Sports

Paul Harris: The Controversy Over Whether to Retire Sergei Fedorov's Number

August 12, 2018, 9:34 AM

The author is a Detroit freelancer and former Detroit News reporter. 

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Sergei Fedorov

By Paul Harris

Sergei Fedorov was a polarizing figure in Detroit during his time with the Red Wings  -- and things have not changed.

Never mind that Fedorov is nine years removed from his last NHL game  (15 years from his last game as a Red Wing), was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame almost three years ago and is back in his native Russia, the general manager of CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League.

The issue these days is whether the organization should retire Fedorov’s No. 91, so it can hang in the rafters of Little Caesars Arena along with Gordie Howe’s No. 9, Steve Yzerman’s 19, Nicklas Lidstrom’s 5, Ted Lindsay’s 7, Terry Sawchuk’s 1, Alex Delvecchio’s 10 and Sid Abel’s 12.

When recently asked about the Red Wings stance on retiring Fedorov’s number, Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano said: “I’m not going to discuss it.”

Okay.

If you look at Fedorov’s statistics and accomplishments, it seems that his number definitely should be retired. But with Fedorov, it was always about so much more than the stats. Style and perception always colored the lens through which Fedorov was viewed.

In his 13 seasons with the Red Wings, Fedorov had 400 goals, 554 assists and 954 points in 908 games, was a key cog in winning three Stanley Cups, won a Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, two Frank J. Selke Trophies as the league’s best defensive forward and played in six All-Star Games.

He also compares favorably, statistically, to most of the above seven whose numbers have been retired.

Fedorov is one of only four players – the others are Howe, Yzerman and Delvecchio - to reach 400 goals as a Red Wing and one of seven – those three plus Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who join Fedorov - with 900 points.

And no one doubts that both the No. 13 of Datsyuk, who is playing in Russia, and the No. 40 of current captain Zetterberg will be retired by the Red Wings at some point.

Fedorov was a spectacular player to watch and could dominate a game like few others who ever laced up hockey skates.  He scored all four Detroit goals in a 4-4 tie with the Los Angeles Kings in 1995, and all five goals in a 5-4 overtime win over the Washington Capitals the night after Christmas in 1996.

But he was also fairly criticized for not being at his absolute best at all times when he was on the ice.

More to Give?

When he was motivated, Fedorov was the best player on the ice. But there were also times when it seemed that he had more to give than he gave.

That vexed and infuriated then-coach Scotty Bowman, who of course, was an old-school taskmaster who demanded everything a player had every time he was on the ice.

Ironically, in this regard Fedorov was similar to Howe, who many feel was the greatest player in NHL history and was nicknamed “Mr. Hockey”.

Howe was also known to sometimes sleepwalk through games – relying on his prodigious natural talent, as Fedorov did – until someone got physical with him. That angered Howe and got him going to be at his best. Red Wings' opponents in his day used the term “Let sleeping dogs lie” to say: Leave Howe alone if he seemed uninterested during a game.

But that was 1946-47 to 1970-71, a different time with not nearly as much media coverage; things off the ice, generally, stayed off the ice.

And, Howe was from Saskatchewan, Canada, not Russia (and not in the immediate post-Cold War era). The heart and desire of Soviet-Russian players – the best flocked to the NHL after December, 1991, when the Soviet Union fell - was questioned by many NHL fans and media members and Fedorov’s seeming indifference at times certainly did not help.

The Red Wings-Fedorov story was a dramatic one from the beginning.

Detroit drafted Fedorov in 1989 and, in the summer of 1990, at the age of 20, he decided he wanted to leave the Soviet Union and begin a new life in North America.

Fedorov was a member of the Soviet national team, which participated in the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, in late July through early August. Fedorov contacted the Red Wings and told them this was a perfect time for him to defect to the United States. So, in a sequence befitting a spy thriller, Fedorov was able to slip away from the team with the help of Red Wings officials and operatives, who then whisked him away to Detroit.

Uneasy Relations 

And when Fedorov – a tremendously talented center - came to the Red Wings for his rookie season of 1990-91, they had Yzerman, the team’s captain, who had long owned the hearts of Red Wings fans.

While their 1-2 center combination was the key to the Stanley Cups the Wings won in 1997, 1998 and 2002, Fedorov and Yzerman always had an uneasy relationship.

The two contrasted in so many ways. Yzerman was a quiet Canadian, talented grinder. Fedorov was a flashy Russian human highlight reel, who dated beautiful and glamorous fellow Russian, tennis star Anna Kournikova, who was a teenager for much of their relationship. Many thought Yzerman felt threatened by Fedorov’s sheer physical talent and, like Bowman, was not happy about the fact that Fedorov’s mind did not always seem focused on hockey.

Also, after the Red Wings had won the 1997 Stanley Cup, Fedorov – whose contract had expired at the end of the season – held out until the final 21 games of the 1997-98 regular season, finally signing a six-year deal worth $38 million. But when he returned, Fedorov was outstanding in the playoffs, helping the Wings to their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Fedorov, meanwhile, felt alienated by the team’s captain and public face and thought that as long as Yzerman was his teammate, he would never get the attention that he deserved.

That’s the reason Fedorov turned down more money from the Red Wings to sign as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks after the 2002-03 season.

That decision not only greatly angered many Red Wings fans – Fedorov was booed every time he touched the puck when he played at JLA after leaving the Wings – but also some in management. And those wounds clearly have not healed.

Devellano was the team’s general manager when Detroit drafted Fedorov. His above non statement is telling because he has been one of the most willing and candid interviewees in the National Hockey League over his 36 years with the Red Wings organization.

While I think Fedorov’s No. 91 should be retired, Devellano’s response clearly indicates that it will not happen … not any time soon, anyway.



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