To expand on the discussion about
Boris Mikhailov, I´ve decided to share my view of the player. Mikhailov can be a difficult player to assess his value, as he can be easily underrated but also overrated depending on which measure you choose to look at.
He can be underrated if you primarily look at individual WHC awards. Mikhailov, whose international career lasted 12 seasons (1969-1980), has only 2 tournaments, where his play was officially honoured. Although in both cases (WHC 73, WHC 79), Mikhailov was not only an All-Star RW but also Directoriate´s choice for the best forward of the championship. The problem remains in that Mikhailov was usually not considered the best European RW, let alone the best forward or skater. Here´s the list of RWers who were voted into All-Star team instead of Mikhailov:
1969 Nedomansky,
1970 Maltsev,
1971 Vikulov,
1972 Vikulov,
(1973 Mikhailov),
1974 Martinec,
1975 Martinec,
1976 Martinec,
1977 Martinec,
1978 Maltsev,
(1979 Mikhailov),
1980 no AST voted, although the most likely choice for best RW from Lake Placid Olympics would either be whatever USA RW that was deemed as best, or Sergei Makarov…
So that´s the main thing that Mikhailov “detractors” can use against him in my opinion. What business will Mikhailov even have in the all-time top 100 list if he rarely was the best at his position, let alone the best at forward or skater position in a given season?
Now the positive way to look at Mikhailov´s achievements, and possibly to overrate him, is to look at amazing consistency with regards to his offensive production. If your primary method to determine value of non-NHL European forwards is to look at the scoring tables, you will be impressed by finding out Mikhailov near the top almost regularly. Here´s the list of Mikhailov scoring finishes:
WHC 69 – 14 points in 9 games,
2nd in scoring
WHC 70 – 10 points in 10 games,
7th-8th in scoring
WHC 71 – 10 points in 9 games,
5th in scoring
OG 72 – 2 points in 3 games, well outside top 10 in scoring and approximately 10th in his own team
WHC 72 - 13 points in 10 games,
9th in scoring
SS 72 – 7 points in 8 games based on Richard Bendell´s recount,
6th in overall scoring, 3rd in his own team
WHC 73 - 29 points in 10 games,
2nd in scoring
WHC 74 – 17 points in 10 games,
1st in scoring
SS 74 – 6 points in 7 games,
8th in overall scoring, 4th in his own team
WHC 75 - 15 points in 9 games,
8th in scoring
OG 76 – 4 points in 6 games, well outside top 10 scoring and approximately 10th in his own team
WHC 76 - 13 points in 10 games,
7th in scoring
CC 76 – did not play
WHC 77 - 19 points in 10 games,
2nd in scoring
WHC 78 – 12 points in 10 games,
4th in scoring
WHC 79 – 12 points in 8 games,
5th in scoring
OG 80 – 11 points in 7 games,
6th in scoring
Amazing reliability that Mikhailov finished 14 times in top 10 scoring out of 16 opportunities. Mikhailov offensive production dropped only in two occasions – 1972 Sapporo Olympics and 1976 Innsbruck Olympics. When you, as a Soviet team, went to a major international tournament, you could have relied on Mikhailov that he´s going to be one of your team´s top scorer almost any time. I believe this kind of consistency cannot be matched by any other not-yet-discussed non-NHLer, furthermore it´s better consistency than even Firsov´ and Kharlamov´s one (in terms of longevity of sustained decade+ offensive production).
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I´ll quickly outline Mikhailov career trajectory, as I see it, and I plan to suggest that his pre-Summit Series body of work does not add too much of an all-time value, but his 1973-1980 prime is what constitutes his rightful place in this discussion.
Before 1969
Mikhailov was a prototypical late-bloomer as he was born in June 1944 and started to play in the Soviet league some time in the 1st half of 1960s. He moved from Lokomotiv Moscow to CSKA Moscow in 1967 when he was 23. His 1968 season indicates that he managed the transition into elite team well, scoring 29 goals in 43 games in the League (5th in league scoring, 2nd in his own team). But he still did not make it into National team yet. Mikhailov did not play at OG 1968 and he also received no votes in SPOTY voting.
1969 until 1972
At the age of 24, Mikhailov enters into USSR team. Scores 14 points in 9 games at WHC 69 and finishes 2nd in scoring but gets no award recognition. We have AST voting data for only 5-6 forwards that received the most votes and Mikhailov was not one of them. Furthermore, we have that rare
1969 poll about best players in Europe (that was brought up during last round about Firsov) and Mikhailov again was not one of 14 players that appeared in that poll. His league performance looks to be good (slightly outscored both Kharlamov and Petrov) but decidedly below Spartak´s Yakushev and Starschinov. Spartak managed the rare feat of defeating CSKA for league title. Mikhailov was 5th in SPOTY voting, 4th among forwards, although he was named into Soviet all-star team as 1 of 3 best forwards of the 1969 season.
