In 1989, Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov led the first wave of players to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain. In order to secure their services, Canuck management traveled to Moscow, where they agreed to large transfer payments that matched whatever the players were paid dollar-for-dollar. The governing body of the Soviet Hockey Federation was strapped for cash, and while the terms were distasteful, there was no other way to get the players released.
To make matters worse, there was a clause in the original contracts extending the transfer payments in the event of either player resigning with Vancouver. Larionov was dead-set against this notion, so having any chance to keep our players required a legal solution. Getting this situation resolved was near the very top of our agenda almost from day one. As a result, we retained an expert law firm and assigned them the task of negotiating a settlement with 'Sovintersport.'
Time was of the essence. We needed this resolved ASAP to give us a window to negotiate extensions with the players before they became UFA's. After months of tedious deliberations, we finally reached an agreement to buy-out the royalty clause for $150,000. With the way the two former-Soviets were performing, we were more than happy to sign the check that set them free.
