Larionov, Anderson elected to Hall of Fame

Veteran players join late junior-hockey exec Ed Chynoweth and former linesman Ray Scapinello in 2008 induction

ERIC DUHATSCHEK .. The Globe and Mail

While travelling together - in Belarus, they thought - the two talked about what might happen when the 2008 Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee met, and if this just could be their year.

It was.

Yesterday, Larionov and Anderson were both elected to the Hall of Fame as players. Joining them as members of the class of 2008 were long-time junior hockey executive Ed Chynoweth, who passed away this spring, and was chosen as a builder, and former linesman Ray Scapinello, who was elected in the referee-linesman category.

On a conference call with reporters yesterday, Anderson, who played for Canada in the 1980 Olympics, noted the old-timers tour gave him an opportunity to meet many of the Russian greats, including Alexander Yakushev, who he described as "my hero growing up. So it was a great honour to be over there to meet all those guys. It was like a dream come true for me."

"Igor and I were talking about this. We were thinking, if we do get in, I don't know if we can compare it to what the party was like in Moscow and Belarus, but I'm sure we'll try our hardest to make it a good one," Anderson said.

Anderson, who won a total of six Stanley Cups in a career that spanned 16 years, became the latest member of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty teams to be elected. Eligible since 1999, three years after he retired, Anderson follows fellow Oilers Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Jari Kurri into the Hall.

Larionov, meanwhile, came to the NHL as a 29-year-old, after Anderson already had four championships. Along with Fetisov, now the Russian minister of sport, he paved the way for his countrymen to come to the NHL.

Larionov joined the Vancouver Canucks along with linemate Vladimir Krutov in the 1989-90 season. That same year Sergei Makarov, the third member of famed KLM Line, joined the Calgary Flames.

Larionov said Vancouver "is always going to be in my heart, it's like my second home. They gave me the opportunity to play the game and get my freedom from the Soviet regime. The hospitality of the people and the reception and the first-class organization was indescribable."

Scapinello, who retired in 2004, worked a total of 2,500 games in a career that spanned 33 years. He also worked the lines in a total of 20 Stanley Cup finals.

Chynoweth, who passed away this spring from complications from kidney cancer, was a driving force behind the evolution of junior hockey in Canada for a third of a century. His sons, Jeff and Dean, accepted the honour on his behalf and noted that he would be "watching" from above during the induction ceremonies this coming November.

Larionov lost his mother a month ago and said it had been an "emotional time" for him.

"I called my dad today and gave him the news," Larionov said. "Unbelievable."

Unlike last season, when a quartet of prominent players (Mark Messier, Al MacInnis, Scott Stevens and Ron Francis) were all elected in their first year of eligibility, the only newly eligible players were the ones who completed their careers in Europe during the NHL lockout, the most prominent of whom was Russia's Valeri Kamensky.

A three-quarters majority of the vote is required for selection.

In an era when some distinguished careers can last as many as two decades, Larionov's spanned almost three - 27 years in all.

His most prominent NHL moments came playing for Scotty Bowman on three Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup-winning teams, where he became an important mentor for the younger Russians on the team, notably Slava Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov.

Larionov, nicknamed The Professor for his scholarly look off the ice, was largely responsible for bringing the Stanley Cup to Moscow's Red Square the summer following his first triumph with Red Wings in 1997.

One of the highlights of his NHL career, Larionov said, was getting a phone call from Bowman at 7 a.m. in San Jose, notifying him that he'd been traded from the Sharks to the Red Wings.

"It gave me a chance to play the style I was taught to play in Russia," Larionov said.

Anderson is fourth over all in career playoff scoring, with 214 points in 225 games, and his five overtime playoff goals is third behind Maurice (Rocket) Richard and the Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic.

In 1,129 regular-season games, Anderson scored 1,099 career points and produced more game-winning goals as an Oilers player than Gretzky - 85 compared to 77.

Chynoweth played a major role in convincing owners of junior teams to release their players over the Christmas season, paving the way for Canada's success at the annual world junior hockey championship.

After six failed attempts, he also convinced owners in the Western Hockey League to fund a scholarship program so that players who weren't moving on to professional careers could get an education to fall back on.

As for Scapinello, he was the first honoured member to be inducted in the referee-linesman category since Andy Van Hellemond in 1999 and only the second in the past 15 years.

***

WHO VOTED

The Hockey Hall Of Fame selection committee, chaired by Jim Gregory, also includes Scotty Bowman, Colin Campbell, John Davidson, Eric Duhatschek, Jan-Ake Edvinsson, Mike Emrick, Michael Farber, Emile Francis, Dick Irvin, Lanny McDonald, Yvon Pedneault, Pat Quinn, Serge Savard, Harry Sinden, Peter Stastny and Bill Torrey.