The Vancouver Canucks have lost a Friend and a member of the 1989 Canuck squad, but only after international players were allowed to join the NHL.
He was born in Moscow and gathered attention for his play with a local factory team Meteor, which saw him getting an invitation to the hockey school of the CSKA Moscow club.
Vladimir Krutov began playing hockey with CSKA in 1977 and eventually won 11 consecutive Soviet and European Championships Cups.
He was also selected as the MVP of the Soviet Championships in 87; was the leading goal scorer at the Soviet Championships in 1984, 1986 and 1987.
In addition he was chosen as part of the best line at the Soviet Championships in 1981-87 and 1989.Krutov was one of the famed KLM line which was a “power-house” unlike no one has seen to date.
He passed away at the young age of 52, and it is reported that he had been taken to the hospital earlier for stomach bleeding.
No cause of death was announced. Federation president and former Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretyak told the Sport-Express newspaper
“He was such a dependable and steadfast man that I would have gone anywhere with him — to war, to espionage, into peril. There are fewer and fewer guys like him in every generation of hockey players.”Krutov and his CSKA teammates Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov formed one of the most potent scoring lines that hockey has ever seen. They led the Soviet squad to Gold in 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
He was also part of the team that lost to the US at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. His team also won five (5) World Championships in the 1980ties.Along with defensemen Vyacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, they became known as the “Green Unit” for the color of their practice jerseys.
He was one of the first Soviet players to play in the NHL, but spent only one undistinguished season with the Canucks. He later played for Zurich and Swedish lower-league clubs Ostersund and Brunflo, and coached CSKA for one season in 2001-02.
After that, he was director at a state sports school. In 2010, he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation’s hall of fame.
Points to Note:
Internationally besides his three Olympic medals, Krutov was World champion five times (1981-83, 1986, 1989) and European champion seven times (1981-83, 1985-87, 1989).
He also won silver (1987) and bronze (1985) at the World Championships. Krutov was named the best forward at the 1986 and 1987 World Championships and was the leading scorer at the 1987 World Championships and 1988 Olympics, and was also the leading goal scorer in 1987.
Krutov won a full set of medals at the Canada Cup – gold in 1981, silver in 1987, and bronze in 1984.
After his sporting career Krutov coached CSKA Moskva from 1996-2001, as the head coach in 2001. In 2002 Krutov began working as the director of sports school in Moscow.
Photo taken by Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images. Special Thanks
