What if Lev Yashin had continued to play hockey after the 52/53 season

[Batis]

One of my favourite "what ifs" in hockey history is speculating about what could have been if Lev Yashin had continued to play hockey after the 52/53 season. While it in retrospect of course would be foolish to critizise Yashin for his decision to focus on his football career (since he went on to become widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper of all time) it is interesting to note that he up until his last hockey season in 52/53 probably had achieved slightly more on the hockey rink than he had on the football field. This was however mainly a result of that Yashin, after having signed with Dynamo Moscow in 1949, had gotten a very slow start to his football career rather than that he had set the world on fire on the hockey rink. In Yashin´s debut match for the Dynamo Moscow football team he conceded a goal scored by the opposing goalkeeper and during that first season (49/50) he only played in two league games and after that he did not get any playing time at all until the 52/53 season when he started in 13 out of the 20 league games. Then from the 53/54 season and onwards Yashin started to really thrive on the football field and during the 1956-1966 time frame he was the highest ranked goalkeeper in the Ballon d´Or voting 9 times in 11 years. As a comparison Buffon (6 times) and Casillas (5 times) are the only others to have been the highest ranked goalkeeper in the Ballon d´Or voting more than 4 times.

Regarding the 3 seasons that Yashin played with the Dynamo Moscow hockey team it seems like he initially had some struggles adjusting to a new sport. However during his last season in 52/53 he started to hit his stride and while he still technically seems to have been the number 2 option on the team based on number of games played in the league (Yashin 10 games, Liiv 15 games) it was Yashin who got the starting job in one of the most important games of the season when Dynamo Moscow won the Soviet Cup final against CDSA. This article includes a short overview of Yashin´s hockey career. Медаль за помощь фронту и Кубок СССР по хоккею: чего добился легендарный Лев Яшин вне футбола Perhaps one of the Russian speakers here can provide a more accurate translation of the text but here is what google translate gives me.

"Yashin is known all over the world as one of the best football goalkeepers in the history of sports. But in the early 1950s, he managed to prove himself in hockey, and quite brightly. It was common practice in those years to play football in the summer and go out on the ice with a stick in hand in winter. Only the tastes of the players after the war began to change - instead of field hockey, they tried a new, Canadian hockey, which was noticeably different from the usual Russian one. It became more difficult to combine the two sports, but still, some athletes succeeded.

The fact that Yashin played hockey professionally is not so surprising if you remember who brought him to the football Dynamo. This was done by the great coach and the author of the first goal in the USSR ice hockey championship, Arkady Chernyshev. With his submission, the young Yashin got up in the small hockey gates in winter. The future owner of the Ballon d'Or had a hard time: out of football habit, he tried to catch the puck with his hands, and not reflect it, which is why he smashed his fingers into blood. Sometimes he surprised rivals with his entrance to the court. But gradually Yashin got used to it thanks to the main goalkeeper of "Dynamo" Karl Liiv, with whom he lived at the training camp in the same room.

By 1953, Yashin had become the second number in the club's hockey team. He won the bronze of the national championship, and two months later became the owner of the USSR Cup, and in the final match against CDSA it was Yashin who stood at the gate. The game ended 3: 2 in favor of Dynamo. The goalkeeper received the title of master of sports for this - earlier than in football. The question arose of which game to focus on further, because Yashin was even expected to travel as part of the national team to the debut world championship. But he still focused on football, although he still remained understudy at Dynamo."

Considering that Yashin by the end of his third season of playing Canadian hockey apparently was talked about as probably being a man for the national team squad it would certainly have been interesting to see what he could have achieved as a hockey player during his prime years. Especially when taking into account how incredibly physically gifted Yashin was with his lightning quick reflexes and superb athleticism which combined with his size (189 centimeters tall) made him a very imposing figure. With such physical gifts it was evidently only a matter of time before he figured things out on the football field after a slow start to his career and considering that he already in his third season as a hockey player seems to have started to figure things out there I do think that such a talented athlete could have achieved some success in hockey as well.

