Sergei Fedorov

Born	December 13, 1969 (1969-12-13) (age 39), Pskov, Russian SFSR, USSR
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 206 lb (93 kg; 14 st 10 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Right
KHL team F. teams	Metallurg Magnitogorsk Washington Capitals Columbus Blue Jackets Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Detroit Red Wings CSKA Moscow
Ntl. team	Soviet Union &  Russia
NHL Draft	74th overall, 1989 Detroit Red Wings
Pro career	1990 – present

Sergei Viktorovich Fedorov (Russian: Сергей Викторович Фёдоров; born December 13, 1969) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward and occasional defenseman^[1] currently playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He gained fame playing for the Detroit Red Wings before tenures with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Columbus Blue Jackets, and lastly the Washington Capitals. On October 25, 2008, Fedorov passed Alexander Mogilny to set a record for most goals by a Russian-born NHL player, scoring his 475th goal.

Playing career

Fedorov was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, fourth round, 74th overall. When he was young, he had to make a choice between his two favourite sports: tennis and hockey. He was equally skilled in both, but ended up going into hockey. In his pre-NHL days, he played for CSKA Moscow on a line with future NHL superstars Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny and was drafted in the same year as Bure and a year after Mogilny. In 1990, while CSKA Moscow was in Seattle for the Goodwill Games, Fedorov quietly slipped out of his hotel room and onto an airplane bound for Detroit.^[2] Thus, he became one of many NHL stars to have defected from the Soviet Union to play in the NHL. Fedorov was described as "three great players in one". During the 1993–94 NHL season, Fedorov won that year's Hart Memorial Trophy (being the first European-trained player to do so), the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and the Lester B. Pearson Award. He finished second in scoring behind Los Angeles' Wayne Gretzky with 56 goals and 120 points. In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 NHL season, Fedorov finished second on the team in points with 50 (20 goals, 30 assists). That season, in a game against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, February 12, Fedorov scored all 4 of Detroit's goals in a 4-4 tie. Although the Red Wings lost the Stanley Cup Finals that year to the New Jersey Devils, Fedorov led all scorers in playoff points with 24 (7 goals, 17 assists). Fedorov won another Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1996, after compiling another 100-point season with 39 goals and 109 points. One year later, he was a member of the Red Wings' first Stanley Cup championship team since 1955, contributing 20 points in 20 playoff games for Detroit. During the regular season, he had achieved the rare feat of scoring 5 goals in a single game, as he got all of Detroit's goals in a 5-4 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on December 26, 1996.

After a lengthy holdout to start the 1997–98 season, Fedorov, a restricted free agent, signed an offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes worth up to $38 million (with bonuses). The Red Wings matched the offer on February 26, 1998, ending Fedorov's holdout. The offer broke down as: $14 million for signing, $2 million for 21 regular season games, and $12 million for the team reaching conference finals. $28 million for 43 total games in 1997–98 is the largest single season amount paid to an NHL athlete. Fedorov helped the Red Wings win their second consecutive Stanley Cup that season.

On February 14, 1999, Fedorov announced that his entire base salary for the 1998–99 season, $2 million, would be used to create the Sergei Fedorov Foundation, a charity to assist Detroit area children. During the 1990s, Fedorov was third in playoff scoring, with 134 points behind only Jaromír Jágr (135) and Mario Lemieux (186). He is only the third player in NHL history to have four consecutive 20+ point playoff campaigns, along with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier.

Fedorov won a silver medal with Russia in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and a bronze medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Fedorov scored 87 points in 90 games during the 2002–03 NHL season, and won the inaugural Kharlamov Trophy.

In the 2003 offseason, Fedorov signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim after a long contract dispute with the Red Wings, in which he rejected deals for 5 years/$50 million and 4 years/$40 million. Fedorov remained with Anaheim from 2003 to 2005. It was with the Ducks that Fedorov picked up his 1,000th point, becoming the first Russian-born and fifth European-born player to do so.^[3] In an unanticipated move, he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 15, 2005.^[4] Fedorov, as a Blue Jacket, also played his 1,000th NHL game on November 30, 2005, becoming the 13th European-born player to reach 1,000 NHL games and the 205th player overall to do so.^[5]

In a 2006 interview, former Red Wing head coach Scotty Bowman said, "[Fedorov was] one of my favorite players as a coach because he can do anything [asked of him on ice]." Bowman coached nine of Fedorov's thirteen seasons with Detroit. During the late 1990s, Bowman experimented by using Fedorov on defense and pairing him with Larry Murphy. The Red Wings senior vice-president Jim Devellano said, "I’m convinced if we left him there, he’d have won a Norris Trophy".^[2] Although he was effective playing defense, Fedorov stated that he would rather play up front. This did not prevent Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock from moving Fedorov back to defense on occasion.

