Select The Five Greatest Russian Hockey Players of All Time

[BigBadBruins7708]

Fetisov, Makarov and Ovechkin are the locks for sure.

Tretiak and Fedorov rounded out my top 5

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Ovechkin

Kharlamov

Fedorov

Tretiak

Makarov

Not necessarily in that order

 

[Lavar Ball]

The consensus on the History forum is Makarov was a better and more accomplished hockey player than Kharlamov. This is based largely (but not entirely) on Makarov consistently doing better than Kharlamov in the scoring race and MVP voting in the Soviet leagues. (There's more to it than that, but that's certainly a strong starting point).

Why do most fans rate Kharlamov higher than Makarov? I think there are three main reasons:

Untimely death. Let's be clear. Kharlamov's death, at age 33, was a tragedy. But there's often a tendency to overrate players (or musicians) who died young. We won't know with certainty what else he could have accomplished but, like most Soviet stars of his era, he was already starting to decline by his early 30's (he was only 9th in scoring on his own team in his last full season).

Playing style. Kharlamov was a spectacularly talented, creative player. He was an excellent skater and stickhandler, and was very entertaining to watch. It's not uncommon for players like this to get overrated. (Gilbert Perreault was a similar player, and The Hockey News ranked him 47th all-time in their 1998 list of the hundred best players, which was an absurd ranking at the time. I'd argue that Pavel Bure gets overrated for the same reasons).

Perception. Most people in North America didn't see Makarov play until he joined the NHL in 1990, at age 31, when he was at the tail end of his prime. Kharlamov played in the 1972 Summit Series and was arguably the best player on either side through the first five games. In game six, Bobby Clarke slashed his ankle, which caused him to miss the rest of that game, all of game seven, and then he was obviously weakened in game eight. Kharlamov was stellar in the Summit Series, but five games in one tournament shouldn't override all of the other information we have.

Kharlamov was a great player. That's not in dispute. But I think he's clearly not as accomplished as Makarov, despite being more famous in North America, for the reasons listed above.

(I'll write something about Slava Fetisov later if I have time. As of now, he's only 8th on this list, which is far too low. Not that the History forum's Top 100 list is perfect - and full disclosure, I was a participant - but he was ranked the 2nd greatest Soviet player all-time, and 8th all-time among defensemen, ahead of some big names like Paul Coffey, Chris Chelios, and even Larry Robinson).

Very insightful post here - thanks

 

[the_fan]

Nichushkin
Ovechkin
Fedorov
Bure
Datsyuk

 

[blundluntman]

OV, Fedorov, Kharlamov, Makarov, Tretiak. Makarov, Tretiak and Ovi are absolute locks imo. After that, I have a pretty hard time choosing so I went with my favorite Russian players outside those 3.

 

[Laphroaig]

The first player on my list was Firsov. I thought he was a no brainer. I guess a lot of the voters are too young to remember him.

 

[Lauro]

Makarov
Ovechkin
Fetisov
Tretiak
Kharlamov

 

[amnesiac]

surprised Feds getting more votes than Malkin

 

[norrisnick]

surprised Feds getting more votes than Malkin

Really shouldn't be.

 

[socko]

Krutov looked like he could eat more hot dogs than Kessel. That has to count for something.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Ovechkin
Fedorov
Kharlomov
Fetisov
Tretiak

 

[zar]

Ovechkin
Makarov
Tretiak
Kharmalov
Bure

In that order.

 

[topshelf15]

There are many that likely should be higher on the list in the NHL but due to the Iron curtain years where Russian couldnt play ...Take the famous KLM line The actual best player never played here in Krutov ,the others came in very late Makorov was almost 30 when he arrived in Calgary but showed their talent immediately..Ditto for Larionov

 

[topshelf15]

Krutov looked like he could eat more hot dogs than Kessel. That has to count for something.

He was also considered to be the russian version of Gretzky ,but yeah he let himself go for sure...It would have been something to see that KLM line skate in its prime in the NHL

 

[topshelf15]

NHL ,I have Datsuk,Kuch,Ovie,Bure and Malkin.....However Iam not sure ,and could be convinced on dozens of other list,s

 

[bobholly39]

Fetisov, Makarov and Ovechkin are the locks for sure.

Tretiak and Fedorov rounded out my top 5

If you added Malkin to the locks, you'd be correct on the 4 locks.

For 5th - I voted Kucherov. Not sure if he's necessarily there yet but I expect he will be. Based on peak and projected prime, he's close to Malkin

 

[wetcoast]

Ovechkin, Bure, Fedorov and Kharlamov should be automatic votes

The 5th guy is harder. I want to vote Tretiak but clicked "cast vote" and can't change now so too late

Added Malkin and Makarov to your first 3 guys but would have Bure 5th (but obviously he is the easiest guy to knock of the top 5 the other 4 are very well entrenched IMO.

Left the 2 goalies off my list as it's extremely hard to compare goalies with position players.

Fetisov also didn't age very well (for an elite Dman) so for me it gives me some doubt if the Green Unit made him look better than he actually was.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Ovechkin is top 10/15 player EVER and arguably the best goal scorer ever, so he has to be on every list
He's the best russian player ever IMO

Other than him, I went with Tretiak, Makarov, Kharlamov and Kucherov (he's not here yet stat wise, but he's on his way + playoffs heroics)

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Bure is in my top five. I know he doesn’t have the resume of the others but he’s the most exciting player I’ve ever watched in my 50 years of being a fan, and so I rank him higher than most based on peak play. I probably also rank Lindros higher than most for the same reason. I think longevity is really important but too often peak dominance gets under valued.

 

[Gurglesons]

Why is Fedorov a lock here over Malkin by many posters?

 

[FrankSidebottom]

Ovechkin
Tretiak
Malkin
Fedorov
Makarov

 

[the_fan]

I see some people are mentioning Tretiak and Kharlamov. How can you define them as top 5 all time when they haven't played in the NHL, the best and toughest league in the world?

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Why is Fedorov a lock here over Malkin by many posters?

Nostalgia. Fedorov was only an elite player for maybe 3-4 seasons.

 

[Gurglesons]

I see some people are mentioning Tretiak and Kharlamov. How can you define them as top 5 all time when they haven't played in the NHL, the best and toughest league in the world?

What those two and Makarov did in international competition and best on best speaks for itself.

 

[DrDorrian MD]

Why is Fedorov a lock here over Malkin by many posters?

Because he was the better player? It was easy to see on the ice.