In the Soviet Union, ice hockey was considered a game for real men. Several motivating songs have even been written on this topic. Viktor Kuzkin came to the skating rink as a boy. A few years later, he became one of the leading players of the national team of the country.
Starting conditions
Older people still remember the days when football was played with a rag ball. An empty tin can was often used. Viktor Grigorievich Kuzkin was born on July 6, 1940 in an ordinary Soviet family. Parents lived in Moscow. My father worked as a carpenter in a housing office. Mother worked as a nurse at the Botkin hospital. When the war began, the head of the family went to the front and died in the battles for the capital. Mother had to raise her son alone. She was given a modest living space in a hospital building.
At school, Victor studied well, although there were not enough stars from the sky. He spent all his free time on the site near the hospital. In the summer they played football, rounders and other outdoor games. In winter, they poured ice and skated. When Kuzkin grew up, he started playing Russian hockey. The teams were assembled from the boys living in the district. The games proceeded gamblingly, but without bloodshed. The duly equipped stadium of Young Pioneers was located nearby. There were football and hockey sections here. In the summer the children played football, and in the winter they played hockey.
Sports achivments
At the age of fourteen, Kuzkin began to train systematically as part of the CSKA youth hockey team. It's time to serve in the army. Victor ended up in the sports company of the Moscow Military District. Then he was transferred to the main army team. The head coach of the team, the famous Anatoly Tarasov, believed in the new player only a year later, when he became convinced of the hockey player's abilities. The debut of the young athlete in the main team took place in the fall of 1958. Kuzkin received gold medals of the Soviet Union championship thirteen times.
Over the entire period that Viktor Grigorievich spent on the ice, he was recognized several times as the most correct defender. The renowned hockey player became the Olympic champion three times. He managed to get a specialized education at the physical culture faculty of the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. In 1976, Kuzkin completed his sports career and switched to coaching. For many years he trained the youth national team of army men. Kuzkin worked for three years in Japan, where he successfully coached the club team.
Recognition and privacy
For his conscientious work and creativity, Viktor Kuzkin was awarded two Orders of the Badge of Honor and the Order of Honor. His name is included in the honorary list of the Hall of Fame of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The personal life of the hockey player and coach has developed well. He lived his entire adult life in a legal marriage. The husband and wife raised and raised their daughter. Viktor Grigorievich managed to nurse his grandson. Kuzkin died of cardiac arrest in June 2008.
