NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: HURRICANES v RED WINGS

June 9, 2002

Igor Larionov

IGOR LARIONOV: Well, first of all, I started to play against big teams like Canada Cup '81 my first official tournament '81 when I played against Team Canada in the Finals, when Scotty Bowman was the coach with Team Canada. He doesn't remember that score in the Finals in the Montreal Forum. First time I came over to North America I was very impressed by the people and the game itself and even you guys, I couldn't speak any -- like, a couple of words from my English from school, but I was trying to communicate with you guys and I was dreaming to play in the National Hockey League, but that time, '81, was Cold War and invasion to Afghanistan, so it wasn't possible. I didn't want to leave my family and my parents, and my teammates but it's I spent eight seasons with the Red Army and had a huge accomplishments there and achievements with my teammates and the team finally -- finally when Gorbachev took over in '85, so the doors start to open up and we had a chance to play. So like most of the guys who I played with like three or four years older than me, they didn't have the chance because they retired age 30, 31. Fortunately for us, for myself, Slava Fetisov, Sergei Makarov, Kasatonov, had the chance to play in the National Hockey League when most of the people were thinking about retirement. So Slava was 31, I was 29. Sergei was Makarov was 31, so --

IGOR LARIONOV: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. I was really disappointed, so I went to bed at 5 o'clock in the morning. I got up at 8:15 to watch the second half, and we lost to Japan. So it is like Belarus and Sweden in the Olympics, same thing.

IGOR LARIONOV: That's what I talked to my parents, so they said -- they put the big screen TV in the main square in downtown Moscow. They let people down to watch it, enjoy themselves. I think government told the police not to be involved. Sunday afternoon and Russia lost. They charged Downtown, the fans, so it's really sad.

IGOR LARIONOV: Pavel, he was spectacular last night so he was making those moves and I haven't seen that in a long time since Valeri Kharlamov playing for Soviet National Team. He just -- he just lack of experience I think he have a bright future. The skill level, I think it's been unbelievable, and he just need the confidence, and experience, that's all. But he has got a good shot too. That's sometimes because you play with Brett Hull usually like kind of trying to set up Brett most of the time like to look for Brett but sometimes he has got to take a shot -- shoot by himself, and that's what he needs. I think tomorrow night, I think he will be ready to take more shots.

IGOR LARIONOV: In Russian school the hockey school so that's -- it's second best game and second favorite game for the hockey players, because it's one of the aspect of hockey players when sometimes -- when they start the season usually in July, first week of July, practice, off-ice practice usually I do some weight lifting for one hour and a half, then last half hour get loose, we play soccer. You play soccer all year long given like when you are in the training camp during the February and we play like two games a week and then practice like two, three times a day and the day before the games, so you have just two practices morning, like exercise which is like 25 minutes run and some biometrics. Then on the ice 11:00, then the rest of the day you have a lunch and you spend your time in the training camp outside of Moscow. After that nap, usually -- we get up and play soccer like on the snow, like 6 against 6 whoever want to play so you play soccer because we have got to kill time being in the training camp, so we play that game all the time. That's very I think a great game conditioning-wise and plus it's also like a team game when you have to think -- you have to take your time. You have to play -- you have to play like give-and-go, that kind of play. It helped you to develop your game on the ice.

IGOR LARIONOV: You know what, it's a democracy now in Russia. So twelve years ago, we didn't have knows big screen TVs Downtown Moscow. Now people are, you know, I am not like blaming democracy, don't get me wrong, I like that and I came to this country because I liked freedom. But sometimes -- and people you know, watching that hockey games, soccer matches and they are going wild, I don't think it's good for the society. It is good -- I don't think it is good for the people because you know, there's a lot of good people, innocent people getting disturbed by that and to destroy so many businesses in Downtown Moscow I don't think it's making good for Moscow because Russia is getting much much stronger by -- economy is getting stronger and life is getting not better, but it's step by step, it's improving. It's really sad what happened today.

IGOR LARIONOV: Oatmeal in the morning and fresh fruit and vegetables, I mean, salads, salmon or fish, chicken, pasta, steak, maybe once or twice a month.

IGOR LARIONOV: No. No. And I don't think it's good for the kidney, but I like to drink wine. And every night two glasses of wine. When I turned 40 I start to drink two and a half. (LAUGHTER).

IGOR LARIONOV: We didn't have much time to discuss, because the game was over so I got on the bus last night, and drove to the hotel, so I took my -- went to the room with my fruits because I was going to watch the Mexico/Equador game and this morning so didn't have a chance to talk to anybody, but I was obviously -- I was delighted and happy to be able to score a winning goal in overtime. So that's one of the best moments in my hockey career.

IGOR LARIONOV: It wasn't easy for us. When I play side by side for eight years and it is like eleven months a year, can you believe that, eleven months a year been in training camp, playing together, eating together, and sharing joy and the sadness, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and for eight years, straight, and the practice three times a day, you know, all of a sudden, at the end of your career, so you of a chance to go and play with different teammates and different style of hockey so obviously it's not easy. That's what we faced like when we came over in 1989. So that's, you know, second you have been in that routine for many years in the training camp routine when coach decide for you what you got to do so you have no free time. So every time you have to go somewhere you have to ask coach - if you can go or not. Sometimes you have to ask his wife after the game when we play some team from, let's say, if you know the Russia, team from Chelyabinsk, so you have a game, then three days after we play in Dynamo Moscow we're asking the coach if we could have a day off, night off after that game. He said, no, we have a big game coming up in three days so you have to go back on the bus and go back to the training camp just say hi to your wife after the game and just get on the bus and go back to the woods outside of Moscow. Then we have to go to his wife, to the coach wife, ask -- put some pressure on the wife to ask Victor Tikhonov to let us go, but then he would say like, guys promise you are going to win that game, a game against Dynamo, Spartak, then you have to take responsibility, promise him. Then so decided okay, guys, you can go home and report tomorrow at 10 o'clock on the ice. So 10 o'clock on the ice and if you step on a little sliver on the ice, and coach make notes that you have been drunk last night because you fell on the ice but it was a little, you know, you have to be careful when you skate. (Laughs) that's what we live like under the pressure all the time.