Star tragedies: mysteries, fates and deaths. Valery Kharlamov: biography

The great Soviet hockey player, multiple world champion, member of two NHL and IIHF halls of fame, Valery Borisovich Kharlamov, was born into a family of simple workers at a tool factory. What was unusual was that the mother of the future athlete, Carmen Orive-Abad, affectionately called Begonia, was from Spain: she was taken to the USSR as a child in the late 30s.

She was a passionate, temperamental woman; with her brightness, she amazed master Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov, with whom she worked at the same factory. After they met at a dance, the couple in love never parted, and a few months later, on January 14, 1948, their first child, Valery, was born. After the parents managed to register the relationship, another daughter, Tatyana, was born into the family.

Little Valery Kharlamov with his family

From childhood, the boy began going to the hockey rink, since his father was a fan of this sport and often played for the team of his native Kommunar plant. After several family trips to Spain to visit relatives, where little Valera got involved in football, he continued to train at the youth hockey school under the leadership of Vyacheslav Tazov, but secretly due to his illness. The boy was suspected of having rheumatism and was forbidden to engage in physical education. But his father’s method of playing sports yielded results: already on his 14th birthday, Valery was completely healthy.

Hockey

Initially, the young man played for the CSKA sports school team. He continued his adult career as part of the Zvezda team from the Ural town of Chebarkul. His partner in this team was Alexander Gusev, who would later also join upper echelons Soviet hockey players. After a series of victories, Kharlamov is given a chance to try himself on the big stage and is taken into the CSKA squad. Vladimir Petrov also became Valery’s partners here for a long time.

Kharlamov had a significant drawback, according to his next coach, which was his short height for a hockey player - 173 cm. Despite this, Valery, with his playing style and sports intuition, still won the sympathy of his mentor and got access to the ice as a member of the USSR national team.

Petrov - Kharlamov - Mikhailov

Work in the famous troika Petrov - Kharlamov - Mikhailov played a big role in the biography of each of the three athletes. Their first joint victory occurred in 1968 during the USSR - Canada match. After which the famous trio became a thunderstorm on the ice court: wherever the athletes appeared, they always brought victory to the Soviet team and defeat to their opponents.

Thanks to the special playing style of each of the athletes and the clear distribution of roles among themselves, the hockey players skillfully carried the pucks to the opponent’s goal. Kharlamov’s own performance was also excellent. Because of his efforts, the USSR national team became the leader at the World Championships in Sweden, and the athlete himself began to be considered the best striker in personal points. Soviet Union.

In 1971, according to the calculations of coach Tarasov, the hockey player was transferred to another link - Vikulov and Firsov. This castling brings gold at the Sapporo Olympics and championship in the super series of all times between the Soviet Union and Canada.

At the 1976 Olympics, it was Kharlamov who managed to change the outcome of the match with the Czechs, scoring the decisive goal into the enemy’s goal.

Decline of a career

In the same year, Kharlamov experienced a serious car accident in which he got into on the Leningradskoe Highway while sitting behind the wheel of his car. The athlete spent a long time recovering from serious injuries. The surgeons at the military hospital helped him a lot. The doctors raised their idol to his feet, and he was able to get on the ice again.

Valery Kharlamov on crutches after the first accident

In the first match with Krylia Sovetov, Kharlamov’s partners did everything possible to ensure that he scored a goal. But Valery did not manage to finish the game; he still felt bad. At this time, the CSKA team is replacing its coach with a new coach, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov. Thanks to new training tactics, the team managed to resume its victorious march at the 1978 and 1979 World Championships. After which the legendary troika was gradually disbanded.

On the eve of 1981, Kharlamov announced to everyone that after the match with Dynamo, where the athlete scored his last 293 goal, he would go into coaching. But this was not destined to happen.

Personal life

All that is known about Kharlamov’s personal life before his marriage is that everything free time he devoted himself to sports. In 1975, at a celebration in one of the restaurants in Moscow, Valery met his future wife Irina Smirnova. The young people, despite the 8-year age difference, immediately fell in love with each other and began to live together.

Wedding of Valery Kharlamov and Irina Smirnova

After some time, their son Alexander was born, and after registering their marriage in May 1976, the couple had a daughter, Begonita. After several years of living together, the young people received a three-room apartment near the Alekseevskaya metro station.

Death

At the end of the summer of 1981, an event occurred that negatively affected the psychological well-being of the hockey player. For the first time, CSKA flew to the Canada Cup without Kharlamov, despite the absence of his official announcement of retirement. Valery planned to play his last competition abroad, but the club’s management decided differently. The last conversation with mentor Tikhonov took place in a tense state. Kharlamov’s family was at the dacha at that time.

In the early morning of August 27, 1981, Valery, his wife Irina and her cousin decided to take their own Volga home to Moscow. On the way, Irina got behind the wheel of a car. The young woman did not have much driving experience and when a minor emergency occurred, she lost control. The vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic and collided with a truck. The cause of death for all passengers in the car was multiple injuries received during the accident.

In the morning, all the media in the world were broadcasting about the tragedy that had occurred. The civil funeral service took place at the CSKA Palace; the graves of all the victims are located in the cemetery in Kuntsevo. Since the CSKA team could not come to the funeral, the athletes promised to take the Canadian Cup in memory of their friend. This was achieved by playing the final against the hosts of the competition with a crushing score of 8:1.

Monuments to Valery Kharlamov at the grave and at the place of death

The Kharlamov children were taken under her care by Irina’s mother, who was still full of strength at that time. Colleagues in the hockey workshop provided great support in the education of Alexander and Begonita. The boy subsequently made a career in hockey, becoming a children's coach, and then went into business. And the girl received the title of master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics. The children of Valery Kharlamov are happy in their families. Alexander and his wife are raising their son Valery, and Begonia has two daughters - Dasha and Annushka.

In memory of the legend of Soviet hockey, several documentaries and feature films of Russian and Canadian production were created. Viewers especially remembered the films “Extra Time” from 2007 and “

Thirty-two years ago, the outstanding hockey player Valery Kharlamov died in a car accident. Together with his wife and her cousin, he was returning from the dacha and on a slippery road after the rain, the car flew into the oncoming lane and collided with a truck. At that time, she was driving the Volga wife of Valery Kharlamov Irina. Everyone who was in the Volga died. Valery and Irina left two children - Alexander and Begonita, who after the death of their parents remained to live with their grandmother - Valery's mother-in-law.

Valery Kharlamov met his future wife at the Rossiya restaurant. Each of them spent time in his own company - the nineteen-year-old Irina Smirnova I came to a friend’s birthday, and Valery had dinner with friends. He noticed a pretty girl, invited her to dance, they met, and after the restaurant Valery took Irina home.

At that time, Kharlamov was already a famous hockey player, but Irina, who was not interested in hockey, did not know about this and believed her new acquaintance when he said that he was a taxi driver, and only then she accidentally saw him on TV.

In the photo - Valery Kharlamov with his wife

At first, Mom tried to dissuade Irina from taking a new boyfriend, but she didn’t listen to anyone, although she was in no hurry to introduce Valery to his future mother-in-law. At that time, Irina was a student at the Moscow Energy Institute, but she studied there for only one course and dropped out as soon as she found out that she was expecting a child.

After the birth of his son, Kharlamov moved from his one-room apartment to his wife, and then they got married. Two weeks after the wedding, Valery and Irina had an accident on the same road where five years later that incident happened terrible tragedy. The first time, Valery Kharlamov’s wife was not injured - he was able to turn the steering wheel, and the car crashed into a pole, and the hockey player himself, with fractures and a concussion, ended up in the hospital, where he spent a long time recovering, but was still able to get on the ice.

And five years later, almost before his death, Valery had a conversation with coach Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who told Kharlamov that he would not go to the Canada Cup, and the Russian team left without him. The hockey player himself understood that it was time for him to leave, but he wanted to play the last match and score a few goals, and then become a coach, but this was not destined to happen. According to friends, if on that fateful day it was not Valery Kharlamov’s wife who was driving the car, but he himself, the accident might not have happened.

By the standards of Canadian hockey, Valera was a “baby”, and his opponents were especially angry when it was Kharlamov who beat them, powerful and huge, over and over again on the ice. And after the historical “Series-72”, even NHL professionals admitted that such a “baby” like Kharlamov - an athlete, all cast, made of muscles - can be a star in the game of powerful men...

Valery Kharlamov was born on the night of January 13-14, 1948 in Moscow into a working-class family. His father, Boris Sergeevich, worked as a test mechanic at the Kommunar plant, his mother, Aribe Orbat Hermane, or Begonita, a Spanish national who came to the USSR at the age of 12 in the late 30s, worked at the same plant . In addition to Valera, there was another child in the Kharlamov family: daughter Tatyana.

