As part of the centennial season celebration for the Detroit Red Wings, the iconic No. 91 jersey of three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame forward Sergei Fedorov was raised to the rafters at Little Caesars Arena.
One of the most exciting and dynamic players not only in Red Wings history but in the NHL as a whole, Fedorov electrified fans with his raw speed, elite playmaking ability, and thrilling flair and style.
Sergei Fedorov Reflects on Scotty Bowman’s Lasting LessonsPrior to his official jersey retirement ceremony, Detroit Red Wings Hall of Fame forward Sergei Fedorov reflected on the best lessons that he learned from legendary head coach Scotty Bowman. However, many younger generations of Red Wings fans may not know the full story of his defection from the former Soviet Union, a saga that could have been lifted straight from a spy movie.
The Red Wings had selected Fedorov in the fourth round (74th overall) of the 1989 NHL Draft while he was in the midst of his tenure with CSKA Moscow, where he was teammates with another future Red Wing, Vladimir Konstantinov (selected 229th overall in the same Draft).
One of the principal architects behind the extremely risky defection by both Fedorov and Konstantinov from the Soviet Union was Keith Gave, a longtime Red Wings journalist who was employed at the time by The Detroit Free Press.
"I started covering the Red Wings in 1985, and four years later, they started drafting Russians - they took a few Soviet players, Sergei and Vladdy," Gave explained. "And a week or so after the Draft, I got a call out of the blue in mid-July requesting a lunch meeting from Jim Lites."
Lites, now CEO and alternate governor of the Dallas Stars (where former Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill is now general manager), was the Red Wings’ executive vice president at the time. He invited Gave to lunch, where the seeds would be planted of what would eventually become a hockey dynasty.
As Gave put it, Lites began discussing the recent selections of both Fedorov and Konstantinov, and he reacted with understandable skepticism given the political climate of the time.
“We were thinking that because you speak Russian and know the language, and you have NHL credentials, you might be able to slip them a message under the auspices of covering them—to defect and play for the Detroit Red Wings,” Gave said Lites told him.
"The more he talked, the more skeptical I was becoming," Gave continued. "I said, 'Jim, there’s no way I can do this, I work for the Freep, and I’d be putting my job in danger.'"
Gave eventually left the lunch and returned home to discuss the matter with his wife, but began to reconsider. With several years of experience as a Russian linguist for the National Security Agency, he began to see a viable path to pulling off the hazardous assignment.
"I spent six years in the spy business in West Berlin, working a mile from Checkpoint Charlie, the tip of the spear of the Cold War, and I'd never been given a good cloak and dagger assignment, and I was being offered one, I thought there was a way we might be able to do this," he said.
After reconnecting with Lites, they began to formulate a plan. As it happened, the Soviet national team was holding a Training Camp in Finland, and with Gave's press credentials, he would be the ideal figure to get as close as possible to the players.
"I told him that we might be able to make it work on the condition that I won’t take a dime of your money," Gave said. "I’ll cash in miles, I’ll get there and do my best to get access, I’ll write some letters, and explain to them everything you told me about what you want to know."
However, Gave laid out one simple condition: he wanted to be the first one to break the story when both players eventually made their way to North America.
“I want to be your first phone call when these guys come over,” Gave said to Lites. “I want the first story for the Freep."
"And a couple of weeks later, I was on my way to Helsinki, writing letters for Sergei and Vladdy, saying the Red Wings wanted them to come over and play hockey in the NHL for Detroit.”
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The Fateful Defection Is Soon Set In Motion
Gave described how his Russian language training, which was honed during his time in the military, proved just sufficient to get the Red Wings’ message across.
“I was in Russian language school in 1971, 1972, and I left the Army in 1977," he explained. "In 1989, 12 years later, my Russian wasn’t worth shit anymore, but the Army taught me well enough."
Gave began penning a message to Detroit's future Russian stars, which would be clandestinely slipped between the pages of a media guide.
"I remembered enough, and I knew how to use the Russian/English dictionary, and I was able to patch together a letter that he could understand and throw the (contract) numbers in there," he said.
In the note, Gave wrote that the Red Wings were willing to pay both Fedorov and Konstantinov the same figure as Steve Yzerman, who had been named team captain by coach Jacques Demers just three years earlier to begin the 1986-87 campaign.
Another condition that was stipulated was that the families of both players would be paid $25,000 per year.
"At the time, that was a ton," Gave said. "You could live like royalty in the USSR at that time with that money."
After arriving in Helsinki, there were a few obstacles to overcome to even get to the venue where both Fedorov and Konstantinov were.
"I landed at 4:00 in the afternoon, the hockey game was in three hours, and I didn’t know where it was," Gave explained. "I had to find the arena, find the hockey game, and was asking for directions around the airport; people were looking at me like I had three heads. Finally, I got the answer - they were playing at Olympic Stadium."
Gave managed to get his hotel information, hail a taxi, shower at his hotel, and then make his way across the park to the venue, which was nearby. He happened upon the rink just as the Soviet players arrived and were getting off their bus.
Two Lives - And An NHL Franchise - Are Soon Changed Forever
After entering the venue, Gave’s only immediate problem was finding someone who could get him close to the players.
“I flashed my NHL credentials, and I had my Professional Hockey Writers Association card, my Red Wings media pass, and everything," he said. "I had no trouble getting in, but I had trouble finding someone to get me down where the players were. I finally found a guy, a promoter."
After requesting assistance, Gave was told by the promoter that while he'd help him, the Russian players might not be receptive.
"I’ll certainly try," Gave said the promoter said to him. "You came all the way from Detroit, but you know how Russians are—you can ask, but they may not play ball."
