1.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
2.
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
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The Republic comprised sixteen autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais, and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group, the capital of the Russian SFSR was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. The Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed on November 7,1917 as a sovereign state, the first Constitution was adopted in 1918. In 1922 the Russian SFSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, the economy of Russia became heavily industrialized, accounting for about two-thirds of the electricity produced in the USSR. It was, by 1961, the third largest producer of petroleum due to new discoveries in the Volga-Urals region and Siberia, trailing only the United States and Saudi Arabia. In 1974, there were 475 institutes of education in the republic providing education in 47 languages to some 23,941,000 students. A network of territorially organized public-health services provided health care, the effects of market policies led to the failure of many enterprises and total instability by 1990. On June 12,1990, the Congress of Peoples Deputies adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, on June 12,1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President. On December 8,1991, heads of Russia, Ukraine, the agreement declared dissolution of the USSR by its founder states and established the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 12, the agreement was ratified by the Russian Parliament, therefore Russian SFSR denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and de facto declared Russias independence from the USSR. On December 25,1991, following the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president of the Soviet Union, on December 26,1991, the USSR was self-dissolved by the Soviet of Nationalities, which by that time was the only functioning house of the Supreme Soviet. After dissolution of the USSR, Russia declared that it assumed the rights and obligations of the dissolved central Soviet government, the new Russian constitution, adopted on December 12,1993 after a constitutional crisis, abolished the Soviet system of government in its entirety. Initially, the state did not have a name and wasnt recognized by neighboring countries for five months. Meanwhile, anti-Bolsheviks coined the mocking label Sovdepia for the nascent state of the Soviets of Workers, on January 25,1918 the third meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets renamed the unrecognized state the Soviet Russian Republic. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3,1918, on July 10,1918, the Russian Constitution of 1918 renamed the country the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. By 1918, during the Russian Civil War, several states within the former Russian Empire seceded, internationally, in 1920, the RSFSR was recognized as an independent state only by Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania in the Treaty of Tartu and by the short-lived Irish Republic. On December 30,1922, with the creation of the Soviet Union, the final Soviet name for the republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was adopted in the Soviet Constitution of 1936. By that time, Soviet Russia had gained roughly the same borders of the old Tsardom of Russia before the Great Northern War of 1700
3.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
4.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
5.
Defenceman
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Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners, a good defenceman is both strong in defensive and offensive play and for defenceman pairing also need to be good at defending and attacking. In regular play, two defencemen complement three forwards and a goaltender on the ice, organized play of ice hockey originates from the first indoor game in Montreal in 1875. In subsequent years, the players per side were reduced to seven per side, positions were standardized, and two correspond to the two defencemen of current six-man rules. These were designated as cover point and point, although they lined up behind the center, decades later, defencemen were standardized into playing left and right sides of the ice. According to one of the earliest books on ice hockey, Farrells Hockey, Canadas Royal Winter Game, Mike Grant of the Montreal Victorias and he should not stray too far from his place, because oftentimes he is practically a second goal-minder. Although he should remain close to his goal-keeper, he should never obstruct that mans view of the puck, in his capacity of a defence player, he should linger around his goals as long as the puck is near. It is by playing far up under these circumstances that a clever cover-point can chine to the advantage of his team. If he has an opening he should shoot well for the goals. Each year the NHL, the ice hockey league in the world. Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins – an eight-time Norris Trophy recipient – is often considered to be the greatest defenceman in NHL, in addition to his Norris Trophy honours, he is the only defenceman in NHL history to capture the Art Ross Trophy as the leagues leading scorer. In 1998, Orr was selected as the best defenceman of all-time in The Hockey News Top 100 NHL Players of all-time, conversely, according to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team, the greatest defencemen to play in IIHF-sanctioned international competition are Vyacheslav Fetisov and Börje Salming. Defence players are often described by the amount they participate in the offence, the extreme of non-participation in offence is a Stay-at-home defender, who takes few risks and does not score much, instead focusing on defending against the opposing team. The extreme of participation is a defenceman, who gets aggressively involved in the teams offence. To accomplish this, the defence player often pinches in to keep the play from going offside and moves towards the halfboards. This makes it difficult for the team to protect their net from being scored upon if the team can maintain control of the puck. However, this can lead to more odd man rushes and breakaway opportunities for the team if the defender does not succeed. Bobby Orrs end-to-end rushing allowed him to defend effectively as well as attack, by contrast, Paul Coffey enjoyed high offensive production but his defensive play was considered mediocre for most of his career
6.
