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It's official! In October GreatestHockeyLegends.com, now entering it's 4th season, had the third busiest month in site history!
When you combine sister site HockeyBookReviews.com I blew away my previous best for readership.
A big thank you goes out to my loyal readers.
Sergei Fedorov became a man larger than life. He was one of the flashiest and best hockey players of his day, paid millions and millions of dollars. He was known outside of the game for fast cars, nice clothes and his relationship with tennis sex symbol Anna Kournikova (and Tara Reid and Danielle Meers, for that matter).
There was a time when Sergei lived a much simpler life. The Russian was born in Pskov, just outside of what we now call St. Petersburg, but he grew up in Apatiti, a town literally north of the Arctic Circle. He learned to skate on the frozen rivers, and before he was a teenager was playing in the local adult hockey league, with his father Viktor as the center.
Word of Sergei's incredible hockey ability traveled fast, even from the Arctic. By the age of 13 his family agreed to let him move to Minsk, in what is now known as Belarus, to attend a special sports school to hone his hockey skills. It would not be long before he was relocated again, this time to Moscow to train with the Red Army and the famed Russian national team.
The national team and father Viktor pushed Sergei because they all knew he was a true hockey prodigy, somebody who very possibly would one day be considered the greatest hockey player from Russia ever. Remember, this was still in the days of communist Soviet Union where a star player like Sergei was essentially developed to be part of the superiority propaganda machine of the Kremlin. It was very important that Sergei and others become the best hockey players possible.
Sergei needed no extra incentives as wanted to be the best he could be. The only thing was Sergei had a much different vision of the future than did the Russian hockey authorities. Sergei wanted to be the best player in the National Hockey League, and he wanted the freedoms of western life.
Sergei made that vision a reality in 1990, with the help of the Detroit Red Wings who drafted Sergei 74th overall in 1989. With the Soviet team playing at the Goodwill Games in Seattle. Fedorov snuck away from his KGB watchers and into a waiting limousine who took the young Russian star to the airport. He boarded Red Wings owner Mike Illitch's private jet, and touched down in Detroit before the Russians even knew he was missing.
"It was both a scary and happy time for me," Fedorov recalled. "I just wanted an opportunity to play the game I loved. But it was tough for me to leave my country, very tough."
Fedorov loved his homeland very much, but he knew he had to leave. Unlike countrymen and fellow defector Alexander Mogilny, he purposely waited to defect until his mandatory military training was complete before bailing. That way he could not be declared a traitor to his country. In fact, though the details have always been murky, Sergei may have even have beaten the official defector label thanks to post-event negotiations.
Despite the language difficulties and a very different world he found himself in, Sergei immediately established himself as one of the best players in the National Hockey League. When all was said and done he won three Stanley Cups, 2 Selke trophies, 1 Hart Trophy and 1 Pearson Trophy and the highest scoring Russian player in NHL history.
Of course the political world changed drastically following Sergei's jump to freedom, and he was able to compete for his country again, playing in 2 Olympics (will he make it 3 in 2010?), 2 Canada Cups/World Cups, 1 World Championship and 3 World Junior Championships.
Fedorov was a near perfect hockey player, perhaps the most versatile player of the modern generation. He was so heady and understood the game so well that he could play any position, even defense, a true rarity of the hockey elite. His phenomenal skating prowess and agility complimented his intelligence so that he could excel in any situation.
He was trained in the mould of a classic Russian centerman, which is why he was so good defensively. He knew where to be so that he would be in perfect position. Sometimes he was unfairly criticized for not keeping his feet moving when playing defensively. So many 4th line defensive specialists pump their legs to keep up, whereas the powerfully footed Fedorov only needed a stride or two to make the play.
"It's not always how many times you score, it's what you do to help the team win. Stopping goals or creating opportunities is just as important as any goal you score," he once philosophized very accurately.
Fedorov only won 2 Selke trophies as best defensive forward, but he likely would have won more had he not put up such gaudy offensive numbers, too. He was a dazzling puck handler with an absolute lazer of a shot. He saw the ice brilliantly and was a top playmaker, especially springing linemates on the transition offense.
Fedorov had the ability to dominate any game. He was critized for taking nights off during the regular season, and it was fair comment. But the bigger the game, the better Fedorov was. He put together 4 consecutive Stanley Cup playoffs with at least 20 points, an incredible feat.
