Valery Vasilyev, who won two Olympic and eight world titles as a member of the great Soviet Union team in the 1970s and 80s, has died at the age of 62, the Russian ice hockey federation (FHR) said today.
«Our hockey has suffered an irreplaceable loss,» the FHR said on its website (www.fhr.ru) in a tribute to one of the most feared defenseman of his generation who spent most of his club career with Dynamo Moscow. The FHR did not disclose the reason for Vasilyev’s death but he had been ill for some time.
Vasilyev won the Olympic gold in 1972 and 1976 and was part of the Soviet team that won the 1981 Canada Cup.
He also played in the 1972 Summit Series, which pitted the Soviets against the best «professionals» from the National Hockey League for the first time.
Vasilyev, voted the best defenseman at world championships three times, was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.
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