Great and Terrible. These two nicknames belong to the autocrats: Alexander the Great and our Ivan IV Vasilyevich. But there is a man who was called this and that. And he fully deserved it, having won many victories not on the battlefield, but in hockey matches. It’s unlikely that anyone could have imagined this, looking at the game of a talented boy from a simple Khabarovsk courtyard team, which was called “Youth”. However, the first one who saw the future champion in him, Valery Dementyev, put the completely green 15-year-old youth Sasha Mogilny in games in tournaments where everyone was two years older than him. “Golden Puck”, this was the first serious test for the future legend of Russian ice arenas. Back then, however, they were still Soviet. After the collapse of the USSR, he played a few matches in the Russian Federation.

The beginning of the way

The boy, born in 1969, who was not yet able to skate, was brought onto the ice by his parents. They lived in the Southern microdistrict of the capital of the Khabarovsk Territory, and they had to go to the First to train. This is not close, but, as it turned out later, this first difficulty was nothing compared to what awaited Sasha in the future. By the way, the father and mother never left their native Far Eastern city, although the son had the opportunity to transport them to Canada or the USA back in the 90s.

The next step in the athlete’s career after “Youth” was the youth team of the Khabarovsk Army Sports Club. But Alexander Mogilny, for whom hockey became the main occupation, did not stay there long. Already in 1986, Viktor Tikhonov, who was collecting the best talented youth of the country, invited him to CSKA. Any guy his age could only dream about this. Many never got it. Championship in the Union, almost obligatory - the national team and participation in the World Championship and the Olympics. This is the crown of the career ladder, but, as the near future has shown, not for Alexander Mogilny. In the meantime, he has begun to get used to the youth team of the best club in the Soviet country.

Immediately a champion

It didn't take him long. Three years ago he was a scorer at the Golden Puck. As a fifteen-year-old teenager, in 1986, he moved to Moscow and very soon became one of the winners of the Youth World Championship. The following year, among his gold medals, a single award appeared for first place in the adult championship. The only one, because in the next competitions of the best hockey teams in the world, the “Red Machine” took only second place. But Mogilny became the top scorer and deserved inclusion in the symbolic team of the tournament. But he was not yet twenty years old.

As the biography of Alexander Mogilny testifies, 1989 was decisive for him. The Winter Olympics ended with the expected victory of the Soviet hockey team. No one had ever imagined that this would be the last medal of this level for the new star of CSKA and the national team. He played then together with Fedorov and Bure. Everyone perceived them as the new invincible trio in the Soviet national team. He was a right winger with his own memorable style of play.

Scandal in Stockholm

So, February 1989. The Olympic Games are behind us. The next tournament is the World Youth Championship. The tournament took place in the very north of the United States, in Alaska. As it became clear later, scouts from the NHL team Buffalo Sabers became interested in Mogilny back in the summer, in June. And in Alaska, Alexander met for the first time with the club’s coach-selector. When the World Championship games in Stockholm ended successfully for us, a scandal occurred that had never happened in the entire history of Soviet hockey. The youngest athlete of the national team disappeared from the hotel on the eve of his flight to his homeland. What was the reason for the decision of hockey player Alexander Mogilny to escape? There are several versions besides the one he voices. But first, let’s remember what the Soviet period of his career was like.

Golden boy Sasha

The successes of the truly golden boy of Soviet hockey were impressive. First season at CSKA: 28 games, 15 goals, one assist. A year later, there are already 20 points using the goal+pass system, albeit in 39 games. He finished his last season in the main team of the country, with 31 games, with a performance of 11+11 (goal+assist). The Youth World Championship in 1987 ended with 5 points for him. The next one was 18. The one after which Alexander disappeared was also far from ineffective: 12 points. True, in adult competitions of this rank he became the author of only three assists. But at the Olympics he scored 3 goals and 2 assists. This is if you don’t count three USSR championships and the title of Honored Master of Sports at the age of 19. True, his reputation was ambiguous. Many noted arrogance, which was generally not welcomed in the USSR.

Scandals

Two years at CSKA were marked by several scandals. One of them is indicative. Despite his successes, he was considered, and was, the most inexperienced. Who else should be involved in such a task as collecting pucks from the field after training? Apparently, Sasha was not eager to do this. Irek Gimaev had to urge him on with shouts, for which he received a blow to the jaw. After this, the “hero” himself was afraid to go train for several days. And in the last match of the USSR championship in his life with Spartak, there was a fight with Yuri Yashin, the defender of the opposing team. Several matches of disqualification and the threat that the title of Honored Master of Sports would be taken away for such behavior. Who knows, maybe this was the “last straw”, accelerating the decision, after which he was considered a traitor for several years.

The escape

Let's go back to the versions. The coach expressed the most indignation. Viktor Tikhonov never forgave his pupil. Moreover, he was sure that Alexander was seduced by huge amounts of money compared to what he received in the USSR. More than six hundred thousand dollars for the first year of being in the NHL - it's no joke. Tikhonov said that, most likely, the decision was spontaneous. Shortly before this, the hockey player asked him for help. He explained the need to have an apartment in Moscow by saying that he wanted to move his parents there. Besides, he was going to get married. But the act of Alexander Mogilny (photo in the article) most likely was not unexpected. Back in the summer, he met with a representative of his future club.

