Red Wings Honor Sergei Federov In Style With White Skates And An Iconic Corvette
It was quite the fitting ceremony for a player known for flashiness
In the pantheon of NHLers whose nastiness is sometimes overlooked, one of the top dogs is Sergei Federov.
I know he's a Stanley Cup champion and a Hall of Famer, so he gets his due, but he's one of those guys you can be just sitting at home and think, "Man, that guy was sick," then you pull up some highlights, and before you know it, it's several hours later.
But despite his accolades and achievements, Federov's number had yet to be raised to the rafters in Detroit, where he won three Cups and did the bulk of his damage.
That is, until Monday night, when the Red Wings honored him with one of the coolest jersey retirement ceremonies I can remember.
It started during warmups when the Red Wings all hit the ice wearing special sets of wheels: replicas of Federov's iconic white Nike skates.
Those skates are iconic. By the way, another wild rabbit hole to fall into is old Nike hockey gear. There was some weird stuff.
I remember playing against kids wearing those skates, though. If you lined up against someone in those, you knew they were either super nasty and were about to drop a hat trick in a single period on you, or they totally sucked at hockey but had rich parents, and usually a hot mom.
There was no middle in-between.
Obviously, those white skates fit nicely with the flashy style of play that Fedorov was known for. You know what else is flashy? Sports cars!
What's even cooler is that it's a Burgundy C4 Corvette, which is exactly like the one the Red Wings bought Federov after he defected from the Soviet Union.
It was quite the night, and better yet, the Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes (who were on their bench for the ceremony; a very classy move).
Despite leaving the Red Wings and playing the final years of his NHL career with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington Capitals before capping off his playing days with a couple of seasons in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Federov said Detroit is home.
What a great way to honor a Red Wings legend in style.
Now, let me get you started on falling down that Sergei Federov highlight rabbit hole.