

This last part would play a significant role in the relationship that I developed with him. I believe he learned as much from me as I did from him.

That was the first day. I’ll continue to this answer this question tomorrow.

 

[seventieslord]

I read what you said, but.... I was still not prepared for that photo.

 

[VMBM]

I read what you said, but.... I was still not prepared for that photo.

Fatphobic! He looks brilliant, beautiful, healthy, 10/10...

Looking forward to hear some more for sure.

 

[Jim Genac]

The second day of Tarasov’s stay with the Vancouver Canucks was similar to that of the first but on this day, while Tom Watt ran the practice, Tarasov took a more active role and had NHL players doing somersaults on the ice (a comical sight to behold) and other innovations they were not used to. A considerable amount of time was spent on mapping out an offensive play Tarasov had designed. (When the NHL schedule resumed after the All-Star break, the Canucks would score a goal using that play). What I didn’t see was any of the high-tempo skill development or conditioning drills I had so often read about. Nor was there any sign of the infamous ‘assembly line training.’ And because he was more actively involved in the practice, there was no time for any discussion with him on the player's bench.

Once again, I took copious notes and stayed very quiet.

At the conclusion of the practice, I was invited to come into the waiting area outside of Tom Watt’s office and Mr. Tarasov said he would come out after speaking to the team. His post-practice chat ran longer than expected and it meant I would only be able to ask one question. My original plan was for a series of questions about his English book, Tarasov’s Hockey Technique (published in 1973). But, put on the spot, I opted to ask something simple. I asked him to talk about passing. I wanted to hear him articulate his theories.

Instead of diving into the theory of Soviet passing, he started off a 35-minute answer talking about the ‘technique’ of passing.

He began with the way Canadians pass the puck. Hard passes, the type that gain speed during delivery, the type that are supposed to be hard to intercept. All young players in Canada have this drilled into them from a very young age but Tarasov thought this was wrong. He waxed poetic about how passes needed to be convenient for the player to receive the puck. To do that, technique was crucial and he went into great detail about that technique.

Tarasov believed that the release of the puck had to be like the release of a bullet from a rifle. The rifling on the inside of a gun barrel consists of spiral grooves cut into the inside of the barrel. They exist to make the bullet spin when the gun is fired. As the bullet is propelled through the barrel, it rotates the bullet which greatly improves accuracy over longer distances. So, the first element in hockey was to duplicate this. To rotate the puck off the end of the stick and make it spin like a bullet being shot from a gun.

(In my coaching I would co-opt the gun analogy and replace it with the example of a frisbee. To make a frisbee fly straight and true, you must make it spin. The same has to be done with a puck).

Tarasov then built on that fundamental technique and talked about connecting with the puck… finessing… sometimes hard, sometimes soft. This grew into a discussion of how passes had to ‘come from the heart.’ This progress to the backbone of his passing theories. It was spellbinding the way he moved step-by-step in building his argument. By the time he was finished Tom Watt and a host of other Canucks personnel had gathered around to listen. He had the room hanging on his every word… amazing considering it was all said in Russian and relayed through Victor, his translator.

So, to get back to your question yesterday… what was it like facing Anatoli Tarasov in person?

If you were genuinely interested in discussing hockey, he would engage you with unbridled passion. There were never simple answers. He weighed each question and expanded on it more than most hockey people I have ever interviewed. Talking hockey with him, as opposed to reading his theories in his books, was like the difference between dissecting a fish in a laboratory and looking a fish in an aquarium. The fish in the aquarium is alive, full of colour, full of motion and captivating to watch.

And so was Anatoli Tarasov.

It was the first of many detailed discussions we would have in February and in May.

I’m attaching another picture. This one is Anatoli Tarasov on the Canucks bench during the practices. He was constantly writing his own notes. The photo was taken by a photographer sitting next to me.

 

[kaiser matias]

I read what you said, but.... I was still not prepared for that photo.

