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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

YURI HUNKO: FROM “ADMIRALS” TO “SNOW LEOPARDS”

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

This spring Ukraine’s national hockey team was a true celebrity, winning world championships, even if in the B Group. Remarkably, five of them are now playing for Tatarstan clubs and the fullbacks, Oleksandr Savytsky and Yuri Hunko, became Russia’s champions playing for the Kazakh Akhbars. Below he is interviewed by The Day

KEEPING PACE WITH THE TIMES

Q: Yuri, what do you think drove the boys in Slovenia most: ambition, patriotism, or money?

A: I would put it differently. The awareness that there were people who really cared for the national team, besides us. We were met and treated the way we looked: training suits, track shoes, and travel bags. Before the 1995 championships in Bulgaria we were given Lotto blazers, but this was probably the only gesture showing that someone cared for the national team in Ukraine. This time the fund-raising campaign involved practically all our “Europeans.” And a prize was set on each of the four places we might take.

Q: Remember the Soviet youth national? Was the situation different then?

A: In 1992, Russia took over all the former USSR hockey powers. As for the USSR junior national team (I played with Oleksiy Zhytnyk), its spirit and “battle readiness” were determined mostly by players originating from various Soviet republics (Sandis Ozolins and Aleksei Zholtok from Latvia, Darjus Kasparaits from Lithuania, Konstantin Spodarenko from Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Oleksandr Kuzminsky from Kyiv was the captain). Russian never won gold after recruiting hockey players born in 1972. A significant fact, isn’t it?

TOUGH AMERICANS

Q: Following the careers of other hockey players from the national team, Viacheslav Kozlov, Nikolai Khabibulin, Boris Mironov, and Aleksei Kovaliov played for NHL. Yuri Hunko could have joined them, drafted by the club, couldn’t he?

A: You mean St. Louis Blues. It happened in 1991. Actually, they were in no hurry to send for us. It took them two years to make up their minds. At the time I was busy playing myself the Sokil (Eagle) team. My agent said I should join the League (which was one step down the ladder) and sort of get myself broken in over a year. IHL level is quite high, you can take my word for it. It is determined by NHL farm clubs, although the Milwaukee Admirals was an independent club (I spent the time before the season at their training camp).

Q: And then Lady Luck turned her back?

A: The situation was like this: there were two other contenders for the fullback vacancy except me, a Canadian and a Slovak. The bosses figured one of their own would suit them best. Thinking back, I realize that my trip to North America was a bit premature, if you know what I mean. Well, I returned home.

Q: What was behind the club’s victory in 1998?

A: High level of organization in the first place. And discipline, thanks to Chief Trainer Yuri Moiseev. And of course, team spirit, in the truest sense of the word.

Photo by Volodymyr Rasner, The Day

 

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