I just finished my biography on Vladimir Vikulov, thanks in part by VanI and triffy. Man did I just discovered who I believe is a very underrated hockey player. Here what I found:
- Goalscoring: A decent goalscorer on a second line in the ATD-level. 3-time Top-4 in goals in the USSR, with a plethora of 8th-to-10th finishes. 4-time Top-5 in goals at the World Championship. My feel is that Vikulov was a constant player through is lengtly career, and Vikulov is someone who will put decent goalscoring results regularly through an ATD season
- Playmaking: Many quotes recognize Vikulov as one of the most prolific playmaker of the 1960's-1970's. 4-time Top-5 in assists past his prime in the USSR, because unfortunately we don't have the information on his assist results from 1965 to 1971. He will be an excellent-to-elite playmaker on a secondary role in this draft.
- Speed: Although he seemed to have had some good speed in the link at the end of the biography, VMBM tells me that Vikulov was one of the slowest player on the National team. I havn't came across any evidence that talk, good or bad, of Vikulov speed, so I'll take his word for it.
- Defensive play: We had only assumption on Firsov defensive play, but I added up a couple of quotes from Valeri Kharlamov, proclaiming that when all three played together, they were intense backchecker who considered their defensive duty as important and were better in this regard than Kharlamov himself, Petrov and Mikhailov. It shows that at the very least that both Firsov and Vikulov were decent defensive player.
- Leadership: Again, very difficult to find those kind of infos, but Vikulov was an assistant captain for Russia in the 1976 Canada Cup. Dosn't say much, but the information is there.
- Longevity: Vikulov played 11 seasons of excellent hockey from 1966 to 1978. His prime years are from the 1966-67 season to the 1971-72 season.
- Awards/AS: This is an area where I was also left pleasantly surprise. When I read that Vikulov was a three time All-Star, I wanted to find if they were 1st or 2nd AS team. What I discovered is that not only he was a three-time FAST (1970, 1971, 1972), but prior to those season a three-time SAST and a lone TAST in his rookie season. Also he was 2nd, 3rd and 4th in MVP voting from 1970 to 1972 while having a string of decent finishes after his prime (9th, 10th, 11th, 15th). To summarize those years:
1967: SAST
1968: SAST, over Mikhailov (who score the same # of goals) and Maltsev
1969: SAST, over Maltsev
1970: FAST, over Mikhailov (who scored 15 more goals). Finish 4th in MVP voting over Kharlamov, Petrov, Mikhailov and Firsov
1971: FAST over Mikhailov (who scored 13 more goals). Finish 2nd in MVP voting over Kharlamov, Mikhailov, Maltsev, Petrov (well anyone but Firsov)
1972: FAST over Mikhailov. Finish 3rd in MVP Voting over Tretiak, Firsov, Yakushev, Mikhailov
It's quite surprising to see Vikulov getting those AS spot over Mikhailov, who outscore him in 3 of those season. Perhaps the voters recognize that Mikhailov played with two elite teammate and probably had more icetime or that Vikulov was more rounded. I definitely don't want to put words into voters mouth, but the fact remain astonishing. My question is: it is too far fetched to say that overall, Vikulov was almost-to-just as good of a hockey player than Mikhailov from 1967 to 1972? If so, why?
All in all, I think it's conservative to say that Vladimir Vikulov should be picked in the Top-350 in future draft. I definitely did not think I would select such a well rounded player who compared admiringly against the very the best Russian player of All-Time.
Am I overrating Vikulov here? If so, what am I missing? I feel a little dirty proclaiming a player should be taken 150+ spot over his ATD cannon, but I don't see why not in this case.
With our 12th selection, the 477th overall selection in this year All-Time draft, the Detroit Falcons are extremely please to select RW/C Vladimir Ivanovich Vikulov
Russian Name: Владимир Викулов Height: 5'9'' Weight: 176 lbs Position: Right Wing / Centre Shoots: Left Date of Birth: July 20, 1946 Place of Birth: Moscow , USSR
Soviet League Champion (1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Soviet League Finalist (1967, 1969)
Soviet First All-Star Team (1970, 1971, 1972)
Soviet Second All-Star Team (1967, 1968, 1969)
Soviet Third All-Star Team (1966)
Best Sniper Award (1972)
Trud Daily Award (Best Line) (1972)
Olympics Gold Medalist (1968, 1972)
IIHF WEC-A Gold Medalist (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975)
IIHF WEC-A Silver Medalist (1972)
IIHF WEC-A Bronze Medalist (1976)
IIHF WEC-A All Star Team1 (1971, 1972)
Russian Hockey Hall of Fame (1967)
1- The best 3 forwards were selected on the team, independently of their respective position
Domestic League:
Seasons
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM
16
444
283
149
421
134
No Data:
Game Played: 1965-1967
Assists: 1965-1971
Penalty minutes: 1965-71
- His scoring finishes are affected negatively due to not having his assists record from the 1964-65 season to the 1970-71 season
International Games:
(Exhibition Game, Olympics & World Championship) Games by Opposing Countries
----
Country
GP
G
Canada
40
14
Sweden
38
14
Finland
35
24
Czechoslovakia
34
7
United States
15
12
West Germany
14
14
Poland
9
9
East Germany
6
5
Switzerland
2
4
Italy
1
3
Japan
1
2
World Championship:
# Participation
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM
7
58
45
26
71
10
No Data:
Assists: 1975
Years in Detail:
Years
GP
G
#
A
#
PTS
#
PIM
1965-66
7
4
8th
2
21st
6
17th
2
1966-67
7
6
5th
6
6th
12
5th
6
1968-69
9
2
38th
4
10th
10
21st
0
1969-70
10
9
3rd
5
7th
14
5th
0
1970-71
10
6
4th
5
8th
11
5th
0
1971-72
10
12
1st (+8.3%)
4
17th
16
2nd
0
1974-75
5
6
14th
X
X
0
Olympics:
In the 1960's and 1970's, no professional hockey player from North America were playing in the Olympics. Therefore, the World Championship and the Olympics should be viewed as equal tournaments in term of quality.