Seriously. I've seen other photos of him so knew he was a larger fellow in his older age, but that picture shows a very large man.

 

[kaiser matias]

I'll start off by talking about how I was able to meet him.

CLIPPED

This story (and your other posts following up) is so interesting to read, and I'm really glad you are planning on writing in depth on it. A shame the Canucks didn't properly utilize what they had there, they could have really used it (especially in those years, they were some lean times in Vancouver).

You're book is one of many on my to-read list, and I am very much looking forward to it. As someone who studied Russian history at the graduate level, I've always had a strong interest in Soviet hockey, and the dearth of material out there is a real shame as it's so unique. I'm glad you've started to fill that void, and can't wait to get into it.

 

[VMBM]

A shame the Canucks didn't properly utilize what they had there, they could have really used it (especially in those years, they were some lean times in Vancouver).

Maybe... Maybe not.

It's an interesting question whether Tarasov would've truly had something to offer to the (then-)modern NHL. For example, Viktor Tikhonov gives the impression in his book (compiled in 1988) that Tarasov is pretty much a man of the past and while he claims to be interested in his and other old(er) coaches' opinions and advices, he is also very sceptical of them, since those people haven't coached in a long time — at least not at the top level. This argument against Tarasov and his relevance back then may not be very strong, since it's a well-known fact that Tikhonov and Tarasov weren't exactly the best of buddies, but Tikhonov basically says the same thing about Arkadi Chernyshov, whom he worked with for many years (as an assistant coach of Dynamo Moscow) and whom he seemed to value clearly more.

But yeah, you'd think that Anatoli Tarasov knew a thing or two about the basic skills like passing!

 

[Jim Genac]

A shame the Canucks didn't properly utilize what they had there, they could have really used it (especially in those years, they were some lean times in Vancouver).

On the topic of "not properly utilizing what they had there."

While I was writing the first book, I was able to get in contact with Tom Watt and we had a lengthy telephone chat. I asked him if anyone filmed or recorded those practices, the dressing room sessions or if there were any notes of any kind made during the coaching exchange.

Mr. Watt stated there was nothing. It was a completely different story with Anatoli Tarasov. After flying over 24 hours to get to Vancouver, he ordered game tapes of the recent Canuck losses delivered to his hotel room, built profiles of each player and reviewed Watt's training plan for the upcoming week. When he showed up at the arena, he had a complete profile of all the Canuck players drawn up.

From Watt's perspective, the visit was an exchange of ideas and he approached it as a get-together of knowledgeable coaches who shared a common interest. He and Tarasov got along very well and established a great friendship.. so well that when Watt travelled to Moscow with the Calgary Flames in 1989 as part of an NHL friendship tour, Tarasov enthusiastically greeted the coaches and insisted on having Flames head coach Terry Crisp and Tom Watt as his guest at his dacha. They spent several days (and long nights drinking) together, visiting the Red Army spa and having a great time.

In June 1987, Tarasov and I would talk at length about the Canucks and he was full of praise for 'Tommy' and his abilities as a hockey coach. (As for the hockey team itself - not so much).

Watt says they exchanged a lot of ideas and talked extensively, but there was no film, no video nor any notes taken of any kind.

 

[Theokritos]

@Jim Genac: Thank you very much for the detailed account of your fascinating encounter with Tarasov.

So, when was it that you had learned enough about Soviet hockey to think: Perhaps I should write a book about it?

 

[VMBM]

Reading these posts, one is once again reminded of Tarasov's immense passion for hockey... To a point of it being sometimes exhausting; e.g. Valeri Kharlamov wrote that he could never quite relax around him, because for Tarasov, everything was about hockey even outside the rink, and he would commonly use expressions like "serving hockey" and a "betrayal of hockey". But in the same breath, Kharlamov also mentioned how interesting and innovative the practices by Tarasov always were.

 

[sdf]

I'll start off by talking about how I was able to meet him.