The only real counterargument that I can come up with to this is that the greatest Soviet hockey goaltender of the 50´s Nikolai Puchkov was a couple of months younger than Yashin and still clearly outshone him during the 50/51-52/53 time frame even if Yashin seemingly started to find his way and closed some of the gap between them during the 52/53 season. However considering that Lev Yashin was a relatively late bloomer also in his main sport I am not sure about how much should be read into that. For example when looking at the other top football goalkeepers of the 50´s and 60´s (like Beara, Zeman, Gilmar, Grosics, Schrojf, Tilkowski, Trautmann, Gregg, Carrizo, Banks and Albertosi) we see that the majority of them had stronger starts to their careers than he had and still Yashin managed to clearly outshine every single one of them when it comes to prime and peak value. On the other hand it is of course far from certain that Yashin would have been able to develop as much as a hockey player as he did as a football player between his early career and his prime years.

To me the thing that makes this what if scenario so interesting is that the range between the floor and the ceiling of Yashin´s potential as a hockey player seems to be so big. The floor of his prime years potential would probably be the level that he played at in his last hockey season when he seemingly managed to put himself in a good position to be in the national team conversation for the upcoming season. The absolute ceiling of his potential could be seen as being the level that he reached during his prime in football when he finished as the highest ranked goalkeeper in the Ballon d´Or voting 9 times in 11 years during the 1956-1966 time frame. However considering that Yashin did not play Canadian hockey competetively until he was in his early 20´s I do think that reaching that kind of level in hockey would be nearly impossible even for such a remarkable athlete. On the other hand I also find it very unlikely that Yashin would fail to continue to improve beyond what he was in only his third season of playing the sport so I personally don´t consider any of these two levels of play as being particularly good predictions for what Yashin may have developed into in his prime and instead I think that the answer most likely would be found somewhere in the big range between those two vastly different levels.

Would the level of the aforementioned Nikolai Puchkov be a good prediction for what Yashin could have become in his prime? Puchkov was consistently the Soviets number 1 option in the net during the 1954-1960 time frame and he was voted the best goaltender at the 1959 WHC. Even if Puchkov clearly was the superior goaltender during the 50/51-52/53 time frame I do believe that if Yashin would have had more time to figure out the technical side of hockey goaltending his superior athletic ability would have given him a very good chance to reach or perhaps even surpass the level of Puchkov.

How about the level of someone like Seth Martin? If Yashin possibly would have been able to reach that kind of level during his prime I believe that it could have made a big difference for Soviet hockey during the late 50´s and the early/mid 60´s. I say that because Martin clearly was the top goaltender on the international stage during the 60´s and I remember that @DN28 during the Top 100 players project provided a theory of that the generally excellent performances from Martin may have somewhat clouded the actual difference of quality between Canada´s amateurs and the Soviets. Whether Yashin would be able to reach that kind of level would again probably depend on to which degree he managed to master the technical side since he probably had a clear edge over Martin as well when it comes to athletic ability. In fact even if we compare him to the top 10 goaltenders of all time I would say that Yashin probably has an edge in athleticism over most of them, if not all of them. But due to him not growing up with the game of Canadian hockey I personally believe that the level of Seth Martin probably is pretty close to the upper limit of what Yashin realistically could have developed into had he continued playing hockey throughout his prime years.

What are your thoughts about Yashin´s potential as a hockey player? Also if someone can provide more information about his short hockey career feel free to do so.

I also tried to find some footage of Lev Yashin playing hockey but so far I have not found any such footage. This video here below does however demonstrate some of the athleticism that I have talked about in this post.

Click to read more...

 

[Batis]

I also found this interesting quote from Yashin which further illustrates what a well-rounded athlete he was.

“I ran, did the high jump, shot put, discus, took fencing lessons, had a go at boxing, diving, wrestling, skating, tried basketball, played ice hockey, water polo and football. I spent my winters on skis and skates. I’m not sure what I was best at.”

A post on the facebook page Bandy in Olympics also states that Yashin played bandy in the Moscow city championships for the Dynamo Moscow youth team between 1948 and 1950 and considering that Canadian hockey not had been introduced in the Soviet Union during much of Yashins childhood and adolescence I assume that the "I spent my winters on skis and skates" statement must have been mainly referring to bandy rather than hockey.

 

[Batis]

While I have not found any footage of him playing hockey this photo does at least give us one look at Lev Yashin the hockey player.

