Ice hockey player Irbe Arthur: biography, photo

The common phrase in sport is that the goalkeeper is half the team, it's the best way to hockey. This is a game where each team is represented by more than twenty players, but only the goalkeeper spends all the time on the ice, because the field players are constantly changing.

The Soviet school of hockey gave the world the illustrious Vladislav Tretiak and this predetermined the fate of other talented goalkeepers. Avoiding comparison with the master of the Soviet hockey school for any talented goalkeeper was impossible. Someone flared up and disappeared from the hockey sky, others remained in the hearts of hockey fans for a long time. Arthur Irbe - goalkeeper, which belongs to the second group. He became for years of his career a fan favorite of several countries.

Childhood

Arthur Irbe is a hockey player. Born in 1967. Born in the Latvian capital, Riga, he spent his childhood in the indivisible Soviet Union at that time. Love for sports has been planted since childhood. True, on this basis, serious disagreements with parents were born. Arthur's dad, Ari Irbe, himself a former athlete, insisted on athletics, being an opponent of hockey. And here Arthur was helped by his character, insisting on his decision, the teenager took up hockey at a serious level.

The first club

Latvia in the highest hockey league of the Soviet Union was represented by one club - the Riga "Dynamo". The fate of the talented young man was determined from the very beginning. If you play, then only for the "Dynamo". Despite the small enough for hockey dimensions (Arthur's height was 173 centimeters), already in his youth it became clear that the debut in the adult team is not far off. And it happened. In 19 years, Irbe made his debut for the main part of "Dynamo" and literally within six months became the main goalkeeper of the Riga club. What is most surprising, the competition Irbe Arthur won from experienced Vitali Samoilov (Olympic champion).

At that time, the situation in hockey was such that any talented hockey player on the army line was taken to the base club of the national team of the Moscow CSKA. Again, Arthur showed his adherence to principle, refusing the persuasion of various officials.

USSR national team

In 1989, Irbe Arthur began to be attracted to the games for the national team of the USSR on an ongoing basis. At the end of the 1989 World Championships, Arthur won a gold medal, but it's fair to say that Irbe was the reserve goalkeeper at that championship. Next season in the national team Arthur started in the same status, but the case helped. The main goalkeeper of the national team Sergey Mylnikov was injured, and Irbe perfectly took advantage of the chance. The 1990 World Cup again turned out to be a triumph for our hockey players, and Irbe Arthur was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament by the results of the championship.

The collapse of the Soviet Union

The 90's began with a huge political upheaval. The Soviet Union, seeming unshakable, began to crumble into pieces. Native to Arthur Irbe Latvia also gained independence, becoming a separate state. Many athletes faced a choice for which country to speak: Russia, which became the legal successor of the USSR, or a newly created independent state. In January 1991, Irbe made his choice: to perform at the national team level only for the national team of Latvia.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the allied championship ceased to exist. Staying in Latvia, where there was one strong club for the whole country, there was no point. And in 1991 Irbe Arthur decides to continue his sporting career in the NHL.

Career in the NHL

Already after the successful season of 1989 Irbe got to the note to the North American hockey scouts. Following the draft pick of that year, Arthur Irbe was chosen "Minnesota" under the overall 196 number. True, to play for the "Northern Stars" Irbe never happened. As a result of the chain of complex exchanges, the goalkeeper's rights began to belong to the NHL rookie , the club from San Jose.

As already mentioned above, many experts were rather skeptical about Irbe's ability to play at a serious level. But already the first season in the NHL pleased skeptics. Arthur was confidently the main goalkeeper of "San Jose Sharks" and for five spent seasons became a real idol for the fans of "Shark". The League's newcomer could not claim much, but even local victories for inexperienced fans were worth a lot.

During his career in the NHL, Irbe played 13 full seasons. His record includes overseas clubs such as San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes. During the performance in the strongest hockey league in the world on the account of Arthur 568 matches, 33 of them defended without a missed goal.

Speaking in the NHL, Irbe did not forget his homeland. Nine times in the national team of Latvia Arthur Irbe participated in the hockey world championships, twice participated in the Winter Olympics. His role for the Latvian sport was so great that it was he who was entrusted with the right to carry the national flag at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

Completion of sports career

In 2005, at the age of 38, Arthur Irbe returned to his homeland. After playing a couple of seasons almost in the role of playing coach, he decided to complete the hockey career. In 2008, Arthur Irbe, a hockey player whose photo you see in the article, appeared in a new role for himself. He became the coach of his first professional club, the Riga "Dynamo". In 2009, Irbe takes on a new challenge - working as a goalkeeper coach in the NHL. With him he signs the contract "Washington Capitals", and Arthur trains the goalkeeper's team for three seasons. In the future, coaching career Irbe includes work with the Latvian team and the club "Buffalo Sabers".

Equipment

Many athletes have a different kind of superstition in relation to their own ammunition. Arthur Irbe was no exception. His hockey equipment was hammered to holes. Often, team-mates observed the following picture: during the flights or crossings, while the rest of the players were busy with their own affairs, the Latvian goalkeeper was repairing his worn-out form. Ice hockey mask Irbe also carried a certain tribute to conservatism.

Arthur Irbe is a hockey player who until the last time played in the models of the 80s, with a visual grid instead of a visor that is so familiar now. However, this did not stop him to remain one of the strongest goalkeepers in the world.

Arthur Irbe (hockey player): biography, interesting facts

Another difference from the team-mates was noticed on the pre-game training. While everyone else was engaged in stretching and preparing for training on ice, Arthur Irbe calmly in the locker room was engaged in solving another puzzle. He explained his choice by the fact that, in addition to muscles, warm-up is also needed for the brain. Despite such extraordinary actions, in all the teams, the partners treated Irbe very kindly, calling Michelin for external resemblance to an advertising doll of the same name.

Another fact of the biography of an excellent goalkeeper remained unnoticed for the fans, but it complicated the life of the goalkeeper. The fact is that once Irbe very strongly bitten his own dog. Most of all I got my right hand. There was a question of amputation of the hand, and only the skill of the surgeons saved Irbe's hand. But all the same, Arthur could not fully play this hand. This explains the fact that in the game with a stick very often Irbe was not up to par. But despite this, due to his character, willpower, aspiration to become a leader, Arthur Irbe achieved world recognition by becoming one of the strongest hockey goalkeepers of the planet.