Very few athletes get the chance to close out a professional career at the way Igor Larionov did in "Farewell From Moscow: The Igor Larionov Farewell Game."
After hanging up his skates following the 2003-04 season, the former Detroit Red Wing took advantage of the 2004-05 NHL lockout season and invited his friends and former teammates to Moscow, Russia on Dec. 13, 2004, to take part in a special tribute game in celebration of his 27-year hockey career.
The sports documentary DVD has a little bit of everything — a special Larionov highlight reel from his playing days, interviews with the game's participants and the farewell game itself, which is filmed from an overhead camera angle, along with special on-ice ceremonies following the game.
The game itself puts Team Russia — all of Larionov's Russian friends and teammates — up against Team World — Larionov's non-Russian friends and teammates. Team Russia won 6-5, but you never would have known there was a loser or winner in the game.
Every player played the game with a smile on his face, and each of their smiles grew even greater when Larionov scored a goal early in the second period. The fun that each player seemed to have makes the viewer forget that there was an NHL lockout occurring at the time of the contest.
But the most interesting thing about the DVD is when the camera crews capture all the participants from the game experiencing nightlife in Moscow on the brief vacation they took to pay tribute to their friend.
Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios and Scotty Bowman are captured with the other players at fancy Russian restaurants, nightclubs and other attractions. Kid Rock, who's been a loyal fan and friend to the Red Wings throughout the years, even made an appearance in Moscow to hang out with "The Professor."
Others such as Martin Brodeur and Alexander Mogilny took part as well, but for the most part, all the players and focus were on current and former Red Wings.
But what separates this sports documentary from most others is that there isn't an arrogant and egotistical tone to the production. The DVD wasn't made to say, "Hey, come buy this and look how sweet my career was," but rather to show a bunch of great hockey players coming together to celebrate the career of a friend and well-accomplished athlete.
The documentary further goes to show that there really are no Terrell Owenses or Barry Bondses in the NHL, which is something I've come to greatly respect about hockey players. Other than an overblown gambling scandal this season and a Todd Bertuzzi incident two years ago, hockey players don't generally get bad press.
Larionov's DVD isn't flashy, it isn't the topic of a national controversial scandal and it isn't made out to be egotistical. It's simply fun. It's a rare experience when players are competing against each other for a purpose and a documentary for which loads of interesting footage is caught on tape.
