Legendary Russian hockey forward Igor Larionov (63), who officially ended his career on April 19, 2004 at the age of forty-three, won practically everything possible on the ice.
From the beginning of the 1980s, he stood in the center of the famous first row of the Soviet team, with which he won two Olympic triumphs, four world championship titles and the first place in the Canada Cup in 1981. And in the jersey of the Detroit Red Wings, he then rejoiced in winning the Stanley Cup three times.
He is thus a member of the prestigious Triple Gold Club of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which brings together players who have won gold medals at the Olympics, at the World Championships and at the same time the Stanley Cup.
During his long and successful career, Larionov wore Chimiku jerseys in his native Voskresensk, among others, from where he moved to CSKA Moscow. He played overseas for the Vancouver Canucs, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings, then spent his last season (2003/2004) with the New Jersey Devils.
The intelligent player also became famous for opposing the dictatorial methods of coach Viktor Tikhonov in the 1990s. For example, in 1996 he was one of the leaders of the group that rejected Tikhonov in the implementation team before the Olympics in Nagano.
At the same time, it was this legendary tough coach of the team who put together the famous formation of hockey aces Fetisov, Kasatonov – Makarov, Larionov, Krutov.
After the end of his active career, Larionov worked in the wine business, but remained with hockey as a coach. He worked for the SKA St. Petersburg team, later he was the coach of the Russian national team, and from 2022 he is the coach of the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod team in the KHL.
In 2008, he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.
He is married with three children.
