Anatoli Tarasov Anatoli Vladimirovitch Tarasov ( December 10 , 1918 - June 23 , 1995 , both in Moscow ) was an ice hockey coach , styled as " the father of Russian hockey " , who established the Soviet Union as the dominant force in international competition . He was one of the first Russia ns to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . He was also a footballer and football manager . After World War II , Tarasov was asked to put together a hockey program from scratch . He helped found a hockey department at the Red Army ' s sports club , CSKA Moscow with little more than several old hockey rulebooks . Before then , the most popular ice sport in Russia and the Soviet Union was bandy , a sport similar to field hockey . The Russian style of hockey , with its emphasis on skating skill , offense and passing , is still heavily influenced by bandy . Tarasov served either as coach or co - coach of CSKA Moscow from 1946 to 1975 , except for three short breaks in 1960 , 1964 and 1972 . He was named coach of the Soviet national team in 1958 , a post he held until 1972 . When hockey was introduced in the USSR , Tarasov , like the rest of the nation , fell in love with the game . 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 Anatoli devised many new training techniques . Most of them centered on passing , for he felt passing was the key to their success , " after all , the ultimate aim of a pass was to get a free player . So if our opponents make 150 passes in a game against our 270 , this means we had 120 more playing opportunities . " Tarasov ' s practices included the use of pylons and simple drills that would have looked silly to Canadians , but to the Russians they had great meaning as they looked to perfect each skill . While performing these he had his players in constant motion . He called this the assembly method . Many great players developed under his system in the 1960s . Among these were heroes like : Davidov , Firsov , Starshinov , Alexandrov , Ragulin , Yakushev , Loktev , and goalie , Konavolenko . Then these were followed by other greats who would represent the Soviet Union in 1972 against Canada . These included : Mikhailov , Petrov , Vasiliev , Maltsev , Kharlamov , and a brilliant young goaltender named Vladislav Tretiak . Tarasov was the biggest factor in the development of this goalie , Tretiak , who would be destined to become the most skillful and cherished in international history . In the earliest days of his career , Tarasov had him doing three practices a day as hard as possible while using the maximum consumption of oxygen ( MCO ) . In one instance a Swede player came to practice in the USSR with Tarasov , but he couldn ' t last . He reportedly said , " We Swedes don ' t ' grow up to practice like this . I don ' t want to die . " According to Tretiak , " If I let in just one puck , Tarasov would ask me the next day " What ' s the matter ? " If it was my fault ( and it usually appears to be the goalkeeper ' s fault ) , my punishment would follow immediately . After everybody else had gone home I had to do hundreds of lunges and somersaults . I could have cheated and not done them at all , since nobody was watching me - the coaches had gone home too ! But I wouldn ' t even have considered doing one less lunge or somersault . I trusted Tarasov , trusted his every word , even when he criticized me for letting the pucks in my net during practice . " At CSKA Moscow , he won 19 Soviet titles , including all but five from 1955 to 1975 and three instances of winning four titles in a row . He led the Soviet national team to 9 straight world championships , including 3 Olympic gold medals ( for most of his tenure , the Olympic championship was considered the world championship ) . In 1972 , Tarasov was fired . Tarasov was known for his ruthless training methods , tough discipline among his players and innovative , instinctive decisions . The Kontinental Hockey League has a division bearing his name .