The Hockey Players (film)

The Hockey Players (Хоккеисты)  is a 1965 Soviet sports drama film written by Yury Trifonov and directed by Raphael Goldin. It had English release in 1965 under the title The Hockey Players, Finnish release as Mestarit, and East German release as Eishockeyspieler.

Plot
Thirty-year captain of the Rockets hockey team, Anatoly Duganov (Vyacheslav Shalevich), famous and experienced player decides to fight for the sport longevity of the  old men  as he tries to prove that it is still too early to retire. But in sports, including hockey, for a long time there is a certain stereotype: in 16 years is considered to be more junior player, at 18 years young player in the adult team, and in 25 years,  is already a veteran. Acutely experiencing a quarrel with my girlfriend Maya (Elza Lezhdey), Duganov seeking participation in the decisive final match between the two strongest teams,  and seek victory team.

Cast

 * Vyacheslav Shalevich as Anatoly Duganov
 * Vladimir Ivashov as German Morozov
 * Aleksandr Kuznetsov as Sasha Morozov
 * Aleksandr Orlov as Vladimir Vvedensky
 * Nikolai Rybnikov as Coach Lashkov
 * Gennadi Yukhtin as Peter Kudrichi
 * Georgiy Zhzhonov as Coach Sperantov
 * Mikhail Gluzsky as Chairman Ilyin
 * Lyusyena Ovchinnikova as Nadia Kudrichi
 * Lev Durov as Drunk Fan
 * Viktor Pavlov as Episode
 * Jakov Lenz as Grandpa at the Kiosk
 * Kir Bulychev as Young Sculptor
 * Elza Lezhdey as Maya
 * Yevgeny Shutov as Coach Christopher I.
 * Claudia Polovikova as Nina
 * Nikolai Grabbe as Nikolai Yershov
 * Nikolai Ozerov as Commentator
 * Yura Grishkin as Young Hockey Player
 * Alex Guryshev as Ivan Samsonov
 * Yulia Dioshi as Lashkov's Wife
 * German Kachin as Obsessive Fan
 * Viktor Kolpakov as Press Photographer
 * Vasily Neschiplenko as Team Doctor

Reception
Rated 7 out of 10 stars, the film is considered a decent representation of Soviet hockey, and interesting for fans of the sport.