Living legend Sergei Fedorov will skate tonight on defense, paired with Jeff Schultz (both left-handed shots). Of course, he’s done that before in last April’s playoffs, in dire circumstances.
Here’s a brief refresher on Sergei’s career on the back line.
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One year prior to the trade which brought the Russian icon to Washington from Columbus, Feds had become a near-permanent fixture on the back line with the Jackets. He was most often paired with Rostislav Klesla and, to a lesser extent, with Ron Hainsey (also both left shots). Said his then-coach Ken Hitchcock:
“Sergei gives us an element back there we’ve needed all season. He moves the puck so well. He reads the play so well. And he’s really good at skating it out of trouble. But we have to watch his minutes.”
In an interview with hockeyadventure.com in late November of 2007, titled “I still love the game,” Fedorov seemed ambivalent at best about a future lengthy tour of duty on defense:
HockeyAdventure.com: Speaking of being put in a tough position, last season you were asked to play on defense for a stretch, which you’d done before with the Wings.
Sergei Fedorov: I didn’t have a choice. I had to play defense because of a couple of injuries to my arms. I wasn’t quick enough for me to play offensively at the time. On the blueline, it seems to me, I had that extra second to move the puck and make the right play.
HockeyAdventure.com: You don’t really like playing defense that much, though, do you?
Sergei Fedorov: That’s not my top choice. I like to play center forward. That’s where I got my wings.
HockeyAdventure.com: Jimmy Devellano once said he thought you could have won a Norris Trophy if you stuck with defense.
Sergei Fedorov [chuckles]: I think that was a long time ago! Obviously I feel comfortable playing defense. It’s a no-brainer with the speed I have as a forward and the ability to pass the puck. I wouldn’t say it’s that difficult for me. At times, it could be. But I’m a natural center forward. I can play defense part-time. Scotty [Bowman] asked me many times when we had injuries in Detroit, and then again it happened last year, like I said. You make your choices and hopefully you’re happy with them. I certainly was, because I had the chance to go back and play.
Most famously, Coach Bowman put Feds on defense, paired with Larry Murphy, for the 1997 playoffs. And, well, they won the Cup that year. That was a long time ago, of course.
Fedorov’s occasional back line assignment had later become a huge controversy. In January 2002, Fedorov’s father Viktor let fly this outburst:
“I’m convinced that coaching experiments by Scotty Bowman were the only real cause of my son’s drop in scoring in September when the coach broke up an excellent line of Fedorov, Draper and Shanahan. I believe this is the latest display of disrespect to my son by his coach and general manager, who are responsible for the team’s composition.
For many years, Bowman has been reducing Sergei’s playing time in favor of lesser players, which prevents Sergei from showing all his talent.”
(I wonder how he would feel today, watching his son play defense under Couch Bruce Boudreau’s system.)
Between his two and a half seasons in Columbus and his glory days in Detroit, Fedorov played in Anaheim, having signed there as a FA for the 2003-04 season. Then-Ducks coach Mike Babcock used Fedorov sparingly on defense there as well.
But if it works here in Washington, on a semi-regular basis, its a brilliant move, both from a defense-pairing and roster management perspective.
Completing the D-pairings
Said Coach Boudreau yesterday about the move:
“We’ve got Tom Poti as a true puck-handling defenseman and we’ve got Mike Green as a true puck-handling defenseman. But after that you’ve got guys that are great defensively but not known for their offensive prowess. And you’d like to have three [puck-handling] defensemen. Brian Pothier, before he got hurt, we were starting to gel with Poti, Pothier and Green, one on each pair. You’re always trying to reconnect with that.”
Would Feds be soured by another regular stint on defense? Would he lose a bit of the fire rekindled by the trade to D.C.? Doubtful. Sergei’s passion for the game was sapped by the largely trapping, reactive style of play employed in Anaheim at the time by Babcock and, later, under Hitch in Columbus. And by injuries.
That clearly won’t be the case in Washington. Boudreau’s style is to attack at every opportunity (lately, in this preseason, even on the PK). So no matter where Feds might play, he’s always going to be called upon to start a rush, or generate another scoring opportunity.
The move also presents an intriguing alternative PP set up, with Fedorov on the point. And he would relish the significant minutes required by these added responsibilities.
But like Hitchcock said in 2007, they’ll have to watch those minutes. The guy’s now almost 39.
Roster implications
Even a temporary defense assignment for Fedorov might signal a demotion of Karl Alzner to Hershey to “get his feet wet” in the A. Makes sense to me. The guy’s 20 and hasn’t played in a pro game that counts yet.
Chris Bourque has to be excited. A temporary move of Feds to the back line opens a wing spot for Bourque. Maybe Laich or Boyd Gordon moves into that vacant C slot, and a wing position opens for Bourque.
Finally, for you fantasy hockey geeks out there, imagine Fedorov eligible at both center and defense. Wow.
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