Russian ice hockey player Alexander Skvortsov has died aged 65 ©Twitter

Alexander Skvortsov, a member of the Russian team in the "Miracle on Ice" match against the United States, has passed away aged 65.

His former ice hockey club, Nizhny Novgorod's Torpedo, announced the death, as reported by Russia's official state news agency TASS. 

Skvortsov played for the team between 1974 to 1989, scoring 488 points in 591 matches in the Soviet Union's domestic league. 

He did earn an Olympic gold medal at Sarajevo 1984 having beenpart of the Soviet Union team that had to settle silver at Lake Placid 1980, where he participated in the "Miracle on Ice" match.

The American team made up of college players defeated four-times gold medal winners the Soviet Union 4-3 in the final group stage.

It allowed the US to claim the gold medal two days later when they overcame Finland 4-2.

Skvortsov was also part of the Soviet team that earned three world titles, four European titles and the Canada Cup in 1981.

Domestically, he also played for Finnish team Kärpät from 1989 to 1990 and Swedish side Calix from 1991 to 1994. 

After retiring, Skvortsov went into coaching.