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Pelletier and Houda look back at
key performers from the Canada Cup/World Cup of
Hockey
Vladimir Krutov/Igor
Larionov/Sergei Makarov Biography
The KLM line is
generally regarded as one of the best European
hockey lines of all time. Many of the Russian NHL
pros today had one of the KLM members as their idol.
The Soviets always had a fine tradition of producing
great lines over the years. In the 1940's and 50's
it was Evgeny Babitch, Vsevolod Bobrov and Viktor
Suvalov. In the 1960's and 70's it was Boris
Mikhailov, Valeri Kharlamov and Vladimir Petrov who
then passed the torch to the slick KLM line. They
went on to dominate the domestic and international
scene during the 1980's
Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov first discovered the
swift skating right winger Sergei Makarov. Tikhonov
brought Makarov to the Central Red Army club (CSKA
Moscow) from Traktor Chelyabinsk.
Vladimir Krutov a stocky and strong left wing was
discovered by the great Valeri Kharlamov. Krutov was
a home grown CSKA product which was pretty rare back
then for the Army club.
Voskresensk native Igor Larionov, the mastermind
center was discovered by the much respected Nikolai
Epstein while he was playing for Khimik Voskresensk.
Viktor Tikhonov, the long time Soviet coach got to
know these three better than anyone else in the
hockey business.
" Igor Larionov is the one with the exceptional
on-ice intellect, full of ideas and creativity.
Sergei Makarov stands for the unlimited will to
always seek the extremely difficult solutions in
game situations and to overcome obstacles. Vladimir
Krutov is the master in front of the goal. He's the
one who seeks challenges and battles and on most
occasions comes out on top," Tikhonov once said
when asked to describe his star trio.
When these three players entered the Canada Cup
scene in 1981 they were only 21 (Krutov and
Larionov) and 23 (Makarov) years old but were
already bonafide stars. They collected a total of 22
points (11+11) in 7 games and were the most
effective unit on the Soviet squad, giving their
opponents a lot of headache. Six of these points
came in the final against Canada when the Soviets
put on a masterful display, trouncing the Canadians
8-1.
In the 1984 Canada Cup tournament the KLM line was
once again the highest scoring line for the Soviets,
collecting 18 points (10+8) in 6 games. However this
time the "Big Red Machine" lost the
semifinal game to Canada 2-3 in OT. Most people saw
it as the "real" final as the game was
played in a breathtaking tempo.
Then in 1987 the KLM line was once again the unit to
stop for the other teams. They proved to be better
than ever and fought a gigantic battle against
Canada's Goulet-Gretzky-Lemieux line. It was pure
poetry in motion to watch these lines square off
against each other, and many today still fondly
remembers the three final games to be among the best
ever played. A total of 32 points (15+17) in 9 games
was scored by the KLM trio.
All in all the Krutov-Larionov-Makarov troika had 72
points (36+36) in 22 Canada Cup games, that's almost
3.3 points per game. No other line has scored as
many points in Canada / World Cup competition.
Chelyabinsk native Sergei Makarov was a masterful
one-on-one player with magical hands who could make
the most incredible moves. He always put up big
numbers regardless of what linemates he played with.
Igor Larionov possessed great quickness in his
movements, transitions and mind. He was elegant, an
artist with quick thinking and soft hands.
" Larionov has many great skills, but what I
admire most about him is his creative thinking and
his way to organize his line," Tikhonov once
said.
Vladimir Krutov was the guy with the temperament. He
was called "The Tank" partly for his
5'9", 195 Ibs frame but also for his style of
play. He was a very dangerous player in front of the
net.
All three of them won numerous individual awards and
championships and of course tore the Soviet league
and international opposition apart. To make matters
worse for the opponents they were backed up by
Vyacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov on the
blueline. Two of the best defensemen in the world
during the 1980's. These five had a special
chemistry on the ice.
" We had a rule, that if anyone touched us in a
game, he was everyone's enemy.", Kasatonov said
in an interview many years later. If you managed to
stop one or two players, or if someone had an
off-night there always were a couple of guys from
the "Soviet five" who stepped in and
covered up.
A look behind the stats:
Krutov scored 519 points (300+219) in 490 league
games. Larionov scored 434 points (204+230) in 457
games and Makarov had 730 points (332+398) in 559
games. They scored 1683 league points between them,
1299 while playing together.
In the World Championships Krutov scored 108 points
(59+49) in 90 games. Larionov scored 69 points
(30+39) in 71 games and Makarov had 149 points
(66+83) in 123 games. A total of 326 points.
Their career resumé is impressive. Some of the
accomplishments includes:
Vladimir Krutov
- Two times World Junior Champion
- Two times World Junior All-Star
- Two times named best forward in the World Junior
Championships
- Two Olympic gold medals
- Five times World Champion
- Two times named best forward in the World
Championships
- Four times World Championship All-Star
- Best World Championship scorer
- Canada Cup winner
- Canada Cup All-Star
- 11 times Soviet league Champion
- Seven times Soviet league first All-Star
- Soviet player of the year
Igor Larionov
- World Junior Champion
- World Junior All-Star
- Two Olympic gold medals
- Three times World Champion
- Two times World Championship All-Star
- Eight times Soviet league Champion
- Four times Soviet league first All-Star
- Soviet player of the year
- Three Stanley Cup titles
Sergei Makarov
- Two times World Junior Champion
- Two Olympic gold medals
- Seven times World Champion
- Two times named best forward in the World
Championships
- Six times World Championship All-Star
- Three times best World Championship scorer
- Canada Cup winner
- Canada Cup All-Star
- 11 times Soviet league Champion
- Eight times Soviet league first All-Star
- Nine times leading scorer in the Soviet league
- Three times Soviet player of the year
- Two times winner of the "Golden Stick"
award as the outstanding player in Europe
- NHL Calder Trophy winner
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Legends
of Team Canada Book Oct 2004
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