Ice Hockey by Oleg Spassky

The book you are about to read is not a comprehensive textbook on ice hockey, nor is it a magic wand that will help you master the intricacies of the game in no time. Rather, regard it as an invitation to the sport of ice hockey. The author did not set out to describe everything about ice hockey. Instead, he thought it more important to help readers take their first steps in this wonderful sport, and to interest those who have not yet tried their hand on the ice rink.

Those who already play the game will, however, find much of interest in this book. For some, it may provide constructive advice from world champions; for others, it offers methods of training. Still others may find new insights into famous forwards or learn about Soviet Olympic, world, and European champions. This section is conducted by the Snowman, our archivist.

Remember the alphabet you studied at school? Don’t you think the debate over which letter was more important — A or Z — was rather strange? If A is the first letter of the alphabet and Z the last, it doesn’t necessarily mean that one is more important than the other. All letters are required to “build” words we need.

The ice hockey alphabet, too, has neither primary nor secondary “letters”. If we conditionally designate the goalkeeper’s technique with the letter H, the technique of a shot at the goal with C, while D denotes puck passing, you will agree that any contention that B is more important than D is absurd. There would simply be no ice hockey without one or the other, without the skillful play of the goalie, or without accurate puck passing to your teammates.

Young ice hockey fans, therefore, should not worry about the hierarchy of “letters” in the ice hockey alphabet — here, everything is important: the shot technique, the pattern of play of the winger, puck checking, the play of a defenseman in attack. All these ice hockey “letters”, when taken together and complementing each other, create ice hockey “reading and writing”, giving birth to an exciting game.

Translated from the Russian by Albert Zdornykh
Designed by Dmitry Orlov
Edited by Jim Mitchell

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