# Participation
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM
2
12
7
14
21
2
Years in Detail:
Year
GP
G
#
A
#
PTS
#
PIM
1968
7
2
32nd
10
1st (+30%)
12
2nd
2
1972
5
5
4th
4
5th
9
6th
0
Other Tournament:
1972 Summit Series
Year
GP
G
#
A
#
PTS
#
PIM
1972
6
2
9th
1
25th
3
19th
0
1974 Summit Series
Year
GP
G
#
A
#
PTS
#
PIM
1974
4
0
X
4
4th
4
6th
0
- Results versus his own teammate only
1976 Canada Cup
Year
GP
G
#
A
#
PTS
#
PIM
1977
4
4
4th
3
17th
7
7th
0
Awards Nomination:
Most Valuable Player
Seasons
Ranking
1969-70
4th
1970-71
2nd
1971-72
3rd
1973-74
11th
1974-75
11th
1975-76
10th
1976-77
9th
1977-78
15th
- The award was first presented in the 1967-68 season
- Outside the top-5, no information was available for the 1967-68 and 1968-69 season
Quote:
Originally Posted by chidlovski.com
Vladimir Vikulov was an extremely skillful and creative forward with slick stick handling, impressive 1-on-1 techniques, rapid and accurate shots on goal and well-catered assists on goals scored by his partners.
Many famous players enjoyed the opportunity to play in one line with Vikulov considered one of the best Soviet playmakers in the 1960's and 1970's. The list of his career linemates included such world class individuals as Anatoly Firsov and xxx, Valery Kharlamov and Alexander Maltsev, xxx and xxx.
Overall, Vikulov was arguably one of the classiest Soviet forwards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur Chidlovski
5. Valery Kharlamov - Anatoly Firsov - Vladimir Vikulov
Team USSR and CSKA
Early 1970s
They didn't play very long together. One of the top offensive lines of the late 1960s, Firsov-xxx-Vikulov lost its center. Legendary Tarasov tried various players to replace xxx. Finally, he added Kharlamov to the famous linemates. "We didn't have to explain much to Valery," remembered Firsov. "It just clicked." Born out of Tarasov's experiments and attempts to extend hockey career of aging Red Army stars, the line is mostly remembered for its performance at the '72 Olympics. With Tarasov's retirement, Firsov left Team USSR and the Kharlamov-Maltsev-Vikulov line at the '72 Summit Series was a quick fixer-upper for a promising line.
6. xxx - xxx - Vladimir Vikulov
Team USSR and CSKA
Mid 1970s
They were the second line with the Red Army club and, briefly, with Team USSR in the 1970s. Small and speedy, xxx had a promising scoring touch. Never mind his small size - no giant defenseman was an authority to xxx when he was free-wheeling to the net. Vikulov had great soft hands and incredible playmaking talent. xxx was not a magnificent player but served as a very solid and reliable backbone of the line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Legends of Hockey
During the Summit Series of 1972 that pitted Canadian professionals against Russian counterparts, the most dangerous Soviet line was comprised of Vladimir Vikulov, Alexander Matsev and Valeri Kharlamov.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Pelletier's Greatest Hockey Legend
This allowed Tarasov to experiment with what was known as "the System." Instead of two conventional defenders backing up three forwards, Tarasov created a five man unit with only one true defender, the great Alexander Ragulin. Vladimir Vikulov and Anatoli Firsov were the explosive forwards, while xxx and Ivanov served as "semi-defensemen," almost like a mid-fielder in soccer. They would roam both ends of the ice, creating odd man situations in both the offensive and defensive zones. Ivanov's ability in both ends led to this revolutionary though still uncommon strategy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1972SummitSeries.com A September to Remember
Later in the period Vladimir Vikulov capitalized from the slot while Team Canada's defenders were hopelessly out of position.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyers Alumni: Bobby Clarke
The series was looking more and more like an embarrassment for Team Canada. The Canadians arrived in Moscow one game down on their opponents. After the first game at the Luzhniki Sports Palace, the gap doubled. A mistake by Clarke in the final minutes of the game cost the Canadians a tie. He was trying to control the puck near the boards and shot a pass to his partner, xxx. But Valeri Kharlamov intercepted the pass and flipped the puck to Vladimir Vikulov, who beat Tony Esposito at the net.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sun (09/10/1976)
Vladimir Vikulov fired a strong wrist shot from the top Of the right face-Off circle that went, over Curran's shoulder at 2.41 of the second period.
