Sports
Sergei Fedorov
born 1969 · ice hockey center
Hall of Fame center who defected from the Soviet Union to join the Red Wings in 1990, won three Stanley Cups in Detroit and the 1994 Hart Trophy as league MVP.
- Born
Pskov, Soviet Union
age 56- Birth name
- Sergei Viktorovich Fyodorov
- Detroit years
- 1990–2003
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Detroit drafted the young Fedorov in 1989, and a year later a Detroit sportswriter smuggled a secret letter to him at an exhibition game in Helsinki inviting him to defect; Red Wings executive Jim Lites soon flew him out of Portland on owner Mike Ilitch's private jet, making Fedorov one of the first Soviet players to jump to the NHL. He became one of the most dazzling two-way players in the league, dominating so completely in 1993–94 that Wayne Gretzky called him the best player in the game and he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP, the first European-trained player to do so. Fedorov anchored three Detroit Stanley Cup teams, in 1997, 1998 and 2002, and was a key part of the Red Wings' celebrated Russian Five unit. He left Detroit as a free agent in 2003 after 13 seasons and later finished his career with Anaheim, Columbus and Washington. In 2026 the Red Wings retired his number 91, the ninth number retired in franchise history.
Highlights
- Defected from the Soviet Union to sign with Detroit in 1990
- 1994 Hart Memorial Trophy winner (NHL MVP), the first European-trained player to win it
- Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings in 1997, 1998 and 2002
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015
- Number 91 retired by the Red Wings, 2026
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1990–2003
Joe Louis Arena
Demolished · 1979–2019
His home arena for all three Stanley Cup wins with Detroit; demolished in 2019.