 

[GMR]

Thanks for the read. I had no idea that Yashin played hockey.

 

[Theokritos]

Great thread!

considering that Canadian hockey not had been introduced in the Soviet Union during much of Yashins childhood and adolescence I assume that the "I spent my winters on skis and skates" statement must have been mainly referring to bandy rather than hockey.

Definitely.

It was indeed Chernyshov (I stick with that transliteration, but I don't blame anyone for using the more widspread Chernyshev) who discovered Yashin. But it was also Chernyshov who ended up advising him to dedicate himself to football instead of hockey.

Anatoli Tarasov:

I don't want to speculate how the destiny of the famous goalkeeper of the nation would have turned out if my colleague had advised him to choose hockey and not football. I don't want to speculate whether Yashin would have been able to become the brightest star in world hockey, but, evidently, his teacher was right when he told the gifted young man to choose football. I once asked Arkadi what his motivation was when he had that talk with Yashin many years ago. He answered: "To be honest? Perhaps, most of all the fact that football was immeasurably more popular, it offered a quick path to glory. Of course, Yashin would have to fight for his place in the main squad: a random guy couldn't get into the Dinamo goal with Khomich and Sanai as his rivals. But with Yashin's gifts..."​

And here's what Chernyshov told football journalist Alexander Soskin:

"Intuition, it seems, told me that Yashin was more attracted to football. You see, I didn't want to let go of the athlete I saw in him, but apparently he felt it himself and I noticed that his physical gifts, height, long arms were more suited for the large football goal than for the small hockey goal. Hockey has lost a good goaltender, of which there are many, but football has won an excellent goalkeeper, of which there are almost none. Who knows, maybe I was able to see the unusualness of Yashin's techniques and tricks hidden behind the ridiculous mistakes that at first only made people laugh?"​

 

[Batis]

It was indeed Chernyshov (I stick with that transliteration, but I don't blame anyone for using the more widspread Chernyshev) who discovered Yashin. But it was also Chernyshov who ended up advising him to dedicate himself to football instead of hockey.

Anatoli Tarasov:

I don't want to speculate how the destiny of the famous goalkeeper of the nation would have turned out if my colleague had advised him to choose hockey and not football. I don't want to speculate whether Yashin would have been able to become the brightest star in world hockey, but, evidently, his teacher was right when he told the gifted young man to choose football. I once asked Arkadi what his motivation was when he had that talk with Yashin many years ago. He answered: "To be honest? Perhaps, most of all the fact that football was immeasurably more popular, it offered a quick path to glory. Of course, Yashin would have to fight for his place in the main squad: a random guy couldn't get into the Dinamo goal with Khomich and Sanai as his rivals. But with Yashin's gifts..."​

And here's what Chernyshov told football journalist Alexander Soskin:

"Intuition, it seems, told me that Yashin was more attracted to football. You see, I didn't want to let go of the athlete I saw in him, but apparently he felt it himself and I noticed that his physical gifts, height, long arms were more suited for the large football goal than for the small hockey goal. Hockey has lost a good goaltender, of which there are many, but football has won an excellent goalkeeper, of which there are almost none. Who knows, maybe I was able to see the unusualness of Yashin's techniques and tricks hidden behind the ridiculous mistakes that at first only made people laugh?"​

Thank you so much for posting those quotes. That is exactly the kind of information I hoped that someone would be able to provide.

What Chernyshov noted regarding that Yashin´s "physical gifts, height, long arms were more suited for the large football goal than the small hockey goal" is an excellent observation since it really is difficult to find a more perfect fit for football goalkeeping than the combination of his body type and superb athleticism with especially that leaping ability. That Chernyshov was able to notice this already during the time when Yashin had his early career struggles on the football field should definitely be a feather in his cap as well.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

What if Lev Yashin had continued to play hockey after the 52/53 season

I saw your thread title and thought “what the hell’s wrong with this guy, Lev Yashin was a bloody footballer!!!!”. Not a reasonable reaction to learning something new, but I was channeling my inner child being introduced to algebra: “What do you mean ‘Provide y’, what the hell kind of twisted math quiz is this?”.