Ironically, V. Kharlamov was born in a car: the young mother was taken to the maternity hospital, and contractions began right in the cab of the car. Boris Kharlamov left his wife in the maternity hospital, and he, with a bundle in his hands containing her clothes, went on foot to the hostel where he and his young wife then lived (the metro was no longer working by that time). On one of the streets, a police patrol noticed a lone traveler with a suspicious bundle. He was asked to go to the department, to which he happily agreed: the frost was terrible and it was already unbearable to stomp home. At the police station, Boris Sergeevich warmed up and treated the policemen to shag.

My son was born today,” he told his interlocutors in Once again. - They named him Valery, in honor of Chkalov.

B. Kharlamov recalls: “Valerik was born very weak. He weighed less than three kilograms, and how could we expect a hero with the rationed meals of that time. As usual, I washed my feet with the guys in the hostel. At that time, my wife Begonita and I lived in quarter of a large room, separated from other families by a plywood partition..."

At the age of 7, Kharlamov first skated and went to the skating rink with his father. By that time, ice hockey was already firmly established in our country and was not inferior in popularity to football. Many boys of that time dreamed of being like Vsevolod Bobrov or Ivan Tregubov. Valera also dreamed about this. However, an obstacle suddenly stood in the way of this cherished dream: health. In March 1961, Kharlamov fell ill with a sore throat, which caused complications in other organs: doctors discovered he had a heart defect and practically put an end to any activity of the child. From that moment on, Valera was prohibited from attending physical education classes at school, running in the yard, lifting weights, swimming, and even attending pioneer camp. Otherwise, doctors said, the boy might die. However, if Valery’s mother accepted this diagnosis, his father thought differently. Therefore, when a summer skating rink opened on Leningradsky Prospekt in the summer of 1962, he took his son there to sign up for the hockey section. That year they accepted the boys of 1949, but Valery, with his small stature, looked so young that it was not difficult for him to mislead the second coach of CSKA, Boris Pavlovich Kulagin, about his age. Kharlamov then turned out to be the only one of several dozen boys who was accepted into the section. And when the deception was finally revealed, the coach had already liked Valery so much that expelling him from the section was out of the question.

A. Maltsev recalls: “Valery once admitted in moments of our special spiritual closeness: “As a boy, I seriously cried only once. This was when I started playing in the CSKA children's team and for the first time the referee sent me off for two minutes. This is where I started crying - I felt bitter that I left the guys in the minority. And when they pressed me against the board and knocked me onto the ice, I endured it as if nothing had happened.”

Behind a short time Kharlamov has turned into one of the best players in the Children's and Youth League sports school CSKA and became B. Kulagin's favorite. But CSKA head coach Anatoly Tarasov at one time treated the young hockey player with some prejudice. And V. Kharlamov’s short stature was to blame for this. In those years, Tarasov relied on tall and powerful hockey players, never tired of repeating: “All outstanding Canadian hockey players are giants compared to ours. How can we defeat them if our attackers are dwarfs, literally - a meter with a cap?” In the end, Kharlamov also fell under the heavy hand of Tarasov: in 1966 he was sent to the second league, to the army team of the Sverdlovsk Military District - the Chebarkul Zvezda. And there a miracle happened. First-class player Kharlamov put the whole of Chebarkul on edge, managing to score 34 goals against his opponents in one season. The team coach, Major Vladimir Alfer, immediately reported the successes of the young “Varangian” from Moscow to Kulagin. He apparently didn’t believe it at first. However, in the spring of 1967 in Kalinin, Kulagin himself saw Kharlamov in action and realized that his place was in the main team of CSKA. The only thing that was confusing was how Tarasov would react to this proposal.

They say that that conversation between Kulagin and Tarasov about future fate the journey of a talented hockey player was long and difficult. Tarasov continued to doubt Kharlamov’s capabilities and considered his rise to Zvezda to be accidental. But Kulagin continued to insist on the transfer of the 19-year-old hockey player to Moscow. And Tarasov gave up. So in the summer of ’67, Kharlamov was called to a CSKA training camp at the southern base in Kudepsta.

In the 1967-1968 national championship, the CSKA team became the champion. Together with her, V. Kharlamov rightfully shared the joy of victory. It was then that the famous army troika Mikhailov - Petrov - Kharlamov was born. In December of the same year, she was included in the second USSR team, which replaced the Czechoslovakia team at the tournament for the prize of the Izvestia newspaper (she did not come to Moscow after the August events). In 1969, 20-year-old Kharlamov became the world champion, thereby setting a record: before him, no hockey player in the Soviet Union had achieved such a rise at such a young age.

“I like to play beautifully,” Valera often repeated. What is true is true: hockey performed by Kharlamov was a true art that amazed millions of people. When he appeared on the ice, the goalies trembled, and the spectators wildly expressed their delight.

By 1972, Kharlamov was already unconditionally considered the best hockey player not only in the Soviet Union, but also in Europe. He became the USSR champion four times, the world champion three times and the European champion twice. At the USSR Championship in 1971, he became the top scorer, scoring 40 goals against his opponents. At the beginning of 1972, as a member of the USSR national team, he won Olympic gold and became the top scorer of the tournament, scoring 9 goals. And in the fall of the same year, Kharlamov conquered North America.

The famous series of matches between the hockey teams of the USSR and Canada started on September 2, 1972 on the ice of the Montreal Forum. Not a single resident of the North American continent doubted then that the entire series of eight games would be won by their compatriots with a devastating score for the Soviet hockey players. If anyone objected, they would have been called crazy. But what really happened? In the first match, the devastating score overtook not us, but the Canadians: 7:3! It was a shock for the Maple Leafs. They unconditionally recognized V. Kharlamov as the best player in the Soviet team, who scored two goals in the match. Immediately after the game, one of the Canadian coaches found Valery and offered him a million dollars to play in the NHL. Kharlamov then joked: they say, I won’t go anywhere without Mikhailov and Petrov. But the Canadians didn’t understand the humor and immediately said: we’ll take all your three. Naturally, no one went anywhere, and no one could go. Those were not the times then.

A. Maltsev recalls: “By the standards of Canadian hockey, Valera was a “baby”, and his opponents were especially angry when it was Kharlamov who beat them, powerful and huge, on the ice over and over again. And after the historical “72 series”, even NHL professionals recognized “that such a “baby” like Kharlamov - an athlete, all cast, made of muscles - can be a star in the game of powerful men."

Kharlamov became the only European hockey player whose portrait adorns the stands of the Museum of Hockey Fame in Toronto.

By 1976, Kharlamov was already a six-time USSR champion, a six-time world champion and a two-time Olympic champion. He was probably the only hockey player in the country who was loved by all fans without exception. Even Spartak fans loved Kharlamov, despite the fact that Spartak “fans” couldn’t stomach the rest of the army players. Kharlamov was an exception.

In 1975, a girl came into Kharlamov’s life, who would soon become his wife. It was 19-year-old Irina Smirnova. Their acquaintance happened by chance.

That day, Irina’s friend invited her to her birthday party in one of the capital’s restaurants. The birthday girl and her guests settled down in one part of the establishment, while a cheerful group of men walked in the other. At one point, when the music started playing again, a crowd of young people approached the birthday girl’s table and began vying with each other to invite the girls to dance. Ira was invited by a short, dark-haired guy in a leather jacket and cap. “Probably a taxi driver,” Irina thought to herself, but accepted the invitation. After this, the young man, who introduced himself as Valery, did not leave her side the entire evening. When everyone began to leave, he suddenly volunteered to take Irina to her house by car. “Exactly, a taxi driver,” the girl came to the final conclusion when she got into the brand new Volga with number 00-17 MMB.

Arriving home, the girl, as expected, told her mother, Nina Vasilievna, that in a restaurant she met a young man, a driver by profession. “Look, daughter, it’s still unknown what kind of driver he is...” - Nina Vasilievna considered it best to warn her daughter. But her daughter ignored her remark.

Kharlamov’s meetings (and he was the “driver”) with Irina continued for several weeks. Finally, the girl’s mother could not stand it and asked to show her her boyfriend. “I should know who my daughter is dating,” she said. “But he’s afraid to come here,” Irina answered. “Then show it to me from afar, on the street,” Nina Vasilievna found a way out.

This show took place in the park near Bolshoi Theater. Mother and daughter hid in the bushes and began to wait patiently for the gentleman to arrive at the meeting place. Finally, his Volga stopped near the sidewalk, and Nina Vasilievna glared at its owner. She looked at him for several minutes, but apparently was not too satisfied with this and said: “I need to go up to him and talk.” And then her quiet daughter literally boiled: “If you do this, I will leave the house. You promised to just look at him.” And the mother had to come to terms with it.

Soon after this incident, Valery's incognito status was finally revealed. When Irina’s mother found out that her daughter’s boyfriend was a famous hockey player, she felt somewhat relieved: after all, it was not some unknown driver. And after some time, Irina announced that she was pregnant. At the beginning of 1976, a boy was born who was named Alexander.

