The Summit in 1974




Club 1974:
CSKA Moscow

 
Konstantin Loktev
Coach, Team USSR 1974

USSR Merited Sports Master (1964)
USSR Merited Sports Coach (1976)

Club: CSKA Moscow
Born: 4/16/1933 Died: 1996

Konstantin Loktev was a legendary Soviet player of the 1960s and one of the elite hockey coaches in the mid 1970s.

Being a highly rated player, Loktev had a fascinating career with both the Red Army club and Team USSR. He was a part of one of the all time best Soviet lines ever. He played a RW forward with Alexander Almetov, C and Veniamin Alexandrov, LW. Loktev wasn't as elegant as Alexandrov or as cool as Almetov, but he was definitely the toughest player of the legendary "troika". Unfortunately, most of the 1960s games are not available for viewing and the only available way to see this magnificent line in action is through the rare archival footage.

After his retirement from playing hockey, Konstantin Loktev worked as a Red Army assistant coach with the "father of Russian hockey", Anatoly Tarasov. It was Loktev who took over the legendary CSKA in 1974 when Tarasov retired from the elite league coaching. He led the Red Army to the gold medals of the 1975 and 1977 seasons in the USSR. CSKA was a backbone of the national team and Loktev was also appointed as Assistant Coach of the Team USSR in 1974-1977.

Most of the North American experts might remember seeing Loktev behind the bench of the Red Army Club in their New Year eve game with the Montreal Canadiens of the 1975-76 Superseries. That game became one of the classics of the international hockey history and Konstanin Loktev was the CSKA head coach. Fans of the Philadelphia Flyers might remember fearless Loktev challenging a rather contradictory officiating by the Canadian referee, Lloyd Gilmore. It was impossible to intimidate Loktev with physical pressure neither when he was a player nor when he was a coach.

Ironically, Loktev lost his job after bringing the Red Army club to the USSR title in 1977. This move was rather related to the Team USSR flops at two consecutive World Championships in 1976 and 1977 than to Loktev's failure with the CSKA. However, the clock was ticking and the Soviet officials made their decision to appoint Victor Tikhonov as head coach of both Team USSR and Red Army club.

Loktev had to go. Member of the Russian Hall of Fame in both players' and coaches' categories, Konstantin Loktev left his position as a winner. He never coached an elite hockey team again.

He died in 1996.

 


  Players' Career Statistics:
Competitions Years GP G
USSR League 1952-66 346 213
Team USSR 1957-66 58 50

CAREER HIGHLIGTS:

Player's Career:
- Played as a RW for the Team USSR and Russian Elite League
- USSR Elite League Clubs: CSKA, Spartak Moscow, SKA Leningrad
- USSR Gold (10): 1955, 1956, 1958-1961, 1963-1966
- WC Gold: 1964-1966
- Winter Olympics Gold: 1964
- National Awards:
Scoring Leader, 1959
USSR All Stars, 1957-1960
USSR Hall of Fame (player), 1964
- International Awards:
WC Best Forward Award, 1966
WC All Stars, 1965, 1966

Coaching Career:
- USSR Elite League Clubs: CSKA Moscow
- CSKA Coach in 1970-74
- CSKA Head Coach in 1974-77
- USSR Gold (6): 1970-73, 1975, 1977
- Team USSR Coach in 1974-77
- WC Gold: 1975
- Winter Olympics Gold: 1976
- Team USSR Coach at the Summit Series 1974
- CSKA Head Coach at the Soviet Clubs vs. NHL Clubs Super Series in 1975/1976
- National Awards:
USSR Hall of Fame (coach), 1976

 

 

 

The Summit in 1974