Vyacheslav Starshinov



Vyacheslav Ivanovich Starshinov (Вячеслав Иванович Старшинов; born May 6, 1940, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian former ice hockey player, coach and executive. Starshinov played in the Soviet Hockey League for HC Spartak Moscow, scoring 405 goals in 540 league games. He led the league in goals in 1966-67, 1967–68, and 1968–69. Starshinov also scored 149 goals in 182 international games with the Soviet national team, and was named top forward at the IIHF World Championships in 1965. He also played for the Japanese hockey team Oji Eagles in 1976-1978.

He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2007.

Career
Starshinov first played for Spartak in the 1957–58 season, earning a regular position in the 1958–59 season, in which he scored 12 goals. Starshinov would play for Spartak until 1972, when he would change over to coaching. His best season for Spartak was 1966–67, when he scored 47 goals and 9 assists for 56 points in 44 games. He first played for the national team in 1961 in the World Championships contributing six goals and three assists in seven games. He would be a member of the national team in World Championships until 1971. During this time the team won nine world championship tournaments and twice won the Olympic ice hockey tournament. In 1972, he turned to coaching Spartak, but before coaching, he played in the second game of the 1972 Summit Series versus the NHL professionals of Team Canada. In 1974–75, he returned to play for Spartak for one season before moving to Japan to play and coach Oji Eagles He was one of the first Soviet ice-hockey players to get to play for a foreign club. In 1978, he returned to Spartak to play one final season, scoring 11 goals and seven assists in 37 games.

In 1979, Starshinov joined the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, as head of the Department of Physical Education. He was named chairman of the Ice Hockey Federation of the Russian Federation in 1991. In 2002, Starshinov was named president of Spartak. In 2004, Starshinov was named president of the Association of Sports Industry (APSI).

Awards

 * Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1965)
 * "Badge of Honor" (1968), Medal of Honor (2010)
 * Order "For Services to the Fatherland" III degree ( 26 April 2000 ) and IV ( 18 January 2007 ) - for outstanding contribution to the development of national sport
 * Order of Friendship (1995, in connection with the 60th anniversary of the society "Spartacus")
 * Olympic Order (2000).
 * Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2007.