Completed Set: 1991-92 Red Ace Russian Stars in NHL

Full disclosure, right from the start: 

 

This isn't a typical "completed set" post, in the sense that it didn't involve months (or years) of picking up a few cards here and there until I had all of them. The truth is, I just bought the boxed set of 17 cards.

 

 

 

One and done.

 

But I wanted to do a write-up regardless, because this set hearkens back to a very interesting time in the NHL, and in the world. Only a couple of years before the cards were released, the first Soviet players had defected for the NHL. Their brand of hockey—an astounding combination of speed, strength, finesse, calculated maneuvers, and puck possession—was quite different from the dump-and-chase, north-south, physical punishment style in North America. Quickly the average hockey fan would discover that the Russian game was something to behold. And with the end of the Soviet regime in 1991, which allowed Russian players to freely join the NHL, it's no surprise that trading card companies like this little Russian brand jumped in on the action to promote the new stars.

 

Instead of showing some of my favorite cards in the set and spending time describing the various subsets and design features, like I would do with a more typical, larger set, I'm just going to post all 17 cards below, along with a brief description of each player's NHL career. Because the cards are not numbered on the back, we'll go in alphabetical order by surname. Let's see how many of these guys turned out to be "Red Aces".

 

 

 

Pavel Bure 

Well, that started off with a bang. Bure's first season in the NHL was 1991-92, and he lit things up in Vancouver with 34 goals in only 65 games played. The 20-year-old took home the Calder trophy as rookie of the year, and terrorized defenses and goalies from his first NHL game to his last. Knee injuries limited Bure's career to just 12 seasons, but "The Russian Rocket" still put up 437 goals in 702 games played, and earned a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Evgeny Davydov

After having good success with CSKA Moscow for 6 seasons, Davydov joined the Winnipeg Jets in 1992-93. The winger didn't disappoint, posting 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points in 79 games played. He didn't repeat that performance the next season, however, and after bouncing around from the Panthers to the Senators for a couple of years, he went to Europe, where he exhibited his hockey skills in professional leagues from Sweden to Switzerland to Germany to Finland to Italy to Russia, all the way through the 2002-03 season.

Sergei Fedorov

Sergei might be the biggest Ace here. What a skill set on this guy! He was one of the fastest skaters in the league, a two-time Selke Trophy winner (best defensive forward), and a three-time Stanley Cup winner who put up almost 500 goals and 700 assists in his career. During the 2017-18 NHL season, Fedorov was named as one of the NHL's top 100 players as part of their 100th anniversary celebration. The word "dynamic" might be overused in sports, but I'll say it anyway: Fedorov was a dynamic player, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him during my high school and college hockey-playing days.

 

 

 

 

 

Viacheslav Fetisov

Slava might be the other biggest Ace in the set. This was already well known in 1991-92, however, as he was a vital defensive part of many Soviet "Red Army" championship teams throughout the 1980s. Later in the 1990s he'd help Detroit win two Stanley Cups, along with Sergei Fedorov. And just like Fedorov, Slava is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

Alexei Gusarov

The defenseman had a solid 11-year career in the NHL, starting out as a 26-year old in 1990-91 with the Quebec Nordiques. He'd move with the team to Colorado, and would help them win their first Stanley Cup in 1995-96, alongside the next guy in this set. 

 

Valeri Kamensky

Kamensky joined the Nordiques one year after Gusarov, and after a couple of seasons in the league he really started to show his offensive skills. The winger hit his peak perfectly, putting up a career-high 38 goals and 47 assists for 85 points in 81 games played during the Avalanche's Stanley Cup season. He rolled right into the playoffs that year, too, adding 22 points in 22 games (10 goals, 12 assists).

 

Alexei Kasatonov

Like Fetisov, Kasatonov was a defensive stalwart on those nearly unstoppable Soviet National teams of the 1980s. He slotted right in with New Jersey in 1989-90, alongside Fetisov, and put up some very good numbers there. He was selected by the Mighty Ducks in their 1993 expansion draft, however, so he missed out on New Jersey's first Stanley Cup by just a couple of years.

 

Now that we're a few cards into the set, let's talk about the design. There's really not much to describe for the fronts. However, the full-bleed image was still a pretty new thing for trading cards in 1991-92, and I think it works well here. Listing the player's surname on top of their first names is an interesting touch. But the photography is decent, and there's some good hockey action captured throughout the set.

 

 

 

 

And the card backs? They're so-so: Not as chock-full of information as 1988 Score Baseball, but not too sparse, either. For such a small company that only appeared to produce this hockey card set for two seasons, I'm not going to be nitpicky about that, or other things like the thin card stock. (The cards are quite flimsy.) Besides, the full-color headshot is a plus, for sure. Now let's get back to the players.

