Jan. 12, 2026, 11:13 p.m. ET
The  Detroit Red Wings watched Sergei Fedorov’s number-retirement ceremony; that was mandatory.
Knowing who everyone was was another matter. Little Caesars Arena boasted luminaries including, for starters, the night’s honoree, Fedorov, along with Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidström, Chris Chelios and Brendan Shanahan, all Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. Another beloved former player on the ice? Vladimir Konstantinov, who suffered life-altering injuries in a limousine accident on June 13, 1997, a week after the Wings won the Stanley Cup.
It turns out, a current player didn’t know who he was.
“I’m not going to tell you who, but obviously a little bit younger, but I had a guy ask me, who’s the guy in the wheelchair?” coach Todd McLellan said. “Just think about that. I’m so glad he asked the question because now he knows.
“They don’t all understand the history, some of them weren’t even born then. That was a really important question, the answer was important, and we appreciate what’s happened here in the past a little bit more.”
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McLellan and the Wings’ entire staff and players all watched the ceremony from the bench.
“There was no discussion of getting out of it or not being on the bench, the players were excited about it,” McLellan said. “For the individuals that are sitting there, we talked about this this morning, the history of the game is really important. I think you’re a better player when you understand history and you know what happened and how things happened and why they happened.
“To sit there and watch that type of player in Sergei be honored by who we play for now, not just the organization but the fans, is pretty special.”
McLellan appreciated that the Carolina Hurricanes watched from the visitor’s bench, too.
“I thank Rod [Brind’Amour] because that’s important when the other team shows that respect. And when we’re ever there, our team will be on the bench for one of their presentations for sure.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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