Half a century ago this week, the Soviet Union, appearing in its first Winter Olympics, won all its games in a 10-team ice hockey tournament to clinch the gold medal.
Viktor Shuvalov, the only member of that 1956 team still alive today, clearly recalls the success at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Games in Italy.
"I still remember us winning the gold very well, as if it was just yesterday," recalled the spry 82-year-old, who played centerforward on the top Soviet line with Vsevolod Bobrov and Yevgeny Babich.
The anniversary was celebrated with a game in Moscow on Saturday when a Soviet All-Star team beat a selection of former European greats 7-6.
Two years before its Olympic triumph, the Soviet Union had made its international debut in a similar fashion, going undefeated to claim its first global title at the 1954 world championship in Stockholm.
The following year, however, it surrendered the title to Canada after losing 5-0 to its archrival in the final game.
"We were really disappointed with our performance in 1955," Soviet head coach Arkady Chernyshyov later wrote in his memoirs. "Not so much with second place but losing to Canada was hard to swallow. We really wanted to redeem ourselves at the Olympics."
They did just that, shutting down the Canadians 2-0 in the last game behind the excellent play of goaltender Nikolai Puchkov for their seventh straight victory to secure the gold.
"What can you say when you play your best hockey and you still lose? It was a pleasure to watch the precision of their offense. Russia has emerged as a power in world hockey," said Canadian coach Bobby Bauer.
"There is one area where the Russians have achieved results bordering on the impossible and that is in ice hockey," The New York Times wrote.
The line of Bobrov-Shuvalov-Babich led the way, scoring 16 goals in seven matches.
Bobrov, who also excelled in soccer, finished as a joint top scorer with nine goals while Nikolai Sologubov was voted the best defenseman.
"We knew each other's moves in our sleep," Shuvalov said of his linemates. The trio had been together since the early 1950s, first playing for the Air Force team VVC, then for the Red Army club, later known as CSKA Moscow.
All three miraculously escaped a plane crash over the Ural Mountains in January 1950 that killed all their VVC teammates.
VVC was put together by Air Force General Vasily Stalin, the son of Josef Stalin, who used his father's influence to poach the best players from other clubs.
Just before that tragic flight, Shuvalov joined VVC from his native Chelyabinsk and was left at home in Moscow so as not to upset local fans by playing against his former team.
Bobrov overslept, missed the flight and had to take a train to the Urals. Babich was injured and stayed behind.
Former Soviet captain Viktor Kuzkin paid tribute to his predecessors. "Bobrov, Sologubov, Shuvalov -- they were the first generation of Soviet hockey players who made an historic breakthrough," Kuzkin, 65, one of only four hockey players to win three Olympic gold medals, said in an interview.
"We were lucky to follow in their footsteps."
The rugged defenseman made his international debut at the 1963 world championship in Stockholm.
"I was a young lad and coaches paired me with Sologubov so I could learn from him," recalled Kuzkin, who was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame last year.
"He was 39 then and it was his last major championship but believe me he could still teach us a few tricks."
Once again, the Soviets beat Canada 4-2 in the last game to reclaim the title they had lost in 1956 before winning the next eight world championships and three Olympic gold medals.
"We were truly the Big Red Machine as the Western press used to call us those days," Kuzkin said of the team that won a record 22 world and eight Olympic titles.
"We feared no one. I think most of our opponents, even the Canadians, not to mention the Czechs or the Swedes, feared us."
Kuzkin admitted, however, that the Russians lost their aura of invincibility after the Soviet breakup.
"We have lost the continuity in our game," he said.
"In the early 1990s there was a mass exodus of our best players to the West. By 1992 everyone had left. The young kids had no one to look up to as I did playing alongside Sologubov."
Russia have not won a world title since 1993. Their last Olympic triumph came in 1992 in Albertville as the Unified Team.
Shuvalov agreed: "It seems that today's young players are only interested in making money as we were playing for the honor of our country," he said.
"But I hope they'll do well in Turin. It's no coincidence that these Olympics are also held in Italy. Maybe our team can come through and win gold as we did 50 years ago in Cortina."
