Besides changing the entire game to a graceful ballet of sorts he also, like Bobby Orr, introduced the offensive defenseman and moving backwards to go forward.

Canadian hockey was just brute force and when they played any Russian team they looked like a high school team. Outmatched, outsmarted and completely outplayed.

“It was his ideals and philosophies that shaped the Russian game into what it is today- fast, graceful, non-individualistic, and patriotic. To him, real teamwork was based on a common aim- comradeship and caring for each team member. This is why he introduced a rule that in order to make the line-up the team had to approve of each player. “