 

[GMR]

How many hockey goalies outside North America were famous before Tretiak and Holecek? Even if Yashin became a great hockey goalie, it's unlikely he ever becomes as famous as Tretiak while playing during the 50's and 60's.

Whereas football's international popularity took off during the 60's with more televised World Cup matches.

 

[Batis]

How many hockey goalies outside North America were famous before Tretiak and Holecek? Even if Yashin became a great hockey goalie, it's unlikely he ever becomes as famous as Tretiak while playing during the 50's and 60's.

Whereas football's international popularity took off during the 60's with more televised World Cup matches.

Yes when Yashin decided to focus on his football career he most certainly made what turned out to be a very good decision since he went on to become the greatest of all time at his position in a global sport. It is also worth noting that the Yashin era turned out to be a golden era for Soviet football with the European Championships gold in 1960 followed by a European Championships silver in 1964 and a semifinal appearance at the 1966 World Cup.

 

[Theokritos]

That Chernyshov was able to notice this already during the time when Yashin had his early career struggles on the football field should definitely be a feather in his cap as well.

Most definitely. Talk about an overlooked impact on sport: he's hardly remembered despite being the actual head coach of the Soviet national team from 1963 until 1972 and despite being the guy who discovered the greatest goalkeeper in soccer history. Yashin and Chernyshov, by the way, remained close and would go on fishing trips together. And of course, Chernyshov was also very close on a personal level to other great Russian sports characters like influential soccer coach Boris Arkadyev (his brother-in-law and mentor, his twin brother Vitali Arkadyev was Chernyshov's brother-in-law) and Stepan Spandaryan (head coach of the Soviet basketball team 1947-1953 and 1956-1962; his wife Ella was the sister of Chernyshov's wife Velta). What a central figure he was and what impactful career he had from the 1940s into the 1970s.

As for Lev Yashin, I think you're right that his potential ceiling would have been becoming something of a Russian Seth Martin. But even if he would have managed to exceed that level, would we even be able to tell? Wouldn't we have to view Yashin as a Bobrov of goaltending who never got to measure himself against the best in the world, unlike in soccer?

 

[Batis]

Most definitely. Talk about an overlooked impact on sport: he's hardly remembered despite being the actual head coach of the Soviet national team from 1963 until 1972 and despite being the guy who discovered the greatest goalkeeper in soccer history. Yashin and Chernyshov, by the way, remained close and would go on fishing trips together. And of course, Chernyshov was also very close on a personal level to other great Russian sports characters like influential soccer coach Boris Arkadyev (his brother-in-law and mentor) and Stepan Spandaryan (head coach of the Soviet basketball team 1947-1953 and 1956-1962; his wife Ella was the sister of Chernyshov's wife Velta). What a central figure he was and what impactful career he had from the 1940s into the 1970s.

Yes definitely. In fact when seeing it summarized like that I started thinking that if there was an award honouring a very impactful but forgotten/underappreciated figure in sports Chernyshov should definitely be one of the top candidates right?

As for Lev Yashin, I think you're right that his potential ceiling would have been becoming something of a Russian Seth Martin. But even if he would have managed to exceed that level, would we even be able to tell? Wouldn't we have to view Yashin as a Bobrov of goaltending who never got to measure himself against the best in the world, unlike in soccer?

Yes that seems to be the by far most likely outcome even in the case that Yashin would have been able to exceed the level of Martin. However while it is unlikely I guess that it is not completely impossible that if the Soviet national team of the 60´s would have had a goaltender that was better than Seth Martin they possibly could have dominated international hockey to such a degree that a Summit Series like event perhaps could have happened abit earlier than 1972. But the problem is that even if the Summit Series would have happened a couple of years earlier it is still unlikely that it would have included a prime Lev Yashin since his last year of being the number 1 option for the Soviet national team in football was during the 66/67 season when he was 37 years old. So unless Yashin would have been able to have even greater elite longevity in hockey than he had in football he would still almost certainly be remembered as something of a Bobrov of goaltending no matter what.

 

[Theokritos]

Yes definitely. In fact when seeing it summarized like that I started thinking that if there was an award honouring a very impactful but forgotten/underappreciated figure in sports Chernyshov should definitely be one of the top candidates right?

Hard to disagree.

