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Aging like fine wine Wings' veterans stepping up during crunch time of finalsPosted: Monday June 10, 2002 11:25 PMUpdated: Tuesday June 11, 2002 2:53 AM
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Brett Hull and Igor Larionov are proving that age isn't an issue for the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals. Hull, 37, and Larionov, 41, scored the first two goals for the Red Wings on Monday night in their 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The win puts Detroit one victory from winning the Stanley Cup, with Game 5 at home on Thursday. Entering the season, about the only critical question facing the Red Wings, the oldest team in hockey, was whether a team with so many aging stars could win the NHL championship. Hull and Larionov have eliminated any doubts. "Age, in today's game, has zero to do with anything," Hull said. "You would almost rather have a team with at least a solid mixture of veteran players because the way teams play you now, you don't have to be swift or super skilled anymore.
"All you have to do is be extremely knowledgeable. I think we've proved that." Hull gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the first period with his 100th career playoff goal and 10th of this postseason. The only other players to score 100 goals in the playoffs are: Wayne Gretzky (122), Mark Messier (109) and Jari Kurri (106). "That's quite a group and I'm glad to be a part of it," said Hull, who hopes to add to the Stanley Cup he won in Dallas in 1999. "There was a time when there was talk that you could never win in the playoffs with Brett Hull." Larionov put the Red Wings ahead by two at 3:43 of the third. Hull and Larionov picked up where they left off in Game 3. In that game, which gave Detroit a 2-1 series lead, Hull scored with 1:14 left in regulation to force the first of three overtimes. Then, Larionov, who became the oldest player to score in the finals earlier in the game, ended the third-longest game in finals history at 14:47 of the third overtime. On Monday, Hull and Larionov scored in the manner they have so many times during their storied careers. Detroit's Fredrik Olausson fed Boyd Devereaux with a pass, then Devereaux made a cross-ice pass to Hull, who beat Arturs Irbe with a sharp one-timer off the post. As usual, Larionov was in the right place at the right time to give Detroit the two-goal lead. Jiri Fischer slapped a pass from well above the left circle to Larionov, who was camped out just to the right of Irbe. While most players would rush a shot in such a situation, Larionov took the time to make sure the puck was firmly on his stick before stuffing it into the net. "At the last second, he saw me," Larionov said. "He made a beautiful pass and I had nothing to do -- just put the puck in the net." Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom said Larionov was deflecting too much credit on the play. "No one knew where that puck was going except Igor," Lidstrom said. Larionov is the oldest player in the NHL, and Hull is the third-oldest player on the Red Wings. "We have guys that do the right thing with the puck," Hull said. "We go to the right places to get in the right position to score goals and we sacrifice our other abilities for the good of the whole." |
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Brett Hull considers the correlation between experience and winning. 
