Motor City’S Engine Wings’ Most Talented Player, Fedorov, Drives Team To Another Stanley Cup

If the desire to replace past pains with the greatest of hockey glories could somehow be measured in speed, Sergei Fedorov was the hungriest player on the ice for some of the most important moments of the Stanley Cup finals.

Fedorov might be best-known as a resident of Hockeytown. But when he was at his best the past few crucial days, he was truly a man of the Motor City. His legs pumped like pistons. His heart, burning for fallen comrades Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov, was an enormous engine of energy. His mind hoped he would be remembered for more than his sticker price.

The Red Wings’ most talented player came through in the most trying of times - the elusive moments of eliminating a worthy opponent.

In Game 3, Fedorov raced all over the ice, collecting 13 shots, and scored the winning goal in a tense third period. In Game 4, Fedorov flew again, smacking into anyone he could find and creating offense as only he can, and set up two of the Wings’ goals.

His performance - but more important, his effort - seemed to be his personal demonstration that magic can mean more than money. After he held out for the season’s first 59 games and signed an offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes, declaring he would not play in Detroit again, Wings fans viewed his unceremonious return with cynical eyes.

The push for a megamillion-dollar contract, to some, indicated an absence of passion for the game. But Fedorov, who collected his $12-million signing bonus in bulk when the Wings advanced to the Western Conference finals, made it his mission to change the opinion of Wings fans in the finals.

He hadn’t been outstanding in the third round. But between the third and fourth games of the finals, Fedorov explained with exasperation how hard he had been working against the Capitals.

On a scoring chance before his goal in Game 3, “I broke my stick,” he said. “I tried so hard, I broke my stick. Then, finally, when I scored that goal, it happened automatically. It was wonderful, because the road, for me, was a road that went like up and down.”

Fearing Fedorov’s fresh legs, every team the Wings faced made sure he had no space to skate. Fedorov did not stay off the score sheet as a consequence, however, scoring a team-high 10 goals and adding 10 assists in the playoffs.

Though his goal in Game 3 gave the Wings a victory on an evening that easily could have ended in defeat, his final two assists of the playoffs might have been his most crucial contributions.

The Capitals were fighting to keep the last remnants of their Cup hopes from fading in the first period of Game 4, and they were fighting hard, since they had played so poorly in first periods to that point. With one deft move, Fedorov gave forward Doug Brown an opportunity for heroism and the Capitals a motive for pessimism.

Fedorov gained the Washington zone with - what else? - speed, turned back toward the blue line, and squeezed a scary pass across the ice and through traffic. The puck passed Capitals center Adam Oates in the slot and sought the stick of Brown, who snapped it behind goalie Olaf Kolzig to give the Wings the all-important first goal, with which they went 13-1 in these playoffs.

Later, after the Capitals had scored to cut the Wings’ lead to 2-1, Fedorov assisted on the goal that put the Wings ahead by two, the goal that gave them the momentum they would ride to their bright, shining Cup victory.

And with that, he perhaps provided Wings fans enough reason to forgive him.