Vladislav Tretiak Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak , ( Meritorious Service Decoration ( Canada ) ) ( , ; born April 25 , 1952 in Orudyevo , Moscow , Soviet Union ) is a former goaltender for the Soviet Union ' s national ice hockey team . Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport , he was voted one of six players to the International Ice Hockey Federation ' s ( IIHF ) Centennial All - Star Team in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries . He is the current president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and the general manager of the Russian 2010 Winter Olympic team . Early years . Tretiak ' s mother was a middle school physical education teacher ( his father taught Russian literature ) and although he initially followed his brother as a swimmer , as a child Tretiak was known to excel at many sports and is remembered for his ambition to master all of them . However , like many children of his generation , he loved hockey and at age 11 entered the Children and Youth Sports School of the Central Sports Club of the Army ( known by its Russian abbreviation as TsSKA or CSKA ) , that now bears Valeri Kharlamov ' s name . His first trainer was Vitaly Erfilov . He apparently started playing goal as a bargain in return for a cherished TsSKA hockey jersey , and because no one else wanted to play the position . International playing career . Despite Tretiak playing his first hockey game until the age of eleven , Tretiak was well - known in the USSR by 1971 , when he was named to the Soviet Ice Hockey League ' s First All - Star Team , while playing for the powerhouse Red Army team , CSKA Moscow . He also played well in the 1972 Winter Olympics , in which the Soviets took the gold medal . Tretiak became internationally famous after his outstanding performance in the Summit Series in 1972 , when he helped surprise the world , and more importantly , the Canadian team , en route to a narrow loss to the Canadians . A famous story told of how Canadian scouts seriously underestimated his ability prior to the Series ; they witnessed him let in 400 goals on a particular night , not knowing that he had been married the previous evening ( and most of the team had been in attendance ) . Out of the entire Soviet roster , Canadian players and fans held Tretiak in the highest regard and respect and Tretiak was one of the most famous players of the Series along with Phil Esposito , Paul Henderson , and Valeri Kharlamov . As a result of Tretiak ' s stellar performance , many NHL teams wanted to draft him – Montreal ultimately did , in 1983 – and Tretiak was willing , but the move was blocked by the Soviet government . During the 1976 Super Series , Tretiak put on a dominant performance against the Montreal Canadiens , helping them to a 3 - 3 tie despite his team being outshot 38 - 13 . Tretiak went on to star for the Soviet Union , helping them win gold medals in the 1976 Winter Olympics , and again winning gold in the 1984 Winter Olympics and the 1981 Canada Cup . Tretiak also back - stopped the Soviets to ten IIHF World Championships victories and nine in the IIHF European Championships . However , in the 1980 Winter Olympics , the Miracle on Ice denied Tretiak yet another gold medal . Tretiak was pulled by Viktor Tikhonov in the first period in favor of Vladimir Myshkin , following his team ' s lackluster effort , which resulted in a goal by the Americans ' Mark Johnson as the first period ended . Tretiak , along with many other Soviet players hated the move by Tikhonov . Tretiak himself stated that the move cost him a gold medal , insinuating that he would not have let in the goals that Myshkin allowed ; had he won that game , he would only have needed to secure a draw against Finland two nights later to attain his only silver medal . Though he was only 32 in 1984 and still capable of playing top - level hockey for many more years , Tretiak retired . It is said that the refusal to allow him to play in the NHL and his unwillingness to continue playing for Tikhonov contributed to this decision . Post retirement . Tretiak ' s wife , Tatiana , is qualified as a Russian literature teacher , although she no longer works . He has two children , a son Dmitri who is a dentist and a daughter Irina who is a lawyer . Tretiak hopes that Dmitri ’ s son , Maxim , born 1996 , will follow in his footsteps as a professional hockey player . Tretiak was one of the guests who spoke at the ceremony during which the Montreal Canadiens retired the jersey number of Ken Dryden on 29 January 2007 . Dryden had been one of Team Canada ' s goaltenders during the 1972 Summit Series , opposite Tretiak . Tretiak retired in 1984 , fittingly following a 2 - 0 victory over Czechoslovakia . In 1990 , Mike Keenan hired Tretiak as a goaltender coach for the Chicago Blackhawks , which has allowed him to coach some of the top goalies of the past 20 years , such as Ed Belfour , Dominik Hašek , and Jocelyn Thibault . Keenan was so impressed with Tretiak ' s abilities in practice that he suggested the 38 - year - old might still be able to play in the NHL . Tretiak personally said that coaching was the next best thing to playing in the NHL . Since leaving the Blackhawks , Belfour has worn uniform number 20 as a tribute to Tretiak . Numerous other goalies , including Evgeni Nabokov , wear number 20 as a tribute to Tretiak . He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour ( 1984 ) . In 1987 Vladislav wrote an autobiography titled " Tretiak , The Legend " . He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 , the first Soviet player to be so honored and to be inducted as a player without having played a game in the NHL . In 2000 , he was voted Best Russian Hockey Player of the 20th century . He was a vital cog for some of the most dominant hockey teams in history and is now considered one of hockey ' s greatest ambassadors . Tretiak was elected to the State Duma as a member of the United Russia party in December 2003 , representing the region of Saratov . He is chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture , Sport , and Youth . He continues to teach hockey skills in North America and Russia . On 25 April 2006 ( his 54th birthday ) , Tretiak was elected head of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation , capping his rise to the pinnacle of the Russian hockey elite . He obtained 93 out of the possible 96 votes , with the remaining three voters abstaining . A few days later , on 28 April , the Governor General of Canada awarded Tretiak the Meritorious Service Decoration ( Canada ) in a ceremony at Rideau Hall . Tretiak earned the award for , among other things , his founding of the Friends of Canada organization to foster good relations between Canada and Russia . He was the first Russian to be conferred this honor . He also runs a Goalie School at the Canlan Ice Sports in Toronto , Ontario . Called the Vladislav Tretiak Elite School of Goaltending , it is considered one of the most physically punishing goaltending schools in the world , and a student can be refused admittance if he or she is not in top physical condition . On 28 March 2007 , Tretiak went to Ottawa to discuss with Canadian officials about the possibilities of holding another Summit Series during the summer of 2007 , which would be 35 years after the initial event . Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov had also discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the possibilities of holding another event . In the end , a series was held in September 2007 between the national junior teams of Canada and Russia . Career statistics . Super Series statistics . The Super Series were exhibition games between an NHL team and Soviet teams ( usually a club from the Soviet Championship League ) . Tretiak competed in three such series .