puckin_A
07-27-2003, 12:37 AM
great interview with Feds. He kind of opens up and the interviewer kind
of cracks me up.
easier read:
http://www.maximonline.com/sports/articles/article_5288.html
(this is pre Ducks)
Inside the Mind of Sergei Fedorov
The best hockey player on Earth finally speaks (for the last time) about Anna Kournikova, the Russian Mafia, and…those annoying Euros.
Maxim, June 2003
By Jonathan Davis
Sergei Fedorov is living your wet dream. He’s rich, famous, and a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Better yet, he’s the best player on what many people say is the greatest team…ever. Not the greatest hockey team—the greatest team.
But, as you know, that and a million rubles won’t buy you a lap dance in Latvia. The 33-year-old international chick magnet sees more ass than most bicycle seats. He’s the Austin Powers of puckdom and the only man on Earth who can say he spent his 20s having sex with a teenage Anna Kournikova.
Plus, he’s a decent guy. (Which, apparently, girls like. Who knew?) Fedorov donated his entire 1998–99 NHL salary ($2 million) to help underprivileged children in Detroit and regularly sends millions to charities in his native Russia. Now, for the first and last time, he’s answering all the questions the hockey world has been asking. Heads up, Anna!
Super Bowl winners go to Disney World. Lord Stanley goes to strip joints. How’d you celebrate last year’s title?
I stood on top of a bar and filled the Stanley Cup with beer. Then I buried my face in it and started drinking. Only every time I pulled my face up, I was soaked, my entire head covered with beer, and I could barely walk the next day.
What about the Russian Mafia? Is it true they demand “protection money” from Russian NHL players who go back home?
Yes. The amounts vary depending on the guy.
Has the Russian Mafia ever been a threat to you or your family?
They have been an issue for me. I definitely feared for my family’s safety until I moved them to North America in 1992. When I signed my new contract that year, I asked the Red Wings not to announce the deal until I moved my family out of Russia to the U.S. I know I’ve been followed. I think to this day there are times that I’m still being followed.
OK, now that we’ve got you singing like a canary…You’ve said this interview will be the last time you’ll speak about your relationship with Anna Kournikova. Are you ready to spill?
Let’s go!
Is it true you two were married?
It’s true. It was very short-lived, but true. Now we are divorced.
Did your teammates give you a hard time because she was so young she needed a hall pass to see you?
Actually, they were quite supportive. They knew we came from the Old World and that our age difference was normal for the Russian way of life. But they did have problems with it later—when she embarrassed me publicly by being with someone else and not telling me about it.
Right, Anna started dating current New York Ranger and fellow Russian Pavel Bure. How did you deal with that?
I’ll be honest: I still don’t know what that was. I only read in magazines what was going on. I know I wanted to break up whatever they had. As far as Pavel and I go personally? We’re colleagues, then and now, and that’s all.
When was the last time you pounded out a “colleague”…on the ice?
Back in February, against the Avalanche. It was pretty intense. I had a chance to punch the guy in the face and do some serious damage, but he was being held by the referee and couldn’t really defend himself. I didn’t think it would’ve been right to go after him like that. So I just started talking to him in the language that is best left in the locker room.
You don’t mean Russian, do you? Is it tough not having Anna in your life now?
Tough? No, it’s a lot easier.
For us too. Is it true that at one point in your relationship things were so rough that your former coach, Scotty Bowman, gave you time off to sort things out during the regular season?
It’s true I did take some time off. But the only reason he allowed me to fly and see her and sort out the problems was that I was injured to the point where I couldn’t play anyway. It was a really nice gesture on his part.
Now that you’re a free agent on the verge of signing a megacontract, you must have women constantly trying to skate into your life.
Actually, it’s very hard for me right now to trust a woman. It’s hard for the women I meet to separate Sergei Fedorov the hockey player and the person.
They’ll never know your sensitive side the way we do. How do you react when hockey fans say European guys are soft?
Now, wait a minute! In my mind being “soft” is being patient, staying with the play, taking the cheap shots, and keeping yourself focused on what you need to do to score. Many of the European players are very skilled, and their job is to stay on the ice. It’s not our style to run someone through the boards. It sounds great hearing the boards banging, but the effect is really minimal. You look at guys like Jaromir Jagr [Washington], Mats Sundin [Toronto], Markus Naslund [Vancouver], these are all the top players on their teams. They are constant targets and get much more **** game in and game out than the other guys on the team. So I wouldn’t call them soft by any means.