Early next year I will provide some more biographical material on Chernyshov.

 

[Batis]

Early next year I will provide some more biographical material on Chernyshov.

Sounds great. Looking forward very much to reading that.

 

[Batis]

It finally seems like I possibly had some luck in finding footage of Yashin playing hockey. In this video there is first a still picture of Yashin playing bandy and then follows a sequence from a hockey training session and after that also some game footage. It is however difficult to say if it really is Yashin who is the goaltender in any of the hockey footage but since it is featured in a video about him it seems to at least be a possibility.

 

[Sanf]

Thank you so much for posting those quotes. That is exactly the kind of information I hoped that someone would be able to provide.

What Chernyshov noted regarding that Yashin´s "physical gifts, height, long arms were more suited for the large football goal than the small hockey goal" is an excellent observation since it really is difficult to find a more perfect fit for football goalkeeping than the combination of his body type and superb athleticism with especially that leaping ability. That Chernyshov was able to notice this already during the time when Yashin had his early career struggles on the football field should definitely be a feather in his cap as well.

Thanks for the interesting read!

I have mainly seen Lev Yashin on my researches on Karl Liiv. Don´t know much about Yashins hockey career sadly. It certainly is fascinating topic.

Few years ago I realized the difference between Nordic Bandy and Russian Bandy of the time. Russian bandy had significantly smaller goals than Nordic ones. Also goalies were allowed to use stick. Overall that makes a great difference on how goalie plays the game. So it is possible that Yashin who as kid had played bandy had learned to read the game bit more as hockey goalie than Nordic counterparts when they were taking first steps at hockey.

I love Yashins athletism and I don´t see it all that impossible that Yashin would have made it as one of the top European hockey goalies of the time.

Leading goalie of Finland in late 50´s was Esko "Niekku" Niemi who played both hockey and football at highest level in Finland. He managed to turn few heads even in NA (though he always faced huge puck rain).

 

[Batis]

Few years ago I realized the difference between Nordic Bandy and Russian Bandy of the time. Russian bandy had significantly smaller goals than Nordic ones. Also goalies were allowed to use stick. Overall that makes a great difference on how goalie plays the game. So it is possible that Yashin who as kid had played bandy had learned to read the game bit more as hockey goalie than Nordic counterparts when they were taking first steps at hockey.

That is very interesting. I was aware of that Russian bandy had smaller goals but I had no idea about that the goaltenders were allowed to use sticks. And yes the combination of smaller goals and being allowed to use a stick certainly seems to mean that Russian bandy goaltending had much more in common with hockey goaltending than I previously had thought.

With the differences between Russian bandy and Nordic bandy in mind it is also interesting to note that the Soviets still managed to dominate the bandy world championships right from the start* even if the bandy played on the international stage to my understanding was much more closely related to the Nordic bandy.

* The Soviet Union won the gold medal in every single one of the 11 first bandy world championships. Their run of dominance started in 1957 and ended in 1981 when Sweden finally managed to beat them in what is known as "bragden i Sibirien". Bragden i Sibirien

Leading goalie of Finland in late 50´s was Esko "Niekku" Niemi who played both hockey and football at highest level in Finland. He managed to turn few heads even in NA (though he always faced huge puck rain).

Interesting. I did not know that Niemi played football at such a high level domestically. Do you happen to know if there are more examples of athletes who combined football goalkeeping with hockey goaltending at a relatively high level? I know that Dominik Hasek played football competively in his younger years but I believe that he was a midfielder in football. Another example that almost but not quite fits into that description is Petr Cech who at age 37 and shortly after his retirement from his long and very successful football career signed with and made a few appereances for the British National Ice Hockey League Division 2 side Guildford Phoenix. Cech was wearing number 39 in honour of Dominik Hasek and as you can see in the video here below he also had a picture of Hasek on his helmet along with the Chelsea and Arsenal logos. In the end of the video Cech also gives some of his thoughts on the difference between hockey goaltending and football goalkeeping.

Edit: Apparently Cech used skating and hockey as a part of his fitness regime during the last 7 years of his football career as well. (at the 1-minute mark of the video)

 

[Sanf]

During era when Lev Yashin played there were some. I know some current ones too, but those have selected their sports quite early.

