RG.com’s Daria Tuboltseva profiled former Red Wings player and long-time NHL coach Gerard Gallant, who’s coaching the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons this season. As Gallant prepares to helm an expansion team playing far away from Shanghai in St. Petersburg, he shares his opinions on numerous topics with Tuboltseva, including this:
Gallant’s ties to Russian hockey go back even further, to his playing days with the Detroit Red Wings, when he shared the ice with Sergei Fedorov.
“When Sergei came over, I was a couple of years older than him. He was a tremendous player for us at a young age. We knew he was good, but we did not know how good he was. He was just a tremendous, tremendous talent. He is a really good guy. We really liked Sergei. Obviously, his career in the NHL, he deserves to be up in the rafters in Detroit with Steve Yzerman and Gordie Howe and all those guys. He is a phenomenal player. I do not know if he is the best Russian player ever, but he has to be up there. When they talk about the best Russian players, his name has to be mentioned. I really like Sergei. I have not seen him for quite a long time, but I am very happy for him that his number is being retired in Detroit. Well deserved.”
Source: RG.org
Continued; Gallant may very well see Sergei this season as Fedorov is an advisor to CSKA Moscow.
I remember during Sergei’s first camp when the entire team was raving about his abilities. One reporter asked the captain straight out “Is he better than you?” Yzerman immediately replied, “Oh yeah! just wait until you see him.” Obviously, the days before every movement being available online, but Yzerman’s candor really grabbed me.