First days in a foreign land

It must be said that the action of hockey player Alexander Mogilny, whose biography we are considering, was risky. Even after the incident was officially announced in Moscow, there was no news from Canada. They only knew that the general manager of the club, who was so interested in Mogilny, was flying to the Swedish capital. Gerry Meehan had not met Alexander before. Only a day later the newspapers published a sensational report. Judging by these articles, the fugitive spent the first day in solitude. But it is known that he and his entourage changed several hotels. Apparently they were afraid of the all-powerful KGB. Everything depended on the decision of the immigration services and the decision of the Naturalization Service. They could have been significantly influenced by the fear of a negative attitude towards this by the Union Hockey Federation, and by the authorities in general. He entered the United States only with a temporary permit. It was necessary to prove the convincingness of the reasons that forced him to leave his country. Even then, the version according to which he did this out of love for a girl from the Alaskan city of Anchorage turned out to be untenable. As Alexander convinced the immigration authorities, Meehan refused to tell reporters.

Here it is also necessary to mention something that somewhat frightened the NHL management. By that time, there had been a noticeable warming in the League’s relations with the Soviet State Sports Committee. There is hope that some hockey players will still be allowed to play in Canada. Moreover, Sergei Pryakhin has already joined the Calgary Flames. I didn't want to destroy it. But, apparently, the Soviet officials were not comfortable with this either. They limited themselves to branding a defector. Among other things, he was a military man, so he was considered a deserter. The entire team had to testify to KGB investigators.

Defector

The decision of the Soviet hockey player became irrevocable after the news that a criminal case had been opened against junior lieutenant Mogilny in his homeland. Return became impossible. The first year in a foreign country was very difficult. Knowledge of English was at a minimum level. The city that gave his new club its name was also not one of the best in the United States. In the early 90s, Buffalo was in crisis and was not much different from the depressed Russian suburbs of that time. The circle of contacts was very narrow. There was a Russian diaspora there, but it did not exceed 300 people. In addition, he was afraid to communicate with his compatriots for the same reason. The KGB evoked familiar fear. Even when he was allowed to enter the Russian Federation in 1994, he was not sure that people in uniform would not meet him at the airport.

Reason for escape

The reasons for such a radical change in life, which Alexander Gennadievich himself talks about, are, in general, banal. The athlete, who won the World Championship at a very young age and became an Olympic gold medalist, did not even have his own home. I was not happy with the almost barracks-like situation at CSKA. After all, they were all officers. Eleven months of the year, he said, he spent gatherings in the forest. Of course, it’s not easy to withstand this. Moreover, at games abroad they saw a completely different life. He also saw how the lives of many turned out after leaving sports. Having devoted themselves entirely to the main task, often with poor health, they were left with nothing. I didn’t want to wait for the same fate. But the first time was difficult there too. One of his club mates recalled how he invited Alexander to his first New Year in the USA. Everyone was having fun, celebrating the holiday, and the Soviet guest sat silently on the sidelines. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. Everything remains in the past: friends, beloved, parents. The hope of a meeting seemed illusory.

Success

The difficult psychological state also affected the performance of the first season. And it was not easy to master a completely different style of my favorite game. After the beautiful, virtuoso hockey with Fedorov and Bure, we had to get used to rougher, more powerful hockey, where the main principle is “hit and run.” Fifteen goals that flew into the opponents' goal after his shots were, of course, not what was expected from the defector. But they believed in him. The following year, Pat LaFontaine arrived in Buffalo. The time they played together with Mogilny is called an era for the club. 1992 came and they showed what they were capable of. For two - 129 goals. The club was able to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time in the last ten years. After one of the games with the Montreal club, where Alexander broke his leg, the duo broke up, otherwise it would have been possible that the team would have been able to go further. Mogilny’s result that year is still the best among hockey players from Russia in the NHL. He scored no less than 76 goals and scored 127 points in total. Everything was, in general, very simple, but there was nothing to oppose it. In the middle zone, the Russian passed the American and waited ahead for a response.

National team games

The next club, six seasons later, was Vancouver. Alexander met with his CSKA partner. But Pavel Bure played on the same flank, so they very rarely appeared on the ice together as a trio. More than a hundred points in the first season, 76 of which were goals. But after that the indicators worsened. Next is New Jersey. He spent his 2nd season there as the club's leader. And soon Pavel received a very serious injury. And his Russian partner played the most matches during the season that year. This was a record, but his personal one, and not the only one. He also became the owner of more than a hundred points for the second time. Soon, as they say, on Yeltsin’s personal order, he was allowed to enter Russia. He played for the national team of his new country only once, at the World Cup. This happened in 1996, when our team became only the fourth. He scored 6 points in the 5 matches he played. No one else managed to persuade him to wear the national team uniform, not even Vyacheslav Fetisov.

Achievements

Alexander Mogilny became the first Russian to be entrusted with the captaincy of an NHL club. He was included in the All-Star teams four times. In 2000, he finally won the Stanley Cup. He is also a member of the Triple Gold Club. These are hockey players who managed to win the Olympics, the Stanley Cup and the World Championship.

Many are interested in how the personal life of Alexander Mogilny developed, where he lives now, what he does.

I am Russian

Despite the fact that the attitude towards him in his homeland is still ambiguous, Alexander Gennadievich emphasizes that he feels Russian. In Vancouver, where Alexander Mogilny and his family were cheering for his fellow countrymen during their match with the Czech Republic, he answered several questions from a Russian journalist. And he kept mentioning his homeland. Alexander Mogilny and his wife (photo of the hockey player in the article), 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter were at the match. The youngest daughter, who was only a couple of months old, stayed at home with a nanny. By that time, Alexander Mogilny, his wife and children were already living in the southern United States, in Florida. We moved there from New Jersey. He visits Russia several times a year, because he agreed to become an assistant to the president of the Amur club from his native Khabarovsk. He has another position in an amateur hockey organization - the Night Hockey League. He is a member of the board of this club of fans and veterans of one of the favorite games of the Russian Federation.

Alexander Gennadievich Mogilny was born on February 18, 1969 in the city of Khabarovsk (USSR, now Russia). He started playing in the local team "Yunost", then he was in Khabarovsk SKA, and in 1986 he began playing for CSKA. In three years in the army club, he became the champion of the USSR 3 times and the winner of the European Champions Cup the same number of times.

Alexander, together with Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov, made up the most promising trio of those years, playing on the left.

In 1988, he won silver at the World Youth Championship, moreover, having scored 18 points in 7 games (9 goals and 9 assists), he became the top scorer of the tournament and entered the symbolic team of the championship. In February of the same year he became an Olympic champion in Calgary. (in 6 games he scored 3 goals and made 2 assists).

In the 1988 draft, he was selected in the 5th round, number 89 (at that time the highest pick among all Russians).

In 1989 he became the world champion among youth teams. His performance in 7 matches was 12 points (7 goals and 5 assists) according to the goal+assist system.

In the spring of the same year, as part of an already adult team, he won gold medals at the World Championships in Sweden. But after the victory he disappeared from the team camp, not staying for the festive banquet. Before leaving, he presented his gold medals to Sergei Fedorov (Sergei lived in the same room with him) - the world and European champion - with instructions to hand them over to his family. At home he was declared a traitor; moreover, the military prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against him: accusing him of desertion.

At first, fearing KGB agents, he did not communicate with the Russian diaspora in Buffalo. At first, there was no question of any millions; moreover, for his first season he was supposed to receive only 180 thousand dollars. Having made his debut in the NHL on October 5 in a game with Quebec, in his first shift at 20 seconds he scored his first puck, moreover, this was the first “Russian puck” in the NHL. The first interview on television in 1989, in which Alexander answers questions about Gretzky, the differences between Soviet and Canadian playing styles, etc.

The first season in the NHL went well: in 65 matches using the goal+pass system he scored 43 points (15 goals and 28 assists). In his first season he made his debut in the playoffs, recording 1 assist in 4 games. Buffalo was eliminated in the first round.

In the 1990-1991 season, he updated his performance record for both goals (30) and assists (34), and Alexander averaged more than 1 point per game. In January 1991, against Toronto, he scored the fastest goal in Buffalo history, scoring already at 5 seconds.

In the playoffs, they failed to score again, but Alexander showed himself brilliantly as a passer, recording 6 assists in 6 games. But his club did not make it past the first round

The 1991-1992 season was even more productive for him: in 67 games he scored 84 points (39 goals and 45 assists). Mogilny was unable to play more matches due to a 10-match suspension received on January 21 in a game with St. Louis. Alexander, who did not agree with the judge’s decision, poked him in the head.

In the Stanley Cup competition, Stanley was out of action after only 2 matches, having 2 assists to his credit; without Mogilny, the Blades lost in the first round.

The 1992-1993 season was the best in Alexander’s career. On February 3, 1993, scoring his 50th goal, he became the first Russian to reach this mark in one season. On March 5, with an assist, he became the first Russian player to reach the grandmaster mark of 100 points scored in one season. Moreover, having scored 76 goals and scored 127 points, Mogilny set a hitherto unbroken record for both the number of goals and the number of points in one season among all Russian players. After such a phenomenal season, Mogilny received the nickname “Alexander the Great”.

One of the best passers of that time, Pat LaFontaine, helped him to achieve such super-performance. In the regular season, this “couple” was unstoppable - 275 points between them (129 goals and 146 assists). Unfortunately, this duo was not able to play as successfully in the following seasons: Lafontaine was constantly bothered by injuries and was more likely to be sick than to play.

In the playoffs, Alexander finally opened the scoring with his goals and played very effectively: 10 points in 7 incomplete matches. But in the 2nd round, in the 3rd game with Montreal, he suffered a fracture of his right leg (ankle). After such a serious injury, the season ended early for him.

Mogilny missed the beginning of the 1993-1994 season while recovering from an ankle injury. But upon returning to duty, he was appointed captain of Buffalo, since the former captain, Lafontaine, was injured. Thus, Alexander Mogilny became the first Russian captain in the NHL.

During the lockout, Alexander Mogilny came to Russia to play a series of friendly matches as part of the “Russian Stars”. Despite the invitation, Alexander was very afraid for himself, he was sure that after his arrival he would be arrested. Just before boarding, he asked Makarov and Fetisov not to leave him alone. But over time, realizing that his country had changed and the security forces no longer cared about him, he calmed down and began to feel more comfortable. During the break of one match, all Olympic champions received insignia, with the exception of Mogilny.

In the 1994-1995 season, he played quite effectively, averaging more than one point per match - 47 points (19 goals and 28 assists) in 44 games. In the elimination matches in 5 games he scored 5 points (3 goals and 2 assists), and his Blades were eliminated in the 1st round.

Traded to the Vancouver Canucks in the off-season for Mike Peca, Mike Wilson and a first-round pick. Mogilny moved to his former partner in CSKA and the national team - Pavel Bure. But they didn’t actually play on the same line, since both were playing on the right by that point.

At the very beginning of the regular season, Bure suffered a serious knee injury and was out for the rest of the season. The prospects for Vancouver were not entirely rosy. But Alexander more than adequately compensated the killer whales for the absence of their main star: he scored his second fifty dollars (55 goals) and scored his second hundred (107 points). Mogilny's excellent play helped the Canucks cling to the playoffs. Mogilny was also good in the playoffs (1 goal and 8 assists in 6 games), but the Killer Whales lost in the 1st round to the future Stanley Cup winner, the Colorado Avalanche.

Before the start of the next season, he played for the Russian national team for the first (and last time), making his debut for it at the World Cup. He played on the same line with Fedorov and Bure, but only in exhibition matches. At the World Cup itself, he played alongside Fedorov (Bure was injured), and recorded 2 goals and 4 assists in 5 games. But the strongest squad in the history of the Russian national team only took 3rd place.

In the 1996-1997 season, Alexander slowed down somewhat, scoring 73 points (31 goals and 42 assists) in 76 matches. For the first time in his career, Mogilny was left without the playoffs, as the Killer Whales took 9th place.

Mogilny missed the beginning of the 1997-1998 season due to..... a strike. After Yashin got himself a good contract, other Russian players (Fedorov, Bure, etc.) followed his example and declared “financial war” on their clubs, Mogilny was no exception. A month after the start of the regular season, on November 8, Alexander signed a 4-year contract for 17.6 million dollars, and on November 9 he already played for the Killer Whales.

Unlike his former “army” partners, Mogilny did not go to the Olympics in Nagano.

His 18 goals and 27 assists in 51 games were not enough to get the Killer Whales into the playoffs; moreover, Vancouver became the worst team in the West.

During the 1998-1999 season, the number of “army” players decreased by half: Bure was traded to Florida. Mogilny missed about a third of the season, but in 59 games he scored 45 points (14 goals and 31 assists). Vancouver failed to make the playoffs again.

In March 2000, he was traded to New Jersey for Brendan Morison and Denis Pedersen. Of course, from the point of view of cup prospects, such a transition was very beneficial for Alexander: he changed a club that was in its “peak” (for the third year in a row it did not qualify for the playoffs) for one of the dominant clubs of that time.

In the playoffs, the “devils” beat everyone and Alexander raised the Stanley Cup over his head for the first time. He played poorly in the playoffs, recording only 4 goals and 3 assists in 23 games. Victory in the Stanley Cup allowed Alexander, together with Vladimir Malakhov, to enter the triple club (winners of the World Championships, Olympics, Stanley Cup winners).

The 2000-2001 season was very productive in 75 games, scoring 43 goals and making 40 assists. In the playoffs, he slowed down somewhat: in 25 games, 16 points (5 goals and 11 assists). But they failed to win the second Stanley Cup in a row; the Devils lost in the finals to Colorado in 7 games.

After the end of the season, Alexander became a free agent. New Jersey was ready to re-sign the Russian, but guided by the “financial aspect”, Alexander signed a contract with the club that offered the most - the Toronto Maple Leafs ($22 million for 4 years).

Mogilny did not go to the Olympics in Salt Lake City. The reason for his refusal was answered as follows: "I didn't play last time and I'm not going to play this time. I'm not that good one way or the other. There are a lot of young guys who deserve a place on the team."

The first season in the maple leaves turned out to be good: in 66 games, 24 goals and 33 assists. In the playoffs, he failed to repeat the success of a year ago - Toronto lost in the conference finals. In the knockout matches, Mogilny was not as productive as in the regular season - 8 goals and 3 assists in 20 matches.

In his second season for Toronto, Mogilny was much more productive, both in the regular season with 83 points (43 goals and 40 assists) in 77 matches, and in knockout matches with 7 points (5 goals and 2 assists) in 6 games. Unfortunately, it was not possible to develop performance in the playoffs already in the 1st round, Toronto was eliminated from the Stanley Cup.

His high performance, combined with a correct game (only 12 penalty minutes), was awarded his first individual award in the NHL - the Lady Byng Trophy. But he did not come to the prize presentation ceremony itself. When asked about the “reason for his absence,” Alexander answered the following: “By and large, the Lady Byng Trophy is more of a consolation trophy; I don’t need it.”

During the 2003-2004 season, he suffered a hip injury, as a result of which he missed 40 matches. But on March 15, in a game with his former club, Buffalo, Mogilny scored his 1000th point in the NHL, becoming the second Russian after Sergei Fedorov to reach this mark.

As a result, in the regular season he played only 37 matches with a performance of 30 points (8 goals and 22 assists), but in the playoffs Alexander played even more modestly in 13 games with only 2 goals and 4 assists. Well, his Toronto didn’t get past the second round.

