Igor Larionov
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| Position | Centre |
| Shot | Left |
| Nickname(s) | The Professor |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg/12 st 2 lb) |
| Pro clubs | NHL Vancouver Canucks San Jose Sharks Detroit Red Wings Florida Panthers New Jersey Devils RSL Khimik Voskresensk CSKA Moscow Nationalliga A HC Lugano Allsvenskan 2 Brunflo IK |
| Nationality |  Russia |
| Born | December 3, 1960 , Voskresensk, USSR |
| NHL Draft | 214th overall, 1985 Vancouver Canucks |
| Pro career | 1978 – 2004 |
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Ice Hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1984 Sarajevo | Ice Hockey | |
| Gold | 1988 Calgary | Ice Hockey | |
| Bronze | 2002 Salt Lake City | Ice Hockey | |
Igor Nikolayevich Larionov (Russian: Игорь Николаевич Ларионов; born December 3, 1960 in Voskresensk, Soviet Union now Russia) is a retired Russian ice hockey player. 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.
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[edit] Playing career
Larionov won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002). He finished his career by playing two games for the Swedish team Brunflo IK in 2005–06, producing one goal and three assists. Brunflo is the same team that his former linemate in CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union, Vladimir Krutov, ended his career with ten years earlier.
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.
Like many Soviet players, Larionov chafed under the draconian coaching style of Viktor Tikhonov, who doubled as coach of CSKA and the Soviet national team. He'd been drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 1985, but Tikhonov used his Communist Party connections to keep him from leaving until 1989. Larionov was particularly upset that Tikhonov kept his players confined to barracks for as much as 11 months a year even when they were married (CSKA was a functioning division of the Soviet Army). He told a Russian magazine that with the players being away from home for so long, "it is a wonder our wives manage to give birth."[1]
Larionov eventually became the leader of the Soviet players' efforts to win their freedom, leading Tikhonov to kick him off the Soviet national team under suspicion that he might defect to the West. Only the lobbying of Fetisov and other players brought Larionov back to the squad.
Larionov finally went to the NHL in 1989, along with many other Soviet players, including all four of his of this "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. In the 1991–92 season, he centered the Canucks' top line, which included Greg Adams and rookie Pavel Bure. Larionov took the young Russian star under his wing that season.
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.
In 2000, Larionov signed with the Florida Panthers, where he was re-united with Pavel Bure. It was a disaster, though, and Larionov was traded back to Detroit before the end of the season. He played his final NHL season for the New Jersey Devils in 2003–04, where Viacheslav Fetisov was an assistant coach.
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.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1977–78 | Khimik Voskresensk | RSL | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1978–79 | Khimik Voskresensk | RSL | 32 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1979–80 | Khimik Voskresensk | RSL | 42 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 24 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1980–81 | Khimik Voskresensk | RSL | 43 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 36 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1981–82 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 46 | 31 | 22 | 53 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1982–83 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 44 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1983–84 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 43 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1984–85 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 40 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1985–86 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 40 | 21 | 31 | 52 | 33 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1986–87 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 39 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 34 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1987–88 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 51 | 25 | 32 | 57 | 54 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1988–89 | HC CSKA Moscow | RSL | 31 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1989–90 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 74 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1990–91 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 64 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1991–92 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 72 | 21 | 44 | 65 | 54 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 1992–93 | HC Lugano | NLA | 24 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 44 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 60 | 18 | 38 | 56 | 40 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 10 | ||
| 1994–95 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 33 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1995–96 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995–96 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 34 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 64 | 12 | 42 | 54 | 26 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1997–98 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 8 | 39 | 47 | 40 | 22 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 12 | ||
| 1998–99 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 75 | 14 | 49 | 63 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 79 | 9 | 38 | 47 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2000–01 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 26 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000–01 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 39 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2001–02 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 11 | 32 | 43 | 50 | 18 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 | ||
| 2002–03 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 74 | 10 | 33 | 43 | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003–04 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 49 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005–06 | Brunflo IK | Swe-3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| RSL Totals | 457 | 204 | 230 | 434 | 295 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||||
| NHL Totals | 921 | 169 | 475 | 644 | 474 | 150 | 30 | 67 | 97 | 60 | ||||
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Igor Larionov's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Larionov at Hockey CCCP International
- Igor Larionov Web Site
| Preceded by Vladimir Krutov |
Soviet MVP 1988 |
Succeeded by Sergei Makarov |
