USSR / Soviet National Hockey Team
1979 Challenge Cup Winners

Team Roster
Sergei Starikov, Viktor Zhluktov, Vasily Pervukhin, Vladimir Kovin, Sergei Makarov, Mikhail Varnakov, Aleksandr Skvortsov, Vladimir Golikov, Aleksandr Golikov, Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov, Valeri Kharlamov, Gennadiy Tsygankov, Valery Vasiliev, Sergei Kapustin, Yuri Federov, Zinetul Bilyaletdinov, Helmut Balderis, Irek Gimayev, Viktor Tyumenev, Sergei Babinov, Vladislav Tretiak, Vladimir Myshkin

Head Coach - Viktor Tikhonov
Assistant Coach - Vladimir Yurzinov
USSR Head of Hockey - Vyacheslav Koloskov
Head of Sportcomitee USSR - Valentin Sych
Team Administrator - Anatoly Seglin
Masseur - Grigory Avseenko
Team Doctor - Boris Sapronenkov

Сергей Бабинов (за кадром), Валентин Лукич Сыч (начальник управления спортивных игр Спорткомитета СССР), Сергей Стариков, Зинетула Билялетдинов, Александр Голиков, Сергей Макаров, Владимир Ковин, Валерий Васильев, Василий Первухин (за спиной), Вячеслав Дмитриевич Колосков (начальник управления хоккея), Владимир Петров, Виктор Васильевич Тихонов (старший тренер), Ирек Гимаев, Владимир Голиков, Михаил Варнаков, Сергей Капустин, Владимир Владимирович Юрзинов (тренер), Геннадий Цыганков, Юрий Фёдоров, неизвестно, Борис Сапроненков (врач), Виктор Жлуктов, Александр Скворцов, Владислав Третьяк, Владимир Мышкин, Борис Михайлов, Георгий Авсеенко (массажист), Хельмут Балдерис, Анатолий Владимирович Сеглин (администратор).

The 1979 Challenge Cup was a series of international ice Hockey games between the Soviet national ice Hockey team and a team of All-Stars from the National Hockey League, held in New York City. It replaced the NHL's all-star festivities for the 1978–79 NHL season.

The Challenge Cup, unlike its predecessor, the Summit Series, included non-Canadian born players in the NHL roster, only three members of the team were non-Canadians: Swedish stars Borje Salming, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson.

The games were played on February 8, 10, and 11 at Madison Square Garden.
The Soviets defeated the NHL All-Stars 2 games to 1.

Game one was won fairly and impressively by the NHL, 4-2, thanks to goals from Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy, Bob Gainey, and Clark Gillies. Game two was close and tense, a 4-4 game after 40 minutes being decided only by a goal early in the third period from Vladimir Golikov.

That set the stage for a dramatic final game — what more could the NHL have asked for? Shockingly, the Soviets were so confident in victory that they even gave their number-one goalie a rest and started their back-up! That is, Vladislav Tretiak watched the final game from the bench and Vladimir Myshkin played the full 60 minutes for CCCP. Myshkin didn’t have much to do. The NHL players fired 24 shots at him, and not one got past him.

At the other end, the Soviets pulled away. After a goalless first, they scored twice in the second and added four more in the third, the 6-0 victory emphatic and embarrassing for the NHL and putting an end to such a challenge series.

Although not admitting that officially, coach Viktor Tikhonov and the Soviet Hockey authorities valued this slap in the face at the hands of the NHL as much as any World Championship or Olympic victory. Not only did the Soviets put down the best NHL had to offer, they did in mid-season when the NHLers where at their best, and the win was accomplished in the “capitalist capital of the World”

Game 1 - NHL All-Stars 4 - Soviet Union 2
Guy Lafleur 0:16 1st period
Mike Bossy 6:22 1st period (pp)
Boris Mikhailov 11:25 1st period (pp)
Clark Gillies 8:14 2nd period
Bob Gainey 15:48 2nd period
Vladimir Golikov 3:02 3rd period
Attendance: 17,438

Game 2 - Soviet Union 5 - NHL All-Stars 4
Sergei Kapustin 8:10 1st period
Mike Bossy 13:35 1st period (pp)
Bryan Trottier 18:21 1st period
Gilbert Perrault 0:27 2nd period
Mikhail Varnakov 2:05 2nd period
Larry Robinson 5:06 2nd period
Boris Mikhailov 17:02 2nd period (pp)
Sergei Kapustin 17:47 2nd period
Vladimir Golikov 1:31 3rd period
Attendance: 17,438

Game 3 - Soviet Union 6 - NHL All-Stars 0
Boris Mikhailov 5:47 2nd period
Viktor Zhluktov 7:44 2nd period (pp)
Helmut Balderis 8:44 3rd period
Vladimir Kovin 10:21 3rd period
Sergei Makarov 12:44 3rd period
Aleksandr Golikov 14:46 3rd period
Attendance: 17,545