Hall of Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, the longtime teammate of Sergei Fedorov during their time together with the Detroit Red Wings, is happy to see the latter have his jersey number retired by the club later this season.
There were few players who were more dominant when they were at the top of their game than Sergei Fedorov, and his reputation of being one of the NHL’s most exciting and dynamic players was more than deserved.
The bulk of Fedorov’s NHL career was spent with the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup three times along with numerous other awards.
While the split between Fedorov and the Red Wings in 2003 caused some animosity, both sides have since mended fences.
It was announced prior to this season that Fedorov’s iconic No. 91 jersey would be raised to the rafters at Little Caesars Arena prior to a Jan. 12 game against the Carolina Hurricanes, making him the latest Red Wings player to receive the honor.
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Fedorov’s longtime teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, a Hall of Famer in his own right who had his jersey number retired in years past, believes that Fedorov is well-deserving of the honor.
“Sergei had a tremendous career,” Lidstrom said on Friday. “When I came to the Wings, he came in a year before I came and Sergei was already a star when I joined the team. A couple of years later he was a superstar in the NHL. A Hart Trophy winner, Stanley Cup winner, Selke (award), he won everything, so it’s well deserved to see his jersey go up to the rafters.”
Fedorov himself looked back at the incredible accomplishments that he, Lidstrom, and the rest of the Red Wings were able to achieve during the height of their successes together that united the city and built a dynasty.
“We had a few disappointing seasons, but we never thought we cannot have done it – the fans drove us, supported us, win or lose, bad or good,” Fedorov explained. “It was an amazing platform for us to continue this hard working process until eventually to get that precious trophy to the city, to the state, to the fans.”
“Those parades, over one million people,” he continued. “I think it was a sea of people. It was a tremendous honor to be on that stage and speak to all those people who really want us to succeed. And really thank God we did it. This kind of winning attitude, winning manner helped one another.”
Fedorov is in town for the ongoing Red Wings Centennial Celebration fan fest, and he’ll be back in Detroit in early January for his jersey retirement ceremony.
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