Apart from all the foreigners, does European hockey differ from the NHL?
The biggest difference is the size of the ice surface. With the European rinks being larger, I think you need to be more of a skill player to play there. But since I defected in 1990, the NHL has completely changed with the influx of European players. The best players in the world are now in the NHL. The game is now much faster and more intense–and definitely more physical too.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen happen in a hockey game?
You have to understand there is no love lost when we play Colorado. One time Scotty Bowman, who’s 69, and [former Avalanche coach] Marc Crawford started yelling at each other from the benches. Scotty was ready to fight him. There’s glass that separates the benches, and Scotty was trying to go over it to get at Crawford, but we held him back.
Would he have taken Crawford?
Let’s just say I’m glad it never came to that.
What’s the nastiest hit you’ve been on the wrong end of?
I broke my nose running into Bryce Salvador of the St. Louis Blues. The damn thing moved an inch and a half to the left. Here I am flying down the ice at 100 mph getting ready to blast a shot. I lift my head, and there is his face right up in mine. I’m not feeling any pain, but the next thing I know gallons of blood are flowing from my face.
Sucks for you. Ever been jacked like that in Detroit’s “8 Mile” district?
Ten years ago I wouldn’t set foot in that part of town. It was made clear to me to stay away, so my first few years playing for the Red Wings I lived downtown and I would drive 30 minutes away to go shopping where I knew it was safe.
Ballsy. Do you ever hang with Detroit natives Eminem or Kid Rock?
I know Bobby very well—in fact, my teammate Chris Chelios and I hang out with the man better known as Kid Rock. He invited us to his studio when he recorded his last album. It was a blast. He actually surprised us by doing a mini-concert at one of our team parties after we won the Stanley Cup last year.
Is Eric Lindros the NHL’s biggest bust?
No way! If you ask the media, it’s actually a friend of mine that I hang out with all the time in the summer. I don’t want to say his name—I’ll let your readers try and guess.
You drive a Ferrari. You have a pair of Harleys. Are you a speed freak?
Are you kidding? There are speed limits here. I’ll go crazy up to 45 mph, then it’s over. [laughs] OK, I’ve hit triple digits in the Ferrari.
Last question: Who’s the stinkiest guy in the league?
I’m not going to embarrass anybody, but there are a lot of NHL guys who think sweat is a great perfume.
of cracks me up.
easier read:
http://www.maximonline.com/sports/articles/article_5288.html
(this is pre Ducks)
Inside the Mind of Sergei Fedorov
The best hockey player on Earth finally speaks (for the last time) about Anna Kournikova, the Russian Mafia, and…those annoying Euros.
Maxim, June 2003
By Jonathan Davis
Sergei Fedorov is living your wet dream. He’s rich, famous, and a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Better yet, he’s the best player on what many people say is the greatest team…ever. Not the greatest hockey team—the greatest team.
But, as you know, that and a million rubles won’t buy you a lap dance in Latvia. The 33-year-old international chick magnet sees more ass than most bicycle seats. He’s the Austin Powers of puckdom and the only man on Earth who can say he spent his 20s having sex with a teenage Anna Kournikova.
Plus, he’s a decent guy. (Which, apparently, girls like. Who knew?) Fedorov donated his entire 1998–99 NHL salary ($2 million) to help underprivileged children in Detroit and regularly sends millions to charities in his native Russia. Now, for the first and last time, he’s answering all the questions the hockey world has been asking. Heads up, Anna!
Super Bowl winners go to Disney World. Lord Stanley goes to strip joints. How’d you celebrate last year’s title?
I stood on top of a bar and filled the Stanley Cup with beer. Then I buried my face in it and started drinking. Only every time I pulled my face up, I was soaked, my entire head covered with beer, and I could barely walk the next day.
What about the Russian Mafia? Is it true they demand “protection money” from Russian NHL players who go back home?
Yes. The amounts vary depending on the guy.
Has the Russian Mafia ever been a threat to you or your family?
They have been an issue for me. I definitely feared for my family’s safety until I moved them to North America in 1992. When I signed my new contract that year, I asked the Red Wings not to announce the deal until I moved my family out of Russia to the U.S. I know I’ve been followed. I think to this day there are times that I’m still being followed.
OK, now that we’ve got you singing like a canary…You’ve said this interview will be the last time you’ll speak about your relationship with Anna Kournikova. Are you ready to spill?
Let’s go!
Is it true you two were married?
It’s true. It was very short-lived, but true. Now we are divorced.
