Kozlov’s ex-teammate headed to Hall of Fame

Slava Kozlov heard the news from one of the referees last week when the Thrashers played at Buffalo.

“How,” Kerry Fraser asked, “do you say ‘congratulations’ in Russian?”

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AP

Thrashers Slava Kozlov (13) was excited to hear that his former teammate in Russia will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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“Pozdravlyayu,” Kozlov replied, and then Fraser explained that one of Kozlov’s former teammates, Igor Larionov, was being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this week.

Fraser double checked with Ilya Kovalchuk to make sure Kozlov wasn’t playing a joke on him by telling him the Russian equivalent of a four-letter word. He needn’t have worried. When it comes to Larionov, Kozlov shows nothing but respect.

They won two Stanley Cups together as members of the Red Wings’ “Russian Five,” with Slava Fetisov, Sergei Fedorov and Vladimir Konstantinov, and “Russian Five II,” with Dmitri Mironov in place of Konstantinov.

“[Larionov] was such a great passer,” Kozlov said. “He knew when to pass and when to hold onto the puck. I learned a lot from those guys. I think it was my best time I ever played.

“I think it changed my career. I used to be a little bit selfish. Then, when I watched how they passed the puck, I changed my strategy. Now, I enjoy when somebody [else] scores. The main goal is the goal. It doesn’t matter who is going to score. That’s what I got from those guys.”

Kozlov and Larionov were born 11 years apart in the same 80,000-person town 50 miles from Moscow. Kozlov used to watch Larianov play. Later, Kozlov respected Larionov for a 1988 open letter to the Soviet team’s coach in which Larionov ripped the Soviet hockey system for oppressing its players.

“That was huge,” Kozlov said. “In the USSR, whatever happened in the locker room, you were not allowed to talk to the press. He was the first player to start fighting the system.”

Larionov didn’t make his NHL debut until age 29. Kozlov came over at 19. Ilya Kovalchuk debuted with the Thrashers at 18.

Kovalchuk called Larionov “one of the greatest players in the history of Russia” and “a great example for young kids.”

But there’s a generational difference at work.

“The young guys have to realize, without [Larionov’s] fight we wouldn’t have a chance to play here,” Kozlov said. “Now, [Russia] is a different country.”