Nikolay Epshtein is a near-legendary sports figure in Russia and the former Soviet Union. An innovative hockey coach for 22 years, 1953 to 1975, in the Soviet National League, he was head coach of “Chimik” in Voskresensk, Russia, during an era when the League was
comparable to the professional National Hockey League.
Epshtein developed many of the great Soviet hockey players. Among them were A. Ragulin, E. Ivan, V. Nicotine, U. Morozov, and V. and A. Golikov. Igor Larinov, star center on the Soviet’s famed KLM line with Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov, wrote in his autobiography: “Nikolai Semenovich Epshtein did not copy his
technique from anyone. . . . I consider him a specialist on the scale of the legendary Anatoli Tarasov, or Chernyshev.”
Epshtein was head coach of the Soviet National Team and the Soviet Junior National Team that won a European Championship. Epshteen was one of the inaugural inductees to the Russian Ice Hockey Hall of Fame that opened in Moscow in March 2004––the 50th anniversary of the first participation of the USSR in the World Championships.
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All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy