Nikolai Puchkov

Nikolai Georgiyevich Puchkov (Николай Георгиевич Пучков, 30 January 1930 – 8 August 2005) was a Russian ice hockey goaltender. He was part of the Soviet teams that won two Olympic and seven world championship medals between 1954 and 1960, including three gold medals. He was named the best goaltender of the 1959 World Championships and won the European title in 1954–56 and 1958–60. In 1954 he was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame.

Domestically, Puchkov won nine Soviet titles with VVS Moscow and CSKA Moscow. In 1962, he moved to Saint Petersburg, and after retiring the next year, he coached SKA Leningrad until 1980. In the 1970s, he also assisted Vsevolod Bobrov with the Soviet national team. In 1980–1990, he trained Izhorets Leningrad, and from 1990 to 2002 coached Swedish and Finnish clubs. He worked with the junior team of SKA St Petersburg for three years until his sudden death on the way to a training session. In 2007, a goaltending school named after Puchkov was opened in Saint Petersburg.