Vladimir Yurzinov's birthday at the Ice Hockey Museum

Vladimir Yurzinov, a legendary coach of Soviet and Russian ice hockey, celebrated his 80th birthday at the Ice Hockey Museum in Moscow.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) president Vladislav Tretiak, first RIHF vice-president and national team general manager Roman Rotenberg, two-time Olympic champion Boris Mikhailov, Olympic champion and coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, two-time world champion and KHL president Alexei Morozov, Russian Olympic national team head coach Oleg Bratash and others all spoke at the event, and there was a special exhibition on show dedicated to Vladimir Yurzinov's fantastic career.

PHOTOS

RIHF president Vladislav Tretiak:

- Vladimir was a fantastic player and a superb coach. Personally, I think that he is still happy because he continues to work with the RIHF, sharing his vast experiences of the sport with both players and coaches alike. We should say thank you to him for producing some of the best players our country has seen. He loves ice hockey, and ice hockey loves him. A lot of our awards are down to his efforts. He's dedicated his life to ice hockey.

KHL president Alexei Morozov:

- Vladimir is a true professional who loves ice hockey. In addition, he always knew that the MHL - the Junior Hockey League in Russia - was a great and important idea concerning the development of our young players. As players, we always loved to play under his leadership, all of us respected him a lot. I was lucky to play at the Olympic Games and win a silver medal with Vladimir as coach.

1984 Olympic champion Zinetula Bilyaletdinov:

- He is a legendary coach, who has made an overwhelming contribution to the development of ice hockey in Russia. I would like to sincerely wish him health, happiness and more success in the sport. I simply want him to always be happy. In my playing days, Vladimir was one of my coaches, and I have also worked with him as a coach myself. I can say that he has helped me greatly in life with his high demands.

Two-time Olympic champion Boris Mikhailov:

- Vladimir is a great, unique person. As a player, he competed at a high level with the USSR national team, and he subsequently stood out as a talented coach. Nowadays, Vladimir is still dedicating his life to ice hockey, as he continues to hold master-classes. We are grateful for having him around!