Sergei Fedorov

Biography

Childhood Heroes: Sergei Makarov. He scored a lot of goals with crazy moves. I had a picture of him on my school desk at home. When I do my studying, preparing for school, I look at him. Wayne Gretzky. I didn't see him till later because we couldn't see him in Russia. But I heard a lot about him.

Hobbies: Just relaxing. Be close to the water. Having a boat. Play golf, play tennis.

Nicknames: "The Russian Rocket [smiles]. Fediy--short for my last name. The Russians call me that.

Favorite movies: Action movies. Pulp Fiction.

Musical tastes: U2, Guns & Roses, classical music, piano music. If ifs good, sounds right, I can listen to anything.

Early hockey memory: I could skate from in the morning to six at night. I had so much fun. I could skate and skate. Take a couple of breaks every little while and then still have so much energy, so much excitement about it. Skate every day. I lived in an area where school was often closed because of snow. So I just went to the rink and skated all day. An outside rink, nice weather, the sun shining. One of the best memories. I miss it now. Childhood ... always the best [smiles].

Childhood dream: To play for the Russian national team, and obviously it happened a few years later when I played in the World Championships in 1989 and 1990. So I set a few goals and I was lucky to make them come true.

Favorite meal: Anything homemade by mom (Natasha).

Favorite breakfast cereal: The Tiger. The sweet one in the blue box. What is it called? (Frosted Flakes).

Favorite Ice cream flavor: I like many.

Pregame feeling: Nervous. Think of what I have to do on the ice. Playing forceful hockey. Obviously, I'm a little nervous. I play center so I visualize the key face-offs ... very important.

Greatest sports moments: When I won World Championships in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden with national team. I was 18. The year before we lost. But I did not play then. We went to World Championships to try to win. And we did. That was exciting time for us. I scored a couple of goals in the first game against Team USA. Winning the Stanley Cups for Detroit (in 1997, '98 and '02) was also a top moment. It took us a few years to finally do it. But life goes on and we finally did it.

Most painful moment: Probably when I defected. July 27, 1990. In Seattle before the Goodwill Games. I felt I might never be able to go back and be able to see my parents and family. Yes, I did go back, but not until five years later.

People qualities most admired: People with honesty. People with a good, healthy attitude. Happy people, no matter what happens, they stay happy. Strong people I respect.