Viktor Zinger

Viktor Zinger
Born	(1941-10-29)October 29, 1941 Davydovo, USSR
Died	September 24, 2013(2013-09-24) (aged 71) Moscow, Russia
Height	172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Played for	HC Spartak Moscow
National team	Soviet Union
Playing career	1958–1977
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1968 Grenoble Team World Championships 1965 Finland Team 1966 Yugoslavia Team 1967 Austria Team 1969 Sweden Team

Viktor Aleksandrovich Zinger (Russian: Ви́ктор Алекса́ндрович Зи́нгер, 29 October 1941 – 24 September 2013) was a Russian ice hockey goaltender. As a member of the Soviet national team he won gold medals at the Winter Olympics in 1968 and at the world championships in 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969. From 1965 to 1967 he was a backup for Viktor Konovalenko. In 1969 he was the starting goalie and played in all 10 games (backed up by Viktor Puchkov).¹ In the spring of 1969 Zinger also toured Canada as a member of a Moscow Selects team that played the Canadian National team and various regional teams.

Zinger was also back up to Vladislav Tretiak in the classic 1972 Summit Series against Canadian NHL players, but he did not see any ice time. He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967.

Zinger started his club career in 1958, with HC CSKA Moscow coached by Anatoly Tarasov. At the time CSKA already had two strong goaltenders, Nikolai Puchkov and Yuri Ovchukov. Hence Zinger had no opportunity to play in the Soviet League until 1961, when he was transferred to SKA Kuibyshev. In 1964 he moved to HC Spartak Moscow and played for them until retiring in 1977. With Spartak he won the Soviet title in 1967, 1969 and 1976 and placed second in the IIHF European Champions Cup in 1970 and 1977. After retiring from competitions, Zinger had a long career with Spartak, first as goaltender coach of the main team and then as head coach of the junior team.¹²