Did your teammates give you a hard time because she was so young she needed a hall pass to see you?
Actually, they were quite supportive. They knew we came from the Old World and that our age difference was normal for the Russian way of life. But they did have problems with it later—when she embarrassed me publicly by being with someone else and not telling me about it.
Right, Anna started dating current New York Ranger and fellow Russian Pavel Bure. How did you deal with that?
I’ll be honest: I still don’t know what that was. I only read in magazines what was going on. I know I wanted to break up whatever they had. As far as Pavel and I go personally? We’re colleagues, then and now, and that’s all.
When was the last time you pounded out a “colleague”…on the ice?
Back in February, against the Avalanche. It was pretty intense. I had a chance to punch the guy in the face and do some serious damage, but he was being held by the referee and couldn’t really defend himself. I didn’t think it would’ve been right to go after him like that. So I just started talking to him in the language that is best left in the locker room.
You don’t mean Russian, do you? Is it tough not having Anna in your life now?
Tough? No, it’s a lot easier.
For us too. Is it true that at one point in your relationship things were so rough that your former coach, Scotty Bowman, gave you time off to sort things out during the regular season?
It’s true I did take some time off. But the only reason he allowed me to fly and see her and sort out the problems was that I was injured to the point where I couldn’t play anyway. It was a really nice gesture on his part.
Now that you’re a free agent on the verge of signing a megacontract, you must have women constantly trying to skate into your life.
Actually, it’s very hard for me right now to trust a woman. It’s hard for the women I meet to separate Sergei Fedorov the hockey player and the person.
They’ll never know your sensitive side the way we do. How do you react when hockey fans say European guys are soft?
Now, wait a minute! In my mind being “soft” is being patient, staying with the play, taking the cheap shots, and keeping yourself focused on what you need to do to score. Many of the European players are very skilled, and their job is to stay on the ice. It’s not our style to run someone through the boards. It sounds great hearing the boards banging, but the effect is really minimal. You look at guys like Jaromir Jagr [Washington], Mats Sundin [Toronto], Markus Naslund [Vancouver], these are all the top players on their teams. They are constant targets and get much more **** game in and game out than the other guys on the team. So I wouldn’t call them soft by any means.
Apart from all the foreigners, does European hockey differ from the NHL?
The biggest difference is the size of the ice surface. With the European rinks being larger, I think you need to be more of a skill player to play there. But since I defected in 1990, the NHL has completely changed with the influx of European players. The best players in the world are now in the NHL. The game is now much faster and more intense–and definitely more physical too.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen happen in a hockey game?
You have to understand there is no love lost when we play Colorado. One time Scotty Bowman, who’s 69, and [former Avalanche coach] Marc Crawford started yelling at each other from the benches. Scotty was ready to fight him. There’s glass that separates the benches, and Scotty was trying to go over it to get at Crawford, but we held him back.
Would he have taken Crawford?
Let’s just say I’m glad it never came to that.
What’s the nastiest hit you’ve been on the wrong end of?
I broke my nose running into Bryce Salvador of the St. Louis Blues. The damn thing moved an inch and a half to the left. Here I am flying down the ice at 100 mph getting ready to blast a shot. I lift my head, and there is his face right up in mine. I’m not feeling any pain, but the next thing I know gallons of blood are flowing from my face.
Sucks for you. Ever been jacked like that in Detroit’s “8 Mile” district?
Ten years ago I wouldn’t set foot in that part of town. It was made clear to me to stay away, so my first few years playing for the Red Wings I lived downtown and I would drive 30 minutes away to go shopping where I knew it was safe.
Ballsy. Do you ever hang with Detroit natives Eminem or Kid Rock?
I know Bobby very well—in fact, my teammate Chris Chelios and I hang out with the man better known as Kid Rock. He invited us to his studio when he recorded his last album. It was a blast. He actually surprised us by doing a mini-concert at one of our team parties after we won the Stanley Cup last year.
Is Eric Lindros the NHL’s biggest bust?
No way! If you ask the media, it’s actually a friend of mine that I hang out with all the time in the summer. I don’t want to say his name—I’ll let your readers try and guess.
You drive a Ferrari. You have a pair of Harleys. Are you a speed freak?
Are you kidding? There are speed limits here. I’ll go crazy up to 45 mph, then it’s over. [laughs] OK, I’ve hit triple digits in the Ferrari.
Last question: Who’s the stinkiest guy in the league?
I’m not going to embarrass anybody, but there are a lot of NHL guys who think sweat is a great perfume.