The most surprising thing is that until this time, Valery’s parents had never seen their daughter-in-law, and Irina’s mother had not met her future son-in-law in person. Their acquaintance occurred on March 8. That day, Valery’s friends stopped by Irina’s house and took her and her son to meet the groom’s parents. And after that, Kharlamov came to meet his future mother-in-law.

Meanwhile, this joyful event was soon overshadowed by an incident that almost led to tragedy: that same spring, Valery and Irina were in a car accident.

N.V. Smirnova says: “For some time after the wedding, Ira and Valera lived separately from me. One day they called me at work: would you be able to sit with little Sasha tomorrow - they were going to visit somewhere. It was agreed that they would call back The next day I’m waiting for a call, I think maybe they found someone to babysit, when suddenly a friend calls and says that they crashed in their Volga. Valera spent more than a month treating broken legs and ribs. And Ira also had a broken leg. crushed heel and severe concussion."

And here is what V. Tretyak remembers about this: “Returning home at night in a car, Valera could not control the controls and... the car crashed to pieces, and Valera and his wife were taken to the hospital. Kharlamov was doing badly: broken ankles, ribs, concussion. A man just got married, and here’s to you - “ Honeymoon"to the army hospital. For a long time doctors were not sure whether Kharlamov would be able to play hockey again. He spent two months in a hospital bed.

Only in August did Kharlamov stand up and take his first independent steps in the ward. But he was still oh so far away from getting on the ice..."

And yet, in the fall of 1976, Kharlamov returned to the ice. Many then doubted that he could become the old Kharlamov, and not his pale copy. But Valery did the impossible. After the first game, with “Wings of the Soviets”, the “wings” coach B. Kulagin said: “We should be proud that such a person and hockey player as Kharlamov lives in our country!”

In 1977, as a member of CSKA, Kharlamov became a seven-time USSR champion. In the same year, a new coach, Viktor Tikhonov, took over the leadership of this illustrious club. This is how he talked about his impressions: “Like all people associated with hockey, I heard a lot, of course, about the “iron” Tarasov, about his incredibly strong character, about the “iron” discipline in the army club. However, I not only heard about Tarasov, but I’ve known him for many years.

I assure the reader that none of this happened in the CSKA that I ended up with. There was not only an “iron” discipline, but also an elementary one - from the point of view of the requirements accepted in modern sports..."

Among the main violators of the sports regime in CSKA, Tikhonov further names Alexander Gusev, Vladimir Petrov, Boris Alexandrov. Kharlamov is not on his list, but in fairness it should be said that he sometimes allowed himself to “relax.” His colleague on the USSR national team, Valery Vasiliev, recalls: “Here’s a case: we were flying across the ocean. The coach of the team was Boris Pavlovich Kulagin... Well, Valerka Kharlamov and I “took” right on the plane. Kulagin was caught red-handed, took away a hundred dollars and I didn’t play the first game. Then I forgave him... We began to ask him: “Even if you take away all the money, just let me play. We are not for money - for the Motherland." And, by the way, he returned the money...

We were almost always forgiven. Why not? We drank professionally. They knew when and how much. It didn't affect the game - that's the main thing. Here's another case. Soon after Tikhonov took charge of the national team (1977), an embarrassment happened to me and Kharlamov again. We drank, and a lot... The next day we play with the Czechs. The score along the way is 0:2 not in our favor. Viktor Vasilyevich, all white with anger, walks along the bench and mutters through his teeth: “Enemies, enemies... I’m taking you out of the game.” But the guys stood up for Kharlamov and me: “Leave it, Viktor Vasilyevich, let them try to rehabilitate themselves.” Tikhonov gave up. And what? Valerka and I came out, and then we were called the main characters of the match. Kharlamov scored two goals, I made a pass... As a result, the team won.

Tikhonov later said: “There is an idea: maybe we should allow these two to drink? As an exception, eh?” And the then Minister of Sports Pavlov came up with an even more interesting proposal. He came up to Kharlamov and me and said: “Listen, guys. If you want so much, take the keys to my dacha and drink there. But it’s still not worth it at the training camp. It’s not good... Others will see, they’ll start too...” We True, they thanked us, but refused."

In 1978 and 1979, Kharlamov, as part of the USSR national team, once again won gold medals at the World and European Championships. During these same years, CSKA became the national champion twice. However, Kharlamov and other “veterans” of Soviet hockey began to be increasingly crowded out by talented youth. And the strength of the “veterans” was not unlimited. At the Olympic Games in Lake Placid in 1980, the famous trio of Mikhailov - Petrov - Kharlamov played below their capabilities. Having never left the ice rink before without scoring at least one goal, this trio then spent almost all of their games dry. Even in the decisive match with the Americans, they never managed to hit the opponents' goal. At that Olympics our team took silver, which at that time was considered a tragedy.

In 1981, Kharlamov announced that this season would be his last. He wanted to complete it with dignity, and in many ways he succeeded. As part of CSKA, he became the champion of the USSR for the 11th time and the winner of the European Champions Cup. At the last tournament he was named the best striker. Now, in order to end his hockey career on a high note, he needed to win the first Canada Cup, which was supposed to start at the end of August in Winnipeg. And then the unexpected happened: Tikhonov announced that Kharlamov was not going to this tournament. For all hockey specialists and fans, this news was incredible.

V. Fetisov recalls: “Valera trained frantically, he was in excellent shape, and it was felt that he was really looking forward to a tournament of such a high rank, realizing that it would be his last. We were packing our bags, when suddenly Tikhonov summoned Kharlamov. Half an hour later Valera left the coaching room, without explaining anything, he shook hands with the guys, muttered something about victory, turned around and left. As it turned out later, Tikhonov “unhooked” Kharlamov for some past violation of the regime... "

And here is how V. Tikhonov himself explains what happened: “Valery was not on the list of candidates for the national team when we held the training camp. However, he brilliantly played the final match of the European Champions Cup, and therefore we invited Valery to Scandinavia, knowing, naturally, in advance that the cup matches in Italy cannot be compared with what will have to be endured in Canada.

Kharlamov did not train as part of the national team, he prepared according to CSKA’s plan - not for the beginning, but for the end of September, when the national championship starts. However, in terms of the level of skill, the strength of his character, his courage, Kharlamov is always worthy of playing in the national team; he has, as they say, the character of three. But in terms of functional readiness... Valery had not yet gotten into shape, and the gap between him and his partners was great. There was not yet that motor power, thanks to which this brilliant forward managed to act everywhere.

We talked to him in detail. Valery concluded:

Viktor Vasilyevich, I understand everything. I'm really out of shape...

Then Vladimir Vladimirovich Yurzinov came. The conversation continued between the three of us. Valery complained that he did not have enough strength to play. We told him what to do and proposed a program of action:

You need to run for twenty to thirty minutes every day. Then in November-December you will already be in good shape. You will play at the Izvestia tournament and start preparing for the World Championship...

Kharlamov replied:

I understand everything, I gave you my word... Why are you entrusting me with work with young people, I understand... I will do everything so that they play..."

Thus, according to Tikhonov, Kharlamov did not make it into the national team due to poor functional training. Honestly, it's surprising to hear about this. At that Canada Cup, several players were included in the national team, whose preparation and level of play caused much more criticism among specialists, but they went to Canada. And the super class player V. Kharlamov remained in Moscow. And as it turned out - to his death.

On August 26, Kharlamov went to the airport to meet his wife and little son, who were returning from a vacation in the south. A few hours later, he brought them to their dacha in the village of Pokrovka near Klin, where his mother-in-law and four-year-old daughter Begonita then lived.

I. V. Smirnova says: “Ira came from the south with a little cold and went to bed early. At that time, my family lived at the dacha older sister, so we had to stay in another room all together. But Valera didn’t lie down right away, he fussed around with the guys some more, and then settled down next to Sasha on the bed. I offered to take my grandson to my sofa, but he did not agree. He slept poorly, got up several times, but did not drink or smoke. He’ll just sit and sit and then lie down again.

In the morning we got up early and had breakfast. Ira and Valera were getting ready to go to Moscow. Ira says: “Valera, you didn’t get enough sleep; let me drive the car.” Then I heard and protested: “Don’t give her the steering wheel, she doesn’t have a license, and the weather is so gloomy.” Valera reassured me: “I won’t let you, I have to hurry, I want to be on time for training by eleven, so I’ll drive myself. And I also need to take Seryozha home.” Sergei, my nephew, went with them, he was already a family member, he had recently returned from the army. In short, Valera got behind the wheel and they drove off.

I soon went to the store for fresh bread. My sister and her grandson were also with me. We were walking down the street when suddenly a police car drove up and my sister was asked where Kharlamov’s mother-in-law lived. I realized that something had happened."