The acrimony created during his 1997–98 holdout led to hard feelings among some Red Wings fans, and those feelings were intensified when he signed his free-agent contract with Anaheim after Detroit lost to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs that same year. Fans seemed to take the fact that Anaheim signed him for less than the Red Wings offered him as a personal slap in the face. Fedorov has since become the most consistently booed player at Joe Louis Arena when his team comes in to play the Red Wings, as fans jeer him every time he touches the puck. Even so, he is fourth all-time in nearly every offensive category in Red Wings history behind Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, and Alex Delvecchio. Only Howe, Yzerman, Delvecchio, and Nicklas Lidström have played more games as a Red Wing.

On February 26, 2008, Fedorov was traded to the Washington Capitals for Capitals draft pick Ted Ruth.^[6]

On July 9, 2008, Fedorov signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Washington Capitals.

On October 25, 2008, Fedorov passed Alexander Mogilny for most goals by a Russian-born hockey player. The previous record held by Mogilny was 473 goals.

On April 28, 2009, at age 39, Fedorov scored the game winning goal against the New York Rangers in game seven of a playoff series, the oldest player in NHL history to do so.^[7]

On May 25, 2009, it was reported that Fedorov would sign a 2 year contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. The deal is reportedly worth $3.8 million per year.^[8] However, on June 18th he was quoted saying in reference to the KHL agreement and his trip back home to Russia "In a private sense, maybe I did or maybe I didn't. But it's not something I'm going to discuss in the media, period. My main goal was to go to Russia and relax and have a good time. And I did. I didn't think too much about hockey." but also confirmed his interest in returning back to the Washington Capitals.^[9]

On June 25, 2009, a 2 year deal with Magnitogorsk was signed by Fedorov. He said that he wanted to fulfill his father's life long dream of having his two sons play on the same team. ^[10]

On July 24, 2009 Fedorov filed a lawsuit against Joseph Zada for filched on a March agreement to pay him $60 Million to compensate him for the $43 million Fedorov invested with Zada over the past 11 years. The lawsuit was filed by the Russian six-time all star player in Michigan. ^[11]

On November 29, 2009 Fedorov scored his 1500th point in official games.^[12]

Marriage

Sergei claimed he and tennis star Anna Kournikova were married in 2001, but later divorced in 2003.^[13] However, Kournikova's representatives deny any marriage to Fedorov.

Acting

Sergei and his brother Fedor both appeared in a music video for the song My Philosophy performed by the band RU. Sergei agreed to perform in the video, and asked his brother to perform as well, because he was personal friends with the members of the band.

Awards and achievements

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for Russia
Olympic Games
Silver	1998 Nagano	Ice hockey
Bronze	2002 Salt Lake City	Ice hockey
World Championship
Gold	2008 Canada	Ice hockey
Competitor for Soviet Union
World Championship
Gold	1989 Sweden	Ice hockey
Gold	1990 Switzerland	Ice hockey
World Junior Championship
Silver	1988 Soviet Union	Ice hockey
Gold	1989 USA	Ice hockey

• NHL All-Rookie Team - 1991
• NHL All-Star Game(s) - 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003
• Frank J. Selke Trophy - 1994, 1996
• Kharlamov Trophy - 2003
• Hart Memorial Trophy - 1994
• Lester B. Pearson Award - 1994
• 1998 Winter Olympics: Silver medal
• 2002 Winter Olympics: Bronze medal
• 2005 Primus Challenge Bowl for World'Stars
• 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships: Gold medal
• 1990 World Ice Hockey Championships: Gold medal
• 2008 World Ice Hockey Championships: Gold medal
• Currently tied with Mats Sundin, Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias for the NHL record for regular season overtime goals (15).
• 1st Russian player to reach 1,000 NHL points
• 5th all-time in Red Wings team history in points, goals and assists.
• 3 time Stanley Cup Champion: 1997, 1998, 2002, all with Detroit

Career statistics

International play

Played for the Soviet Union in:

• 1988 World Junior Championships (silver medal)
• 1989 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
• 1989 World Championships (gold medal)
• 1990 World Championships (gold medal)
• 1991 Canada Cup

Played for Russia in:

• 1998 Winter Olympics (silver medal)
• 1996 World Cup of Hockey
• 2002 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
• 2008 World Championships (gold medal)

International statistics

Notes and references

See also

• List of NHL statistical leaders
• Notable families in the NHL
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played
• List of Eastern Bloc defectors

External links

• Sergei Fedorov's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database