Team He Shoots......He Scoooores!!! is proud to call to the podium a player who was as accomplished internationally as he was in the NHL, at
centre,
Igor "The Professor" Larionov.
From Wiki:
Along with
Viacheslav Fetisov, he was instrumental in breaking the barrier that stopped Soviet players from joining the
National Hockey League. He primarily played the
center position, and is considered one of the best passers of all time.
On the international stage, playing for the
Soviet Union, Larionov centered
Vladimir Krutov and
Sergei Makarov on the famed "KLM Line". Along with defensemen
Viacheslav Fetisov and
Alexei Kasatonov, they formed the "Green Unit", so named because they wore green jerseys in practice. All five players also played for
CSKA Moscow.
He won two golds (
1984,
1988) and one bronze for
Russia (
2002) in the
Olympics, and four golds (1982, 1983, 1986, 1989), one silver (1987), and one bronze (1985) in the
World Championships. He was an instrumental member of the Soviet squad that won the
1981 Canada Cup (this tournament was the coming out of the KLM Line) and played in the
1984 and
1987 events as well. He then played for Russia in the
1996 World Cup of Hockey.
Larionov went to the NHL in 1989, along with many other Soviet players, including all four of his "Green Unit" mates. They were sold in order to infuse the cash-strapped
Sovintersport (the governing body for sports in the former Soviet Union), which would draw a portion of the players' salaries. Larionov joined the Canucks, along with Krutov, and both struggled initially. While Krutov lasted only one year in the NHL, Larionov played three years for the Canucks and got progressively better as he adapted to the North American game.
After his three-year contract with the Canucks had expired, Larionov chose to play a year in
Switzerland so that Sovintersport would not continue to draw a portion of his salary. He returned to the NHL with the
San Jose Sharks in
1993–94, where he was re-united with Sergei Makarov and helped the Sharks to a record 59-point improvement over the previous season. The Sharks then upset the heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the playoffs and extended the
Toronto Maple Leafs to seven games in the Conference Semi-Finals before falling.
During the
1995–96, the re-building Sharks traded Larionov to the Detroit Red Wings. Larionov was one of five members of the Red Wings' "
Russian Five" unit in the mid-1990s, which emulated the five-man units (three forwards and two
defencemen) made famous on most Soviet teams. He and Fetisov were looked on as father figures by the team's other Russian players, which included
Sergei Fedorov,
Vyacheslav Kozlov, and
Vladimir Konstantinov.
Larionov is married to former figure skater Elena Botanova and has three children, Alyonka, Diana and Igor II. Currently, he is a professional wine merchant making wines under the labels "Hattrick" and "Triple Overtime" with wines from Australia and California.
On June 17, 2008, it was announced that Larionov would be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame as a player.
[2]
He and
Viacheslav Fetisov are the only two players in the world who won Olympics Gold (1984, 1988), World Championship Gold (1982, 1983, 1986, 1989), Stanley Cup (1997, 1998, 2002), and Canada Cup (1981), World Hockey Junior Championship 1978, 1979.
Career Stats:
RSL
457 GP 204G 230A 434Pts 295PIMs
NHL (Reg Season)
921 GP 169G 475A 644Pts 474PIMs
NHL (Post Season)
150 GP 30G 67A 97Pts 60PIMs