My favored team the Detroit Red Wings lost one of the all-time greats this year to retirement. With Nick Lidstrom retiring, this is one of the most uncertain off-seasons for Detroit in a few years. Add in Brian Rafalski retiring last year and Brad Stuart leaving for San Jose (via trade), the Wings have now lost three of their top four defenseman from their last cup win (and the core from just two years ago). But with the free agency window still a week away, I thought I would dedicate this post to a bit of nostalgia.
I read many great tributes to Nick Lidstrom after his retirement announcement, and I may yet add my own. But while many mentioned his status as a soon-to-be first ballot hall of famer, my thoughts often went to another former Red Wing great who also retired this year. And who also deserves to have his jersey retired in Detroit. That is of course Sergei Fedorov.
Most of the retired Red Wings numbers came from one of the team's most dominant eras, which ran from roughly 1947-48 and ended in 1956-57. During those 10 seasons the wings finished first place eight times, second place twice, reached the cup final seven times and took home four Stanley Cups. The Red Wings would eventually retire the numbers of core players of that era: Terry Sawchuk (1), Ted Lindsay (7), Gordie Howe (9), Alex Delvecchio (10), and Sid Abel (12).
The Red Wings would not experience such a dominant run again until around the start of the 1993-94 season when Scotty Bowman took over a talented but under-achieving roster, which lasted until he retired after the 2001-02 season. And just like the earlier era of success, the late '90s run was fueled by a core group of hall-of-fame players. Of the core players from that era, only Steve Yzerman's No. 19 has been retired. But who are the other core players from the Bowman era? Excluding the key role players who were a big part of the Red Wings success, I come up with Brendan Shanahan, Igor Larionov, Nick Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov.
There's no question Detroit will be raising No. 5 to the rafters next season. But Fedorov's No. 91 should be the next one to follow. I did not see much fanfare for Fedorov when the word came he was retiring, perhaps because he played the past three seasons in the KHL. But much like Lidstrom helped raise the profile of European players by being the first Euro-born player to win the Conn Smythe or raise the Stanley Cup as a captain, Fedorov lead the charge of a new generation of Russians entering the NHL. Previously, many of the Russians who defected from the Soviet Union made it to the NHL past their prime. Fedorov, along with Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bure, entered the NHL as true rookies with their best years ahead of them. And Fedorov stood tallest amongst them, winning the Hart Trophy, a couple of Selkes, and proving himself one of the greatest playoff performers in NHL history.
Fedorov played 908 games for the Red Wings scoring 954 points (fifth in team history) and was +276 in 13 seasons (second only to Lidstrom's +450). Fedorov's points per game rank fourth in team history (1.05) behind only Marcel Dionne (1.18), Steve Yzerman (1.16) and Gordie Howe (1.06). But where Fedorov really shined was in the playoffs.
I've long thought that Fedorov was the under-appreciated piece during the Red Wings '90s dominance. The spotlight was often on Yzerman and eventually on the understated greatness of Lidstrom. Sometimes the big name additions to the team like Larionov and Shanahan got the attention. But Fedorov was one of the best defensive centers in the game and racked up points at a stunning pace. In the four-year period in which the Red Wings went to the cup final, conference final and then won back-to-back cups, Fedorov had 84 points. I'm going to write that again. In the four playoff seasons in which the modern Red Wings were at their most dominant, Fedorov had 84 points! It's not even a question of whether he was the most dominant Red Wing forward during that stretch. No player in the NHL has come close to a four year run like that since, and you have to go back to late-'80s, early '90s Mario Lemieux to find someone who can top it.
But perhaps just as stunning as those numbers is the fact that Fedorov was never recognized as a playoff MVP. In 1997 he was Detroit's leading scorer with 20 points (8G-12A) in 20 games, but lost to Mike Vernon and his 1.76 GAA. The following year he led the team with 10 goals along with 10 assists, but was again the bridesmaid, in favor of Yzerman who had four fewer goals (6), but four more total points (24). I remember thinking that just maybe Fedorov might finally breakthrough for the Conn Smythe after he played a key checking role, led all forwards in ice time and chipped in 19 points in 2002. But if any forward was going to win it that year it would have been Yzerman, who famously scored 23 points on one leg. Of course, Lidstrom very deservingly won the MVP honors, averaging a staggering 31:10 of ice time, adding 16 points and taking a single minor penalty over 23 playoff games.
So how can there even be a question that Fedorov's number would be retired? Well, because of what happened next. Fedorov played one more year with the Red Wings, which ended in a disappointing first-round sweep at the hands of the Ducks. Fedorov then signed with those same Ducks in the off-season, rejecting Detroit's 4-year $40 million contract in favor of the Ducks' 5-year $40 million. I fully expected this to happen at the time, though it was shocking for many Red Wings fans who had gotten used to their team being the poacher in those situations. It was clear that Fedorov deeply wanted the chance to shine outside the shadow of Yzerman, and maybe try living in California. I grew up in Michigan, so I can't fault him for wanting to get away from all that snow. And like I said, he was the best Wings' forward during four trips to the finals, and not once won the MVP award. If that happened to you, wouldn't you feel like maybe it was time to see if the grass was greener someplace else?
And if you think this was a bad split, let's talk about Ted Lindsay for a minute. Here's a guy who started the NHL players union and pretty much made his GM Jack Adams lose his mind. Lindsay was one of the best players in the league and a key player on the Wings' "Production Line." That didn't stop Adams from stripping him of the captaincy, trading him to Chicago, planting rumors in the media that Lindsay had trash-talked his teammates and even showing a fake contract to journalists to convince other players Lindsay had lied about how much he was paid. (Side note: Thanks Wikipedia for the details. But how is it that an NHL award is named after Jack Adams? What a dirt bag.) And yet, despite all of that ugliness, Terrible Ted's No. 7 was rightfully retired.
So whatever bitterness exists between the Red Wings org. and Fedorov, here's hoping they get past that sooner, rather than later (possibly at the Winter Classic alumni game?). It's past time for Fedorov to get the ovation from Detroit fans that he deserves. Now I leave you with this awesome segment on the Russian Five from the glow-puck days of Fox. The hockey clips are fantastic, second only to the fashion.