Between 1981 and 1987, I had spent hundreds of hours researching Soviet hockey as best I could. I pulled up microfiche of newspapers from the 1970s, sourced any possible books, hunted down educational thesis at the University of British Columbia… anything to somehow try and understand why the Soviets seemed to be doing a better job at developing hockey players than we in Canada were. Not only wasn’t there much information but the best descriptions of what they were doing to train their young players was contained in Ken Dryden’s book ‘Face Off At the Summit’ (and a similar Macleans magazine article) where he talked about visiting the CSKA training facility outside Moscow.

And to be honest, I simply couldn’t picture what Dryden was describing.

In 1986 I reached out to Clare Drake, the coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey club. Drake had watched Anatoli Tarasov conduct a coaching clinic in both 1970 and 1982 at the University of British Columbia. After contacting him, he provided me with his detailed notes of the on-ice session from the 1982 clinic (and we talked extensively on the phone). I still had difficulty capturing in my mind's eye what he was describing. When it was announced the Vancouver Canucks were bringing the infamous Anatoli Tarasov to Vancouver, Clare Drake encouraged me to reach out to him when he was in town.

I was apprehensive about the idea but when you read Tarasov’s books, the impression is made that he is a man who genuinely wants to talk with Canadians about hockey. It is almost a hokey theme that comes across as BS propaganda. Was it genuine? I wanted to believe it was.

I decided I HAD to meet this man. But how to do it? More importantly, could I do it?

I noted (I believe it was in Road to Olympus) that Tarasov never understood why it was that when he came to North America, people were always giving him letters written in English. He didn’t read English and he thought being handed letters in English was rude or ignorant. Obviously, the first thing I had to do was to get an introductory letter written in Russian.mI reached out to a colleague at work who was fluent in Russian and he drafted a letter introducing myself and asking for the opportunity to discuss how the Soviets trained hockey players.

So now what?

When the day came he was to start work with the Canucks, I headed down to Pacific Coliseum with the vague intention of somehow pulling a ‘Ferris Bueller’. (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a movie released in 1986 wherein the lead character was a bullshit artist who used chutzpah to boldly achieve outlandish things. It resonated with me because in high school I had a group of friends who routinely did outlandish things that were oddly reminiscent of Ferris Bueller. And I figured what the hell... why not do something similar to meet Tarasov?) So off I headed to the Pacific Coliseum with the notion that I could pretend to be a member of the media and then take it from there. What was the worst that could happen? That they wouldn’t let me in?

To my utter amazement, I got into the building. Once inside, I sat in the arena and waited for the practice to begin.

When Tarasov came out, he headed to the Canucks player's bench with a person who turned out to be his translator (Victor).

My first impression was one of shock. Mr. Tarasov was extremely overweight and he had great difficulty walking (I've attached a picture from the Vancouver Sun of him on the bench that day).

Once the practice was underway, I walked up, caught the attention of Victor, passed my letter through the glass to him, then Victor passed it to Tarasov. Tarasov immediately handed it right back to him and waved his hand (as to say ‘Read this for me’). I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. Was he actually annoyed at the possibility of receiving a letter written in English? If so my efforts were about to pay off handsomely. When Victor opened the letter, I could see him telling Tarasov, “It’s in Russian.”

Tarasov looked at me, took the letter, read it, and looked up again and pointed as if to say, “Is this you in the letter?” I said “Yes.” He immediately motioned for me to come around and join him on the player’s bench. I was giddy and nervous as hell.

Once on the bench, Tarasov apologized saying that he was working and couldn’t talk right now. I was welcome to stay with him on the bench and watch the practice. We could talk afterwards. I nodded and dutifully sat at one end of the bench, scarcely believing this was happening. During the practice, I furiously scribbled notes in a notepad I had brought. Tarasov had one written that he never understood why Canadians didn’t seem to take notes when watching his practices… was there nothing they could learn? So, I made sure it was evident I was taking lots and lots of notes. It wasn’t just about capturing what I could learn… it was about building upon the impression I had already made with my Russian-translated introduction letter.

