Igor Larionov
| Position | Centre |
| Shot | Left |
| Nickname(s) | The Professor |
| Height Weight |
ft in
( m) 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Pro Clubs | Vancouver Canucks San Jose Sharks Detroit Red Wings Florida Panthers New Jersey Devils |
| 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 NHL. He primarily played the center position, and is considered one of the best passers of all time.
Larionov played for the following teams:
- Khimik Voskresensk (1977-81)
- CSKA Moscow (1981-89)
- Vancouver Canucks (1989-92)
- HC Lugano (1992-93)
- San Jose Sharks (1993-95)
- Detroit Red Wings (1995-2000, 2000-03)
- Florida Panthers (2000)
- New Jersey Devils (2003-04).
- Brunflo IF (2005-06).
Larionov won three Stanley Cups with Detroit (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. He won two golds (1984, 1988) and one bronze (2002) in the Olympics, and four golds (1982, 1983, 1986, 1989), one silver (1987), and one bronze (1985) in the World Championships.
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 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.
Larionov is married to former figure skater Elena Botanova and has three children. Currently, he is a professional wine merchant making wines under the labels "Hattrick" and "Triple Overtime" with wines from Australia and California.
Career Stats
| 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 | Nationalliga A | 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 | Swedish First Division | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 921 | 169 | 475 | 644 | 474 | 150 | 30 | 67 | 97 | 60 | ||||
References
External links
| Preceded by Vladimir Krutov |
Soviet MVP 1988 |
Succeeded by Sergei Makarov |
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