The Vladimir Krutov saga

[Ben White]

One of the more mysterious players and stories in hockey history. Please discuss and share whatever you like.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

One of the more mysterious players and stories in hockey history. Please discuss and share whatever you like.

Typical Russian player that had incredible skill but due to their KGB coaching looked like they punched a clock coming and going.

 

[ForsbergForever]

He was a fully formed product of the Soviet system. He was built like a fire hydrant and battled his weight his whole career, which required rigid discipline. So when the cage doors opened and he came to the West he was completely lost and arguably never found his bearings. He died of liver failure at age 52 due to years of alcoholism.

 

[Ben White]

Just wonder how a person who was that undisciplined on his own could manage to undertake being forced and controlled 24/7 not seeing his family 11 of 12 months a year, working out 3 times a day, not having a say about anything basically while living in the Soviet Union. One would, with the cards on hand, think that he was more of a free spirit.

 

[Overrated]

He was the opposite of Clarke/Dionne. He scored about the same against everyone.

А long compilation of his goals:

 

[BraveCanadian]

ATD 2023 Bio Thread

Brian Leetch, LD 2x Norris Trophy winner 2x First All-Star Team 3x Second All-Star Team 1x Conn Smythe Trophy winner Top 100 NHL Player Norris Trophy Voting: 1 ('92), 1 ('97), 3 ('96), 4 ('91), 5 ('94), 5 ('01), 8 ('99), 9 ('02), 11 ('04) All-Star Team Voting: 1 ('92), 1 ('97), 3 ('96), 4...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[tarheelhockey]

Just wonder how a person who was that undisciplined on his own could manage to undertake being forced and controlled 24/7 not seeing his family 11 of 12 months a year, working out 3 times a day, not having a say about anything basically while living in the Soviet Union. One would, with the cards on hand, think that he was more of a free spirit.

Same reason a lot of young people who grow up in authoritarian households end up being total wild cards when they get into the world. Rigid controls and a lack of decision-making experience often leave a person without the toolkit to make healthy decisions on their own, ironically putting them in a similar place as those who are not taught boundaries at all.

 

[Michael Farkas]

^ Yup. All* the kids who were homeschooled and not allowed to watch SpongeBob because its racy content...those are the kids that fall off a balcony drunk in the first week of school...

* - Some

 

[pandro]

Just wonder how a person who was that undisciplined on his own could manage to undertake being forced and controlled 24/7 not seeing his family 11 of 12 months a year, working out 3 times a day, not having a say about anything basically while living in the Soviet Union. One would, with the cards on hand, think that he was more of a free spirit.

You're exaggerating quite a bit. Hockey players enjoyed significantly more freedom than the average Soviet citizen. Heck, Fetisov was driving an S-class Mercedes Benz in 1988. And the point here is not that he could afford it, but he was allowed to.
Here Fetisov says that 10 years prior, in 1978, when he was just 20, he bought a Volga:
The Volga was a status symbol in the Soviet Union, being large and luxurious, with a three-band radio. Unlike the GAZ-21, however, for most of its production lifetime, it was not commonly available to the public; those that were sold required a special permit to purchase them. This would not begin to change until the 1980s.

 

[Albatros]

Fetisov was always the biggest hypocrite. Krutov didn't initially even resign from the army when he came to Vancouver, which meant that his family couldn't join him right away. Got little of his salary to himself.

 

[Theokritos]

I keep going back to a quote by Alexander Barinev who played for Spartak Moscow until 1980, then was allowed to go to the West and had a career as player, player-coach and coach in Austria and West Germany, so he knew both sides very well. In 1993, he commented on the wave of Soviet-trained players (with their soldier-mentality) coming to the West: "Without pressure and clear orders, they don't know what to do. A lot of them are not going to make it."

Krutov seems like the poster child for this issue.

 

[Zine]

Krutov ate and drank to excess as a coping mechanism because he never wanted to be in Vancouver.
If I remember an old interview correctly, he said he left for N.A. because he felt obligated to go.

 

[Albatros]

I keep going back to a quote by Alexander Barinev who played for Spartak Moscow until 1980, then was allowed to go to the West and had a career as player, player-coach and coach in Austria and West Germany, so he knew both sides very well. In 1993, he commented on the wave of Soviet-trained players (with their soldier-mentality) coming to the West: "Without pressure and clear orders, they don't know what to do. A lot of them are not going to make it."