After the practice, Tom Watt (the Canucks coach) came over to the bench and asked Tarasov if he wanted to speak to the team in the dressing room. Tarasov turned to me, apologized again, said his job wasn’t done, and asked if I would come back every day for the rest of the week. At some point, he would make time to speak with me.

(Tom Watt then arranged for me to get back into the building for the rest of the week).

I was in shock… I mean… could it have played out any better? I walked out of the Coliseum, emotions swirling inside of me. I was shaking my head in disbelief that my gambit to gain into Pacific Coliseum had worked. I was awestruck that this Soviet hockey legend was, in fact, as approachable as he was made out to be. And with the realization that I now had access to him for an entire week, I spent that first night madly revamping the scope and breadth of what I planned to talk to him about.

As for my impressions of Tarasov that first day... it was very evident that he was all business. The Vancouver media had touted his visit as a PR move by the Canucks. Under the guise of a coaching exchange, the visit in the eyes of the Vancouver hockey club was nothing more than an attempt by the Canucks to curry favour with the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation to eventually secure the release of Vladimir Krutov and Igor Larionov to play in the National Hockey League.

Anatoli Tarasov was fully aware of this (as he would comment to me later) however, he had other ideas. He approached it as a genuine coaching exchange. He was there to evaluate the Vancouver Canuck players, evaluate the coaching methods of Tom Watt, proactively contribute to the training plans Watt had drawn up and intended to provide a detailed assessment of what he believed the Vancouver Canucks could do to improve their hockey club. He was also intent on learning as much about the inner workings of an NHL hockey club as he could.

This last part would play a significant role in the relationship that I developed with him. I believe he learned as much from me as I did from him.

That was the first day. I’ll continue to this answer this question tomorrow.

View attachment 702160

Damn, the part of why his training was so good maybe is that, they was afraid he will f***ing eat them

 

[kaiser matias]

@Jim Genac: Thank you very much for the detailed account of your fascinating encounter with Tarasov.

So, when was it that you had learned enough about Soviet hockey to think: Perhaps I should write a book about it?

I'm going to ask a follow-up on this question as well:

You self-published the book, though I'm interested if that was your plan the entire time, or did you try and work with a publisher on this? I find the process of getting a book like this published quite interesting, and keep thinking of trying myself on a book.

 

[Jim Genac]

@Jim Genac: Thank you very much for the detailed account of your fascinating encounter with Tarasov.

So, when was it that you had learned enough about Soviet hockey to think: Perhaps I should write a book about it?

Thank you for the question and I apologize for the delay in responding.

The impetus to write a book would develop from the rest of the meetings I had with Mr. Tarasov. Work commitments prevented me from meeting Tarasov on Wednesday. On Thursday, the day followed a similar pattern as the first two days; I was allowed to watch but Mr. Tarasov was busy with the team and the practice. Afterwards, I gave Mr. Tarasov the attached letter (see below). In it, I apologized for not being able to attend the day before and that hopefully over the next week, we could make time for an in-depth discussion.

At the bottom of the letter was a postscript. The length to which Tarasov had gone to discuss passing with me indicated he was willing to have detailed discussions on hockey so I decided to take advantage of that. When I got home, I wrote a detailed 15-page letter on the current state of hockey as a transition game. I gave my analysis of Canadian hockey, where I thought Canadian hockey needed to go to improve and my assessment of Soviet hockey. It was in English (for which I apologized and hoped his translator could tell him what it said).

I have to be honest, I was extremely nervous about doing that.

To my immense satisfaction, not only did he read it, but spent 45 minutes the next day praising what I had written. He offered thoughts and criticisms. He then told me that he had been asked to conduct a training session for junior trainers. It was a last-minute initiative and plans were rushed to hold it on Saturday, at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He encouraged me to come to it and said there would be a Q & A session afterwards.

