Vladimir Krutov

Vladimir Yevgenyevich Krutov (; 1 June 1960 – 6 June 2012), nicknamed "The Tank", was a Russian professional ice hockey forward. Together with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, he was part of the famed "KLM Line". He is considered one of the best ice hockey wingers of the 1980s.

An instrumental part of the Soviet Union national team in the 1980s, Krutov won the 1981 Canada Cup, two gold medals (1984, 1988) and one silver (1980) at the Olympics, and five golds (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989), one silver (1987) and one bronze (1985) in the World Championships. He was the scoring leader at the 1987 World Championships.

On the club level, Krutov played for CSKA Moscow from 1978 to 1989. He was one of the first Soviet players to make the jump to the National Hockey League (NHL), doing so with the Vancouver Canucks in 1989. However, Krutov did not have a successful season, battling homesickness and weight problems, which provoked the derisive nickname of "Vlad the Inhaler".

Krutov left the NHL after his lone season in North America and played for several clubs in the Swiss and Swedish leagues before retiring to move into coaching. Alexei Krutov, one of his two sons, also played ice hockey professionally.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1977–78 CSKA Moscow USSR 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1978–79 CSKA Moscow USSR 24 8 3 11 6 — — — — — 1979–80 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 30 12 42 16 — — — — — 1980–81 CSKA Moscow USSR 47 25 15 40 20 — — — — — 1981–82 CSKA Moscow USSR 46 37 29 66 30 — — — — — 1982–83 CSKA Moscow USSR 44 32 21 53 34 — — — — — 1983–84 CSKA Moscow USSR 44 37 20 57 20 — — — — — 1984–85 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 23 30 53 26 — — — — — 1985–86 CSKA Moscow USSR 40 31 17 48 10 — — — — — 1986–87 CSKA Moscow USSR 39 26 24 50 16 — — — — — 1987–88 CSKA Moscow USSR 38 19 23 42 20 — — — — — 1988–89 CSKA Moscow USSR 35 20 21 41 12 — — — — — 1989–90 Vancouver Canucks NHL 61 11 23 34 20 — — — — — 1990–91 Zürcher SC NDA 1 0 1 1 0 3 3 6 9 0 1991–92 Zürcher SC NDA 28 13 19 32 4 6 4 3 7 4 1992–93 Östersunds IK SWE III 19 25 24 49 12 — — — — — 1993–94 Östersunds IK SWE II 28 18 22 40 14 — — — — — 1994–95 Östersunds IK SWE II 27 9 9 18 31 — — — — — 1995–96 Brunflo IK SWE III 18 7 9 16 6 — — — — — USSR totals 438 288 215 503 210 — — — — —

International Year Team Event Place GP G A Pts PIM 1979 Soviet Union WJC 6 8 6 14 2 1980 Soviet Union WJC 5 7 4 11 5 1980 Soviet Union OG 7 6 5 11 4 1981 Soviet Union WC 8 6 3 9 8 1981 Soviet Union CC 7 4 4 8 10 1982 Soviet Union WC 10 4 3 7 6 1983 Soviet Union WC 10 8 7 15 12 1984 Soviet Union OG 7 4 1 5 2 1984 Soviet Union CC 6 3 5 8 4 1985 Soviet Union WC 10 3 5 8 8 1986 Soviet Union WC 10 7 10 17 14 1987 Soviet Union WC 10 11 4 15 8 1987 Soviet Union CC 9 7 7 14 4 1988 Soviet Union OG 8 6 9 15 0 1989 Soviet Union WC 10 4 2 6 12 Junior totals 11 15 10 25 7 Senior totals 112 73 64 137 92