I often wonder how great Fedorov's legacy would have been had he remained in Detroit longer. He left in 2003, chasing the money and the stardom Anaheim promosed. But he wasted away in relative obscurity in California, then in Columbus, before he had a minor resurrection with Alexander Ovechkin's Washington Capitals late in his career.
Had he stayed in Detroit he could have won more Stanley Cups and, with Steve Yzerman battling injuries then retiring, possibly be recognized as the game's best player. I've often wondered if Fedorov has any regrets over leaving, too.
In my mind, there was no more perfect a hockey player than Sergei Fedorov on the top of his game. He could play on my team any day of the week.
Foam Lake Saskatchewan is a small town to the east of Saskatoon that lives and breathes hockey. The small town has produced some fine hockey players over the years - most notably St. Louis Blues Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, Winnipeg 30 goal scorer Pat Elynuik and Detroit Red Wings tough guy Dennis Polonich.
If you look at Polonich's penalty minute totals - you'd assume he was a hockey goon. He had 1242 career PIM in just 390 games, including one season with 302 PIM. But when you take a look at his size - just 5'6" 166 pounds - and you can not help but be amazed that this man took on the NHL's heavyweights like Hammer Schultz, Tiger Williams and Clark Gillies!
Polonich was a Theoren Fleury-like player out of the Flin Flon Bombers of the WCJHL. Mostly because of his size, he was passed over by NHL teams until 1973, when the Red Wings took a late round flyer on him in the NHL Entry Draft. Polonich had spent the previous season playing for the London Lions in Britain of all teams, a Wings experimental affiliate team. The Wings liked his spunk and brought him to training camp.
"Polo," as he was affectionately known as, made a good impression on the Wings in his first NHL training camp - fighting and clawing anything in site. The Wings rewarded him with a trip to the minor leagues - something which seemed unlikely even just a year ago. Dennis went to the AHL Virginia Wings and played admiringly, and was rewarded for his fine play with a 4 game call up. Dennis rarely got to play in his first 4 NHL games, however.
In 1975-76, a spot on the Red Wings roster was opened up thanks to the departure of hot young superstar Marcel Dionne. Polonich benefited from this as he got a chance to play somewhat regularly in the NHL - 57 games. While no one ever said Polonich was the guy who directly replaced Marcel Dionne and his 121 points from the season before, in a way he did. He certainly did not have the skill or the style or the offensive statistics of Marcel, but Dennis brought his fiery style of play to the Motor City much to the delight of Red Wings fans. Dennis came to play every single night, and left every ounce of exhausted effort on the ice by the time the game was over. He had just 11 goals and 23 points that season - and a well earned 302 minutes in penalties. But he was named as the Wings most exciting player and almost instantly became a fan favorite in Detroit.
Fans of the lackluster 1970s teams in Detroit had little to cheer about their team in those days, but they loved their Dennis.
"I was popular," Polonich said. "I can remember them chanting, 'Polo, Polo, Polo.' When I look back, those are the things that warms the heart."
Polonich would play 4 and 1/2 more seasons in Detroit. For a time he captained the team, and he always led by example.
"I was a feisty little disturber on the ice," Polonich said, "and I played against some of the all-time great lines."
While many disliked the violence of hockey back in the 1970s, Polonich makes no apologies for the way he played.
"I played with a lot of emotion and I tried to get the team to play with emotion," he said. "In hindsight, some of the time it was called for, and maybe some of the times it was unnecessary. But that's the way I played and that's what I had to do to survive."
Polonich was involved in one particularly ugly incident ion October 28, 1978. After getting speared in the face, Colorado Rockies Wilf Paiement hits Detroit's Dennis Polonich in the face with his stick, causing some serious facial injuries. County prosecutors investigated the incident, but unlike a few other on ice incidents in the time period did not press any charges. While Paiement was suspended for 15 games, that wasn't good enough for Polonich who then opted to sue Paiement, who was covered by an insurance policy for such events. Polonich and his lawyers apparently agreed to settle out of court for $50,000 but the insurance company wanted to try it's hand with the judicial system. That proved to be a costly error as a US federal jury awarded Polonich a princely sum of $850,000!
Polonich was never quite the same after the ugly incident. In 1979-80 he had just 2 goals and 127 PIM in 66 games. By 1980-81 he was sent down to the minor leagues by the mid way point of the season. Aside from an 11 game call up in 1982-83, Dennis would remain the minors until he retired in 1987.
Dennis scored 52 goals and 82 assists for 141 points in 390 NHL games. He will be remembered as a cult hero in Detroit and as a feisty heart-and-soul type in the colorful yet violent 1970s.
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