 

 

 

Ravil Khaidarov

Khaidarov is the only player on this list who didn't log any NHL games. He left Dynamo Moscow after the 1991-92 season for the German professional leagues, and played there for a dozen years. In 1995-96 he put up some gaudy numbers with Freiburg: 46 goals and 81 assists for 127 points in just 51 games played.

 

Vladimir Konstantinov

Konstantinov was a talented defenseman who joined the Red Wings as a 24-year-old in 1991-92. He helped the Wings to their Stanley Cup Championship in 1996-97, along with fellow Red Aces Sergei Fedorov, Slava Fetisov, and Igor Larionov. Sadly, he suffered injuries in a car accident soon after the Cup victory that ended his playing career.

 

 

 

 

 

Igor Kravchuk

Kravchuk was a solid defenseman for numerous NHL teams over a 12-year span. In 1993-94 with Edmonton, he put up a career-high 12 goals and 38 assists for 50 points in 81 games played. "Igor Kravchuk" is a fun name to say, too.

 

Igor Larionov

Larionov was one of my favorite players of the 1990s because of the way he "thought" the game. So smart. So crafty. After many phenomenal years with guys like Fetisov and Kasatonov on the Russian Red Army teams, he joined the Canucks in 1989-90 as a 29-year-old, and did well from the start. He seemed to be a perennial nominee for the Lady Byng and Selke Trophies, and put up good offensive numbers as well. He was traded to the Red Wings in 1995-96, and became part of what was dubbed "The Russian Five" (Larionov, Fedorov, Fetisov, Konstantiov, and Kozlov). He'd play a big part in helping Detroit take home three Stanley Cups, and retired as a 43-year-old after the 2003-04 season. Not surprisingly, he's also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

 

Andrei Lomakin

Lomakin joined the Flyers in 1991-92 as a 27-year old, and although he put up more than respectable numbers, he left for European pro hockey after just four NHL seasons. His best NHL season was in 1993-94 with the Panthers, when he posted 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points in 76 games played.

 

Sergei Makarov

Along with Igor Larionov, Makarov was one of the most dangerous members of the Soviet Red Army teams of the 1980s. He Joined the Flames in 1989-90, and averaged more than a point per game (24 G, 62 A, 86 PTS in 80 GP). He was awarded the Calder Trophy that season as rookie of the year—as a 31-year-old—leading to a new rule which set the eligible age ceiling at 26.

 

Alexander Mogilny

Mogilny is certainly one of the biggest Aces of this set. In May of 1989, he defected from the Soviet Union to play in the NHL—the first Russian player to do so—and took Buffalo (and the league) by storm from the start with his blazing speed and phenomenal wrist shot. In 1992-93, he tied Finnish player Teemu Selanne for the league lead with a whopping 76 goals. In 1999-2000, he helped the New Jersey Devils win a Stanley Cup, which is another feather in his cap. He finished his NHL career just short of 500 goals and 1,000 games played, and is not in the Hall of Fame yet. But I think he should be. 

 

Sergei Nemchinov

Nemchinov has the great distinction of being one of the first Russian players to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. He accomplished this with the Rangers in 1993-94, along with countrymen Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev, and Sergei Zubov. A few seasons later, he'd have his name engraved on the Cup again, this time with the New Jersey Devils. All in all, Mr. Nemchinov was a very solid, dependable two-way player, and had an excellent 12-year career. 

 

Anatoli Semenov

Semenov joined the Oilers at the start of the 1989-90 playoffs and got some ice time in two playoff games, so he did have a very small part in helping the Oilers to their Stanley Cup that season. However, he didn't play enough games to meet the requirements to have his name engraved on the Cup itself. His next three seasons in the NHL were pretty solid, but overall he bounced around to 5 different teams in 7 years, and didn't really regain that spunk he had to start off his career.

 

Mikhail Tatarinov

Tatarinov joined the Capitals in 1990-91 as a 24-year-old, and put up his best numbers the following season with Quebec, where he teamed up with fellow Aces Valeri Kamensky and Alexei Gusarov. However, after a couple more seasons he was out of the NHL. It appears that injuries forced him into retirement.  

So that's that. Another completed set to add to the collection.

 

I think you could say that more than half of these guys had NHL careers worthy of "Ace" status. You've got a few Hall-of-Famers and Stanley Cup winners in there as well. Not bad projecting skills by this small, Russian company that produced a set of flimsy yet cool hockey cards.

If you were a hockey fan back in the 1990s, who do you think the biggest Ace in the set is? Are there any players in the set you'd forgotten about? Any who surprised you? Any you would add? 

 

I'd say that Igor Korolev, Dmitri Kristich, Andrei Kovalenko, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vladimir Malakhov, Dmitri Yushkevich, Alexei Zhamnov, and Alexei Zhitnik were all young Russian players of the era who would have been great additions. (They could have at least added one more guy to make a total of 18, which would have filled out the second 9-pocket page, right?)

Share your thoughts in the comment section, and thanks for reading!