Krutov seems like the poster child for this issue.

Krutov was apparently quite comfortable in Switzerland and Sweden though.

 

[Theokritos]

Krutov was apparently quite comfortable in Switzerland and Sweden though.

I guess it depends on how you define "comfortable". Going from being one of the top forwards in the world to playing in the Swedish second division within four years might be viewed as "comfortable" in terms of performance requirement and stress level, but it sure doesn't qualify as "Krutov made it in the West".

 

[Albatros]

I guess it depends on how you define "comfortable". Going from being one of the top forwards in the world to playing in the Swedish second division within four years might be viewed as "comfortable" in terms of performance requirement and stress level, but it sure doesn't qualify as "Krutov made it in the West".

Not the professional highlight of his career surely, but I think the common narratives about the end of his career need a bit of nuance as despite his very real struggles a lot has also simply been fabricated by the Vancouver hockey media.

 

[Theokritos]

Not the professional highlight of his career surely, but I think the common narratives about the end of his career need a bit of nuance as despite his very real struggles a lot has also simply been fabricated by the Vancouver hockey media.

Like what, exactly?

 

[Albatros]

Like what, exactly?

Basically the usual arc seems to be that he ate himself fat at 7/11, became alcoholic, and died.

 

[Namba 17]

it was not commonly available to the public; those that were sold required a special permit to purchase them.

Not true.
Everybody could by it. Theoretically.
There were two "but" though.
1. Price. Ordinary soviet sitizen had close to none chances to accumulate the nessesary sum.
2, Queue. You couldnt just came to the shop and buy even if you had money (unordinary sitizen could have money to buy it) - there was a queue to buy any car of any kind and you couldn't make the queue from the street - you need to make it from some organization, usually your job.
So, cars, espesially such as Volga were used as a prize for a good sitizen. State could let you buy it despite of queue, despite of the queue and for the special reduced prize or even give a Volga to you as a prize for free.
The most common example, which everybody knew - every cosmonaute was given free Volga after he returned from space.
The same for sportsmen. To resieve Volga was usual for national team member after some significant victory (OG, WC or smth).
The same was for Fetisov. He was presented with Volga for smth as a hockey player.

 

[ForsbergForever]

Basically the usual arc seems to be that he ate himself fat at 7/11, became alcoholic, and died.

Broad strokes, isn't that factually accurate?

 

[MS]

Broad strokes, isn't that factually accurate?

I think they generally are, but it leaves out some of the context/mitigating circumstances.

He obviously should take his share of the blame, but he was also put in a situation where he received little support from the Canucks organization and was put under a head coach in Bob McCammon who was cut from the Don Cherry cloth and absolutely *hated* Russians and did everything possible to make them fail.

Even Larionov who was a model pro barely survived McCammon and then blew up offensively as soon as Pat Quinn replaced him.

 

[Albatros]

Krutov always had weight problems even in Russia, but didn't appreciate American fast food at all. What kilos he brought with him he had mostly from back home and just couldn't properly deal with conditioning anymore in a different environment. Smoker and drinker he had long been, even at CSKA.

Besides coach McCammon even with (GM) Quinn it wasn't very easy, apparently Mrs. Krutov and Mrs. Quinn didn't get along very well. The Krutovs were humble Soviet people in a North American environment and couldn't find a way to connect with the locals like Mogilny and the rest of the younger generation. In Switzerland and Sweden cultural differences were much less of an issue and in the end he did play overseas for seven years, as long as Makarov and Kasatonov, just not at the highest level.

 

[Theokritos]

Krutov always had weight problems even in Russia, but didn't appreciate American fast food at all. What kilos he brought with him he had mostly from back home and just couldn't properly deal with conditioning anymore in a different environment

That was the point it was getting at with the Barinev quote. At CSKA Krutov was subject to a draconian workout regime. Once that stopped, he was't able to stay in shape on his own accord and his play took a nose-dive.

 

[The Panther]

...I think the common narratives about the end of his career need a bit of nuance as despite his very real struggles a lot has also simply been fabricated by the Vancouver hockey media.

Wouldn't be the last time the Vancouver hockey media fabricated stories about the team / players...

 

[BraveCanadian]

There is quite a bit about this in the ATD bio I linked above. I don't think there is any one particular issue but a bunch of them - cultural, language, fitness etc. that caused Krutov to be unable to make the transition.

 

[Overrated]

A much bigger guy attempting to check Krutov