Sergei Makarov

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size= 175px
played_for = NHL
Calgary Flames
San Jose Sharks
Dallas Stars
RSL
Traktor Chelyabinsk
CSKA Moscow
Nationalliga A
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
position = Right Wing
shoots = Left
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 185
nickname =
nationality = Russia
birth_date = birth date and age|1958|6|19
birth_place = Chelyabinsk, USSR
draft = 231^st overall
draft_year = 1983
draft_team = Calgary Flames
career_start = 1978
career_end = 1997
hall_of_fame=

Sergei Mikhailovich Makarov ( _ru. Сергей Михайлович Макаров; born June 19, 1958 in Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union, now Russia) is a Russian former ice hockey right wing and two-time Olympic gold medalist, regarded as one of the greatest players to play the sport. He was voted one of six players to the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) Team of the Century in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries. [ [http://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-championship/news/news-singleview-world-championship/article/iihf-centennial-all-star-team.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=552&cHash=3a26b76f60 IIHF Centennial All-Star Team ] ]

Makarov was trained entirely in the Soviet Union. He won two World Junior Championships, and was named the best player during his second victory in 1978. Makarov was also on the gold winning Soviet national ice hockey team in the World Championships in 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989 and 1990 and in the Canada Cup in 1981. At the Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in 1984 and 1988 and a silver in 1980 as a member of the USSR team. Back in the Soviet Union, Makarov played 11 championship seasons with CSKA Moscow, winning the Soviet player of the year award eight times, MVP three times, and leading the league in points nine times and goals three times. Together with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, they formed the "KLM line", one of the most talented and feared lines ever to play hockey. He was awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1984) [cite book|title=Panorama of the 1984 Sports Year|year=1985|pages=p. 37|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|location=Moscow|language=Russian] .

In 1989, Makarov was allowed by the Soviet Union to join the National Hockey League and the Calgary Flames. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year at the age of 31 (as a result, the rules were changed and now only players under 26 qualify for the award - the "Makarov Rule"). Makarov also played for the San Jose Sharks from 1993 to 1996. For the 1995-96 season Makarov was dropped from the Sharks’ roster and did not play and became an assistant coach for the Russian national team during the World Cup.

After separating from his first wife Vera in Calgary, he met Mary, who had worked for the San Jose Sharks in the ticket sales. They got married and had two children, Nicky and Katya.

In the 1996-97 season, Sergei made two comeback attempts. First the Dallas Stars signed him on a contract and played 4 games. Then he played some games for Fribourg-Gottéron in Switzerland's Nationalliga A with his former teammates Viacheslav Bykov and Andrei Khomutov. Makarov still lives in the Bay Area, California with his wife and children, son Nicky and daughter Katya, and works as a certified player agent who acts as a liaison for young Russians wanting to play in North America. In 2001 Sergei was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame during the Ice Hockey World Championship in Germany.

Career statistics

References

External links

* [http://www.chidlovski.net/1954/54_player_info.asp?p_id=m003 Sergey Makarov at Hockey CCCP International]
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