The Detroit Red Wings are retiring Sergei Fedorov’s #91 on January 12th, 2025. The Wings’ media corps reacted almost immediately to the news, which was posted in Tweet form, with Sergei’s trademark purple Corvette being the star:
đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/dKQKfALY7S
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 19, 2025
So, here’s MLive’s Ansar Khan…
One of the greatest players in Detroit Red Wings history is finally having his number retired.
The Red Wings announced this morning that Sergei Fedorov’s No. 91 will be raised to the rafters at Little Caesars Arena during a pregame celebration on Jan. 12 before a game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Chris Ilitch, Red Wings governor and CEO, called Fedorov on Monday to give him the news.
Fedorov, 55, played 13 seasons with the Red Wings from 1990-91 to 2002-03 and ranks among the franchise’s leaders in games (11th with 908), goals (fourth with 400), assists (seventh with 534) and points (sixth with 954).
He helped the team win three Stanley Cups, won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 1994 and is a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward.
Fedorov was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James, accompanied by a photo gallery and a video…
Sergei Fedorov, one of the Detroit Red Wings’ all-time greats, will have his jersey number retired next year.
It’s arguably overdue – fellow 1989 draftee and 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Nicklas Lidström’s No. 5 was retired in 2014 – but on the flip side, it’ll now fall during the franchise’s extensive centennial celebration. The retirement ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena, before the game that night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Fedorov, 55, was told Monday, Aug. 18, via a telephone call from Red Wings owner and CEO Chris Ilitch.
“I’m extremely grateful for this tremendous honor,” Fedorov said via a Wings release. “Thank you to everyone with the Red Wings organization, especially those who helped bring me to Detroit and gave me the chance to play for such a historic franchise. I was fortunate to be part of some unforgettable teams, and above all, I’m proud of the three Stanley Cup championships we won for our amazing fans in Hockeytown.
“The memories made along the way – with legendary teammates, coaches, and exceptional ownership – will stay with me forever. Lastly, I want to thank Chris Ilitch for the call yesterday to share the news about retiring my number. It’s a moment I’ll always cherish. I can’t wait to see everyone in January.”
Fedorov’s jersey number will be the ninth number retired by the Wings, joining Terry Sawchuk (No. 1), Red Kelly (4), Lidström (5), Ted Lindsay (7), Gordie Howe (9), Alex Delvecchio (10), Sid Abel (12) and Steve Yzerman (19).
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan weighed in, and the Detroit News posted a photo gallery, too…
Fedorov became the first European-trained player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL most valuable player) in 1994. Fedorov posted his best statistical season in 1993-94, earning a spot on the NHL All-Star First Team after leading all Wings in goals (56), assists (64), points (120), a plus-48 rating, shorthanded goals (four) and game-winning goals (10).
Fedorov also won the Selke Trophy, given to the league’s best defensive forward, as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award) as the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL players’ association in 1994 — and remains the only player in NHL history to win the Hart and Selke trophies in the same season.
The Wings selected Fedorov in the fourth round (74th overall) of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, making him the highest-drafted player from the Soviet Union at the time. Fedorov would defect to the United States following an exhibition game in Portland between the Soviet Union and Team USA.
Jim Lites (then-executive vice-president) and Nick Polano (then assistant GM) discreetly arranged a plan for Fedorov to sneak away after the game, and to Mike Ilitch’s private jet. Fedorov arrived in Detroit on July 23, 1990, signing a five-year contract with the Wings.
“I remember when Sergei was going to defect,” Mike Ilitch said of the episode, years later. “I had a pilot for my plane, and it was his first day on the job. I said, ‘I’ve got a player who’s going to defect from Russia and you’ve got to go pick him up.’ His (the pilot) eyes got like saucers and he said, ‘I’ve got to go to Russia?’ I said “No, no, no. He was petrified. Probably ready to quit right away.”
Fedorov made an immediate impact with the Red Wings, where he was issued No. 91 because it was the inverse of Yzerman’s No. 19. Fedorov debuted with the Red Wings in 1990-91, earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors and finishing runner-up in voting for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) after leading all rookies in goals (31), assists (48) and points (79) in 77 regular-season games.
In 1995-96, the iconic “Russian Five” consisting of Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov debuted as a five-man unit. Fedorov surpassed the 100-point mark for the second time that season, leading all Wings skaters in goals (39), assists (68) and points (107). Fedorov earned his second Selke Trophy as the Wings clinched their second straight Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-record 62 wins and 131 points.
Fedorov delivered one of the most memorable individual performances in franchise history during the 1996-97 season when he scored all five goals, including the game-winner 2:39 into overtime, in a 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals on Dec. 26, 1996 at Joe Louis Arena.
And The Athletic’s Max Bultman rounds out our media roundup for now:
Why now?
The subject of retiring Fedorov’s jersey has been a hot topic among fans for years, growing loudest when the team last retired a number, raising Hall of Fame defenseman Red Kelly’s No. 4 to the rafters during the 2018-19 season.
Fedorov was already one of the greatest, most popular (and most historically significant) players in franchise history and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. For those reasons, he always seemed worthy of having his number retired in Detroit someday. By doing so, the Red Wings will formally put him in their most elite company.
The Red Wings are celebrating their centennial season in 2025-26. Though the anniversary is not the reason they’re retiring Fedorov’s number, honoring one of the defining players of an iconic era in a historic year for the franchise certainly adds a special element.
Who could be next?
The Red Wings don’t retire jersey numbers lightly, with only nine in the team’s 100-year history: Terry Sawchuck’s No. 1, Kelly’s No. 4, Lidstrom’s No. 5, Ted Lindsay’s No. 7, Gordie Howe’s No. 9, Alex Delvecchio’s No. 10, Sid Abel’s No. 12, Steve Yzerman’s No. 19 and now Fedorov’s No. 91.
But with that said, two more strong candidates could be on the horizon. Pavel Datsyuk (No. 13) and Henrik Zetterberg (No. 40) rank among the top seven in franchise history in points, and the top eight in goals. They were driving forces on the Red Wings’ 2008 Stanley Cup team. Datsyuk was also part of the 2002 Cup team and was a 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, while Zetterberg was the team’s captain from 2013 until his retirement in 2018.
Both played every game of their NHL careers for the Red Wings, and while Datsyuk was technically traded to Arizona in 2016, he never played a game for the Coyotes and signed a symbolic one-day contract last season to formally end his career as a Red Wing.