Few examples.

Jouni Gröndahl better known as football goalie. Has even 9 caps in Finnish NT. He played football and hockey in TPS. Finnish hockey books have 27 games in hockey for him, but some of those may be in backup role.

Jiri Kulicek (who I know mostly as goalie coach) played in three hockey WHC tournaments (57-59). I have read that he focused hockey quite late in his career. His czech Wikipedia gives him only one game in Dukla Praha in 1955. I don´t know exact details of his football career.

I´m not sure if Jorma Valtonen ever played in Finnish top league in soccer, but he did win A-junior (U20) championship as football goalie in TPS in 1964.

Not goalies in football. Jozef Stogowski (Polish goalie from 30´s) was football midfielder too. Only NA goalie I can remember now is Manitoba HOFamer Legs Fraser and one of the best amateur goalies of his time, but he did play as Centre-back.

 

[Batis]

During era when Lev Yashin played there were some. I know some current ones too, but those have selected their sports quite early.

Few examples.

Jouni Gröndahl better known as football goalie. Has even 9 caps in Finnish NT. He played football and hockey in TPS. Finnish hockey books have 27 games in hockey for him, but some of those may be in backup role.

Jiri Kulicek (who I know mostly as goalie coach) played in three hockey WHC tournaments (57-59). I have read that he focused hockey quite late in his career. His czech Wikipedia gives him only one game in Dukla Praha in 1955. I don´t know exact details of his football career.

I´m not sure if Jorma Valtonen ever played in Finnish top league in soccer, but he did win A-junior (U20) championship as football goalie in TPS in 1964.

Not goalies in football. Jozef Stogowski (Polish goalie from 30´s) was football midfielder too. Only NA goalie I can remember now is Manitoba HOFamer Legs Fraser and one of the best amateur goalies of his time, but he did play as Centre-back.

Thank you for these examples. It seems like the list of players who combined football goalkeeping with hockey goaltending at a relatively high level includes a few more names than I thought it would.

The Hammarby legend Sven Bergqvist who represented Sweden in football, hockey and bandy almost fits the bill as well. Bergqvist was a goalie in both football and bandy but he was a defenceman in hockey. And a very successful defenceman I might add considering that he was voted the greatest Swedish right back of all time in both 1946 and 1956. Bergqvist had 41 caps in hockey, 35 caps in football and 1 cap in bandy.

 

[GMR]

That is very interesting. I was aware of that Russian bandy had smaller goals but I had no idea about that the goaltenders were allowed to use sticks. And yes the combination of smaller goals and being allowed to use a stick certainly seems to mean that Russian bandy goaltending had much more in common with hockey goaltending than I previously had thought.

With the differences between Russian bandy and Nordic bandy in mind it is also interesting to note that the Soviets still managed to dominate the bandy world championships right from the start* even if the bandy played on the international stage to my understanding was much more closely related to the Nordic bandy.

* The Soviet Union won the gold medal in every single one of the 11 first bandy world championships. Their run of dominance started in 1957 and ended in 1981 when Sweden finally managed to beat them in what is known as "bragden i Sibirien". Bragden i Sibirien



Interesting. I did not know that Niemi played football at such a high level domestically. Do you happen to know if there are more examples of athletes who combined football goalkeeping with hockey goaltending at a relatively high level? I know that Dominik Hasek played football competively in his younger years but I believe that he was a midfielder in football. Another example that almost but not quite fits into that description is Petr Cech who at age 37 and shortly after his retirement from his long and very successful football career signed with and made a few appereances for the British National Ice Hockey League Division 2 side Guildford Phoenix. Cech was wearing number 39 in honour of Dominik Hasek and as you can see in the video here below he also had a picture of Hasek on his helmet along with the Chelsea and Arsenal logos. In the end of the video Cech also gives some of his thoughts on the difference between hockey goaltending and football goalkeeping.

Edit: Apparently Cech used skating and hockey as a part of his fitness regime during the last 7 years of his football career as well. (at the 1-minute mark of the video)

I always thought Cech looked like Hasek. Except for the height difference.

 

[Batis]

I always thought Cech looked like Hasek. Except for the height difference.