The tragedy occurred at seven o'clock in the morning on the 74th kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway. Today it is difficult to establish why, having barely driven away from the village, Kharlamov suddenly allowed his wife to get behind the wheel of the Volga, but the fact remains: Irina was behind the wheel in those fatal moments. The road was wet, and the woman apparently lost control. The car drifted into the oncoming lane, along which a truck was rushing at high speed. Everything happened so unexpectedly that his driver was unable to properly react, only turning the steering wheel to the right. And the Volga crashed into his side. The blow was so strong that Valery and Sergei died almost instantly. Irina was still alive for some time, and when the drivers who came to help carried her out of the car and laid her on the grass, she moved her lips. However, a few minutes later she died. Ten minutes later, the police arrived at the scene of the tragedy and identified the man sitting in the front seat of the Volga as Valery Kharlamov. Within an hour after this, the news of the death of the famous hockey player spread throughout Moscow. And in the evening of the same day, world agencies reported: “As a TASS correspondent reported, the famous hockey player Valery Kharlamov, thirty-three years old, and his wife died in a car accident near Moscow this morning. They left behind two small children - a son and a daughter...”

Hockey players of the USSR national team learned about this tragedy in Winnipeg.

V. Fetisov recalls: “In the morning they turned on the TVs, and there were Valerka’s portraits. But then none of us really understood English. We never figured out what was what. Only later, when we went out into the street and strangers began to approach us and to say something about Kharlamov, we understood: something bad happened to Valera. In the evening, our hockey boss Valentin Sych arrived and said that Kharlamov had died. We all gathered and at first wanted to give up this tournament and go to the funeral. But then it somehow happened that we decided to stay, win the Cup at all costs and dedicate the victory to Kharlamov. That’s what happened in the end.”

The funeral of those killed in the car accident took place a few days later at the Kuntsevo cemetery. Thousands of people came to say goodbye to the great hockey player. Soon after this, Kharlamov’s mother passed away, unable to bear the death of her beloved son and daughter-in-law.

R.S. On August 26, 1991, on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, a memorial sign was installed at the 74th kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway: a 500-kilogram marble puck, on which was engraved the inscription: “The star of Russian hockey set here. VALERY KHARLAMOV.” The most amazing thing is that this sign was placed not by the state, but by a private person: a certain Mikhail, who is a passionate fan of hockey and the talent of V. Kharlamov.

The legendary Russian hockey player Valery Kharlamov looked almost like a boy on the ice between hefty opponents from Canada or the Scandinavian countries (he was 1.73 m tall) and at the same time had the intelligence and penchant for analysis of a seasoned coach. He knew how to see the playing field several moves ahead and instantly calculate the tactics of his actions. This athlete's skill made him a member of the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame and one of the most exciting players for many generations. The cause of death of Valery Kharlamov was a traffic accident.

He was born in 1948 and his mother was a native of the Basque Country, brought to Russia with other Spanish children during the fascist dictatorship of Franco. Only three months after the birth of her son, Carmen Rive-Abad was able to obtain a Soviet passport and register with her husband Boris Kharlamov. Later they had another daughter, Tatyana. Valery played hockey since childhood, imitating his father, and made noticeable progress. He stopped training when moving to Spain, but the family did not live there for long. Returning to Moscow, the young man immediately enrolled in the CSKA hockey school.

Valery did not play for long as an unknown newcomer. Already in 1968, the coach began to introduce him to the main team. Then CSKA formed a talented trio of Petrov-Mikhailov-Kharlamov, showing the highest class of play in all future matches of the team, and then as part of the USSR national team. Thanks to Kharlamov, he received the first team gold medal in his life at the World Championships in Sweden. Over the years, Honored Master of Sports Valery Kharlamov will accumulate awards from 11 world championships and 3 Olympics. At none of these games did his team fall below the top spot, and there were a dozen sets of gold medals, 2 of which were Olympic.

The hopes of 33-year-old Valery to participate in the match of the Soviet national team with Canadian hockey players in August 1981 were not justified: he was not taken to the games. Nobody knows what arguments coach Viktor Tikhonov used to explain his decision to the player. Frustrated and tired, Valery returned to Moscow from his dacha with his wife and relative. Irina, who was inexperienced in driving, was driving their Volga. On that section of the road where new asphalt had recently been laid, she was unable to control the steering in slippery conditions. rainy weather. The car suddenly skidded and hit the side of an oncoming truck filled with heavy equipment.

The driver of this car tried to help the overturned car, but everyone in it was already dead. Later it turned out that this section of the Leningrad Highway is fraught with fatal accidents. The news of the death of the beloved striker of Russian hockey shook the whole country. It was impossible and difficult to understand why Valery Kharlamov, who was supposed to play in Canada at that time, died. His two children: 5-year-old Sasha and 3-year-old daughter Begonita were left orphans. The USSR national team, having received terrible news, decided to honor the memory of their teammate by winning the match. They won with a score of 8:1.

Valery Kharlamov is buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow.

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Valery Kharlamov

Who invented hockey? Canadians. Who is the best hockey player? Canadians. So where, one wonders, is this world going if some Russians come to Canada and beat the best hockey players playing in the strongest hockey league in the world? And they don’t just win, they smash them, smash them to smithereens, and turn NHL professionals into amateur clowns. It was a shock. It was not just a defeat, but a national disgrace. On September 2, 1972, hockey was divided into “before” and “after.” On this day, in the famous Montreal Forum Palace, the historic Super Series began, the first meetings between the Soviet Union national team and North American professionals. “We are defeated by Russian bears” and “Mr. Hockey has become a comrade” - these were the headlines in Canadian newspapers the next day. No one believed that the Russians could defeat the NHL team, not even their compatriots. Some Soviet sports officials asked hockey players: “Guys, play as best you can and try not to lose too big...” Tretiak, Petrov, Mikhailov, Yakushev and others debunked the terrible myth about “great and invincible professionals.” And of course, Kharlamov...

Before the start of the Super Series overseas, no one took him seriously. Well, where is this “baby” against the Canadian defenders, each of whom was a hundred-kilogram mountain of muscles (as the writer and screenwriter Yakov Kostyukovsky, who together with Gaidai created “Operation Y” and “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, said: “When I first saw Kharlamov against the backdrop of the mighty partners, his figure personified not physique, but body subtraction"). Yes, they will simply smash him across the ice in the first attack, as soon as he dares to cross the center line. And Kharlamov, over and over again, as if jokingly, passed through the Canadian defense and sent the puck into the goal of the excellent goalkeeper Ken Dryden. The goalkeeper of the Canadian team forever remembered Kharlamov’s game. “...It’s all behind us,” wrote Ken Dryden in his book “Hockey at the Top Level.” “This game was watched by one hundred million television viewers in the Soviet Union, several million in Europe, and more than twenty-five million Canadians and Americans watched it at home. And almost twenty thousand spectators came to the Forum. I swear that now they all know that Valery Kharlamov’s middle name is Borisovich, and Vladislav Tretyak’s middle name is Alexandrovich. The stage was set for a great triumph for Canadian hockey. But the Russians arrived and ruined everything, showing 60 minutes of such a game as we had never dreamed of... It was Kharlamov who broke our mighty team and removed the question of a winner. His goals were simply unimaginable. Kharlamov is a hockey genius, I have never seen such a game from a forward. He simply has no equal..."

“Why did I become a hockey player? Frankly, I didn’t think much about this before. But one day I was asked to tell you how my love for hockey came, and I... I couldn’t answer this question. I just spent a lot of time on the ice as a child. And then one fine day there was a stick in my hands... And why did I become so interested in hockey? At school I was good at mathematics and won olympiads. Now I would just work. Imagine, every evening is free. And so, you’re always in a hurry to get somewhere...”

But really, why did he become a hockey player? A small, frail guy, one of those that in courtyard companies is called a “hilyak.” Genes in hockey terms are also unsuitable. Football, yes. The father of the famous hockey player was involved in sports and played football, although he did not advance further than the factory teams. And my mother is Spanish by birth, and for Spaniards, as you know, there is nothing higher in sports than football. Maybe then there would have been a monument to Valery Kharlamov, the great Spanish football player, in the center of Madrid or Barcelona. But Valera chose hockey...

In the summer of 1937, a ship carrying children of Spanish communists sailed from Bilbao to Leningrad. Among them was twelve-year-old Aribe Abbad Hermane, whose diminutive name at home was Begonita, or Begonya. The children of Spain fled the civil war. But also in the new homeland brutal war soon caught up with them. Begonita ended up in Tbilisi, where she worked at an aircraft factory, and only after the end of the war was she able to come to Moscow. She got a job at the Kommunar plant. Test fitter Boris Kharlamov worked at the same plant. The young people met in a completely trivial way - at a dance. Boris simply could not help but pay attention to the dazzling beauty Begonya...

The police immediately drew attention to a man walking alone through Moscow at night with a strange bundle on his shoulder. Of course, it’s three o’clock in the morning, it’s bitterly cold, what can you do outside at such a time? They approached and asked to go to the nearest department. The man happily agreed. He was already completely frozen, and he still had to stomp and stomp to get to his home hostel.

