Who is Vladimir Myshkin?

One period into the Miracle on Ice game, totalitarian Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov inexplicably benched all-world goaltender Vladislav Tretiak for the backup, Myshkin. The rest is history: Myshkin allowed two goals, the all-powerful Soviets lost, and America had its greatest sporting victory of all time.

Well, that's all fine and good. Hooray for America. But what does it have to do with our website?

It turns out that Myshkin is sometimes listed as Jewish.

And it does make a little sense: he got the bulk of the blame for the loss, and who better to make into a scapegoat than a Jew?

But, apparently, it's not so. While we're not discounting the possibility that Myshkin had some Jewish roots down the line, he is as goyishe Russian as they come.

The quest for a Jewish hockey player is just beginning...