This Day in Hockey History – July 28, 1998 – Fetisov Retires Wings for Horns

Jul 28, 2019

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Having played professionally since the age of 16, Viacheslav “Slava” Fetisov had a full career in the Soviet Union before making it out and into the NHL. The defenseman then played nine seasons in the NHL, split between first the New Jersey Devils and then the Detroit Red Wings. When the latter wanted to limit his playing role, the former offered him the position of assistant coach. On July 28, 1998, at the age of 40, Fetisov retired from playing in the NHL and signed a coaching contract.

Even though Fetisov had tossed about the idea of retiring following the 1997 Stanley Cup championship, after the 1998 championship he still hoped to re-sign with the Red Wings for the 1998-99 season. He knew he would need to take on a reduced role, but Detroit wanted to limit him to a severely restricted role of 30 games or less. According to Fetisov, “I’m not the type of player who can play 30 games.” He also was unhappy with the $500,000 offered by GM Ken Holland. “I was waiting until the last moment for Kenny to make different offer, because the best four years of my hockey career were in Detroit.” To be fair to the Red Wings, they already had a full roster without him and would have had to juggle to keep him signed.

Meanwhile, Fetisov’s former team in New Jersey wanted him to assist their new head coach, Robbie Ftorek. “Of the coaches available, there were a couple names that came to mind, and Slava’s was at the top of the list,” said GM Lou Lamoriello, the very person who had arranged for Fetisov to play in the U.S. He explained, “In addition to being a world-class athlete, Slava Fetisov is a well-respected, first-class individual. With over 20 years spent as a player in both international and NHL competition, the experience he brings to the Devils will be beneficial to both our veteran and younger players.” He and Fetisov worked out a three-year deal averaging about $400,000 per season. “The Devils showed me a lot of respect and class in the past month, calling me and asking me what can they do to make me comfortable,” said Fetisov. Coach Ftorek was on board saying, “Slava and I will talk about everything. He’ll be involved from A to Z.”

Weighing his options, Fetisov decided to retire and take the coaching position. He told the media, “It was pretty tough couple of weeks for me to decide to stop playing. I never thought it would be so difficult to make the move not to play hockey again. … I was thinking a lot and talking to different people, and they told me I would be a good teacher. This is a great opportunity for me to go into coaching. I have a lot of experience in hockey, and I’m going to help this team.”

He became one of the first European assistant coaches in the NHL. During his three years with the Devils, they won the Stanley Cup in 2000 and lost the Final in 2001.

When his assistant coaching contract with the Devils ended, Fetisov became coach and GM of Team Russia for the 2002 Winter Olympics, where they won bronze. Around the same time, he became Russia’s Chairman of the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport. In 2005, he became the first chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee. Four years later, he took over presidency of HC CSKA Moscow and even had to put his skates back on when he ran low on healthy defensemen.

Over the course of his playing career, Fetisov had had many accomplishments. Internationally, he won nine world championships and (as of 1998) held almost every record for a defenseman in international hockey. He earned one silver and then two gold medals in the Olympic Games held during the 1980s.

In the NHL, Fetisov was drafted twice before he was actually able to leave the USSR in 1989. The Devils traded Fetisov to the Wings on April 3, 1995. Though the former defeated the latter for the Stanley Cup that season, the Red Wings then won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998. After the first, he brought the Cup to Moscow for its first visit to Russia. Tragically, on June 13, 1997, Fetisov and his teammate Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov were victims in a limousine accident. Instead of retiring, Fetisov dedicated the second Cup to Konstantinov, whose injuries ended his playing career.

As he approached the end of his playing career, Fetisov said, “I’m very fortunate to be here right now. I know what hockey has been like for me all my life and I don’t know what it’s going to be like without hockey. But I want to give everything I have to the game because it’s been good to me for such a long time.” He retired having played 546 NHL regular-season games (36G, 192A, 228P).

When he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001, Fetisov remarked, “It’s a great honour. You play all your life to get the recognition and it feels great, especially being a Russian-born hockey player and spending most of the best years back in Europe. It’s a great honour to be in same category as other legends.”