After the lockout, he returned to New Jersey, signing a 2-year contract worth $7 million. (3.5 million per year).

Mogilny played the first half of the season well - 25 points (12 goals and 13 assists) in 35 games. But then Alexander became a kind of “victim” of the salary cap and his high salary. At the beginning of 2006, Patrik Elias returned to duty, and since there was no room under the salary cap, a bargaining chip was needed, which Mogilny became. At first, he was put up for the “refusal draft,” but not a single team took him. And then, for the first time in his career, he was exiled to the AHL: to the Devils’ farm club, the Albany River Rats. Mogilny did not go to Turin, explaining that “he is not physically ready to compete at a tournament of this level.”

After the end of the season he retired. In total, in the NHL (including the playoffs), Alexander Mogilny played 1114 games in which he scored 512 goals and made 606 assists. in 2011 he entered the Buffalo Sabers Hall of Fame.

Since 2007 he has been working in the structure of Khabarovsk Amur.

Alexander Mogilny is the most “odious” and controversial Russian hockey player: the “disgraced” forward who was the first to flee the country, the main “refusenik” of the national team, who honored with his presence only at the 1996 World Cup and then formally signed himself up as a “veteran” (at the age of 29) , unable to benefit the national team and giving up his place to other younger players. Most likely, Alexander simply did not want to participate in games for the national team, for reasons known only to him.

ARHAT

Alexander Mogilny was considered one of the best, if not the best, young hockey player in the late 80s. But his name was not associated with the victories of the USSR national team, and then Russia. For the vast majority of fans, the forward will remain a deserter and traitor who fled to the United States. - about the semi-criminal story of the move of a Soviet hockey player to American soil.

The best player in the world. Young

There was nothing interesting in this story. Believe me.

20-year-old Alexander Mogilny stepped off the plane. He had just flown in from Stockholm, where he helped the Soviet team win its 21st world championship gold. Yours is the first. May 1989, perestroika was in full swing in the USSR, and the young, even youthful, forward had to return to the reformed state. But Mogilny landed at New York airport. He was waiting for money, fame and her - freedom.

Mogilny was the best young hockey player of that time. At the World Under-20 Championship in Anchorage, he became the first star, playing in a trio with the future Soviet and Russian national teams - and. In the last game with the Canadians, Alexander scored three goals, and the commentators working at that meeting were close to speaking Russian. It’s been six months since he was drafted by the NHL club Buffalo Sabers, but it was a convention. The club hoped rather than actually intended to transport the young powerful player to the USA.

There in Anchorage was Don Luce, the head of Buffalo's scouting department. He met with Mogilny and handed him his business card. He took it.

A year later, the head coach of the USSR national team removed Pavel Bure from the team that was going to the senior world championship in Sweden - he was too young. The Fedorov-Mogilny couple went to Stockholm. As he recalled, who was the head of the delegation of the national team, in the Union Sergei and Alexander lived in a simple Moscow hostel, and according to Mogilny himself, he did not have a meter of housing or money.

Seven wins in seven matches, three out of three in medal games. It was impossible to stop the national team in Stockholm. On May 1, Soviet hockey players became world champions, and 20-year-old Mogilny, who played a significant role in the team’s success, added a world title to his 1988 Olympic gold.

On May 2, a bell rang at Don Luce's house. On the other end of the line there was a man who introduced himself as Mogilny’s agent. This man used to live in the Soviet Union, then married a Swede and moved to Stockholm. He told Luce that Alexander had something to tell him. It became clear: the young Soviet player wants to move to the USA. The scout decided to test Fomichev and asked him to quote a phrase that he said to Mogilny during their first meeting in Anchorage. The agent replied in clear English: “You didn’t impress me.” The next day, Luce and Buffalo general manager Jerry Meehan were in Stockholm.

The escape

The detective story began on the evening of May 3. Meehan went to the American embassy to prepare documents for Mogilny’s flight. Before visiting the embassy, ​​the American said: “You can still come back.” The forward replied: “No, I’m going.” Yuri Korolev suggested that Buffalo functionaries, with the help of the special services, forged papers, because Alexander did not have a passport. “Our system at that time required that the head of the delegation had to keep all the players’ passports with him. When I went to the police and said that maybe one of our people was staying in the city and showed him his document, they immediately told me that he was already flying over the Atlantic Ocean,” said Korolev, a witness to those events.

While Meehan was fiddling with documentation, calling first the Swedish embassy, ​​sometimes with employees in the United States, the hockey player himself, in the company of Luce and Fomichev, drove around Stockholm in a car, covering his tracks. They changed several hotels. Mogilny wanted to contact his parents, so the car stopped at one of the telephone booths. The operator accepted the call, then there was a pause, after which someone else's voice was heard on the phone. Mogilny hung up and said: “I think they know where we are.”

The entire operation took place in fear of the all-powerful Soviet intelligence. Embassy workers and functionaries later said that they were afraid that information about Mogilny’s escape could get to the authorities. They were afraid of wiretapping, surveillance - everything that is inherent in a normal detective. After all, at first no one could notice that Alexander was missing. Soviet players were given one day for shopping - for winning the World Cup. On May 3, they all went to shopping centers in the capital of Sweden, which the conspirators took advantage of.