You can see similar pattern of good but nowhere near elite play for the following seasons. WHC 70, Mikhailov adds another top 10 scoring finish but AST voting data reveals that Mikhailov got 1 single vote which technically made him “16th best forward” of the championship. As far as 1970 League play, nothing extraordinary as Mikhailov was outscored by Petrov but he at least outscored Kharlamov to a large degree. Most importantly, Mikhailov received zero votes in SPOTY voting (13 different players including 8 forwards received at least a vote). Looks like Soviet observers thought Mikhailov´s production was dependant on his superior linemates at this point yet. Four different CSKA forwards received some voting support instead of him. Those 4 were Vikulov, Kharlamov, Firsov and Petrov. No Soviet all-star team either.
WHC 71, another top 10 scoring finish but AST voting data reveals Mikhailov got 2 single votes which technically made him “12th best forward” of the championship on this occasion, assuming one even takes these fringe votes seriously. 1971 League play – again, good but nothing extraordinary. Third in league scoring behind one teammate (Kharlamov), and behind league-leading Maltsev from Dynamo Moscow. Ultimately 9th in 1971 SPOTY voting, 6th among forwards, no Soviet all-star team appearance.
1972, Mikhailov disappoints at Olympics by scoring mere 2 points. He then compensates to some degree two months later at World Championship by adding another top 10 scoring finish. But again… no award recognition though this time Mikhailov was voted as 8th best forward according to AST voting. 1972 League play seemed a little bit worse: 6th in league scoring, but just 5th in his own team, as his teammates Kharlamov, Vikulov, Petrov and Blinov finished ahead. The scoring race was won by either Kharlamov or Vikulov who recorded 9-10 more points in the same amount of games (depends on the source). How much appreciation Soviet observers showed for Mikhailov after this season? None, Mikhailov got no votes in SPOTY voting (9 different players including 5 forwards received at least a vote), so Mikhailov could still have been technically the 10th best Soviet player and 6th best forward which would be OK but he wasn´t worth a single vote. Soviet observers clearly preferred Maltsev, Kharlamov, Vikulov, Yakushev and Firsov (top 5 vote-getters) above all other forwards. Of course, no appearance in Soviet all-star team either.
Overall it´s in my view clear that Mikhailov was AT BEST just 6th best Soviet forward during this period. Firsov, Kharlamov, Maltsev, Vikulov and Starshinov delivered stronger results by almost any measure. Mikhailov still needs to be given credit for simply being a reliable and meaningful component of the Soviet machine in this time period but it´s difficult to find strong all-time value in this stretch vis-à-vis all other candidates in this round, when you´re hardly even a top 10 forward / top 20 player outside North America (counting great Czechoslovaks and Swedes from before Summit-Series-era too..).
Mikhailov´s 1973-1980 prime
Only when Mikhailov became 28 year-old man, he started to make serious impact not just on scoring lists but also in voting and awards lists as well. He´s one of the guys who definitely impressed by their play in Summit Series, when he still did not play with Kharlamov on one line. After their reunification, Mikhailov-Petrov-Kharlamov destroys the competition at WHC 73, the ‘troika’ comfortably leads the scoring and Mikhailov himself records 29 points in 10 games, which was good enough for 2nd place scoring finish, All-Star Team RW recognition and also Directoriate´s Best Forward award, so Mikhailov was even preferred to prime Kharlamov and Petrov here. 1973 League play was in line with his previous seasons, i.e. 5th in league scoring, 3rd in his own team behind Vikulov and approximately 11 points behind Petrov. After these results, Soviet observers voted Mikhailov as 5th best Soviet, 4th among forwards, but he did make it into Soviet all-star team as 1 of 3 best forwards of the season.
WHC 74, Mikhailov seemingly continues with his higher-standard play now, as he wins the championship´s scoring with 17 points. Despite of this effort, top Czech forwards were deemed as somewhat better, Mikhailov´s rival at RW position, Vladimir Martinec leads all players in AST voting and Vaclav Nedomansky takes the Directoriate´s Best Forward award home, so Mikhailov gets no award recognition. Still, Boris was voted as 4th best forward by the writers so some appreciation was still there. Otherwise, his domestic season looks to be one of his worst. Apparently only 12th in league scoring, or at least outside of top 10 for sure, and 3rd in his own team behind Kharlamov and Vikulov. Mikhailov finished almost 20 points behind league-leading Anisin from the Soviet Wings of Moscow which even defeated Mikhailov´s CSKA team for the league title! Despite this perceived below-average league play, Mikhailov ended up 2nd in SPOTY voting, 1st among forwards, plus Soviet all-star team.
Mikhailov turned 30 for the following season but showed no signs of decline. 1975 season started with the 2nd Summit Series, this time with favourable result for Soviets. Mikhailov contributed with 6 points in 7 games – good enough for 8th in overall scoring of this series. WHC 75, another strong, above ppg, top 10 scoring finish and… another absence in the tournament´s All-Star team. We have no data beyond the actual 6 players who were honoured so no additional firm conclusions about Mikhailov´s performance can be made. League, Mikhailov seemingly compensates previous season´s somewhat weaker performance, as he was 2nd in league scoring just 2 points behind his linemate Petrov. At the end of the season, Mikhailov adds another 5th placement in SPOTY voting and another Soviet all-star team nod.
