Transcript: Sergei Fedorov Intermission Interview
November 7th, 2025 vs. New York Rangers
Ken Daniels, Mickey Redmond, Sergei Fedorov
KD: Well, 13 Red Wings seasons, just one of four Wings to score 400 as a Red Wing, one of seven to 900 points, three Stanley Cups, a Hart Trophy, and two Selkes, as best forward. Well really, there is a David Letterman show [shaking head] needing no introduction, and you are one who needs no introduction, we’re so looking forward to January 12th, when, uh, your jersey is gonna go to the rafters, but, before we start up front, let’s start at the back end, and my first question for you is you were a pretty good, darn good defenseman too, how did that happen?
SF: And Scotty called me in office, and says, “ Can you play D?” Like, “yes.” [Chuckles]. All I was thinking about was extra three or four minutes, because I was playing between sixteen and eighteen minutes?
MR: That’s what he told me! He said you, you, you wanted more minutes, you wanted nineteen minutes, he says the only way I can do it is if I put you on defense.
MR: And then he told me, he says, he said this three weeks ago, he said I better put him with Lidstrom because he might need help. And after two games he said he doesn’t need help, I’ll put him with other guys who need help.
SF: [Empathetically] Larry Murphy.
SF: Larry Murphy is the best partner on a D. He’s awesome.
MR: How are you enjoying the weekend so far?
SF: Overwhelming, but ah, it’s great to be home.
MR: And, and, you and I talked briefly, and, uh, when you got the phone call, about the jersey going to the rafters, talk about that.
SF. Yeah. Well, I lost my breath, and uh, I can’t gather my thoughts, and uh, Chris was thinking, that, uh, I don’t listen what he has to say.
MR: Chris Ilitch, you’re referring to.
SF: Yeah. Well, we talk, we talk for three, four minutes, and I had no idea how this will end up. With that particular comment and stuff, so…
KD: The main thing is, the main thing is you just said it’s good to be home.
KD: And you’ve only been here, this is your second time home, since retiring.
SF: Yeah. Yes, that’s true, yes, that’s true. [Shrugs, smiling] Working hard.
KD: We’re surprised by that, what are you doing now?
SF: I am actually, ah, representing ownership to the Red Army team that, ah, I been managing for, over ten years, and then coaching for three, and now I don’t have that intense schedule, which is, I’m happy to be home, and full time father, and ah, happy to be back, ah, with my family.
MR: You got two young kids,
MR: Gives you more time, cause you’re not coaching, with them.
SF: Yeah. Alexandra, nine, acrobatic, very energy, very, kind of, mature now. Viktor, eight, name, ah, after my father, uh, playing hockey, little bit. Ah, taking him from school to hockey and so on, so. Six times a week.
KD: And you’re still skating, too.
KD: You’re still skating.
SF: I’m skating Wednesday…
KD: And we start the game! Stay, stay with us for a couple of minutes. [Second period starts]
MR: Yeah! For sure, you still love to skate though, how many times a week?
SF: Wednesday, Friday, guys.
KD: It’s like Mick! Mick, misses, uh, Mick misses a Thursday, uh,
MR: I’m Tuesday, Thursday. But, uh.
KD: Tuesday, Thursday yeah.
MR: Can’t wait to get there. Anyways, lot of, been a great weekend so far, Sergei, to see a lot of the teammates you were with, that won the Stanley Cup with you.
SF: Yup. Lot of memories, like I said, it’s overwhelming, and um, I wish I would come more often.
KD: Well maybe in the future you will.
SF: I think so! Yeah, I think so, like I said, my schedule not that intense, so I can uh, really, come back.
MR: The KHL! Is, is the game played a similar way in the KHL as it is here in the NHL?
SF: Honestly, I see more structure, in uh, KHL teams than in NHL. We have a little bit different schedule, more time to practice, and uh, play without the puck, it’s really the key to keep the jobs, for the coaches.
MR: We’ll talk a little bit about that, when you guys were put together by Bowman, back in, ah, [laughing], back in, in, Calgary that night—
MR: What an unbelievable night that was.
MR: What are your, what are your memories of that night? You guys—
SF: [Chuckles] Igor just walked in, on the bus for the game, then we had a short meeting, and uh, Scotty says, uh, “okay, you guys playing together.” We look at each other, little bit, uh, soft smile, and we just go, go on, on warmup and ready to play.
MR: Then you decided not to give Calgary the puck all night, they only had eight shots on goal.
SF: That is amazing, because that’s, that’s, I’m not sure if I was aware of it, but ah, one thing I know, it still was tough game, but we controlled the play.
KD: You guys, you guys played the game differently because if you didn’t like what you saw offensively, you said, we’re taking it back, and we’re not dumping it in, take it back, start over again, see if we can’t find a hole in the defense.
SF: We, we sent, avant-garde forward, but we knew, second wave, or third wave, we’ll enter the zone eventually.
MR: A guy without the puck, as you said. (not sure on this line)
SF: Correct. But, ah, he was gaining speed, and uh, he was, ah, ready to go, almost, one-and-oh.
KD: That’s exactly what happened, you kept the defenseman flat-footed, you got the speed going.
KD: I remember, playing against the Soviet Union—
SF: Changing that rhythm. That’s the name of the game I guess.
MR: 1972, I was on Team Canada, played, ah, Kharlamov and that crew, over in Moscow. They were unbelievable to watch and to play against, and you guys played the game very much like they did. Really, really good hockey players. Fun game, fun game to watch.
SF: Absolutely. I agree with you, and ah, hope everybody like it when we start playing together.
KD: Oh my god, are you kidding me? Did they like it?