UBC is where the minor hockey association I was a coach at operates and I was happy to discover the Bantam AAA team and the Midget AAA team from the association (what we would now call U15 & U17) would be there for Mr. Tarasov to conduct his clinic. He ran a 45-minute on-ice session with those players and then we went outside, and another 45-minute dryland session was conducted. Afterward, we went inside for questions and answers. About 50 coaches were in attendance and I could write a full chapter on what I observed that day (it will comprise a chapter in another book I have planned for after this trilogy). What I saw answered many of my questions about how the Soviets developed hockey players (it was an amazing session). It was complemented later that summer with observations I made when Vladislav Tretiak came to UBC to hold his first goaltending school in North America (the goaltending school was conducted in conjunction with the release of Tretiak's english book 'Tretiak the Legend'. I had the privilege to attend Tretiak's school and was able to go out onto the ice with him as well as attend the dryland sessions.

What I learned from those experiences will be covered in that future book.

After that Saturday hockey clinic, Mr. Tarasov flew with the Vancouver Canucks to Calgary for a game and then there was a game in Vancouver he watched. A change of agenda ended his trip at that point and I didn’t get a chance to see him again.

A few months later I was surprised to read in the media that the Vancouver Canucks were bringing Mr. Tarasov to Vancouver for a double hip operation during the last week of May 1987. I had another letter translated and I went to Vancouver Hospital hoping to see him. When I walked into his room, he broke out with a huge smile, welcomed me in, and after reading my letter, he jotted down how much longer he would be in the hospital and where he would be for a week or so recuperating. He invited me to come back with my friend who spoke Russian and we could talk. I was able to see him five more times and we had extensive discussions (lasting over 3 hours each time) about the NHL, youth hockey development and Soviet hockey.

It has long been my desire to write about those discussions. Over the past few years, I have finally sat down to do just that.

 

[Jim Genac]

I'm going to ask a follow-up on this question as well:

You self-published the book, though I'm interested if that was your plan the entire time, or did you try and work with a publisher on this? I find the process of getting a book like this published quite interesting, and keep thinking of trying myself on a book.

The plan to write about my experiences with Mr. Tarasov has percolated for decades. As I near retirement, it is on my list of projects to pursue when I retire. The concern I have always had, however, is getting a manuscript past the gatekeepers of a publisher. The story I want to tell is extremely detailed and expansive. My fear has always been that if I have to go through a publisher, there is no way I would get a 900-page book approved or a three-part series. They would want one book (if at all) and it would have to be limited to 350 pages or so.

Enter Amazon and KDP publishing.

Pursuing this project via KDP allows me to publish the story the way I want to tell it. It allows me to talk about the role Nikolai Starostin and the evolution of soccer had on Soviet hockey a decade later. It allows me to talk about Lavrentii Beria, the politics behind the need to create the image of a 'distinct Soviet style of sport', and the politics behind the attack on professionalism in sports in the Soviet Union. These factors are important background to the story of Anatoli Tarasov and early history of Soviet hockey.

The downsides are that there is no publisher or network to promote the book. I haven't done much advertising and right now, people are finding the book on their own or through word of mouth.

The story is one that, in my opinion, has never been fully told. Going the route I have allows me to tell the story the way I want.

Fortunately, it has been well received so far.

 

[Theokritos]

It allows me to talk about the role Nikolai Starostin and the evolution of soccer had on Soviet hockey a decade later. It allows me to talk about Lavrentii Beria, the politics behind the need to create the image of a 'distinct Soviet style of sport', and the politics behind the attack on professionalism in sports in the Soviet Union. These factors are important background to the story of Anatoli Tarasov and early history of Soviet hockey.

I fullheartedly agree and I'm happy you're covering these topics in your book. (Probably no surprise, considering it matches my own area of research.) While some of that information was already out there, it was not readily available or widely known. On top of that, you have also been able to add genuinely new insights.

