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Mogilny Defection Story


gilbert11

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I just watched the Mogilny defection story on NHL Network.  Very intriguing.  Interesting that Luce and Meehan put themselves on the line for him.

I was already on the West Coast when this happened so I don't recall hearing much about it, but it was 30 years ago.  Then with things changing in Russia it was good he was able to go back and coach.

It's unfortunate that I didn't get the chance to see him play much with the Sabres.

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26 minutes ago, Weave said:

My favorite story in the history of the Sabres.  Set against the backdrop of the Evil Empire and the cold war.

Gat dam.  Remember when everyone thought Russia was our enemy and walls separating nations should be torn down?

 

Walls put up by a government to keep their citizenry from leaving their own country should be torn down.  Nothing's changed.

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57 minutes ago, Weave said:

My favorite story in the history of the Sabres.  Set against the backdrop of the Evil Empire and the cold war.

Gat dam.  Remember when everyone thought Russia was our enemy and walls separating nations should be torn down?

 

Russia is the enemy, to bad certain citizens sold 20% of our nations uranium supply to help them build bad stuff and sell it to bad people themselves.

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3 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

Russia is the enemy, to bad certain citizens sold 20% of our nations uranium supply to help them build bad stuff and sell it to bad people themselves.

***** off with that.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/

 

4 hours ago, Weave said:

My favorite story in the history of the Sabres.

It is one of the best, perhaps in all of hockey.  Management personnel risking their lives to play a shell game with an individual abroad, being tracked by a spy agency, resulting in a liberation and a spectacular personal and sports story success.

 

Here's the Sportsnet piece: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/defector-2/

An SI article from '89: https://www.si.com/vault/1989/10/09/120762/the-honeymooners-a-bevy-of-the-soviets-most-stunning-stars-has-been-wooed-and-won-by-the-nhl

Excerpts from Breakaway, which covers several defections: https://books.google.com/books?id=FSKp2SXjzUEC&pg=PT112&lpg=PT112&dq=mogilny+defection&source=bl&ots=ycWPAf0JuE&sig=ACfU3U1pk7ZwMg1GIjlifzHF6Orb5aQH2g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkys6TlvnfAhUEDHwKHZXGDUs4FBDoATAFegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=mogilny defection&f=false

 

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7 hours ago, IKnowPhysics said:

***** off with that.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/

 

It is one of the best, perhaps in all of hockey.  Management personnel risking their lives to play a shell game with an individual abroad, being tracked by a spy agency, resulting in a liberation and a spectacular personal and sports story success.

 

Here's the Sportsnet piece: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/defector-2/

An SI article from '89: https://www.si.com/vault/1989/10/09/120762/the-honeymooners-a-bevy-of-the-soviets-most-stunning-stars-has-been-wooed-and-won-by-the-nhl

Excerpts from Breakaway, which covers several defections: https://books.google.com/books?id=FSKp2SXjzUEC&pg=PT112&lpg=PT112&dq=mogilny+defection&source=bl&ots=ycWPAf0JuE&sig=ACfU3U1pk7ZwMg1GIjlifzHF6Orb5aQH2g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkys6TlvnfAhUEDHwKHZXGDUs4FBDoATAFegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=mogilny defection&f=false

 

From the sports illustrated article: 

 

"Not everyone has reacted so magnanimously, of course. There is an undercurrent of resentment by North American players, both because of jobs lost to the Soviet athletes and a lingering cold war antipathy, but so far only the concerns over jobs have been publicly expressed. Certainly, if these Soviet hands are still capable of the magic they produced in Olympic and Canada Cup competitions, they will get a fair shake. Meanwhile, the world will watch, fascinated."

 

Don Sherry was always blovating about the European players and Teppo Nummanin talked about the bigotry he faced. 

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Speaking of Sasha...

The other day Rob Ray was on Rhett Warrener's radio show in Calgary; I made a thread about it.

They were talking about "the old days" and how guys used to smoke a cigarette and drink a beer, in the locker room, after a game.  That led to discussion of players smoking in general.

Rayzor said: "I remember Mogilny saying to me...[you have to picture Rayzor speaking in a fake Russian accent, mimicking Sasha]...Rayzor!  I need a cigarette!  I have to open my lungs!  I can't skate without a smoke!"

Rayzor was saying how he never saw a guy fly around like Mogilny, particularly with the puck on his stick, and yet he loved to smoke.

Many moons ago my buddies and I saw him in a bar wearing a jean jacket and smoking...we laughed at the time.

Of note: I remember going out to Sabre Land for training camp in Mogilny's first year.  Saw him with his car. 

He didn't waste time buying a Prussian blue Porsche 911 slant nose, with a "parchment" leather interior (kind of grayish off-white) that was horribly cracked and beaten up.  The car had a Northtown "Toy Store" license plate frame on the back if anyone remember that place, on Sheridan Drive.  

This was a 3.2 liter Carrera, probably a 1986 or so.  

Northtown "Toy Store" used to sell upmarket used cars. Maybe they are still around, I don't know.  

 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Weave said:

My favorite story in the history of the Sabres.  Set against the backdrop of the Evil Empire and the cold war.

Gat dam.  Remember when everyone thought Russia was our enemy and walls separating nations should be torn down?

 

Funny how Republicans these days seem to like Russia.  Which is making every dead Cold War Republican, particularly Nixon and Reagan, turn over in their graves.