Quotes:
''Vladimir Vikulov's winning goal in the first game in Moscow should have been historic. His goal almost guaranteed victory in the series. Everybody thought the same, including the Soviet players. Unfortunately, the Canadian players did not feel this way. They showed us that it's too early to celebrate victory.'' - Oleg Spassky, Russian Soviet coach
- ''I remember the opening faceoff. I knew this faceoff was symbolic. I didn't know why, but I really wanted to win it. At the last second, I decided not to fight for the puck. I thought it would look strange.'' - Vladimir Vikulov, remembering the 1974 Summit Series opening faceoff
- ''On the other hand - well, I was now playing side by side with Anatoly Firsov and Vladimir Vikulov, teammates who ruled out the possibility of playing badly right out. I have learned a lot and benefited greatly from playing in a new group.'' - Valeri Kharlamov
- ''In virtually every match Vikulov and Firsov demonstrate their creativity, improvise, and confound the opponent with one riddle after another - they were also doing a great deal of work, and very eagerly so, pulling back whenever they would lose the puck. So if I had played more offensively with my former partners (Petrov and Mikhailov), caring little about defence, now that I was on ice alongside such eminent players, it would be embarrassing to carry on playing instead of going back and helping them. To play any different from how they played or to work any less on the rink would be tantamount to disrespecting them.'' - Valeri Kharlamov
Fun and Interesting Facts:
- Vladimir Vikulov was an assistant captain in the 1976 Canada Cup
- In the 1972 Summit Series, Vladmir Vikulov and Phil Esposito took the ceremonial faceoff in Montreal
- In the 1972 Summit Series, Vikulov two goals of the series, in game four and game five, were both game winning goals
- Although it is unknown how many games Vikulov played at the centre position, he did played at that position at some point in 1974, alongside left winger xxx and right winger xxx
Abbreviation: IIHF: International Ice Hockey Federation WEC-A: World & European Championship Pool A
I'm gonna be dead honest.. I REALLY don't see the point of freezing the clock for a one hour downtime. If he was gonna be here to make his pick by then, then he would have been here directly afterwards as well. If it was down for the whole day, OK, sure, I can understand that, but for one hour, there's no point whatsoever to extend the clock.. especially for one hour at 8 PM in the evening..
Why is it fair for his clock to be eaten by down time. If the site is down, so is the clock. That's final.
Maybe I'm an isolated case, but has the site actually gone down for anybody? Downtime was supposed to be 8 PM EST. I haven't had any disruption in posting or viewing.
Why is it fair for his clock to be eaten by down time. If the site is down, so is the clock. That's final.
I'd like to know why. Even if he gets skipped in that downtime, the next people can't post their picks either. If he doesn't come back by the time the site is back, he wasn't going to be posting his pick anyways. If he's back, he lets people know and posts his pick afterwards. Simple.
Best coach available IMO, nice pick up. Skip HHH, because he missed an earlier pick, Stoneberg OTC and notified.
yeah and even if he wasn't , he was one of the last that could work with a Gretzky-oriented team , I had some players really high on my list and it makes me sick not to draft them , but I had to take a appropriate coach while I still could.
He coached good offensive teams. Did he coach them well?
they were in the top goal-for in the league and they won a cup.
offensive coaches list was getting short , maybe I missed someone , what the hell do you want me to say?
they were in the top goal-for in the league and they won a cup.
offensive coaches list was getting short , maybe I missed someone , what the hell do you want me to say?
I'll deal with it.
No need to get testy.
Not trying to compare Sinden to other coaches who may or may not be available, so much as getting a feel for him and why he gets taken as high as he does.
Meh, for me, coaches don't matter all that much when it comes time to comparing teams - more of a tiebreaker if two teams are really close. It explains why I never take one too early.
Not trying to compare Sinden to other coaches who may or may not be available, so much as getting a feel for him and why he gets taken as high as he does.
sorry , was not my intention
the reason I picked him was ''specific need'' and those ''specific need'' getting picked very fast.I didn't want to end up with a bunch of ****** or none-winner offensive coaches for my next pick.
Last edited by seventieslord: 03-12-2011 at 12:16 AM.
vecens, Smyth must've been who you were talking about who you preferred over Morrow.
Smyth's offense 9 out of ten days > Morrow's offense
Morrow's defense and grit 10 out of 10 days > Smyth's defense and grit
Leadership is about equal.
No, the guy I'm talking about plays the other wing. Haven't gone entirely through today's thread, but I'm fairly certain he hasn't been taken.
I'm fairly certain that for a 3rd line role I'd take Morrow of Smyth. For a 4th line I think it's about even between those two, but for a third line role there's a guy on the other wing from that era I like more.
