to his mother's heritage, Kharlamov would be nicknamed "The Spaniard" throughout his career. At age 5, Kharlamov first started to skate, fastening his father's blades onto his own shoes. He was trained by Boris, who had played hockey himself. However, Kharlamov, who enjoyed playing football as well, was quite sickly as a youth; in 1961 he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and doctors ordered him to cease any physical activity, and spent several months in hospital, though he ultimately recovered with no apparent cause nor lingering effects. Playing career Soviet League Kharlamov successfully tried-out for CSKA Moscow when he was 12, and joined their sports school. He joined the senior team for the 1967–68 season, and made his debut with CSKA on 22 October 1967 against HC Sibir. However Anatoly Tarasov, the coach of the team, felt Kharlamov was not good enough for the team so after 15 matches with CSKA sent Kharlamov to join Zvezda Chebarkul, who played in the third division. He would lead the team in scoring with 34 goals in 32 games. The following season Kharlamov was brought back to CSKA full-time. In 42 games he scored 37 goals and had 12 assists and finished third in the league in scoring with 49 points; it was during a match in October 1968 that he was first put on a line with Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov; The three of them would play together for the next several years both with CSKA and internationally, forming one of the most famous lines in hockey history. In the off-season he and his linemates Petrov and Mikhailov were awarded the title of Merited Master of Sport in recognition of winning an international tournament (which would become the Izvestia Cup. Kharlamov scored a further 33 goals in 1969–70, and had placed fifth overall in points with 43, as CSKA won the league championship. He led the league in scoring for the first time in 1970–71 with 40 goals and finished second overall in scoring with 52, and CSKA repeated as champions. Although Kharlamov never played in North America, he was drafted by the Calgary Broncos of the World Hockey Association, along with Soviet teammates Petrov and Alexander Maltsev in early 1972. International play World Championships Kharlamov's career in Soviet hockey was well established by the time he came to greater attention through his play in international hockey. His first tournament for