Speaking of Starostin: Stanislav Gridasov is working on a Nikolai Starostin biography.

 

[kaiser matias]

The plan to write about my experiences with Mr. Tarasov has percolated for decades. As I near retirement, it is on my list of projects to pursue when I retire. The concern I have always had, however, is getting a manuscript past the gatekeepers of a publisher. The story I want to tell is extremely detailed and expansive. My fear has always been that if I have to go through a publisher, there is no way I would get a 900-page book approved or a three-part series. They would want one book (if at all) and it would have to be limited to 350 pages or so.

Enter Amazon and KDP publishing.

Pursuing this project via KDP allows me to publish the story the way I want to tell it. It allows me to talk about the role Nikolai Starostin and the evolution of soccer had on Soviet hockey a decade later. It allows me to talk about Lavrentii Beria, the politics behind the need to create the image of a 'distinct Soviet style of sport', and the politics behind the attack on professionalism in sports in the Soviet Union. These factors are important background to the story of Anatoli Tarasov and early history of Soviet hockey.

The downsides are that there is no publisher or network to promote the book. I haven't done much advertising and right now, people are finding the book on their own or through word of mouth.

The story is one that, in my opinion, has never been fully told. Going the route I have allows me to tell the story the way I want.

Fortunately, it has been well received so far.

Awesome answer, and I can confirm the bolded: my copy just arrived yesterday, and I was also quite excited after quickly skimming through it to both see footnotes, but also citations to solid books on Stalin and his cohort (my MA was on Soviet history, and I've always found that era quite interesting). Really excited to read the book, and looking forward to the next parts.

 

[Theokritos]

@Jim Genac: Over the course of your research for the book after 1987, is there anything you found out that surprised you or you found particularly enlightening?

 

[Jim Genac]

@Jim Genac: Over the course of your research for the book after 1987, is there anything you found out that surprised you or you found particularly enlightening?

There were lots of things that surprised me because I learned so much... about both Soviet hockey and Canadian hockey.

I was surprised at how extensive the Soviet sports system was in the 1930s. In the West, they seemed to burst onto the scene at the 1952 Olympics but I was fascinated by the depth and breadth of their sports system. I was surprised to learn that the Institute of Physical Culture had been around since the early '30s and that their Central Research Department had studied Western Sports so thoroughly.

When I met Anatoli Tarasov, I only knew a little about Lloyd Percival. When he told me he had read Percival's "other books", I thought it was a mistake... an error by my friend doing the translating. It wasn't until Gary Mossman's book on Lloyd Percival came out that I realized the impact of what Tarasov had been telling me.

I was also surprised at how much I learned about Canadian hockey. In the early 1990s, I was invited by Howie Meeker to meet with him. We discussed Anatoli Tarasov, the way the Soviets train for hockey, the way he operated his hockey school, and various proposals for both minor hockey and the NHL. None of that would have happened without the research I had been doing. Howie and Tarasov had remarkably similar visions about what NHL hockey clubs should be doing with their franchises.

I am fascinated by the development of hockey in both countries since 1972. Hopefully I can properly capture it in future books.

 

[Theokritos]

I am fascinated by the development of hockey in both countries since 1972. Hopefully I can properly capture it in future books.

Looking forward to them. Any idea when we can expect part 2 of The Path to the Summit?

 

[Jim Genac]

Looking forward to them. Any idea when we can expect part 2 of The Path to the Summit?

Ideally I would like it to be released at the beginning of December 2023 if all goes according to plan. I’m a little behind for that target date but I hope to gain ground as the summer moves along.

 

[Theokritos]

Thank you very much for your presentation and your answers.

One thing I want to add for prospective readers of this book: On top of covering Soviet hockey, there is also a lengthy chapter dedicated to how the rules of hockey rules (offside etc) and tactics evolved in North America. It's a good overview in its own right and the kind of thing I hope someone will one day extend into a book of its own.