Vladimir Krutov

27
Vladimir Krutov bigraphy, stories - Russian ice hockey player

Vladimir Krutov : biography

1 June 1960 – 6 June 2012

Vladimir Yevgenyevich Krutov () (1 June 1960 – 6 June 2012), nicknamed The Tank, was a Soviet hockey forward. Together with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, he was part of the famed KLM Line. He is considered one of the best hockey wingers of the 1980s.

For the Soviet Union national team, Krutov won the 1981 Canada Cup, two golds (1984, 1988) and one silver (1980) in the Olympics, and six golds (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990), one silver (1987), and one bronze (1985) in the World Championships.

On the club level, Krutov played for CSKA Moscow from 1978 to 1989. He was one of the first Soviet players to make the jump to the NHL, doing so with the Vancouver Canucks in 1989. However, Krutov did not have a successful season, battling homesickness and weight problems.

Krutov left the NHL after his lone season in North America and played for a number of smaller clubs before retiring to move into coaching. His son Alexei Krutov is also a hockey player and currently plays for Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.

In 2010, he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

Krutov died in a hospital in Moscow on 6 June 2012, of internal bleeding and liver failure, just five days after his 52nd birthday.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1977–78 CSKA Moscow USSR 1 0 0 0 0
1978–79 CSKA Moscow USSR 24 8 3 11 6
1979–80 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 30 12 42 16
1980–81 CSKA Moscow USSR 47 25 15 40 20
1981–82 CSKA Moscow USSR 46 37 29 66 30
1982–83 CSKA Moscow USSR 44 32 21 53 34
1983–84 CSKA Moscow USSR 44 37 20 57 20
1984–85 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 23 30 53 26
1985–86 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 31 17 48 10
1986–87 CSKA Moscow USSR 39 26 24 50 16
1987–88 CSKA Moscow USSR 38 19 23 42 20
1988–89 CSKA Moscow USSR 35 20 21 41 12
1989–90 Vancouver Canucks NHL 61 11 23 34 20
1990–91 Zürcher SC NLA 1 0 1 1 0 3 3 6 9 0
1991–92 Zürcher SC NLA 28 13 19 32 4 6 4 3 7 4
1992–93 Östersunds IK Swe-3 19 25 24 49 12
1993–94 Östersunds IK Swe-2 28 18 22 40 14
1994–95 Östersunds IK Swe-2 27 9 9 18 31
1995–96 Brunflo IK Swe-3 18 7 9 16 6
USSR totals 438 288 215 503 210
NHL totals 61 11 23 34 20