The career continues with notable decrease in form during ´76 season. We´re looking at Mikhailov´s clear down-season over his 73-80 prime. Registers only 4 points at OG 76 (barely 10th in his own team), then proceeds with another good-but-not-great WHC 76 performance (I feel like I´m copying myself..) – 13 points, 7th in scoring, no award recognition (no data available beyond the actual WHC All-Star team). Temporary decline is shown on a domestic level too. Although Boris finishes 7th in league scoring just behind one teammate (Petrov), CSKA loses the league title to Spartak Moscow, led this time by outstanding campaign from Shalimov and Yakushev (1st and 2nd in scoring respectively). As a result of all this, Mikhailov finds himself in trouble to even get some voting support from Soviet observers – only 10th in SPOTY voting, 8th among forwards and not named into Soviet all-star team as 1 of 3 best forwards of the season.
Results from following 1977 season indeed supports notion of Mikhailov being 3rd best Soviet of the season, as he was voted as such by Soviet observers behind Petrov and Balderis. In the League, Mikhailov ended 4th in scoring behind 2nd Petrov and also behind the league-leading Balderis from Dinamo Riga. At the WHC, Mikhailov is second to Petrov in the scoring chart (19 points to Petrov´s 21), but it is Petrov and Balderis who got honoured by the media as all-star C and LW, while Martinec is called all-star RW for fourth time in a row instead of Mikhailov. Balderis was also named as the Best Forward by Directoriate. We have no information past the 1st AST unfortunately… Something to keep in mind in terms of putting things into context is that this is no 1987 where you can reasonably infer that 3rd best Soviet = 3rd best player outside NHL. Soviets lost the Championship title for the 2nd time in row to Czechs with plenty of their players playing in their primes. Moreover, USSR this time lost to Swedes for the silver too. For the season overall, I´d prefer at least 3 Czechs and 1 Swede to Mikhailov in addition to Balderis and Petrov.
However, Mikhailov kept aging like a fine wine. 1978 is the first season where he wins the SPOTY award as he leads Soviets to victory at heated ´78 WHC in Prague. Finishes 4th in scoring, although he misses again the 1st WHC All-Star team. At least we have the 2nd AST where it´s shown that Mikhailov was a 2nd teamer to Maltsev´s 1st AST RW… I do remember about this season that Mikhailov also did well particularly at the Izvestia Cup in December where he did grab his 1st all-star nod from that short tournament. Still, some part of Mikhailov´s this year´s popularity had to originate from his league play, where he ended up 2nd in scoring just one point behind Petrov. Mikhailov is obviously member of Soviet all-star team as well, just as he was previous season.
Now we´re finally seeing what was clearly Mikhailov´s peak signature season - surprisingly when he was terribly old for all Eastern European standards of longevity. 34 years old Mikhailov is honoured as WHC 79 All-Star RW and also as the Best Forward by the Directoriate. He finishes 5th in scoring as the Soviets remarkably calmly float through the tournament to the victory without slightest setbacks. Part of the 1979 season was also Challenge Cup event, where Soviets famously beat the NHL All-Star team (2 wins vs. 1 loss) – Mikhailov with his 3+0 led his team in scoring and was also awarded with MVP of the series. In the League, Mikhailov finishes 3rd, and 2nd in his own team once again behind Petrov. At the end of the season, newly created European Golden Stick for the best player in Europe was awarded to Mikhailov – more than 500 writers from various European countries decisively preferred the Soviet captain to anybody else.
Mikhailov didn´t slow down as much for his last international 1980 season. Adds another top 10 scoring finish at OG 80, also ends up 5th in league scoring with 50 points in 41 games. It doesn´t seem that the notorious “miracle on ice” upset was put to blame on Mikhailov´s shoulders, as he was 3rd in SPOTY voting, and even more importantly 2nd in Izvestia voting for the best European player. Makarov won both of these awards but otherwise I don´t see any other player with better results than Mikhailov from this particular season among the pool of non-NHL Europeans.
Then played just 15 games during 1981 season before he called it a career.
So to summarize: Mikhailov´s 1979 peak is as good as any top season from other Euro stars within roughly 1965-1990 timeframe, as he was undoubtedly thought as the best European at the time of Soviet hockey program arguably peaking. Seasons 1978 and 1980 are part of his peak as he was seemingly close enough to be in the conversation about best player outside North America. 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977 are important part of Mikhailov´s legacy as well – he belonged to broader range of best forwards in Europe, albeit not ever necessarily the best even at his own position. 1976 is a clear down-season where he barely cracks into top 10 Soviets with his name appearing on 4 ballots out of 64 voters. Similarly, Mikhailov´s 1969-1972 early international career does add up to his legacy to the extent that being just an average piece of the puzzle of the top National team at the time is a value in and of itself.