“You see,” he explained to the police, “my son was born, he was named Valery, in honor of Chkalov. Here, my wife is in the maternity hospital, and I’m going home...

Valery Kharlamov was born on the night of January 13-14, 1948. There was no time to take the woman in labor to the maternity hospital, so Valera was born right in the ambulance. The boy was weak, weighing less than three kilograms. Let us repeat once again - there were no prerequisites for him to become a hockey player. But come on, as soon as you grew up, you started skating. His father often took Valera with him to the factory team’s bandy competitions and, to keep his son warm, gave him skates. The boots were several sizes too big, so they had to be put on directly over felt boots. But, despite such “equipment,” the boy immediately felt that ice was his element. From the age of five, Valera skated wherever possible - on a skating rink, on a frozen pond, on a road where the ice was polished by the wheels of passing cars.

It seemed like the guy was born wearing skates, he was so confident on the ice. As soon as a hockey rink appeared in the area, the question “what to do with your free time in winter?” for Valera ceased to exist. Skates, stick - and off to the skating rink! He was willingly accepted into their teams not only by his peers, but also by older guys. Valera probably already saw himself as the future Vsevolod Bobrov and dreamed that in a few years he, too, would go on the ice in the team of masters, score goals, and the announcer would announce several times during the match: “Valery Kharlamov scored the puck!” But three obstacles unexpectedly stood in the way of her dream: her mother’s Spanish origin, age and poor health.

In 1956, Valera Kharlamov ended up in Spain. Twenty years after the start of the civil war, Spaniards who fled the Franco regime finally had the opportunity to return to their homeland. Begonita resisted for a long time, did not want to leave her husband, but the voice of blood still won. Mom and son settled in Bilbao, Valera studied at local school, where, among other subjects, the Law of God was taught, and in the Catholic version. Begonita lived in Spain for several months, but she could not drown out the bitterness of separation from her loved one, and together with her son she returned to the Soviet Union.

And again Moscow, real, not Spanish winter (when the temperature does not drop below plus ten), skating rink and hockey until the night. Unfortunately, Valera was not in excellent health and was often sick. In 1960 he suffered from severe tonsillitis. I was in the hospital for several weeks and spent three months in a sanatorium. It was as if he had pulled through, but the sore throat caused complications, and the boy was diagnosed with a heart defect. What kind of hockey is there if, according to doctors' orders, he was prohibited from any physical exercise! Valera was not allowed to: attend physical education classes, swim, lift weights, go to a pioneer camp and go on school trips. He was allowed to go to school and take a leisurely stroll somewhere in the park in good weather. And at the age of 11, he couldn’t even go for a walk - Valera lost right hand and leg.

Mom was ready to strictly follow the doctors’ orders, but Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov thought differently. Maybe he didn’t really believe the doctors’ words, or maybe he didn’t want his son to turn into a “greenhouse plant.” One way or another, when a summer skating rink opened in Moscow, on Leningradsky Prospect, in 1962, he brought his son there to sign up for the hockey section.

Apparently, mentors still have a feeling from God, which is usually called “coaching instinct.” Let's imagine a picture: one and a half dozen thirteen-year-old boys come to watch Boris Petrovich Kulagin, the second coach of the legendary CSKA. Among them there are tall, strong guys, as if specially created for hockey, which “real men play.” But the coach doesn’t like these guys, he sends everyone home and leaves only one, short, frail Valera Kharlamov. Why exactly him, what principles was Boris Kulagin guided by? After all, the second coach of CSKA knew that Himself (that’s right, with capital letters) doesn't really like short hockey players. “All Canadian hockey players are giants compared to ours,” once said the great Anatoly Tarasov, head coach of CSKA and the USSR national team. “How can we defeat them if our attackers are some kind of dwarfs, a meter with a cap?” Be that as it may, time has shown that Boris Petrovich was not mistaken in his choice.

At that time, CSKA youth teams were coached by Vitaly Georgievich Erfilov and Andrei Vasilyevich Starovoitov. It was to them that Boris Kulagin sent Valera. It would seem that the dream of the boy who was crazy about hockey came true - he ended up in CSKA, albeit only in the youngest team of the army club. But it was not to be, the villainous fate threw Valera a new test. It turned out that he was born a year earlier than expected. They accepted children born in 1949, and fourteen-year-olds, such as Kharlamov, were considered “too old.” Helped him out short stature, thanks to which he easily passed himself off as a thirteen-year-old. But how ashamed he was to lie! “Father hates lies, even for “tactical” purposes. I was always forbidden to lie, and therefore my dad told my coaches that I had deceived them, that I had been around since 1948. I thought they would kick me out, but they forgave me, probably because my deception did not bring harm to anyone: I did not play a single official match for the team of 1949, but I had every right to play for the guys of 1948. I was left on the team..."

Erfilov and Starovoitov forgave Valera for his naive, childish deception. The coaches liked him; first of all, he liked his artistry on the ice, which could not be taught. “At some point, Valera breaks through with the puck to the blue line,” Vitaly Erfilov recalled one of the games between the youth teams of CSKA and Spartak. – Two Spartak defenders rush at him at once. Both are powerful guys, tall, broad-shouldered. Valerka looked very small next to them. He stopped in front of them. The face is frightened, about to cry, the nose is already wrinkled. The defenders also stopped, it was still interesting to look at the crying forward - you don’t see it every day. They stopped, and Valerka immediately started using his legs, picked up speed and drove around them. The defenders were just turning around, and the smiling Kharlamov was already one on one with the goalkeeper and sent the puck into the net with an accurate throw.”

Gradually Valera moved from one age group to another - the boys' team, the second youth team, the first youth team, and now he is already on the way to the main team. On October 22, 1967, Valery Kharlamov played his first match for the masters team. In Novosibirsk, CSKA beat Sibir 6:2. But this match for a long time remained the only one that Valera played as part of the main team. He had already outgrown the youth level, but was not yet ready to compete in the masters team. The coaches understood that something had to be done with Kharlamov: on the one hand, it was too early to put him in the same lineup next to the CSKA stars, but sitting on the bench, without playing practice, he could, as they say, “wither away.” And Tarasov decided to send Kharlamov to the second league - to the Chebarkul “Zvezda”, the army team of the Sverdlovsk Military District. Of course, Chebarkul, a town in Chelyabinsk region with a population of 40 thousand people is not Moscow, and Zvezda is not CSKA. You can imagine how Kharlamov (and his CSKA partner, defender Alexander Gusev, sent to Zvezda a little earlier) felt. “You’ll go so that Gusev won’t be bored,” Anatoly Tarasov joked gloomily, saying goodbye to Kharlamov. But Tarasov knew what he was doing, it was not an exile, “out of sight, out of mind.” “You must create all the conditions for Kharlamov to train three times a day every day,” Tarasov told Zvezda coach Vladimir Alfer. “In calendar meetings, Valery must spend at least 70% of the time on the ice, regardless of how the game goes.” Valera's first match for Zvezda did not go well, but after a couple of weeks the whole of Chebarkul went to see Kharlamov. And still... “There was nothing particularly to rejoice at,” Kharlamov recalled of the “Chebarkul period.” – I’m nineteen years old, and I’m far from the main team of CSKA. – Gusev and I performed successfully, but is this what I dreamed of? There were times when I wanted to quit playing." This is the mood of the future best forward in hockey. And again Boris Kulagin helped Valera out. He came to the “Stars” match in Kalinin, and after the game he said to Kharlamov and Gusev: “Guys, if you try, you will soon be returned back to CSKA.” And they tried. In one season, Kharlamov scored 34 (!) goals against opponents. This has never happened in the history of the second league of Soviet hockey.

And yet, Tarasov believed that it was too early to return Kharlamov from Chebarkul to Moscow. They say that a very difficult and long conversation took place between the first and second coaches of CSKA about Kharlamov. Kulagin saw Valera in action and believed that he needed to be returned to CSKA, and as quickly as possible. “He’s still a little weak,” Tarasov resisted for a long time, but still gave in. And as soon as Anatoly Vladimirovich decided to recall Valera to CSKA, Vladimir Alfer rushed to Moscow from Chebarkul and immediately rushed from the plane to Tarasov, with a gift box and a bottle of cognac. “Anatoly Vladimirovich, we have two matches left! If we win at least one, we will remain in first place. Leave the guys to us for a while, don’t call them back.” And Tarasov left Kharlamov and Gusev for several matches.

On March 8, 1968, Valera arrived in Moscow. A classmate met him at the station. School friends decided to celebrate the meeting and International Women's Day. We had just sat down at the table when Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov suddenly rushed over and said that Valera should urgently come to the training session of the CSKA main team. Of course, the hockey player immediately rushed to the CSKA Ice Palace. "And it began new life. So I became included in the company of the elite, although I was not yet a “full member” of this generally recognized hockey academy. Already on the tenth of March, four and a half months after the first attempt, I was again included in the main roster.” And again Kharlamov took to the ice against Novosibirsk Sibir. Valera was tried in different triples, he even replaced Anatoly Firsov several times, playing in a triple together with Vladimir Vikulov and Viktor Polupanov. And on March 23, in a match with Khimik from Voskresensk, Kharlamov took to the ice for the first time together with Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov. Then it was just an episode...

