Vladimir Vladimirovich Petrov / Влади́мир Влади́мирович Петро́в - Born June 30, 1947 in Krasnogorsk, Soviet Union – Died February 28, 2017 in Moscow, Russia was a Russian Soviet ice Hockey centre.

In the early 1960s. Petrov joined the youth Hockey program at the Krylya Sovetov club in Moscow, making his Soviet Championship top division debut in 1965, and in 1967 was observed by CSKA Moscow and Soviet national team coach Anatoly Tarasov, who quickly brought him to the Central Red Army team. Petrov played with CSKA Moscow until 1981.

Petrov made his national team debut in 1968, and by 1969 Tarasov had placed him on a line between two other young players in Boris Mikhailov and Valeri Kharlamov. The trio formed one of the best offensive lines in Soviet Hockey and in the world.

At six feet tall and close to 200 pounds, he was the largest member of the trio, and possessed both excellent speed, and a great “Hockey Sense.”

The Petrov-Mikhailov-Kharlamov trio were the dominant forward line in the 1970s, at home for CSKA and in international Hockey for the Soviet National team. Their most devastating performance, perhaps, came at the 1973 World Championship, which was held at the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium in the capital, Moscow. Home ice was not always a great help to the Soviets, but on this occasion they were simply unstoppable. Petrov scored 18 goals and 16 assists in ten games (34 points still stands as the record for a single World Championships), and his line took all three forward spots on the post-tournament All-Star team. Overall, the USSR outscored the opposition 100-18 in that tournament, and were easily awarded a gold medal with a 10-0 record. Some believe this was a make-up performance after losing the 1972 Soviet Union-Canada Summit Series on home ice.

Petrov played for the Soviet National Team in three Winter Olympics, winning 2 gold medals (1972 & 1976) and one silver medal (1980 Miracle on Ice), he won nine gold medals (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981) and four times (1973, 1975, 1977, 1979) named to the All-Star team at IIHF World Championships. He is 4th all-time leading scorer in IIHF World Championships, with 154 points (74 goals and 80 assists), top scorer three times (goals & assists 1973, points 1977 & 1979).

Petrov played in the historic Summit Series, both the National Hockey League / NHL series in 1972, where he scored 3 goals, 4 assists in 8 games, and the World Hockey Association / WHA series in 1974, scoring 1 goal, 6 assists in 7 games.

In 281 games for the Soviet National team over 13 seasons, Petrov scored 189 times.

In the USSR/Russia Elite League, CSKA won 11 championships in Petrov’s 14 seasons with the team, and never finished lower than second in the Soviet Championship. In 585 domestic games, he scored 370 goals, 338 assists, placing him sixth on the all-time list, and was the league leader in goals (1970, 1973, 1979) and points (1970, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979).

In 1969-70 he scored 51 goals for Central Red Army in 43 games, becoming just the fourth player to hit 50 goals or more in a single Soviet or Russian Hockey season.

Petrov's final international tournament was the 1981 IIHF World Championship, where he centred Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov, two young members of the future KLM line that would later dominate Soviet and International Hockey.

Petrov finished his elite league Hockey career with SKA St. Petersburg (1981-82) and SKA Leningrad (1982-83).

After his retirement, Petrov moved into the management and administration side of Hockey. In 1992, he became the first President of the Russian Hockey Federation, a position he held until 1994. Among his accomplishments as head of the FHR was the founding of the country’s National Women’s Hockey team. Later, he served as General Manager of several teams, and the last years of his life were devoted to working with children’s Hockey programs in Russia.

Vladimir Petrov was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Vladimir Petrov was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2006.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Petrov as “the pride and glory of Russian sport.”

President of the Russian Hockey Federation (FHR) Vladislav Tretiak said that the main trophy of the Supreme Hockey League - Higher Hockey League / Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga VHL (Russia’s second-highest professional league) will be renamed in honor of Vladimir Petrov.
"I think that to perpetuate the name of the great Hockey player in this way is the right and necessary decision. By giving the names of the legendary people, we keep the memory of them for all time, we give a reference point to the modern generation of players, we show what we need to strive for. The winner of the championship of the Youth Hockey League is handed the Kharlamov Cup, it will be correct if the main trophy of the championship of the VHL will bear the name of Vladimir Petrov"

Previously, the main trophy of the VHL was called the Bratina Cup.