"The Russians were notorious for limiting access to guys like us," Gave said.
Eventually, Gave made it down near the dressing rooms, where he noticed an imposing nearby physical presence keeping tabs on him as he waited.
From the start, Gave knew it was someone who, if crossed, could potentially be dangerous.
"About 8-10 feet away to my left was a guy who kept looking at me, kind of giving me the eye," Gave said. I could tell he was their KGB guy, to make sure nobody defected."
Suddenly, he knew his assignment had become that much tougher.
“The promoter went into the room, and a long while later, came out and brought Sergei and Vladdy with him," Gave said. "They had just stepped out of the shower with white towels and wet hair."
"I basically introduced myself and showed them I was from Detroit, and showed them the Red Wings' Draft list from 1989. I said, 'Sergei, here you are, 74th overall.’ He showed no signs of emotion overall, and then I showed Vladdy his own name, and he was bouncing up and down like a kid with a shiny new bike for Christmas."
It was at that moment that Gave realized he had just broken the news to both players for the first time: they had been selected by an NHL team.
"I learned later that this was the moment they realized they’d been drafted by an NHL team," he said. "This was way before the internet, and news traveled slowly then; neither of them had any clue that an NHL team was interested in them."
After giving both players the business cards for both Jim Devellano and Jim Lites, it was at that moment that Gave made his move - albeit carefully.
"I pulled out the media guides with the letters tucked in and gave them to the players," he said. "Sergei had his in front of him, he looked down and thumbed through it, and he saw the KGB guy. He had noticed the guy a bit earlier; he knew who he was, and he had to be careful.”
“He thumbed through and saw the letter,” Gave said of Fedorov when he began looking through the media guide containing the life-changing message. “He nonchalantly put it behind his back, and I knew it was time to get the f--- out. I shook their hands and said, ‘Good luck, thanks, and hope to see you in Detroit one day,’ and left.”
Having literally just set history in motion, Gave made his exit - while also being sure to make sure that the KGB agent wasn't lurking behind.
“Walked out of the building and walked around Helsinki for four hours, looking over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being followed," he said.
Thankfully, he was safe and eventually made it back to the hotel. While he admitted he felt some apprehension for his own safety, his chief concern was for Fedorov and Konstantinov and what may have happened to them if the note been discovered.
"I was worried mostly for the two kids," Gave said. "Sergei was 19 at the time, and Vladdy, a bit older. But if they get caught with those letters, they were f---ed. They could lose their careers.
I was worried for them, but Russians know how to sneak around and play the game, and obviously didn’t run into any problems."
After what he described as an uneventful walk around Helsinki, Gave eventually returned to his room and contacted Lites to deliver the news.
"I got back to my hotel room and noticed it was 7:30 back in Detroit, and I called Jim Lites to say that I made contact with the guys and passed the note along. He was so excited and said, ‘I can’t wait to tell Mr. Ilitch.’
I said one thing: ‘Remember our deal: I want the news first.’ He said, ‘You got it.’
And that was it. I had no more role. I saw Jim Lites 100 times, and we never talked about it—it never came up.”
Two Red Army Players Become Red Wings
Nearly a year after Gave’s risky mission in Finland, he received the news that would not only secure his place in hockey history but also change the course of the Red Wings.
Fedorov had traveled with the Soviets to North America in 1990 to take part in the Goodwill Games in Portland. Lites picked up Fedorov discreetly outside of his hotel, and it wouldn't be long before they were both on Mike Ilitch's private jet en route to Detroit.
“About 11 months later, I was about to have dinner at my Dearborn home when the phone rang," Gave said. "It was Jim Lites again, giving me another odd call in the middle of July.
He said, ‘Just wanted to let you know that I’m on Mr. I’s airplane flying back to Detroit. Guess who is sitting next to me: Sergei Fedorov.’ I shoved my plate away, grabbed my notebook, talked to Jim for 10 minutes, and hung up the phone.
I called the Freep city desk—they were on deadline—and I said, ‘It’s Keith Gave.’"
He said that initially, they were confused as to why a hockey beat writer would be calling them in the middle of the summer.
"I called and asked what the scheduled story on page one was, and said, 'I’m going to blow it out of the water: A Soviet defector on his way to Detroit on Mike’s plane.'
There was a pause, and then he said, ‘You got 35 minutes.’
I hung up, grabbed my laptop, and started typing my ass off. Thirty-five minutes later, I fired off a story. When the newspaper arrived at 6:15 on my doorstep, there it was: Soviet defector coming to play hockey, page one, above the fold—right where you want to be.”
Fedorov entered the NHL with a bang in the 1990-91 season, scoring 31 goals with 48 assists. It wouldn't be long before he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player for 1993-94 after scoring 56 goals with 64 assists.
Meanwhile, Konstantinov began his NHL career one year after Fedorov and quickly became one of Detroit's most defensively responsible and bruising defensemen.
Both players eventually became 2/5 of the iconic "Russian Five" with Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, and Slava Fetisov.
With Fedorov, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, and 2002. Gave was able to join Kozlov, Larionov, and Fetisov in Russia's famed Red Square with the Cup.
Konstantinov played a key role in Detroit's 1997 win, but his career (and nearly his life) ended just a week later in a limousine accident that also came close to claiming the life of team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov.
Both Fedorov and Konstantinov remain beloved former members of the Red Wings and enduring figures in some of the franchise’s greatest successes. Without Gave’s fateful mission to Helsinki, carrying a clandestine note tucked into a media guide, those moments may never have happened.
A more detailed account of his journey can be read in his book, The Russian Five: A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage.
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