The Stockholm embassy worked closely with colleagues from the United States on the issue of moving Mogilny. The difficulty was that Mogilny could not just get to North America and receive refugee status. For this, reasons were needed. The work on the papers took a long time.

“Of course, we knew that all this was associated with a certain risk, but we realized the seriousness of what was happening only when we flew directly to Stockholm. Strange, but Mogilny was the calmest of us. He knew exactly what he wanted and went towards his goal. I couldn’t believe how unflappable the 20-year-old was, risking everything,” Luce said.

As soon as Luce and Meehan received a call from the embassy and were informed that the documents for the flight were ready, they bought tickets for the next flight, boarded a plane to New York and flew away.

On the morning of May 4, the hotel where the Soviet team lived was searched. Mogilny was not among the athletes preparing to fly home. He was not found in the room. That morning the team left with a truncated squad while the 20-year-old forward moved in the opposite direction.

Before leaving, Mogilny proposed and asked Fedorov to go with him. Sergei refused, not being sure about the whole idea of ​​“kidnapping” his partner. While communicating with journalists in the USA, Alexander said something like: “He’s just a mama’s boy.”

Refugee

While playing for CSKA, Mogilny was listed as an officer in the army. It turns out that, having left for the States, he became a traitor to the people and a deserter - according to the law. The Soviet press instantly put this label on him, and coach Tikhonov said in a commentary: “With his action, he only showed that it was not for nothing that he had no friends in the national team. He was a man with secret intentions." The agency dubbed the Buffalo pirates.

Upon arrival at home, the USSR national team players were interrogated by KGB officers, but they could not say anything against or for Mogilny - the entire operation was carried out in secret, and only Fedorov knew about it, although Alexander himself said that he did not tell anyone about the impending escape. I also had a conversation with a Soviet hockey player, as with all refugees.

Because of his escape, formally from the army, a criminal case was opened against Mogilny in his homeland. This allowed him to request political refugee status from the American government. It's ironic that he did this on May 9th. So, on Victory Day, Alexander became the main Russian deserter.

Mogilny called his parents from the USA. His mother, in tears, begged him to come home, but the hockey player resolutely refused. Everyone wondered why. “I’m scared to imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t done this! No, by Soviet standards, everything was fine with me. But I wanted more. I saw the attitude towards older comrades here, I understood what would happen to me when I reached that age. Finishing their careers, they were left with nothing,” Mogilny said much later.

Did it take a lot of courage to escape? - Sport Express journalists asked in 2011.

None at all. Do not make me laugh. Someone said that when I left, I burned bridges - and this makes me especially funny.

Because I left Moscow a beggar. Okay, if he were an oligarch, he would steal money and leave. But for me everything is different. I was a natural beggar.

In the USA, he got a house, a car, and became a big star. The Americans called him Alexander The Great - Great. And from that moment on, he played for the national team only once.

You can talk a lot about hockey, argue about its advantages and disadvantages, root for your favorite teams or separately for your favorite athletes. Victories and losses in this sport are a source of intense emotions for both the players and the fans. And Olympic medals, points and goals at the World Championships evoke feelings that are sometimes impossible to convey and describe.

Alexander Mogilny is one of the people who left a bright mark on the history of world hockey. This is exactly the case when a sport becomes not only a favorite pastime, entertainment and passion. It becomes the whole life of a person.

Biography of a hockey player

Alexander Gennadievich Mogilny was born in the city of Khabarovsk on February 18, 1969. From an early age, Sasha’s parents helped him get on the ice. Living with his parents in the Southern microdistrict, he had to travel quite a distance to the First microdistrict, where the Yunost club was located. His coach Valery Dementyev was able to discern hockey abilities in the guy. Despite the fact that Sasha was two years younger than expected in age, he enrolled the boy in his team.

At the age of fifteen, he moved to Moscow to train at the invitation of the CSKA sports club. Showing good results and considerable abilities, the guy did not go unnoticed by the coaches of this club. Soon he was invited to play as part of the CSKA youth team.

First results

Already in 1988, Mogilny was a hockey player who, at the age of nineteen, achieved extraordinary results in his work. At this moment he is an Honored Master of Sports. In the same year, at the Olympics in Calgary, the puck scored by Mogilny turned out to be decisive in the final match with the Canadians. But until the last moment, Alexander was not sure that he would be included in the main team of the Olympic team, although he gave all his best in training. However, as it turned out later, he made it to the Olympics for the first and last time.

In 1989, the guy became the best striker of the youth world championship, as well as a three-time champion of the Soviet Union, once again proving his talent and iron character. And Mogilny’s style made the whole world look at Soviet hockey in a new way.

Background of the escape

At the end of 1988, in Anchorage, Alaska, during the world youth championship, a young hockey player met with the Buffalo Sabers club selection coach Don Luce. He offered Alexander his business card, specifying that he could be contacted at any time using these contact numbers. It was this meeting that contributed to subsequent events in the life of the young hockey player.

Even at the Olympic Games in Calgary, Mogilny attracted the attention of the Buffalo Sabers with his beautiful goals and assists. The opinions of the club's coaches agreed that few Soviet hockey players are distinguished by unusual skating and show an extraordinary, original game. But Mogilny is exactly like that.

