It is 1 o’clock in the morning and the smartest, fastest and toughest hockey players from Russia walk into Igor Larionov’s suite in the Toronto’s King Edward Hotel. They have played two exhibition games earlier in the day as a part of Larionov’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame this November 10th weekend. They are looking to kick back, relax and crack open a bottle…of Canadian Icewine.
One would expect a glasses of vodka, cans of beer, or even a large jugs of water, but Igor is also in town to announce the launch of his newest wine, “Centre Ice” and Larionov, also known as “The Professor” pours perfect Icewine portions and hands them to his friends. Since retiring from the NHL in 2004 Larionov has been working with long time friend Mike Davis in his IL Triple Overtime Wine Company and selling wines to Russia. On the day before Larionov had launched his first Canadian Icewine under the IL Triple Overtime brand, crafted by Pillitteri Estate Winery in Niagara.
They sip appreciatively and then Viacheslav (Slava) Fetisov’s booming voice rings out, “Now we talk only Russian!” The Icewine is clearly a hit and after congratulations to Igor on his lesser triumph of the weekend, the launch of his wine company’s first Icewine, the conversation turns to other things.
Larinov is about to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He carries his modesty with a quiet triumph, with confidence and a quiet voice that makes one want to lean in and catch every word. Fetisov is enjoying the Icewine, holding it up properly, by the stem, but incongruously calling in one of the few English words to me, the guy by the bar, “Hey, big guy, more please!”
Alexander Medvedev also holds his glass out for a refill. As the head of the new KHL, Russia’s newest major hockey league, he is in town to celebrate Larionov’s career highlight, but has drawn some attention over some of the bushfires that have arisen between the NHL and KHL over talent acquisition. Alexander Radulov leads the controversy as high profile NHL players who have jumped to the KHL. As one of the first Russian players to jump to the NHL, Larionov is familiar with the issues, and he blazed a trail for Slava Fetisov and others to come to North America after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Larionov, who was welcomed to the KHL as a member of the Board of the KHL is a public voice for player development inside Russia, working with the NHL to make the game recognized globally and to extend the reach of hockey around the world.
The whole issue may have been solved among them in the discussion over Icewine, but they are only speaking Russian and the Big Guy only speaks English, so he is just happy that they liked the Icewine.
The relaxed chatter in Russian is broken again by the booming voice of Fetisov in English. “Big Guy, you should fill the Stanley Cup with Icewine.” Valeri Kamensky smiles but the Big Guy doesn’t back down. “Slava, get some guys together and bring me the Stanley Cup in June and I’ll fill it with Icewine for you”.
It could happen.
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