HC CSKA Moscow
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HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as Central Red Army or the Red Army Team for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, HC CSKA Moscow won more Soviet championships and European cups than any other team in history. It is owned by Russias largest oil company, Rosneft, which is in turn majority-owned by the Russian government, the club was founded in 1946 as CDKA. It was known as CDSA from 1952 –1954, as CSK MO from 1955 –1959, CSKA won 32 Soviet regular season championships during the Soviet Leagues 46-year existence, far and away the most in the leagues history, no other team won more than five. This included all but six from 1955 to 1989 and 13 in a row from 1977 to 1989, by comparison, no NHL team has won more than five Stanley Cups in a row since the NHL took de facto control of the trophy in 1926. CSKA was just as dominant in the European Cup and they won all but two titles from 1969 to 1990, including 13 in a row from 1978 to 1990. The teams first coach was Anatoli Tarasov, who would become famous as the coach of the Soviet national team. Tarasov coached the Red Army Team, either alone or with co-coaches, the teams greatest run came under Viktor Tikhonov, who was coach from 1977 to 1996—serving for most of that time as coach of the national team. The Red Army Team was able to pull off such a run of dominance because during the Soviet era. Taking full advantage of the fact that all able-bodied Soviet males had to serve in the military, by the late 1980s, however, the long run of Red Army dominance caused a significant dropoff in attendance throughout the league. One of the most feared lines in history was the KLM Line of the 1980s. The name came from the last names of the three players, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov, together with defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, they were known as the Green Unit because they wore green jerseys in practice. The five-man unit formed a dominant force in European hockey throughout the decade, all five players were later permitted to go to the NHL in 1989, with mixed results. Not surprisingly, discipline was strict, especially under Tikhonov. His players practiced for as many as 11 months a year, however, became less restrictive after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team, out of 6 players selected 4 players once played at CSKA Moscow, CSKA played 36 games against NHL teams from 1975 to 1991 and finished with a record of 26 wins,8 losses, and 2 ties. 34 of these games were played in Super Series, including the tour of North America in 1975/1976, the Super Series also introduced eventual Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Vladislav Tretiak of the CSKA squad to North American ice hockey fans. On New Years Eve 1975, CSKA played the Montreal Canadiens, the game ended with a 3–3 draw, but was widely hailed as one of the greatest games ever played
7.
New York Rangers
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The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, located in the borough of Manhattan. The Rangers are one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area, along with the New Jersey Devils, the club is also one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise. They are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six, along with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers were the first NHL franchise in the United States to win the Stanley Cup, the new team was quickly nicknamed Texs Rangers. Rickards franchise began play in the 1926–27 season, the first team crest was a horse sketched in blue carrying a cowboy waving a hockey stick aloft, before being changed to the familiar R-A-N-G-E-R-S in diagonal. Rickard managed to get future legendary Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe to assemble the team. However, Smythe had a falling-out with Rickards hockey man, Col. John S. Hammond, Smythe was replaced by Pacific Coast Hockey Association co-founder Lester Patrick. The new team Smythe assembled turned out to be a winner, the Rangers won the American Division title their first year but lost to the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. The teams early success led to players becoming minor celebrities and fixtures in New York Citys Roaring Twenties nightlife and it was also during this time, playing at the Garden on 48th Street, blocks away from Times Square, that the Rangers obtained their now-famous nickname The Broadway Blueshirts. In only their season, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. One of the most memorable stories that emerged from the Finals involved Patrick playing in goal at the age of 44, an angry Patrick lined up between the pipes for two periods in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, allowing one goal to Maroons center Nels Stewart. Frank Boucher would eventually score the goal in overtime for New York. The Rangers would spend the rest of the 1930s playing close to 0.500 hockey until their next Cup win, Lester Patrick stepped down as head coach and was replaced by Frank Boucher. In 1939–40 season, the Rangers finished the season in second place behind Boston. The two teams would meet in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins gained a series lead from New York, but the Rangers recovered to win three-straight games. The Rangers first round victory gave them a bye until the finals, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Americans in their first round best-of-three series two games to one, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ousted the Chicago Black Hawks two games to none