I'm glad that Russia's stock seems to be on the decline these days.

The Olympics has never been the same since the demise of the USSR.  The Olympics was so much better and more fun in the old days, when you had an enemy to hate come Olympic time every 4 years.

I'm thinking back to like the '80s and everyone hating on the East German women's swim team.  Most of them appeared to be men, had rather well developed beards, and were clearly ingesting every illegal performance enhancing substance known to man at that time!  LOL

Good times!  

 

 

 

 

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17 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

Funny how Republicans these days seem to like Russia.  Which is making every dead Cold War Republican, particularly Nixon and Reagan, turn over in their graves.

I'm glad that Russia's stock seems to be on the decline these days.

The Olympics has never been the same since the demise of the USSR.  The Olympics was so much better and more fun in the old days, when you had an enemy to hate come Olympic time every 4 years.

I'm thinking back to like the '80s and everyone hating on the East German women's swim team.  Most of them appeared to be men, had rather well developed beards, and were clearly ingesting every illegal performance enhancing substance known to man at that time!  LOL

Good times!  

 

 

 

 

Katarinia Witt didn't have a beard! She was super beautiful 

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18 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

Speaking of Sasha...

The other day Rob Ray was on Rhett Warrener's radio show in Calgary; I made a thread about it.

They were talking about "the old days" and how guys used to smoke a cigarette and drink a beer, in the locker room, after a game.  That led to discussion of players smoking in general.

Rayzor said: "I remember Mogilny saying to me...[you have to picture Rayzor speaking in a fake Russian accent, mimicking Sasha]...Rayzor!  I need a cigarette!  I have to open my lungs!  I can't skate without a smoke!"

Rayzor was saying how he never saw a guy fly around like Mogilny, particularly with the puck on his stick, and yet he loved to smoke.

Many moons ago my buddies and I saw him in a bar wearing a jean jacket and smoking...we laughed at the time.

Of note: I remember going out to Sabre Land for training camp in Mogilny's first year.  Saw him with his car. 

He didn't waste time buying a Prussian blue Porsche 911 slant nose, with a "parchment" leather interior (kind of grayish off-white) that was horribly cracked and beaten up.  The car had a Northtown "Toy Store" license plate frame on the back if anyone remember that place, on Sheridan Drive.  

This was a 3.2 liter Carrera, probably a 1986 or so.  

Northtown "Toy Store" used to sell upmarket used cars. Maybe they are still around, I don't know.  

 

 

 

 

I always found it interesting that this is an actual thing.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001541/

Quote

While athletes endanger their careers and well-being in attempts to gain small benefits with illicit or inconvenient practices, a legal, nonprescription alternative has been largely ignored by athletes, coaches and exercise physiologists alike. Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase serum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, increase lung volume and stimulate weight loss — characteristics all known to enhance performance in endurance sports. This paper will discuss the potential benefits of cigarette smoking to endurance performance and make recommendations as to how individuals and national bodies could effectively integrate this practice into high-performance training programs.

 

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On 1/19/2019 at 1:09 AM, IKnowPhysics said:

***** off with that.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/

 

It is one of the best, perhaps in all of hockey.  Management personnel risking their lives to play a shell game with an individual abroad, being tracked by a spy agency, resulting in a liberation and a spectacular personal and sports story success.

 

Here's the Sportsnet piece: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/defector-2/

An SI article from '89: https://www.si.com/vault/1989/10/09/120762/the-honeymooners-a-bevy-of-the-soviets-most-stunning-stars-has-been-wooed-and-won-by-the-nhl

Excerpts from Breakaway, which covers several defections: https://books.google.com/books?id=FSKp2SXjzUEC&pg=PT112&lpg=PT112&dq=mogilny+defection&source=bl&ots=ycWPAf0JuE&sig=ACfU3U1pk7ZwMg1GIjlifzHF6Orb5aQH2g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkys6TlvnfAhUEDHwKHZXGDUs4FBDoATAFegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=mogilny defection&f=false

 

You're an absolute fool for using snopes as a 'fact check.' You should be embarrassed. 

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4 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Katarinia Witt didn't have a beard! She was super beautiful 

She's a solid 7; I used to be a big fan of her back in the day.

And she does kind of have a whisker problem on her chin area.  She's still a big celebrity in Germany, you see her in the media all the time over there.

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, ko12010 said:

Haha. Good stuff, bud. Take a step back--you're incredibly indoctrinated.

 

8 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Please take this nonsense to the Politics area, and provide some proof before you start tossing around insults.

Actually, don’t bring this nonsense there.  

Full marks awarded, however, for going full-Russian Twitter-bot with the handle before posting this my dude.   

I expect a certain mod to get more upset at MattPie and myself for this, but if I must be banned, this is the hill I’ll die on.  

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1 hour ago, Sabel79 said:

 

Actually, don’t bring this nonsense there.  

Full marks awarded, however, for going full-Russian Twitter-bot with the handle before posting this my dude.   

I expect a certain mod to get more upset at MattPie and myself for this, but if I must be banned, this is the hill I’ll die on.  

Bold: hah, good call.

I'm with you brother!

DAWtNATWsAA6SYN.jpg:large

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1 hour ago, MattPie said:

Please take this nonsense to the Politics area, and provide some proof before you start tossing around insults.

I would agree that's where it belongs.  However, that conversation would be deleted there too.  ?

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