On the Wings

The Edmonton Journal is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets may buy out the last year of former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov’s contract, the same one he signed in 2003 when he left Detroit for Anaheim. This little piece of news has led some to pose the idea of bringing Sergei back to the team that drafted him and helped him defect from the USSR. It’s an interesting question. A player of Fedorov’s capabilities would certainly be attractive to everyone, were it not for his history. Unfortunately, that history may be a roadblock.

As everyone remembers, Sergei did not leave Detroit on the best of terms. It wasn’t about the money, as he eventually took the same $40 million Wings had offered him after withdrawing their original $50 million offer. It was more a division between Sergei and management. Given that management is largely the same these days, does it seem realistic to think that those differences are gone?

It also doesn’t help that the team is coached by Mike Babcock, who, we know from watching his handling of Robert Lang, doesn’t accommodate the whole moody superstar act. Still, Sergei’s stats in 2003-2004 (his year in Anaheim under Babcock) were pretty decent, so maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between the two as there was between Lang and Babs. I wish I had paid more attention that year, because I honestly can’t remember if they got along okay or not.

When he left Detroit in 2003, Sergei was a selfish, whiny player running up against the transition plans of the Detroit front office. He wanted to be the #1 man and to play his game, which was apparently the only way he would have felt wanted by a city that took him for granted until contract negotiations. The Wings wanted him to be a team player and to mentor Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, who were visibly on the rise and prepping to pick up the torch of leadership. When he couldn’t get what he wanted in Detroit, he bolted to Anaheim, where he thought he’d get it. He didn’t, though, and, in the seasons since, Fedorov has seemingly matured and has started speaking like a teammate rather than a superstar. He’s clearly a different player, and person, than he was.

To return to the question of whether or not the Wings would bring him back: I’d be all for it, if it’d be on financial terms similar to Hasek’s contract last year. Do I think they will? Probably not. Changed man or not, Sergei said a lot of hard words when he left the team and I’m sure many more were said behind closed doors on both sides. While that bridge may not be fully burned down, I’d be surprised to find out that it’s one either side can still cross enough to reach a deal. Plus, he may still have enough of the superstar mindset that he’d clash with Babcock.

Even if I’m wrong about relations between Sergei and the front office, there’s no mistaking the sentiment among a particularly ungrateful and shameless subset of Wings fans that boo him every time he touches the puck at the Joe. I’ve never understood the idea of booing Sergei after his first return to JLA as a Duck. I was all for it that night, but that time is long, long past. Do I think those people would be mature enough to cheer Sergei were he to don the Winged Wheel again? No, I can’t say I do. They seem to only remember that he left, not what he did while he was here and why would his return change that limited mindset? The rest of us were able to move on, but apparently we’re not the ones in majority at the Joe.

I would love to have Sergei Fedorov back, but the bridge between him and the fans has been burned to ash by those overly-vocal ingrates and I can’t see it being rebuilt again. Detroit can warm to Todd Bertuzzi and Chris Chelios, but I think Sergei Fedorov will always be a villain to a large number of fans in this city and, given that, he would probably just end up being a distraction rather than what he should be: a valuable (and valued) member of a powerhouse squad.