The feat of the legendary hockey player of the USSR delighted the Americans! Davydov rushed to save the national team with a bloody face

Maxim Samartsev Or did Anatoly Tarasov embellish this story? Anatoly Tarasov has always been a very demanding and tough mentor. And sometimes cruel. The head coach of CSKA and the USSR national team took for granted the dedication of his players, who every day threw themselves under the pucks and took them upon themselves both in regular training sessions and in decisive matches. Tarasov sincerely believed that there was nothing heroic in this – such is the work of hockey players, nothing can be done. Therefore, Anatoly Vladimirovich could very rarely be surprised by something. The players could play in the minority for half the match, catch dozens of goals and snatch victory, but even in such situations Tarasov did not indulge them with praise. It seemed that he saw everything in hockey, so to arouse the surprise and admiration of the great coach was akin to a feat. One of the few who managed to melt the sports heart of the hockey dictator was the legendary defender of the Moscow Dynamo and the Soviet national team Vitaly Davydov. It all happened in a friendly match against Canada. For a better understanding of how Tarasov was amazed by the dedication and character of the three-time Olympic champion, it is worth quoting the monologue from his book in full: “In our team, daring and combative hockey players have always been selected. But even they were once amazed by the feat – I’m not afraid to use this very word – defender Vitaly Davydov. It was in the USA, in the state of Colorado, where we met with the Canadian team. In the second period, the center forward Bourbonnet, seeing that he could not honestly win the duel against Davydov, struck him with a stick. Like an ax, holding with both hands, hit. And there was a blow to Vitaly’s lower jaw. Our defender fell, but saw that the Canadian, having picked up the puck, rushed alone to the gates of the USSR national team, jumped up and, pressing his left hand to his bloodied face, rushed after him. Then something unexpected happened even for us, coaches who have seen a lot. Vitaly caught up with the Canadian, knocked the puck out of him in the fall and averted the threat. Vitaly still had enough strength to rise from the ice. His comrades were already carrying him to the board. And when they brought him up, Vitaly lost consciousness. The hospital diagnosed Vitaly’s lower jaw was broken in eight places. What kind of willpower did you have to have in order, despite the hellish pain, to rush not to the doctors, but to help your goalkeeper … The Americans – true hockey fans – were delighted with the courage of the Soviet athlete: while Davydov was lying (for several weeks he was not transportable) in the hospital, he was visited, many telegrams were sent to his name with an expression of sympathy and gratitude.RIA Novosti Anatoly Vladimirovich honored few people with such attention and openly expressed respect and gratitude to almost none of the players. All the more surprising is the admiration with which the great coach described the legendary moment with the participation of Vitaly Davydov. And everything would be fine, but many years later the defender himself partly denied the words of the national team coach. But Tarasov fantasized a lot. He wrote that the Canadian hit him on purpose. But it wasn’t. He struck in the confusion, not on purpose. Anatoly Vladimirovich also came up with the idea that I finished the episode with a dangling jaw – and fainted on the bench, ”Davydov denied the words of the head coach of the USSR national team. Vitaly said that after the blow he had a strange feeling. As if the bite had gone somewhere, and the jaw was not in place. The chin swayed. Then the defender drove up to the bench and asked Arkady Chernyshev to see what was wrong with his face. As soon as the coach approached the player, he immediately grabbed his head and ordered the doctor to send Davydov to the hospital. “They put me in the highest Catholic hospital. The operation cost $1,600. Look at my jaw. Have a scar? He is not here. They made two tiny incisions, pushed the mouth apart with pins and started the machine. She darned everything from the inside, creating a bone seam. It’s good that they didn’t do it in the Union. Pasha Zhiburtovich’s jaw was smashed – so he has a scar as thick as a finger. Cut, hammered and sewn up. Well, they didn’t screw it with a nut, ”recalled the legendary defender of the blue and white.RIA Novosti Interestingly, Davydov’s operation was paid for by American billionaire William Tutt, who owned gold mines in Colorado and copper mines in Chile – at one time he served as president of the IIHF and led American amateur hockey. Tatt was a great hockey enthusiast, and it was he who was responsible for the reception of the Soviet team in that match. As Vitaly himself said, William visited him every day in the hospital and sat in the ward for a long time, saving the Soviet defender from boredom. Even if Tarasov’s story about Davydov’s feat is a little embellished, this does not negate the fact that Soviet hockey players really often put the result above their health and were ready to do anything to win.