Enough is enough! The Detroit Red Wings need to right a wrong. The team needs to let bygones be bygones and retire the number of a Red Wings legend. The great Sergei Fedorov.
Sergei Fedorov is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings and first ballot Hockey Hall-of-Famer. In his prime Fedorov was considered one of the greatest players in the NHL.
Yes, he had a painful exit from the Red Wings. That changes nothing; his numbers did not dip. His importance to three Stanley Cup teams did not diminish.
It is unfair that had he played his entire career in Detroit his name would be in the rafters alongside Detroit Red Wings legends Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Terry Sawchuk, Sid Abel, Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio and soon to be added, Red Kelly. I hope this is not the case. Of course, some of the players mentioned above played elsewhere the feeling around Fedorov is that if he didn’t sign elsewhere, he would already have his jersey hanging over the ice at LCA.
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Sergei was an unbelievable strong skater not to mention Fedorov dominated all over the ice. He was must see t.v when it was his shift. Fans knew he was going to do something great and almost every time he did.
A long hold out and Fedorov’s willingness to take less money lead to a rift between himself and the Detroit Red Wings. That rift would last 15 years; some thought the relationship was beyond repair.
Former Detroit Red Wings legendary coach Scotty Bowman called Fedorov “The best skater I’ve ever seen.” That is high praise coming from a coach that has seen some of the all-time greats in the history of the NHL.
Sergei, has some impressive numbers: 400 goals, 554 assists, 908 regular season games in 13 years with the Winged Wheels. He still ranks in the top 10 in nearly every team stat.
Fedorov was a member of the vaunted “Russian five.” It seems as though the Detroit Red Wings organization and Fedorov began to repair their differences when he was elected to the Hockey Hall-of-Fame. He began to show up at Red Wings games and events, and the Wings honored him at a home game soon after he was elected into the HOF.
If Sergei Fedorov’s #91 does not belong in the rafters high above the Little Caesars Arena ice the neither does Steve Yzerman’s, there I said it and I will not back down. Yzerman is adored in the city of Detroit and rightfully so. Fedorov, on the other hand, is not far behind.
Those of us lucky enough to see him play can never forget the impact he had on Red Wings hockey. There are three Stanley Cups that serve as a constant reminder. A reminder that it is time to retire 91.