I had not thought about it earlier but yes I think that you are correct about that Cech looks abit like Hasek. After reading your comment I also found out that Hasek and Cech apparently has done a photo session together.

Mňam! To je žrádlo! Hašek s Čechem fotili kalendář

 

[GMR]

I had not thought about it earlier but yes I think that you are correct about that Cech looks abit like Hasek. After reading your comment I also found out that Hasek and Cech apparently has done a photo session together.

Mňam! To je žrádlo! Hašek s Čechem fotili kalendář

I remember seeing this somewhere before. Cech looks a bit like Chara also.

 

[Batis]

And here's what Chernyshov told football journalist Alexander Soskin:

"Intuition, it seems, told me that Yashin was more attracted to football. You see, I didn't want to let go of the athlete I saw in him, but apparently he felt it himself and I noticed that his physical gifts, height, long arms were more suited for the large football goal than for the small hockey goal. Hockey has lost a good goaltender, of which there are many, but football has won an excellent goalkeeper, of which there are almost none. Who knows, maybe I was able to see the unusualness of Yashin's techniques and tricks hidden behind the ridiculous mistakes that at first only made people laugh?"​

I just wanted to ask if this quote from Chernyshov comes from one of the two books that Alexander Soskin has written about Yashin? The two books named Lev Yashin, Shine through tears and Lev Yashin, Legendary goalkeeper seems like great reads and I really wish that I could read Russian well enough to follow a story.

Лев Яшин. Блеск сквозь слезы – Александр Соскин
Лев Яшин. Легендарный вратарь – Александр Соскин

I also found this quote from Yashin which further suggests that Chernyshov´s intuition about that Yashin was more attracted to football seems to have been very correct.

"I secretly hoped that playing as a hockey goalkeeper would help hone my football skills - even then, it turns out, I firmly connected my future with football."

According to the article that I found this quote in it comes from Alexander Soskin´s book Lev Yashin, Shine through tears. The quote also raises an interesting question about whether Yashin´s years as a hockey goaltender actually may have helped him hone his football skills? This article in spanish does for example credit Yashin´s time in hockey for his expertise in combining great positioning with motor skills. Lev Yashin: el hockey como aprendizaje - Apuntes de Rabona

 

[Theokritos]

I just wanted to ask if this quote from Chernyshov comes from one of the two books that Alexander Soskin has written about Yashin? The two books named Lev Yashin, Shine through tears and Lev Yashin, Legendary goalkeeper seems like great reads and I really wish that I could read Russian well enough to follow a story.

Лев Яшин. Блеск сквозь слезы – Александр Соскин
Лев Яшин. Легендарный вратарь – Александр Соскин

Yes, it's from the second book, Lev Yashin. Legendarny vratar.

I also found this quote from Yashin which further suggests that Chernyshov´s intuition about that Yashin was more attracted to football seems to have been very correct.

"I secretly hoped that playing as a hockey goalkeeper would help hone my football skills - even then, it turns out, I firmly connected my future with football."

According to the article that I found this quote in it comes from Alexander Soskin´s book Lev Yashin, Shine through tears. The quote also raises an interesting question about whether Yashin´s years as a hockey goaltender actually may have helped him hone his football skills? This article in spanish does for example credit Yashin´s time in hockey for his expertise in combining great positioning with motor skills. Lev Yashin: el hockey como aprendizaje - Apuntes de Rabona

That's interesting, even though I don't quite grasp how that transfer of skill from one game to the other should specifically work as goaltending in the two sports is so different.

 

[Batis]

Yes, it's from the second book, Lev Yashin. Legendarny vratar.

That's interesting, even though I don't quite grasp how that transfer of skill from one game to the other should specifically work as goaltending in the two sports is so different.

Yes I would agree that it does not fully make sense for the reason that you bring up here. But yes it is definitely interesting that Yashin himself was hoping that his time as a hockey goaltender would help hone his football skills. And while it may be uncertain if that transfer of skill from one game to the other really was what happened I do think that Yashin´s time in hockey may have helped his football career to some degree as it seems like it possibly helped him regain some of the confidence that was lost during his early career struggles on the football field.

 

[Overrated]

Good video on Yashin from one of the best soccer channels on the net. His hockey career is briefly mentioned too.