Makarov was trained in the Russian SFSR. He won two World Junior Championships, and was named the best player during his second victory in 1978. Makarov was also on the gold medal-winning
Soviet national ice hockey team in the
World Championships in
1978,
1979,
1981,
1982,
1983,
1986,
1989 and
1990, and in the
Canada Cup in 1981. At the Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in
1984 and
1988, and a silver in
1980. In the Soviet Union, Makarov played 11 championship seasons with
CSKA Moscow, winning the Soviet Player of the Year award (also known as Soviet MVP) three times, getting named to the Soviet League All-Star Team ten times, and leading the league in points nine times and goals three times. Together with
Igor Larionov and
Vladimir Krutov, they formed the
KLM Line, one of the most talented and feared lines ever to play hockey. He was awarded
Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1984). In
1989, Makarov was allowed by the Soviet Union to join the
National Hockey League and the
Calgary Flames. He won the
Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year at the age of 31 (as a result, the rules were changed and now only players under 26 qualify for the award – the
Makarov Rule). At 25.9% his shooting percentage was the highest of all NHL players. After four seasons in Calgary, Markov was traded on June 20, 1993 to the
Hartford Whalers in exchange for future considerations (which became a fourth-round pick in the
1993 NHL Draft, used to select Jason Smith). Six days later on draft day, he was included in a notable trade which saw the Whalers trade the sixth-overall (
Viktor Kozlov), 45th-overall (
Vlastimil Kroupa), and 58th-overall (
Ville Peltonen) picks to the
San Jose Sharks in exchange for Makarov and the second-overall pick, which Hartford used to select
Chris Pronger. During which, he served as an assistant coach for the Russian national team during the
1996 World Cup. On 27 June 2016, it was announced that he would be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame on 14 November 2016 along with
Eric Lindros,
Rogie Vachon and
Pat Quinn (posthumously). ==Career statistics==