Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport, he was voted one of six players to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries.

[1] Tretiak is the current president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and was the general manager of the Russian 2010 Winter Olympic team.

[3] Although he initially followed his brother as a swimmer, as a child Tretiak excelled at many sports, and is remembered for his ambition to master all of them.

A famous story was told of how Canadian scouts seriously underestimated his goaltending ability prior to the series; they witnessed him let in eight goals on a particular night, not knowing that he had been married the previous evening (and most of the team had been in attendance).

[citation needed] During the 1976 Super Series, Tretiak put on a dominant performance against the Montreal Canadiens, holding them to a 3–3 tie despite his team being outshot 38–13.

[9] Tretiak was one of the guests who spoke at the ceremony during which the Montreal Canadiens retired the jersey number of Ken Dryden on 29 January 2007.

[citation needed] Tretiak was elected to the State Duma as a member of the United Russia party in December 2003, representing the Saratov constituency.

A few days later, on 28 April, the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, awarded Tretiak the Meritorious Service Medal in a ceremony at Rideau Hall.

[citation needed] He also ran a goalie school at the Canlan Ice Sports in Toronto, Ontario.

He also ran a goalie school in Montreal during the 1990s where he trained many famous NHL goaltenders including Jose Theodore and Martin Brodeur.

[citation needed] On 28 March 2007, Tretiak went to Ottawa to discuss with Canadian officials the possibilities of holding another Summit Series during the summer of 2007, which would be 35 years after the initial event.

[citation needed] On 21 December 2012, he voted in favor of the "Dima Yakovlev Law" in the State Duma.

The legislation was the response to the Magnitsky bill, whose purpose was punishing Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009 and also to grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia.