Debut. Triumph. Anniversary

60 years - a good time to start a new big career of Igor Larionov

Igor Larionov for some month quickly went from an unexpected appointment to the hope of all hockey Russia.

He was approved the head coach of the youth team in June, and in November he was sent to Helsinki for the quarry Cup already as the acting head coach of the national team, under the flag of which the “youth” sensationally produced all the rivals. Igor Nikolayevich was immediately ascended to heaven, at the same time sentenced to a mandatory victory at the World Youth Championship that begins at the end of December.

The background for the anniversary (60 years to the professor turns on December 3) how good is so dangerous. But about dangers - after.

Larionov in domestic and world hockey in all respects is special. We are not very complained of excellent students, and Igor is directly an indicative embodiment, starting from purely non-chockene appearance to the development of his own fate. Like him, a subtile neatly, brought into hockey - a special story. In the elite division for the Chemist, he made his debut, in the morning by studying at school. Big clubs began to chase after him even when he did not think to leave his native Voskresensk. But when the time came, he pushed everyone aside the omnipotent CSKA, the great Nikolai Semenovich Epstein sighed, but blessed.

Larionov was already attracted to the national team, but the path to large tournaments lay only through CSKA, which was declared by direct text. An element of coercion, accompanied by the beginning of a brilliant career, will grow into a large problem by the end of the 80s, and Igor Larionov will oppose him first, but it will be later. In the meantime, he, at the head of the Superent, will win all the titles that were possible to take when playing in his homeland. At 20, the Canada Cup, at 21-the first gold of the World Cup, in 23-the first gold of the Olympics, not counting such trifles as victories in the internal championship in the Larion 80s-total, without interruptions.

The Makarov-Larion-Krutov link became the main “work” of Viktor Tikhonov, his highest achievement, and closer to the end of the 80s-the greatest headache of the great dictator. Speech, of course, should be about the whole five - with the defenders Fetisov and Kasatonov. The link was Larionovskoye, by the name of the central striker, and the five - Fetisovskaya - in the sum of leadership qualities. But in principle, gaming intelligence and professional equipment among all members of the quintet, with all the difference in characters, were approximately at the same level. In Igor Larionov, intelligence manifested itself only a little brighter, because the position was such, on the one hand, and a smart resurrection education on the other.

Once, one Swedish journalist told me a story about how two commentators at the Homemade for Sweden World Championship during the USSR team received the majority argued at what second the owners would miss the “Larion”. Something like this-at the 18th or 27th second. What can I say, if two representatives of Quintet, Sergey Makarov and Vyacheslav Fetisov, entered the symbolic five of the best hockey players of the twentieth century. The survey in honor of the Century of the International Hockey Federation was attended by 56 experts. It is clear that Igor Larionov, in the same 2008, introduced into the Hall of Fame in Toronto, was also among the candidates for the best of the best.

Larionov did not fit under the traditional idea of ​​the centers, nor about hockey players, or at all about athletes as people who shy of all kinds of problems, including political and social. He threw a call to Tikhonov with an open letter in the “Ogok” in 1988, which caused a storm and anticipated the shock of the near future. After this, the letter became clear that they did not have long, and on the threshold of the 30th anniversary, Igor Larionov Krugly changed his life, going down the ocean. He, perhaps, was adapted there faster than Vyacheslav Fetisov, not to mention the rest. In Vancouver he played with Krutov, who had not taken root behind the ocean, in San Jose, with Makarov, and Stanley took the first Cup of Detroit as part of the Russian Five Bowl created by Scotti.

Igor Larionov became the holder of the third Cup of Stanley at the age of 41 in the same Detroit, and his own wine “Third Overtime” dedicated to Golarionov in the third match of the final series with Carolina, reminds of that event.

Igor told about his new hobby when I accidentally turned out to be his neighbor during a flight from Moscow to Magnitogorsk during the first and only tour of the current Russian NHL players in Russia in November 1994. Somehow, by the way, I had to, and since then, meeting, we talked about winemaking no less than about hockey. To the question of about a year old, what kind of sports category he reached in a new region for himself, the owner of several winemakers Larionov replied that he had barely reached the candidate for the master.

Honestly, I thought that he would go along this line - again not like everyone else. But hockey, obviously, is such a thing that does not let go of its adherents for a long time. In agent activity, Larionov was noticeable, but did not greatly succeed in how the coach was engaged except for the hockey education of Igor’s son, according to Fetisov, in the middle of the zero was offered to the post of president of the Russian Hockey Federation, but he flatly refused his honor.

After a year of work in the coaching staff of the St. Petersburg SKA, he was in opposition even created with a large pomp of the Continental Hockey League - according to his ideas, the leadership went wrong. In general, the opinion on any problem, he always expressed the independent, without adjusting to the authorities and not trying to please someone.

Over the years, he increasingly acquired the appearance of a classic American professor, and not only hockey sciences.

It seemed that he would never plunge into Russian hockey.

And suddenly, like a click, it was rolling. I don’t know if the incentive to help my son try himself in Russian hockey-Igor Jr., by and large, did not succeed in a career in North America, or there were some agreements on a specific work, but Igor Larionov went to the youth world championship in December 2019 as assistant head coach Valery Bragin. And already during the tournament, which brought silver to the national team, it was clear that Larionov was more than an assistant. True, at the end of it, Igor Nikolaevich was quite tough about corruption in the KHL and the Youth League, but this had no consequences.

After some time, Valery Bragin went to increase-the head coach of SKA, and Larionov took the vacant place. In October, Bragin fell ill, and in the FHR they decided that it was better to send young people, led by Larionov, at the first stage of the Eurotour. The guys looked very worthy, having won three victories, which was not often able to do it for adults. They played hunting and masterfully, which surprised everyone, and above all rivals in the person of the national teams of Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Larionov returned to the triumph, but something prevented him from meeting an unexpected triumph with enthusiasm. Perhaps the unexpectedly smooth speeches of the “acting”, word for word, coincided with the speeches of the chief ideologist of the Russian hockey Roman Rotenberg in honor of the “attacking and dominant hockey”, according to “glorious domestic traditions”.

They didn’t really won anything, and the words are a whole WHO. It is still not very clear what kind of game Rotenberg leads, but it is clear that some role in it is prepared and hitherto impeccable in all respects to Igor Larionov. I believe that Igor Nikolaevich set a very high goal for himself, and God give him good luck in this. But, being called up to the nomenclature, willy-nilly will have to play according to her rules.

If tomorrow's anniversary at the same time avoids false notes, he will enter a new page not only into his beautiful biography.