The Detroit Red Wings are set to honor one of the all-time organization greats on Monday night as they raise Sergei Fedorov’s No. 91 to the rafters prior to hosting the Carolina Hurricanes at Little Caesars Arena.
Fedorov is set to join Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Nicklas Lidström, Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Sid Abel and current Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman as players who have had their jersey retired by this Original Six franchise.
In early November at the Red Wings Centennial weekend, Fedorov spoke to the media about what it meant to be honored by the Red Wings, the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 1989 National Hockey League draft.
“Tremendous honor,” Fedorov said. “Thoughts are very simple. I got lucky to play with the greatest players in the game, coaches, staff and I cannot thank ownership enough that gave me a chance and sent a plane to Portland, Oregon, to get me. Mr. Ilitch’s family did a great job.”
Fedorov among Red Wings all-time-great scorers
Over 13 seasons with the Red Wings, Fedorov skated in 908 regular season games, totaling 400 goals and 554 assists. The 954 points give Fedorov the sixth most in club history, trailing Howe, Yzerman, Delvecchio, Lidström and Henrik Zetterberg. The 400 goals place the Russian native fourth all-time and the 554 assists slot in Fedorov at seventh.
Fedorov was a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, winning in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 2001-02. The playoffs are where Fedorov shined with the Red Wings, skating in 162 games, Fedorov picked up 163 points, good for the third most amongst all Red Wings. During the three Stanley Cup runs, Fedorov picked up 20, 20 and 19 points, being a driving force for the Red Wings offense.
Over the course of Fedorov’s 20-year National Hockey League career, the forward picked up the Hart Memorial trophy in 1994, the Lester B. Pearson award in 1994 and the Frank J. Selke trophy in 1994 and 1996. Fedorov was the first Russian-born and trained to be awarded with the Hart trophy.
Former Red Wings captain, Lidström, was selected in the same draft class as Fedorov and during the Centennial weekend touched on what it was like to play with Fedorov.
“Sergei had a tremendous career,” Lidström said. “Sergei was already a star when I joined the team. A couple of years later, he was a superstar in the NHL. Hart Trophy winner, Stanley Cup Winner, Selke - he won everything.”
Former Red Wings head coach and Hall of Fame inductee in 1991, Scotty Bowman, coached Fedorov for nine seasons and spoke highly of the forward prior to Fedorov being named to the Top 100 Greatest Players in NHL history.
“Sergei could do it all,” Bowman said.
Fedorov's call to the Hall
These accolades led to Fedorov being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and being named as one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players to ever play in 2017. At the time of the induction, a former opponent of Fedorov’s, Mike Modano, spoke on the challenges that came when going against Fedorov.
“He did everything really well, skate, pass, shoot. He had great intelligence. Great faceoff guy. Played every position on the ice,” Modano said. “You could never push him off the puck. His leg strength was so above everybody else and that made him impossible to get off-balance.”
Looking at Fedorov's entire career
Fedorov ended up making stops in Anaheim, Columbus and Washington before returning to Russia to finish his professional career with Magnitogorsk Metallurg for three seasons. Fedorov finished his 20-year career with 483 goals and 696 assists over 1248 career games.
Fedorov was the first Russian-born skater to reach 1,000 career points. Amongst all-time Russian players, Fedorov’s 1179 points rank third amongst all Russians, trailing former teammate with the Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
The Red Wings Centennial season will provide another night of great memories on Jan. 12, as they honour one of the greatest players to ever don the winged wheel, giving fans memories from their Stanley Cup-winning years.