January 26 is the birthday of the Olympic champion, five-time world and European champion, ten-time USSR champion on CSKA team Viktor Zhluktov!
Dear Viktor Vasilyevich!
CSKA Hockey Club would like to wish you a Happy Birthday from the bottom of our hearts! We wish you good health, happiness, harmony of mind, positive mood and more joyful moments!
Victor's sports career began in a town Inta, where he moved together with his parents. Our famous hockey player took his first steps in Russian hockey and ice hockey. In 1971, he moved to Moscow, where he entered the MAI (Moscow Aviation Institute). But Viktor Zhluktov could not complete his studies at the Aviation Institute. Already in 1973, the talented athlete became a CSKA player, where he played under Anatoly Tarasov. A year later, the forward won the championship of the Soviet Union.
"There was a guy from Moscow who played on the team with me," recalls Zhluktov. His parents were also in Inte at the time, for some reason I don't know. Then that kid started playing for the CSKA junior team. And I was really hurt by that! Like, why should I be any worse? At first, I decided to go to the Aviation Institute in Kuibyshev. But I also didn't want to move away from hockey. As a result, I went to Moscow: I took the entrance exams to the MAI. It seems fair to say, I had a long-range goal to get into CSKA.
You can recall some of the most memorable moments of the forward's brilliant career. The most memorable of them all is Innsbruck's Olympic gold in 1976, which was won together with such masters as Vladislav Tretyak, Valeri Kharlamov, Alexandr Maltsev, and Boris Mikhailov. That success was the most significant one in Zhluktov's career but by no means the only one. Five World Championships (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983) are also worth a lot. Well, the famous line of Zhluktov, Kapustin, and Balderis are forever remembered by experienced fans.
Viktor Vasilievich is a ten-time champion of the USSR and two-time winner of the Union Cup. In the national championship, the player played 455 games and scored 197 goals. Viktor Zhluktov was the triumpher of the Challenge Cup (1979), ten-time winner of the European Cup and achieved victory in the Canada Cup (1981). For his achievements, the famous forward was awarded the Order of Friendship, the "Badge of Honor", the medal "For Distinguished Labour. He was the head of the CSKA ice hockey team.
