Viktor Konovalenko

Viktor Konovalenko played his entire career from 1956-72 in his native Torpedo Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod). Konovalenko never won a Soviet title with them, but was a runner-up in 1961. In 1970 he was also named the MVP of the Soviet Championships. Internationally Konovalenko rose to the top goaltender position for the Soviet team after Nikolay Puchkov retired. Konovalenko was the top Soviet goaltender for almost ten years, replaced in 1971 by the young Vladislav Tretyak. With the Soviet team, Konovalenko won two Olympic golds, eight World Championships (1963-68, 1970 and 1971), and seven European Championships (1963-68 and 1970). He also won a bronze at the 1961 World Championships and two silvers at the European Championships (1961, 1971). After his competitive career, Konovalenko worked as a coach with Torpedo Gorky, specializing in coaching goaltenders. He later worked as director of Torpedo Gorky sports arena, which now bears his name. A street in Nizhny Novgorod was also named for him after his death. In 2007 Konovalenko was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.