MR: How much has the game changed, that you’re witnessing now, if you see some NHL games, while you’re in Russia, how much has the game changed, do you think, structurally, from how, when you played?
SF: Yeah, it’s more structure for sure than it, it was before, but, um, what can I say, ah, the way we practice, the way we been coached. Boy we practice a lot, and uh, um, I guess we were stronger skaters because, um, bigger ice, um—
KD: Oh there you go, there’s that night [Playing Calgary game on the screen from first Russian Five appearance].
MR: There’s that night. There’s the night in Calgary.
SF: I remember by heart this, like yesterday. I, I, honestly. And I saw those, those highlights, see? I run 2-D, Igor got his own rebound. And he never, slap the shot.
KD: Yeah, he had the wrist shot, not the slap shot. Do you still speak to all the guys?
SF: Yeah, Slava Kozlov coaching, Igor coaching, uh, Slava Fetisov, uh, just talk to him a few days back, Vladdy here, sitting with him, watching the game. So, yeah. We aha, we around, we around each other.
KD: [Referring to the game happening] Red Wings are shorthanded here. Do you miss coaching, in the KHL?
SF: I gotta say, ah, sometimes, kinda, those kinda thoughts, going on through my mind.
SF: As soon as I see my kids and my family, no regrets.
KD: How much did you take from Scotty back at the bench? Anything?
SF: I asked this question couple times already, in last two, three days, ah, what I understood, ah, coach has to be with a, kind of cold, mind, because he’s gotta know who’s going, what’s the opposition doing against you, and so on and so on. So, basically, once I settle down with my emotions and ah, being called up, three days before the season as head coach of the team, I was just, ah, trying to do my work, and on the bench, I had most of the fun. Because preparations, uh, practices, and ah, that’s all good, but I think I won most of my games in the game, on the bench.
MR: Did you, uh, have a hard time as a coach, when players couldn’t play the game as well as you did?
SF: No. No, not necessarily, it was no comparison whatsoever because, I realize, it is what it is, and you gotta work with it.
MR: There ya go big boy [Fedorov highlights playing on screen]. The Thoroughbred they called you. The Thoroughbred. That worked.
SF: [Laughing] Oh my god.
MR: Looks easy, you know.
SF: I got criticized for that, because it looks easy.
KD: Those aren’t the skates I remember, but the white skates, do you still have them?
SF: They oh, ah, in my office right now, standing still. ‘97 Stanley Cup, ‘98 Stanley Cup.
KD: The vision of you, skating in those… [Laughing]
SF: The most important thing, Kenny, about skates, I design them to the millimeter.
SF: Yeah, it’s ah, 703 Graphs, and ah, I put them in Nike, and Nike has the great material, so they still feel comfortable.
KD: Mickey Redmond used to have the Lang skates that looked like a ski boot. You helped design them.
SF: You know, I start with a steel blades too. Yeah, yeah, I start with, they were brown. Brown–black.
KD: Have you switched to the blades that you just snap on? Have you switched to those skates now, or ya still back to the old fashioned?
SF: Old-fashioned. Feels like we play from 90s.
MR: Like Crosby! Crosby hasn’t switched.
SF: Yeah, yeah. No, I don’t wanna switch, I think it’s ah, different push, on the ice.
MR: And whaddaya think, of one of the guys here tonight, who’s lined up on the left side here of our tendy, Panarin?
SF: Ah, very intelligent, no doubt about, has great skills, and can put the puck in net, that’s for sure. By the way, he run into me, last warming up—
KD: And they score [Referring to Rangers goal]
SF: —I said I’m gonna try…
KD: Right in front, and who gets the goal but Noah Laba, he’s from Northville Michigan.
KD: And he gets the goal in front of sixty family and friends here.
KD: Noah Laba, gets the goal.
SF: Good for, good for him.
KD: [Replay being show] The, the, the power play expired, too, funny bounce in front of the net, Panarin did have a piece of it, he’ll get and assist on the play, oh wow. Two or three sticks in the lane, but, just a day late and a dollar short, and he gets his stick on it, the last minute, you see he’s got position on Chiarot on the inside, and it’s a 2-1 Ranger lead.
MR: Yeah. Lafreniere gets his 200th career point, as he sets it up, right here. Oh Talbot nearly blocked it.
MR: So Noah Laba’s family, uh, from Northville, et cetera, will be, uh, happy with that one, his third goal, of the season. As Sergei Fedorov, the great Sergei Fedorov joining us, and I wanna think ahead to January 12th, have you started on your speech yet?
SF: Aha, I was bouncing some ideas. Because I don’t wanna do anything formal, I wanna do, uh, bottom of my heart.
SF: So I don’t know how it’s gonna turn out, but, ah, I know one thing. It’s gonna be, ah, it’s gonna be good speech, I think. It’s gonna be…
MR: I can see you getting emotional thinking about it right now.
SF: Yeah, yeah. I cannot do it the other way. I don’t know, I try but, doesn’t work out.
KD: Well, you had a lot of, a lot of, good times here in Detroit, and you left a lot of wonderful memories for a lot of people. Which you found out, really, when you came back to play in the game, the outdoor game, in Comerica Park. And, ah, they gave you a rousing ovation that night.
SF: Yeah, that was amazing feeling. And I think, uh, still, to this day, those people who really made me feel comfortable again.
MR: Well, it’s always good to have you back, Sergei, and we’re, we’re looking forward to ah, obviously that night when your jersey goes up, and ah, hopefully, as many family members as possible can get here, and hopefully we’re gonna see you a lot more, as time goes by as well.
SF: Sounds like a plan. Thank you Mickey.
MR: For sure. Thank you. Thank you Sergei, thank you. Appreciate it.
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