8.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the leagues original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as The Igloo and they moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010–11 NHL season. They have qualified for five Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup four times – in 1991,1992,2009, and 2016. Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHLs Pirates from 1925 to 1930, in the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh. The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh. The senator formed a group of investors that included H. J. Heinz Company heir H. J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, the effort was successful, and on February 8,1966, the National Hockey League awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967–68 season. The Penguins paid $2.5 million for their entry and $750,000 more for start-up costs, the Civic Arenas capacity was then boosted from 10,732 to 12,500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion. The Pens also paid a bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings. The investor group named McGregor president and chief officer. A contest was held where 700 of 26,000 entries picked Penguins as the nickname for the team, mark Peters had the winning entry, a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which symbolized the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. The Pens, along with the rest of the teams, were hampered by restrictive rules which kept most major talent with the existing Original Six teams. Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate, All-Star defenseman Leo Boivin and Ranger veteran Earl Ingarfield, a number of the players had played for the Hornets the previous season, Bathgate, wingers Val Fonteyne and Ab McDonald, and goaltenders Hank Bassen and Joe Daley. George Sullivan was named the coach for the clubs first two seasons, and McDonald was named the teams first captain. On October 11,1967, league president Clarence Campbell and McGregor jointly dropped the ceremonial first puck of the Penguins opening home game against the Montreal Canadiens. On October 21,1967, they became the first team from the class to beat an Original Six team. However, the Penguins went 27–34–13 and finished in place in the West Division, missing the playoffs
9.
Dallas Stars
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The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League, the team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. Before the beginning of the 1978–79 NHL season, the merged with the Cleveland Barons after the league granted them permission due to each teams respective financial struggles. Ultimately, the relocated to Dallas for the 1993–94 NHL season. The Stars played out of Reunion Arena from their relocation until 2001, the Stars have won eight division titles in Dallas, two Presidents Trophies as the top regular season team in the NHL, the Western Conference championship twice, and in 1998–99, the Stanley Cup. Joe Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs that year, in 2000, Neal Broten was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2009, Brett Hull became the first Dallas Stars player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, followed by Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk in 2011, in 2010, brothers Derian and Kevin Hatcher were inducted to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The Minnesota North Stars began play in 1967 as part of the NHLs six-team expansion, home games were played at the newly constructed Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Initially successful both on the ice and at the gate, the North Stars fell victim to financial problems after several seasons in the mid-1970s. In 1978, the North Stars were purchased by the owners of the Cleveland Barons, with both teams on the verge of folding, the NHL permitted the two failing franchises to merge. The merger brought with it a number of talented players, and the North Stars were revived—they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, the NHL rejected the request and instead agreed to award an expansion franchise, the San Jose Sharks, to the Gund brothers. In the following season, the Minnesota North Stars made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, after the 1991 season, the North Stars suffered through poor attendance and profitability. The teams fortunes were further impeded by the terms of the settlement with the Gund brothers, New owner Norman Green explored the possibility of moving the team to Anaheim, however the NHL decided instead to place the expansion Mighty Ducks there in 1992. In their final two seasons in Minnesota, the adopted a new logo which omitted the North from North Stars. In 1993, amid further attendance woes and bitter controversy, Green obtained permission to move the team to Dallas. Green was convinced by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach that Dallas would be a market for an NHL team. The Stars would move into Reunion Arena, built in 1980, the Stars played their first game in Dallas on October 5,1993, a 6–4 win against the Detroit Red Wings. In that game, Neal Broten scored the first Stars goal in Dallas, Dallas was an experiment for the NHL
Unified Team and
Russia