Hockey refugee

In May 1989, in Stockholm, the end of the fifty-third World Hockey Championship took place amid cheers of victory in honor of the Soviet team. The entire team was in a good mood waiting for the plane to return to Moscow when officials received a call about the escape of Alexander Mogilny. This news sounded like a bolt from the blue to everyone. The joyful return home was ruined. The national team coach did not immediately believe this news. After all, just recently Sasha asked to help him with an apartment in Moscow so that he could move his parents and fiancee to the capital. However, the facts indicated otherwise. Therefore, both the coach and the entire team were sure that Mogilny could not resist the tempting sums of money that American NHL stars earn.

Difficult decision

Having disappeared from Stockholm, the young hockey player did not immediately join the coveted Buffalo Sabers. After all, his action and future life in the United States of America had to be justified by the club’s management to the president of the National Hockey League, John Ziegler, and the immigration authorities.

Mogilny's entry into the country was allowed temporarily. To obtain a permanent permit, he had to present to the immigration center convincing political reasons for fleeing the Soviet Union.

In turn, for the National Hockey League, Alexander Mogilny could represent another serious obstacle in relations with the USSR when concluding contracts with hockey players.

At the right time, in the right place

Over the past few years, American teams have made every effort to fill their ranks with promising players from the USSR. Sometimes negotiation processes lasted for years. This was experienced by such Soviet hockey players as Vyacheslav Fetisov, during negotiations with the Devils club, Vladimir Krutov and with the Vancouver Canucks team. The first player to receive permission to leave and work for the Calgary Flames was Sergei Pryakhin.

Mogilny, one might say, was lucky, since his escape occurred at a time of warming relations between the sports organizations of the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Therefore, according to the calculations of American representatives, the guy’s act should not have given any compelling reason for concern or particular complications between the relations of the two countries. After all, the decision to escape was made by the player, and accordingly, responsibility for the consequences that arise will lie with him.

Reason to escape

The hockey player saw other principles of life abroad, and all the negative aspects that had accumulated in Sasha’s soul during the period of playing in the USSR broke through. Naturally, the guy wanted a normal human life, not squeezed by harsh shackles.

However, Alexander Mogilny did not immediately decide to apply for a work permit and political asylum in the United States of America. The key impetus was the news that a criminal case was being prepared against him for desertion from the ranks of the Soviet army. And then the guy deliberately decided to change his future.

Representatives of the Buffalo Sabers club Don Luce and Meehan, after the end of the championship, specially arrived in Stockholm to meet with Alexander. So that Mogilny could fly to New York and then to Buffalo, all the necessary documents were completed for him within two days. Next, he had to overcome one of the main obstacles for the young guy - learning English.

After some time, the National Hockey League nevertheless supported the Buffalo Sabers contract with a young hockey player from the USSR. This decision was also influenced by the rather passive reaction of the Soviet Federation, which also found its own benefits in this story.

"Traitor" to the Motherland

Mogilny managed to sign a contract with an American club, so he never returned home, contrary to the expectations of his relatives. Meanwhile, an incredible scandal began in the Soviet Union because of this. Sasha was considered to have practically failed to justify the trust placed in him. His parents appeared at that time in the image of “enemies of the people,” and their life at home was no easier than for their son in a foreign country.

However, after some time the passions subsided. And Mogilny became a kind of pioneer in the National Hockey League. After all, after him, many USSR hockey players began to travel overseas, and this happened in an official way and without political overtones.

Life in a foreign land

The very fact that Mogilny arrived in America not as a superhero, but as a fugitive, speaks of his future difficult life. There were no enthusiastic articles about the hockey player in newspapers and magazines, and he was not invited to various American television shows. Even an interview with journalists was unavailable to him due to his lack of knowledge of English and fear of KGB agents. Two

The twenty-year-old hockey player, leaving his homeland, burned all his bridges behind him, but life had to go on.

Phil Housley, a Sabers defenseman, took the young guy under his wing. He noticed more than others how unhappy Mogilny looked. The hockey player very often, when the whole team was having fun, sat on the sidelines with a sad face. After all, he constantly missed his family.

And yet, overcoming multifaceted cultural and life barriers, including the differences in the American style of playing hockey, Alexander found the strength to start a new life.

Alexander the Great

In the late eighties, Buffalo was a mid-level club. The team's hockey was unattractive and not particularly distinguished by cunning combinations. There were no competent, professional and famous hockey players among the players.

Gradually, Sasha established mutual understanding with the guys from the team.

The game went especially smoothly when Pat LaFontaine joined the club. He and Mogilny played wonderfully together. In the early 90s, this couple was nicknamed the “dynamic duo.” Since the arrival of Lafontaine, their joint work has yielded 39 goals. And after the 1992-1993 season. Thanks to Mogilny's brilliant work, Buffalo was seriously talked about as a possible winner of the Stanley Cup.

In a relatively short period of time, Alexander, who was nicknamed the Great in America, scored 76 goals, made 51 assists and scored 127 points. In addition, he scored his fiftieth goal in the forty-sixth match of the season. However, he failed to join the "50 goals in 50 games" club, which included famous hockey players Maurice Richard, Brett Hull, Wayne Gretzky, and Mike Bossy. The reason was the fact that Buffalo was already playing the fifty-third game of the season.

