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On Tuesday afternoon, justice was finally served by the Hockey Hall Of Fame Election Committee, who saw fit to elect six time Stanley Cup winner Glenn Anderson to the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Anderson, who was taken 69th, overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 1979, turned out to be a steal as he played a major role in Edmonton winning five Cups during the mid 1980’s. A year after winning the fourth Cup, Edmonton due to cash restraints had to trade some of their pricey superstars and Anderson along with star goalie Grant Fuhr fell victim as they were traded in September 1991 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. From Toronto, Anderson was moved to the New York Rangers at the 1994 trading deadline where he was reunited with former Oilers teammates Mark Messier, Kevin Lowe, Esa Tikkanen and Craig MacTavish who all turned back the clock in helping New York win their first cup in 40 years. Affectionately known to teammates as ‘Andy’, this B.C. native who loved to crash the net also had a short stint with the St. Louis Blues and finished his career with 498 goals and 1,099 points in 1,1129 games.
Anderson who was at times criticized for playing with what seemed like not a lot of intensity during the long season, had a reputation of being a money player and his playoff numbers back that up. A Hall Of Famer in my books is someone who can handle the pressure and not disappear when the games mean so much more in the playoffs. During his illustrious career, Anderson netted 93 career playoff goals (5th best all time), and 214 total points (4th best) and most important 17 game winning goals which proves that he is clutch and richly deserves this honor of being enshrined this coming November into the Hockey Hall Of Fame. “It’s a great phone call to receive from Jim Gregory,” said Anderson. “It is an honor to go in and join many of my Edmonton Oilers’ teammates, I know they have been very supportive, which means alot.”
Another marquee player who will be joining Anderson on the red carpet at the Hall Of Fame will be Igor Larionov where throughout the 1980’s he was part of what was called in the Russia League the KLM line which was looked upon as the best line in hockey. Larionov, nicknamed the professor, engineered that line which consisted of Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov. Known for his superb on ice vision, Larionov netted two goals and played a huge role in Russia beating Canada 8-1 in winning the 1981 Canada Cup. Seven years later, he was also a huge factor in Russia winning the Winter Games in Calgary, before starting his career in the NHL. Larionov began that journey with the Vancouver Canucks and after three seasons was moved to the San Jose Sharks. Early in the 1995 season, the Detroit Red Wings traded for Larionov and a year later this skilled forward was lifting the Stanley Cup. Two years later, he repeated the feat with the Red Wings before signing as a free agent with the Florida Panthers prior to the 2000-01 season. Things didn’t work out in Florida, and Larionov went back to the Wings where a season later he won a third Stanley Cup. After a small stint with the New Jersey Devils in 2004, Larionov retired with 169 career goals and 644 points in only 921 games.
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