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AS THE SOVIET UNION BEGAN the arduous task of rebuilding in the wake of World War II, Anatoli Tarasov received an order from the country's Committee on Physical Education and Sports to prepare an ice hockey team to play in the first USSR championship matches. W it h l it t le k nowledge of t he spor t a nd even fewer resou rces, t he you ng player/ coach asked Soviet sports officials for some videos to see how the powerful Canadians played the game. His request was denied. "They said, 'You will just copy their style instead of creating your own,'" Tarasov recalled. "And they were right." Without the proper training tools, and only a tat tered pa mph let ex pla ining the r u les of the game as his guide, Tarasov set out in search of inspiration. One day while walking through the streets of Moscow, he heard the sounds of Russian folk music coming from a dance studio. Intrigued, Tarasov walked in and noticed some of the exercises that the dancers were doing, deep knee bends, lunges, duck walks, etc., and thought that was what his players could use to strengthen their lower bodies and improve their agility. That was the birth of dryland training. In the years the followed, Tarasov built the powerful national program that medaled in nea rly ever y world cha mpionsh ip a nd Olympic tournament between 1954 and 1992. Meanwhile, a half a world away, Lou Vairo was at his grandparents' home watching a rare televised international game between the Sov iet Union a nd Sweden. The Sov iet style of play fascinated the young coach from Brook ly n, N.Y., and inspired him to w rite Tarasov a letter, asking him how he could lea r n their methods. A few months later, Ta rasov responded w ith a n inv itation for Vairo to come to Moscow. Thus began a decades long friendship that helped changed the face of American hockey. "We hit it off right away," Vairo said of his 1972 visit. "He liked my courage to reach out to him and come over to the Soviet Union to see what he was doing." Years later, Vairo repaid the favor by invit- ing Tarasov and several other notable inter- national hockey coaches to tour the United States and share their dryland training tac- tics with local hockey coaches. Those lessons learned 40 years ago contin- ue to resonate throughout the United States as coaches from the grassroots through the National Hockey League continue to use the ideas and techniques to get the most out of their players on the ice. "Dr yland training is common today, but nobody had ever seen it before Tarasov came over and showed us how to do it. Now, almost ever y good yout h hockey prog ra m i n t he country has adopted dryland training," said Vairo, who adopted many of the techniques during an illustrious coaching career that includes the 1984 U. S. Oly mpic Tea m a nd numerous U.S. National Teams. "So many countries try to take the credit for creating dryland training. It was Tarasov. He's the guy who deserves the credit." Getting the tour off the ground proved to be a hard sell both at home and in Mother R u s s i a . T h e le a d er s h ip o f t h e A m at eu r Hockey Association of the United States (the predecessor of USA Hockey) was concerned t hat such a n event wou ld be cost ly a nd a potential embarrassment if coaches didn't show up to the clinics. Meanwhile, the powerful Soviet Ice Hockey Federation, which often clashed with Tarasov over control of the crown jewel of the Soviet sports empire, was hesitant to allow him to share his training "secrets" with the rest of the world. Eventually, both sides reached an agree- ment and the four-week tour kicked off in May of 1979 in Seat tle. A f ter m issing the f i r s t fe w d at e s , Ta r a s ov, a lon g w it h h i s long-time col leag ue A rk ady Cher nyshev, Czechoslova k ia n coach L ad islav Horsk y and two interpreters joined the tour once it reached Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn. Q u i c k l y, a n y c o n c e r n s t h a t t h e t o u r wou ld be a f lop were put to rest. At ever y stop a long the way, the g y mnasiums were packed with local coaches along with some college and professional coaches who were willing to pay the $15 needed to hear from the great Tarasov. A nd sure enoug h, he didn't disappoint. W hile the other coaches faithfully stuck to their practice pla ns throug hout the tour, Ta ra sov cha nged it up ever y day. No t wo practices were ever alike. "He was just great," Vairo said. "He was really on top of his game. He was such a show- man. The kids just loved him, and he loved them. Even though he had this reputation of being a task master, which he was, he knew how to deal with people." Legendary Soviet Union hockey coach Anatoli Tarasov was at his innovative best while discussing his revolutionary dryland training methods during a tour of the United States in 1979. –Lou Vairo "Dryland training is common today, but nobody had ever seen it before Tarasov came over and showed us how to do it. Now, almost every good youth hockey program in the country has adopted dryland training." PHOTOS BY USA Hockey Magazine Archives AUGUST 2019 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 35