Nevertheless, Alexander Mogilny took seventh place among America's top scorers. A photo of the young hockey player appeared in the press again. After all, he, being a Russian, became the first best sniper of the National Hockey League, and his “Russian record” has not been broken to this day.

Ups and downs

However, having achieved great achievements in hockey, Mogilny also faced disappointments. Alexander showed an excellent game in the playoffs and even scored ten points in seven matches. But in the third match, the forward This injury seriously affected the team’s next game. Having been defeated by Montreal, Buffalo ended its path to the Stanley Cup.

Without fully recovering, Mogilny played two more seasons in his home team. However, due to ineffectiveness, he was traded to Vancouver, where in his first season he scored fifty-five beautiful goals. But the magnificent takeoff was again followed by injuries and setbacks. And only in 2001 an event occurred that not only world, but also Russian hockey players dream about. Mogilny is also no exception. While with New Jersey, he was able to score eighty-three points in the regular season, helping the team win the Stanley Cup.

Alexander the Great earned the right to participate in the All-Star Game six times in his sixteen seasons in the NHL. In 2011, he was elected to the Buffalo Sabers Hall of Fame.

Today, Alexander Mogilny lives in Florida with his wife and two sons. But he does not forget his homeland. Working as an assistant to the president of the Amur club in Khabarovsk, he flies to Russia several times a year.

Young Alexander Mogilny began his career with the Golden Puck tournaments in Khabarovsk. The first coach of the growing star was Valery Alekseevich Dementyev, who led the “Yunost” courtyard team.

The talented boy was quickly noticed in Khabarovsk SKA, and there it was not far from the main army club of the country. In just three years, from 1986 to 1989, Alexander won almost everything a Soviet hockey player could dream of: the Olympic Games, the World Championship, silver and gold in the youth championship.

The debut season at CSKA can be called successful. Alexander has already begun to claim the loud nickname “Terrible”, which he will receive later. In 28 matches, the forward scored 15 goals. With each season, his statistics grew inexorably. If in 1986 he was more focused on goal (only one assist), then in his third year with the red-blues he was already considered a universal player - 22 points (11+11).

Alexander played his first game in the NHL on October 5, 1989 against the Quebec Nordiques and scored on his first appearance on the ice, in the 20th second of the match. But one should not assume that the career of the Olympic champion in the States was easy. For a long time he could not get used to Buffalo's strong style. Playing according to the “hit-and-run” scheme after hockey with Bure and Fedorov is really difficult.

In his first season, Mogilny scored a modest 43 points in 65 matches and scored only 15 goals. It's good that in 1991, John Mackler was named director of hockey operations in Buffalo, Pat LaFontaine was traded from the Islanders, and the era of the "Dynamic Duo" of brilliant hockey players began.

In the 1992/93 season, Mogilny and Lafontaine scored 129 goals between them. Mogilny scored 127 points (76+51), Lafontaine – 148 (53+95), and Buffalo was able to overcome the first round of the playoffs for the first time in ten years and might have advanced further, but Alexander broke his leg in the third match of the series with Montreal.

After six seasons in Buffalo, Mogilny was traded to Vancouver, where Pavel Bure was already waiting for him, and the Canucks management expected the same game from this duo as in CSKA. But by that time Alexander had finally moved to the right flank, so the Russians more often played in different threes.

Having set his own record for the number of matches played, Mogilny crossed the 100-point mark for the second time in his career.

He played for the Russian national team for the first and last time at the World Cup in 1996.

In the middle of the 1999/2000 season, Vancouver traded Mogilny to New Jersey, where Alexander won the Stanley Cup and became a member of the Triple Gold Club.

The following year, Mogilny managed to significantly improve his personal performance, scoring 83 (43+40) points in 75 matches and leading the club to the final for the second time in a row. Then there were three not so remarkable seasons in Toronto, and Alexander the Terrible’s return to New Jersey put an end to the NHL history.

5 strokes in the fate of a master

1988 – Olympic gold in Calgary

1989 – world title

1989 – first match and goal in the NHL

2000 – Stanley Cup with New Jersey

2003 – winning the Lady Byng Trophy (NHL's top gentleman player)

Quote

– The first year after completion was not easy. And now it’s very difficult for me to look at photographs and videos of those times. But life goes on, you can't live in the past. We need to think about the family, the children who need to be raised. Those close to me are the most important thing, everything else comes later.

A. Mogilny

22. Alexander Mogilny

At the Olympic Games, World and European Championships, as well as Canada/World Cups, he played 21 matches, scoring 14 (5+9) points. He played 98 games in the USSR Championship and scored 58 (38+20) points. He played 1,114 matches in the NHL championships and the Stanley Cup and earned 1,118 (512+606) points.

Played for CSKA Moscow (1986-1989), Buffalo Sabers (1989-1995), Vancouver Canucks (1995-1999), New Jersey Devils (2000-2001, 2005-2006) Toronto MapleLeafs (2001) -2004), “Albany River Rats” (2005-2006).

Olympic champion 1988. World champion 1989. Winner of the 2000 Stanley Cup. Took part in four NHL All-Star games (1992-94, 1996). Winner of the “Lady Byng Trophy” (for a gentleman on the ice) for the 2002/03 season. Member of the Triple Gold Club.