“The hockey team is a team,” said Valery Kharlamov. – A kind of “production” team. It is no coincidence that we are called a link. And the first condition for successful team activity is psychological compatibility. Friendship is even better. Three masters, even very good ones, will not become a strong link if they do not understand each other, respect each other, and profess the same principles of hockey.”

Naturally, triples and links are not born by themselves. Someone leaves the team, someone comes, the composition is constantly changing. Creating the perfect three or five is one of the most difficult tasks for coaches. There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account, often not directly related to hockey. Mentors, of course, have their own ways of determining the optimal links. The simplest and at the same time complex and painstaking - try again and again various options combinations of players. And even the greatest coach can take months and years until he finally says to himself: “Yes, this is what is needed, these three will play together!”

Anatoly Tarasov could not solve the problem of the third link. The first one was played by the most experienced Anatoly Firsov and young people who had already managed to become Olympic champions and three-time world championship winners Vladimir Vikulov and Viktor Polupanov. There were also some rough spots, as Anatoly Firsov figuratively said, “sometimes Polupanov made a fool,” but on the whole, the triple “A” completely satisfied Tarasov. Everything was clear with the second link, where Olympic champions Evgeny Mishakov, Anatoly Ionov and Yuri Moiseev played. But with the third three, it just didn’t work out, no matter what Tarasov did, no matter how he “shuffled” the hockey players...

In the mid-1960s, the leaders of both CSKA and the Union team were the most magnificent trio of hockey grandmasters Konstantin Loktev, Alexander Almetov and Veniamin Alexandrov. But time took its toll, first Loktev left, then Almetov. Petrov and Mikhailov became Alexandrov’s new partners. And this is where the problems began. Each individually was a great hockey player, but together... For long years games together with Loktev and Almetov, Alexandrov was accustomed to the fact that his partners understood him perfectly; they foresaw in advance how Veniamin would play in a given situation. But Petrov and Mikhailov felt uncomfortable in the company of the famous ace, sometimes they did not understand his subtle decisions on the court. In turn, Alexandrov was angry with his young partners and often could not forgive them for mistakes and miscalculations. Ultimately, in 1968, Veniamin Alexandrov ended his career.

And again the problems began... Tarasov put different players to Petrov and Mikhailov, but the three did not work out. They play, sometimes even well, they score, but they are far from ideal. The head coach also tried Kharlamov, but for the first time the game of the experimental troika Tarasov was not impressed. “Valery had a hard time at first,” Anatoly Firsov said about his partners. – No matter how much Boris and Volodya sort out their relationship with Alexandrov, there is no escaping the fact that Veniamin taught the young people wisdom, suggested them some game and tactical decisions, and revealed the secrets of hockey. What could Kharlamov teach his new partners? Valery could give the team only one thing - a diligent and interesting game, he could try to grasp the peculiarities of the actions of his comrades and build his life in sports, in the team, in such a way as to earn the right to be called an equal. He could finally bring peace to the souls of partners who had not yet found themselves.”

They say that for the second time Tarasov put Valery with Petrov and Mikhailov almost out of despair, and that a little more - Petrov and Mikhailov could, following Kharlamov’s example, go somewhere to the second league, to the same Chebarkul “Zvezda”, For example. And suddenly they started playing...

"We are so different. Different in everything. We are attracted to different people. I'm interested in different books. And different views on the most serious and not too serious problems make us very different. We argue a lot. And even more so in training. And especially during preparatory training, when we live together. It is only at the World Championships and the Olympic Games that I live with others, most often with Alexander Maltsev. But our friendship on the ice, the same understanding not only of the principles of the game, but also - which is no less important - the same attitude towards the game helps us overcome everything that divides us... We understand each other not perfectly, but literally,” said Valery. “I know what they might do at any given moment, I can guess their decision, even if they are looking somewhere else.” More precisely, I don’t know so much as I feel what they will do in the next second, how they will play in this or that situation, and therefore at the same moment I rush to where the puck is waiting for me, where, according to my partner’s plan, I should appear. I played with many masters, including very big ones, but with no one I was able to achieve such success... It was Volodya and Boris who made me Kharlamov.”

This was a truly unique trio. And it’s not even that Petrov – Mikhailov – Kharlamov very quickly became the leading link of CSKA and the USSR national team, and their game began to be called the hockey of the future. It is difficult to imagine people more different in character. Cheerful, witty Kharlamov, who is usually the center of attention of others. Over time, his jokes became “hockey folk art”; veterans of the team retold them to young players. For example, the national team was once on its way to training. One of the hockey players saw a new Volga from the window: “Valera, look, it’s a good car, right? When will you buy it? Kharlamov, with an absolutely serious expression on his face, replied: “I was in “Yesterday.” Children's world" I don’t have my size...” Or the dialogue between Kharlamov and writer Yakov Kostyukovsky during the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo.

– Congratulations, Valery Borisovich!

– Why is it so official?

- Well, you are still the top scorer of the Olympic tournament, you scored nine goals and won a gold medal...

- Arigote has a kind word.

– Have you already learned Japanese?

“And here at the stadium all you hear is: “Arigote, arigote, arigote.” So we also decided to be polite... But for some reason Gena Tsygankov always says: “Aligote, aligote.”

– Are you all sarcastic, Valery Borisovich?

– Don’t be so formal, by name and patronymic... Only a coach you know calls me that when he’s angry with me (Tarasov always switched to “you” when he was extremely dissatisfied with something . – Auth.), and a plumber I know, when he asks for a loan of three rubles...

But his partners are completely different. Boris Mikhailov is modest and does not like noisy companies, a little hot-tempered, but a very fair person. “World Champion in Arguments,” as Anatoly Firsov once called him. And the good-natured grumbler Vladimir Petrov, just like Boris, loves to argue on any occasion. “If I am asked during a training camp, during a trip abroad, what Mikhailov and Petrov are doing now, at this minute, I can always answer without fear of error: they are arguing! – Kharlamov recalled. - These are the greatest debaters. Boris is ready to argue endlessly, but his strong side is that he is self-critical, knows how to admit his mistake, and admit that his opponent is right. In general, I think it’s good - a constant desire to get to the bottom of the truth, the ability to defend one’s point of view in the most furious disputes with coaches and club leaders. Especially if it doesn’t turn into stubbornness. But Volodya Petrov will never admit his mistakes. He cannot yield to anyone or anything.”

In this trio, Valery was the youngest, two years younger than Vladimir and four years younger than Boris. But very quickly it was Kharlamov who became its leader, its think tank. However, he did not suppress his partners, did not overshadow them. Each organically fit into the trio, organically complementing their comrades and allowing them to further reveal their already enormous talent.

When Valery said that it was Petrov and Mikhailov who made him the Kharlamov who was considered the best hockey player in the world, these were not just words, a routine tribute to their partners. The banal “one man in the field is no warrior” suits hockey perfectly. Even if you are super talented, if your partner does not understand you, if he does not feel what you will do in the next second, if, in the end, he does not avenge you and does not give back to a too rude opponent, then all your talents are worthless. Of course, Kharlamov, thanks to his talent, would still have become a “star,” but it is unlikely that without Petrov and Mikhailov he would have burst onto the hockey horizon so quickly. His rise was truly amazing. Judge for yourself, in October 1967, first-class player Valery Kharlamov played his first and only match for CSKA that season, and then went to the second league. The following spring he was returned to CSKA, where he became the USSR champion. In the same year, Kharlamov was included in the USSR national team. In December 1968, at the international tournament for the prize of the Izvestia newspaper, the Petrov-Mikhailov-Kharlamov trio became the best in the second team of the Union, and in the spring of 1969, already as part of the first team, they went to the World Championships in Stockholm. In Sweden, Kharlamov (who was still a first-class player) was recognized as one of the brightest players of the Soviet team, he won the World Championship and, having jumped one step, immediately became an Honored Master of Sports. And this at twenty years old...

Does hockey, like any other sport, need new talent? It would seem a strange question. Of course we do. But not everything is so simple. In his book “Hockey of the Future,” Anatoly Tarasov told the following story.

“My colleague, the coach of the hockey team, an elderly man, said in his heart:

- Damn these talents! It would be better if they didn't exist. This is where they sit with me,” and the coach emphatically patted his neck with the edge of his hand.

There was trouble on his team - a young, gifted forward, the coach’s hope and pride, was rude to his mentor during training, swore at his teammates and, to top it all off, left the lesson. The experienced teacher was extremely indignant: this young talent allows himself too much.”

