Larionov honoured before Leafs-Habs game

- - Detroit Free Press

Igor Larionov, left, shakes hands with Lanny McDonald

November 8, NHL.com: [T]he Leafs honored Hockey Hall of Fame Weekend in a classy manner. I felt privileged myself to be in the building to witness the 15-minute ceremony prior to tonight's game between Toronto and Montreal.

With the teams lined up on their respective blue lines and a blue carpet rolled out from the door to the Leafs bench all the way to the center ice faceoff dot, the P.A. announcer's voice boomed as he said on hand were several legends of the game.

One-by-one, he announced 16 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and made sure to mention the year each was inducted. The Hall of Famers came out in this order: Murray Costello, 2005; Scotty Morrison, 1999; Fern Flaman, 1990; Marcel Pronovost, 1978; Pierre Pilot, 1975; Bill Gadsby, 1970; Michel Goulet, 1998; Peter Stastny, 1998; Billy Smith, 1993; Brad Park, 1988; Bryan Trottier, 1997; Ted Lindsay, 1966; Yvan Cournoyer, 1982; Lanny MacDonald, 1992; Larry Robinson, 1995; and Borje Salming, 1996.

Of course, considering our location, MacDonald and Salming got the loudest ovations, although Cournoyer and Robinson were greeted with a roar as well. Believe me when I tell you there are a lot of Habs' fans in the building tonight, and plenty more littering the bars of Toronto. I have seen them in droves at the Hall.

Following the announcement of those 16 legends, each of the 4 honorees that will be inducted into the Hall on Monday were introduced. The P.A. announcer properly read something about each inductee before introducing them to the crowd.

He started with the late Ed Chynoweth, who was represented tonight by his son, Dean. Next up was Ray Scapinello, followed by Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson.

Like the other three, Larionov shook the hand of all 16 Hall of Famers who were lined up along the blue carpet to greet the new legends. However, he stopped to give Ted Lindsay a hug. I thought that was a classy gesture between two men who obviously know each other quite well from Larionov's days in Detroit.

Leafs coach Ron Wilson of all people told NHL.com's John McGourty that he's a Larionov fan:

November 8, NHL.com: Ron Wilson also has fond memories of playing against Igor Larionov long before the Soviet star joined the NHL. Wilson played 7 seasons in the Swiss League while Larionov was centering the Soviet Union's top line between Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov. They were backed up by defensemen Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov.

Wilson was asked if he knew about Larionov's abilities before he joined the NHL in 1989.

"If you didn't, you weren't following hockey," Wilson said. "I first saw him in World Championships. I played in the World Championship when I was 19 in 1975 and I don't think Igor was on that team then. Later on, in 1981 and 1983 that 'Black Line' of Igor, Krutov, Makarov, Kasatonov and Fetisov was together. I played against them when I was in Switzerland in either 1984 or 1985. We played them in Moscow and lost, I think it was 10-1, but we played them at home and lost 7-5. For a Swiss team with two imports, that was a great game against what was probably the best team in the world.

"Puck Possession? You just chased the puck all night. It was a conditioning night, I'd say. It was a like a bag skate, without the puck. We just chased them around. They were phenomenal players. It's too bad that those guys didn't get a chance to play in the NHL when they were really in their prime. Igor was still a great player, and same thing with Fetisov. Makarov had a couple of good years, but Krutov really never did much. Kasatonov was a pretty servicable (NHL) defenseman but those guys, in general, were on their downside.

"Not Igor. He kept himself clean and in great shape when he came over here. He was more of a North American thinker. I believe Fetisov was too, from everything I've ever heard from Igor. That was some phenomenal team that we had to play against over there."

Wilson told the Globe and Mail's Tim Wharnsby that he wanted to get Larionov to offer two of his players some sage advice:

November 9, Globe and Mail: Larionov, of course, will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. Wilson hoped Larionov could spare a few minutes to counsel both [Mikhail] Grabovski and [Nikolai] Kulemin, but the meeting never took place.

Wilson knows Larionov from when the two played against each other in Switzerland, and later when Larionov joined the Vancouver Canucks when Wilson was an assistant coach there.