Tretyak called the author of the song “Cowards Don’t Play Hockey” a true friend of sports
MOSCOW, September 17 – President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RFH) Vladislav Tretyak called songwriter Nikolai Dobronravov a friend of sports and a legend of Russian poetry.
The songwriter and husband of composer Alexandra Pakhmutova Dobronravov died at the age of 95, poetess Lyubov Voropaeva said on Sunday.
“I met him many times, I knew him. He came to the Olympics with his wife Alexandra Pakhmutova, cheered for us in the stands, gave concerts at the Olympics in a small circle. He is truly a legend of our poetry and a friend of sports,” added the head of the FHR.
The Moscow football club Dynamo, of which the poet was a fan, also expressed condolences over the death of Dobronravov.
Soviet and Russian songwriter, laureate of the USSR State Prize Nikolai Dobronravov was born on November 22, 1928. He wrote poems for such songs as “The Team of Our Youth”, “Hope”, “Tenderness”, “Bird of Happiness”, “A Coward Doesn’t Play Hockey”.