Further, Anatoly Vladimirovich admitted that he himself experienced many bitter moments “thanks” to outstanding hockey players. In Soviet times, there was a stereotype that our teams were always a group of like-minded people, “fearless ice squads”, ready to fight for victory together in a single impulse. Of course, this is not true. Conflicts constantly occurred between coaches and players, and sometimes very serious ones. But not with Kharlamov. Valery worked with mentors of such different character as Tarasov, Bobrov, Alfer, Kulagin, Chernyshev, Loktev, but did not quarrel with any of them. Even when I categorically disagreed with the coach, did not understand and did not accept his decisions...

By the beginning of 1972, the Petrov-Mikhailov-Kharlamov link was firmly entrenched in the role of leaders of CSKA and the USSR national team. And suddenly Tarasov decided to disband this “supertroika”. This decision of the Chief caused shock to everyone, especially the players of the “Petrine” troika itself. How is it possible that the best team of Soviet, and even world hockey, three-time world champions, will no longer play together?! After all, this is the same as cutting the goose that lays the golden eggs! “How did Mikhailov and I take it? How can a person whose finger is cut off feel? – said Vladimir Petrov when asked about Tarasov’s decision. So why did the great coach do this?

“A hockey team always has two defenders and three forwards.” The tactics and strategy of hockey were constantly changing, but for a long time this postulate seemed absolutely unshakable. However, for Anatoly Vladimirovich, there were no absolute truths in hockey, no “sacred cows” that should never be touched. And so Tarasov decided to try out a new “system” (since then the name “system” has been assigned to a similar formation of the five). A central defender (“stopper”) appeared on the court, whose main task was to fight for the puck in the patch, the most critical area of ​​defense. There were two midfielders in the corners. And there were now two attackers in the “system”, not three. Tarasov believed that the left and right forwards would receive greater operational space than with a scheme with a central striker.

Maybe Tarasov’s “system” was good, but there was no place for the “Petrine” troika in it. This was probably the first time a misunderstanding arose between the partners. Vladimir and Boris thought that Valera did not strive to defend their top three to the coach and easily agreed to the reorganization. After all, his new partners were the great Firsov and Vikulov, plus two super-defenders - Alexander Ragulin and Gennady Tsygankov. And instead of Kharlamov, Yuri Blinov came to Petrov and Mikhailov, a player who is undoubtedly talented, but still young and inexperienced. Mikhailov and Petrov did not even think of hiding their attitude to such changes; they were openly angry with Tarasov. Anatoly Vladimirovich, of course, could have ordered in a military manner, they say, to carry out my command without talking (after all, Tarasov, among other things, was a colonel, and Petrov and Mikhailov were lieutenants), but he understood that it was really difficult for the guys and they needed to act accordingly -to another. “Is it really possible,” said Tarasov, “with your experience, skill, hard work, efficiency, friendly attitude towards young people, you won’t be able to raise another Kharlamov? You can handle everything...” Tarasov hit right on target, in the end Petrov and Mikhailov were imbued with the desire to prove to everyone that even without Valery they could play just as well and make Blinov a real master. And they achieved their goal. Yuri became the discovery of that season, he played simply brilliantly, became an Olympic champion and received the title of Honored Master of Sports.

And Kharlamov, of course, simply could not play poorly in such a company. The “hockey universities” of Firsov and Vikulov made him a real ace, a grandmaster of the game. And yet he wanted to play with Petrov and Mikhailov. “That season was successful for me. Not only because we became Olympic champions in Sapporo. The new five played well all season - in the spring, our micro-team was awarded a prize awarded by the editors of the Trud newspaper to the most productive trio in the Union Championship. But if they had asked me then where I wanted to play - in the new line or in the old one, I would not have hesitated. Of course, with Petrov and Mikhailov! Only with them! And let these words not seem offensive to Firsov or Tsygankov, Vikulov or Ragulin. I am grateful to the wonderful masters for all my universities. I admire them, but is loyalty to first love reprehensible?

1972 is a special year not only for Valery, but for all of Soviet hockey. The USSR national team won the Olympic Games in Japan. Then Anatoly Tarasov and the second coach of the national team, Arkady Ivanovich Chernyshev, unexpectedly resigned. They were replaced by the legendary Vsevolod Bobrov and Nikolai Puchkov. The debut of the new coaches was not very successful - for the first time since 1963, the USSR national team did not win the World Cup. In Prague, the hosts of the tournament turned out to be stronger, beating our team twice. But the main event of that memorable year was the famous Super Series...

The Soviet team met Canadian hockey players for the first time back in 1954, when our team made its debut at the world championship in Stockholm. Before that, Canadians, even amateur teams, had not experienced serious problems, playing with European hockey players. But the first meeting between the USSR national team and the Lindhorst Motors club (at that time Canada was represented by amateur clubs at the world championships) ended in a convincing victory for the Soviet hockey players with a score of 7:2. There were defeats, but the general trend remained for quite a long time - our amateurs are much stronger than the Canadian ones. But the fact of the matter is that we were talking about amateurs, but fighting on equal terms with professionals seemed like a pipe dream. Although back in 1957, Anatoly Tarasov attended the training sessions of overseas pros and, let’s say, did not faint from what he saw. “The difference was colossal,” said Tarasov. – But not in the level of training, but in relation to each other. I watched their lesson inside and out and I don’t remember another time when I wrote down so much and so quickly. They stood at our lesson for only five minutes and just laughed at our hockey players. Well, I was very glad that these smug people still didn’t understand what we were doing.” Tarasov was already ready to fight with professionals, but the Soviet sports leadership still did not give permission for meetings. “They are big, they are strong, they know how to play hockey in a way that ours never dreamed of,” the officials reasoned. And only in the spring of 1972, during the World Championships in Prague, was it finally possible to agree on a series of meetings between the Soviet national team and a team made up of the best players in the National Hockey League. Four matches were to take place in Canada, four in Moscow.

“Super Series 72 was a general hockey craze; it was discussed by both children walking in the yard and grandmothers standing in line,” recalled USSR national team player Evgeniy Zimin. – People knew all the Canadians, not to mention our players. At that time, it was impossible to live in the USSR and stay outside of hockey.” The USSR-Canada matches were followed with incredible interest in Europe, especially in Sweden and Czechoslovakia, where overseas pros were also planning to come. There was no shortage of predictions. Predictors were divided into two camps: optimists believed that the Soviet team would be able to provide decent resistance to the Canadians, although, of course, they would lose the series. The pessimists believed that the upcoming matches were of no sporting interest - it would be a “bashing of babies”, the Canadians would easily defeat the Russian hockey players with one left hand. “These guys are fast, but they run headlong across the ice like they're being chased by an angry swarm of bees,” ranted Globe and Mail journalist Dick Bedows. – The Russians know how to pass accurately, but they are always late, like their trains on the great Trans-Siberian Railway. Vyacheslav Starshinov is a good striker, and Yuri Blinov is a good defender. But no one, even if they wanted to, would confuse Starshinov with Frank Mahovlich or Vic Hadfield, and Brad Park would eat Blinov like a sweet tooth would eat blueberry pie.” For some reason, Dick Bedows decided to introduce a culinary topic into an article about hockey and continued in the same vein: “Remember! We will win all eight matches. And if the Soviets win at least one meeting, I will eat this article along with their famous borscht. P.S. Dear editor, make sure you have sour cream on hand.”

September 2, 1972 at morning workout Soviet hockey players saw their future rivals on the ice. Of course, the Canadians made a strong impression on our players, especially the young ones. They seemed to fly around the court, and the pucks after their shots moved at supersonic speed. “We still had some time left before training,” said Vladislav Tretyak. “We’re sitting on the podium, quiet, watching. Everyone thinks: well, well, we’ll get it...” And in the evening, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre-Elliot Trudeau made a symbolic face-off, which was played by Vladimir Vikulov and Phil Esposito. And it began...

“What the hell are they doing here?!” We will eat Russian bears alive!” - the stands shouted. Already in the 30th second of the match, the Canadians opened the scoring. Frank Mahovlich threw powerfully at Vladislav Tretiak's goal, the goalkeeper parried the shot, but the huge Phil Esposito, who ran into the area, scattered the defenders and volleyed the puck into the net. Six minutes later, the red light came on behind Tretyak’s goal again: Bobby Clarke won the throw-in and passed the ball to Paul Henderson, who made the score 2-0 with an accurate throw. The Canadians have already begun to bury the Soviet team - after the second goal, a funeral march was played in “honor” of our hockey players under the arches of the Forum. It was a pity to look at the Soviet coaches - it seemed that the gloomiest forecasts would come true and the USSR national team would miserably lose the match. But such a discouraging start, oddly enough, played into the hands of our hockey players. The Canadians finally believed in their victory, but the match, in fact, had just begun. A lightning-fast combination followed, and Evgeniy Zimin, left completely alone on the patch, reduced the gap in the score. A few minutes later, the Canadians missed a new “slap in the face.” Vladimir Petrov scored the puck at a time when the USSR national team was playing in the minority. And the second period became a “benefit performance” for Vladislav Tretyak and Valery Kharlamov.

