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I would be more than happy to speak or write on behalf of Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov. My life got a whole lot richer the day I formed a relationship with these two players.Igor and Sergei are a highlight in my sixteen year career as a scout in the NHL. George Gund III and I flew to Lugano to meetIgor and his family just prior to our bringing him over to play for San Jose. Igor insisted that we eat with his family instead of going to a restaurant with George III and myself. Needless to say the evening was a treat and the relationship started. He put on a clinic with his play on the ice and then moved to his preferred role of family man after the game. The second time we met with him was in Vancouver and then the ground work was laid. Igor is not the type of man to make decisions without first meeting and then developing a trusting relationship. I still feel we share that trusting relationship because he took time to call me at our camp during the playoffs after visiting with my son in Detroit. Detroit's gain was San Jose's loss and I regret the day he left our franchise. Igor's unit of Makarov, Garpenlov on the Wings, Ozolinsh and Norton on Defense and Arturs Irbe in goal, is the only reason San Jose experienced any play off success the early years. Igor carried the team on his shoulders during our play off run. He also would have been the main reason we would have a chance to win a Stanley Cup if he had remained a Shark. Igor is one of those special human beings in my life. We have to count our blessings when we have the opportunity to meet and work with extra-ordinary human beings. He possesses an old fashioned value system that his parents must be proud of. Another highlight in my life is having his father sit with me during a game in San Jose. You only need to meet his father once to see where Igor's passion for hockey and life comes from. He reminded me of my own father. Igor's desire to win has no equal and he is a team player. One thing that separates Igor from many great players is that he is equally adept in his own end and face offs as he is with the puck. He possesses a degree of grit that is above all others simply because of his size. He has had to play a bigger price to play the game because officials are less likely to protect him to the same degree as they would a North American superstar. Igor is a prototype that should be bottled and sold. He is emotionally and mentally tougher than his opponent along with possessing all of the high end skills it takes to be a great player. Igor has immense pride, gets it done and he wins championships. Suffice to say he is a great player but an even greater person. Sergei Makarov came from the same mold. I don't know of two players that took more of a beating than Sergei and Igor to win and succeed in the NHL; unless you talk about Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg. Sergei didn't care for the limelight but he loves to win and was a team player. He left the verbal communication to Igor, but if you were lucky, you could get in on a few of his one liners. I don't know of a person with a finer sense of humor than Sergei Makarov. Blend that with his talent and accomplishments and you have two of the finest individuals to ever lace up a pair of skates to compete and win at any level. I feel for those who failed to recognize and capitalize on the talents of these two men. I feel for the writers and people who criticize their toughness and competitive meanstreak. They were trained to accept being hit and retaliation was unacceptable. Makes sense when you consider the difficulty of killing penalties. Makes sense when your goal is to win. Ignoring cheap play can affect the opponent's mind the same as beating him up. The only problem is that these superstars have the constant threat of their career ending prematurely in the same manner as Mario Lemieux and maybe Mike Modano. I have portraits of Maurice Richard and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team in a prominent place in my office. If I was able to hang their portraits along side some of my favorites, my wall would get a little richer! If Igor had been born in Canada we would have had two Gretzky's performing in the NHL. I don't know that Igor would have wanted it that way. This man has a way of proving that his path was even more glorious and I can't argue that. I am fortunate to have grown up in a mining community where I viewed nationalities from all walks of life as human beings. Every person was judged on their talents and behavior. This makes it easy for me to see Igor as a human being or player and to judge him in only that manner. I can't remember viewing Wayne Gretzky as a Canadian. I saw him as a human being with the talent and savvy to sustain being a superstar. I have always viewed players as players, not Americans, Canadians, Russians, Czechs, Swedes, Finns, etc. I got criticized for drafting six Finns one year. Would I have been criticized if I had drafted six Canadians? I got fined for bringing up the bias that exists with regard to calling penalties. I thank the league for reducing the fine to zero for good behavior, but I'm glad I took a stand. I live for the day when the NHL sees players as players and not North America or Canada versus the rest of the world. The All Star game encourages this separation. I even live for the day when we get referees, coaches, trainers, equipment people, owners and executives from all over the world, because the NHL is truly a world league that could not exist in its present state without the influence of the marquee players and hockey people from all over the world. Chuck Grillo Thanks Chuck! Beautiful and well said!
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