Viktor Shuvalov, the only member of that 1956 team still alive today, clearly recalls the success at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Games in Italy.
"I still remember us winning the gold very well, as if it was just yesterday," recalled the spry 82-year-old, who played centerforward on the top Soviet line with Vsevolod Bobrov and Yevgeny Babich.
The anniversary was celebrated with a game in Moscow on Saturday when a Soviet All-Star team beat a selection of former European greats 7-6.
Two years before its Olympic triumph, the Soviet Union had made its international debut in a similar fashion, going undefeated to claim its first global title at the 1954 world championship in Stockholm.
The following year, however, it surrendered the title to Canada after losing 5-0 to its archrival in the final game.
"We were really disappointed with our performance in 1955," Soviet head coach Arkady Chernyshyov later wrote in his memoirs. "Not so much with second place but losing to Canada was hard to swallow. We really wanted to redeem ourselves at the Olympics."
They did just that, shutting down the Canadians 2-0 in the last game behind the excellent play of goaltender Nikolai Puchkov for their seventh straight victory to secure the gold.
"What can you say when you play your best hockey and you still lose? It was a pleasure to watch the precision of their offense. Russia has emerged as a power in world hockey," said Canadian coach Bobby Bauer.
"There is one area where the Russians have achieved results bordering on the impossible and that is in ice hockey," The New York Times wrote.
The line of Bobrov-Shuvalov-Babich led the way, scoring 16 goals in seven matches.
Bobrov, who also excelled in soccer, finished as a joint top scorer with nine goals while Nikolai Sologubov was voted the best defenseman.
"We knew each other's moves in our sleep," Shuvalov said of his linemates. The trio had been together since the early 1950s, first playing for the Air Force team VVC, then for the Red Army club, later known as CSKA Moscow.
All three miraculously escaped a plane crash over the Ural Mountains in January 1950 that killed all their VVC teammates.
VVC was put together by Air Force General Vasily Stalin, the son of Josef Stalin, who used his father's influence to poach the best players from other clubs.
Just before that tragic flight, Shuvalov joined VVC from his native Chelyabinsk and was left at home in Moscow so as not to upset local fans by playing against his former team.
Bobrov overslept, missed the flight and had to take a train to the Urals. Babich was injured and stayed behind.
Former Soviet captain Viktor Kuzkin paid tribute to his predecessors. "Bobrov, Sologubov, Shuvalov -- they were the first generation of Soviet hockey players who made an historic breakthrough," Kuzkin, 65, one of only four hockey players to win three Olympic gold medals, said in an interview.
"We were lucky to follow in their footsteps."
The rugged defenseman made his international debut at the 1963 world championship in Stockholm.
"I was a young lad and coaches paired me with Sologubov so I could learn from him," recalled Kuzkin, who was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame last year.
"He was 39 then and it was his last major championship but believe me he could still teach us a few tricks."
Once again, the Soviets beat Canada 4-2 in the last game to reclaim the title they had lost in 1956 before winning the next eight world championships and three Olympic gold medals.
"We were truly the Big Red Machine as the Western press used to call us those days," Kuzkin said of the team that won a record 22 world and eight Olympic titles.
"We feared no one. I think most of our opponents, even the Canadians, not to mention the Czechs or the Swedes, feared us."
Kuzkin admitted, however, that the Russians lost their aura of invincibility after the Soviet breakup.
"We have lost the continuity in our game," he said.
"In the early 1990s there was a mass exodus of our best players to the West. By 1992 everyone had left. The young kids had no one to look up to as I did playing alongside Sologubov."
Russia have not won a world title since 1993. Their last Olympic triumph came in 1992 in Albertville as the Unified Team.
Shuvalov agreed: "It seems that today's young players are only interested in making money as we were playing for the honor of our country," he said.
"But I hope they'll do well in Turin. It's no coincidence that these Olympics are also held in Italy. Maybe our team can come through and win gold as we did 50 years ago in Cortina."