Although the Maple Leaf coaches did not take our hockey players too seriously, before the start of the series they still sent their observers to the friendly match between the USSR national team and CSKA. We must at least see what these Russians are like. And what did they see? First of all, the young goalkeeper of the national team, who that evening managed to concede as many as nine goals. It is not known whether overseas experts knew that Tretyak was supposed to have a wedding the next day and at that moment he was not thinking about hockey at all, but soon Canadian newspapers wrote: “Tretyak is obviously still very young to resist the NHL forwards. In difficult situations, he gets lost and shows indecisiveness. The goalkeeper is the weakest link in the Soviet team.” Tretyak was at least somehow noted, but Kharlamov was not paid any attention at all. Well, Valery did not fit into the traditional Canadian ideas of an ideal striker!

And these two, almost the weakest, as the Canadians believed, players in the USSR national team actually decided the fate of the match. Tretyak worked miracles in goal, repelling shots of such force that another goalkeeper would have ended up in the net with the puck. And Kharlamov... The famous Canadian defenders simply did not know how to play against him, what could be countered by his passes and filigree dribbling. “Here I am, but now I’m not,” what can you do with an attacker who was just in front of your eyes, and a moment later he was behind you and rushing towards the goal? In the second twenty minutes, Valery scored the puck twice against Canadian goalkeeper Ken Dryden. At the beginning of the third period " Maple leaves", reducing the score to 3:4, they postponed the impending disaster for some time, but then were completely crushed. Our hockey players responded to one Canadian goal with four goals and in the end 7:3, a more than convincing victory for the USSR national team.

After the game, one of the Canadian coaches offered Kharlamov to move to the NHL for a million dollars. “I can’t agree to the transition without Petrov and Mikhailov,” Valery Kharlamov joked. Canadians did not understand the famous Kharlamov humor: “Okay, no problem. They’ll get the same amount, we’ll take all three of you!” But our hockey players treated the “victim of Soviet hockey” Dick Bedows with humor. We must pay tribute to the Canadian journalist - like a true gentleman, he kept his word. In the evening, Dick came to the hotel of the Soviet athletes to publicly eat his ill-fated article, in which he recklessly predicted a crushing defeat for the Soviet team. “Well, maybe we can take pity on him?” – suggested Kharlamov. And the hockey players allowed Bedows to crumble a small part of the newspaper into the borscht and eat this “refined” dish in this form.

Kharlamov was elevated to the rank of “superstar”, he was recognized as the best player of the Soviet team. Everyone talked about it - coaches, players, journalists, ordinary fans. But the best evidence of Kharlamov’s “recognition” was the “hunt” that the Canadians staged for the seventeenth number of the USSR national team during matches in Moscow. Defenders Ron Ellis and Bobby Clarke tried their best to break Valery and, unfortunately, succeeded. It was then that Nikolai Ozerov said his famous phrase: “We don’t need this kind of hockey!”

A victory is a victory, and yet in the first match the “surprise effect” and the excessive self-confidence of the Canadians worked on the Soviet hockey players. In the next meeting, the pros took revenge, winning 4:1 in Toronto. And in general, the Canadians won the series, although 34 seconds before the end of the last match in Moscow the score was equal - 5:5. With this outcome of the meeting, the USSR national team, thanks to the better goal difference, became the winner of the series. But Paul Henderson, left unattended in the crease, received a pass from Phil Esposito and pushed the puck into the goal. “I remember scoring the series-clinching goal with 34 seconds left,” Henderson recalled. - This throw became finest hour for me, thanks to this puck, I am still remembered, and I think they will be remembered for a long time.”

Formally, our hockey players lost the Super Series. But they won, they defeated the long-existing opinion that no one in the world could play on an equal footing with Canadian professionals. Kharlamov, Tretyak and others proved to the whole world that hockey can be played not only in Canada...

Among the many stories told by Valery to Yakov Kostyukovsky, there is this one:

“One day my phone rings. I pick up the phone... Unfamiliar girl. Asks:

– Is this Kharlamov’s apartment?

– Can I have him himself?

- He listens himself.

– Oh, it’s you!.. Hello! I want to tell you: you are the only one I like.

- How's the player?

- No, as a man... I’m even in love with you.

- Very nice.

– How old are you, Valery?

- Twenty nine.

- A bit much, but for a man it’s not scary...

- How old are you?

- Sixteen.

- What - a big difference?.. It’s okay, I’m an accelerator... And then at sixteen they even officially register...

- But I also have a wife...

- Yes? I didn’t know... Then I have a request to you...

– I’m listening.

“Give me Lutchenko’s phone number...”

This is, of course, a joke. If you really fell in love with Kharlamov... then you fell in love. It is unlikely that any of the hockey players, including CSKA partner and one of Valery’s best friends Vladimir Lutchenko, enjoyed such wild popularity among the fairer sex as Kharlamov. Like any other young man, Valery liked the attention and love of women. He, of course, was not a hermit monk and responded in kind to many. “He had a lot of fans,” recalled Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov. “But it didn’t lead to a wedding.” Only seriously with Irina..."

A film or even a television series could be made about the story of how Valery Kharlamov and Irina Smirnova met. So, the plot. 19-year-old Muscovite Irina Smirnova was invited by a friend to a restaurant to celebrate her birthday. A cheerful group of men was walking in the same restaurant. What usually happens when young people are nearby and the sound good music? That's right, dancing. Irina was invited by a short, black-haired guy who introduced himself as Valery. He was wearing a leather jacket and cap. “Taxi drivers usually wear these,” Irina thought. They spent the whole evening together, and afterward Valery offered Irina a ride home. “Just like a taxi driver,” the girl thought when the young man opened the door of a brand new Volga for her.

Irina’s mother, Nina Vasilievna, was not very happy at first when her daughter talked about meeting her in a restaurant. “Were there checkers on his Volga?” – she asked. “I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention.” - “Oh, daughter, we still don’t know what kind of taxi driver he is...”

A few weeks later, Nina Vasilievna asked Irina to show her a gentleman: “I want to know who my daughter is dating.” - “But he is afraid to come to us.” - “Then show him to me on the street so that he doesn’t notice anything.”

The show took place in the park near the Bolshoi Theater, where the young people agreed to meet. Valery waited patiently near the car, while mother and daughter looked at him from behind the bushes. “Still, I have to talk to him,” Nina Vasilievna could not stand it. “If you do this, I will leave the house,” the usually calm and quiet Irina suddenly exploded. “Who is he?” – Nina Vasilievna suffered for a long time. And when I found out that my daughter’s fiancé was a famous hockey player, she was delighted. But Valery was afraid like hell to meet his future mother-in-law, and this is a man who never avoided fighting with the toughest defenders on the court. “Irina came in first,” recalled Nina Vasilievna. - And immediately, from the threshold, for some reason, to me:

“Mom, just don’t yell at him, otherwise he’s very afraid of you.”

And I think: God forbid, why should I shout, at least everything would work out for them. Valera came in with a baby stroller and said hello. And I suddenly say:

- That's what you are! Let me hold on to you!

“I thought you were going to throw me off the eighth floor,” he laughed.”

In May 1975, Valery and Irina got married, and on September 23 their son Alexander was born. Two years later, the Kharlamovs had a daughter, who was named Begonita in honor of her grandmother.

It’s not hard to guess that Sasha followed in his father’s footsteps. He learned to skate almost before he learned to walk. “Ira complained to me on the phone,” said Valery. – Sasha doesn’t rest at all with this hockey, as soon as you start playing, he puts on his Bauers and kicks the puck around the room for two and a half hours, he doesn’t even have time to tinker with his sister. Then they gave Sashka the phone: “Dad,” he said, “you don’t need to play hockey on TV anymore, come home and play with me!”

Four years ago, Alexander and his wife Victoria had a son and another Valery Kharlamov was born into the world. It’s too early to talk about what path the grandson of the legendary hockey player will choose in this life. But who knows, what if Valery Aleksandrovich Kharlamov suddenly takes to the ice, scores the puck, and there’s a tingle in the chests of those fans who were lucky enough to see the game between the seventeenth number of CSKA and the USSR national team, when the stadium announcer announced: “Valery Kharlamov scored the puck”...

Champion of the Olympic Games, multiple champion of the world and the USSR, holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Badge of Honor. What titles did Kharlamov have! But he had another title, unofficial, but probably the most honorable - “People's Hockey Player of the Soviet Union.” When fans gathered for a game, they said not “let’s go to hockey” or “let’s go to CSKA,” but “let’s go to Kharlamov.” And suddenly, in the spring of 1976, terrible rumors spread across Moscow - allegedly Kharlamov crashed in a car accident, and his teammates Alexander Yakushev and Gennady Tsygankov died along with him. Soon even “eyewitnesses” of the accident appeared. Then, however, it turned out that Yakushev and Tsygankov were not in the car, and Valery and Irina “escaped” with serious injuries...

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