The Detroit Red Wings will retire Original-Six-rostered defenseman Red Kelly’s number 4 when the boys play Toronto at home on Friday night.

Red Kelly played in the NHL from 1947 to 1967. He was drafted by Detroit in 1947 and played here until Jack Adams dealt him to Toronto in 1959. He won four Cups with Detroit and four with Toronto. He is a Hall of Famer and was arguably the Nick Lidstrom of his time, often called the clear cut best defensemen of his era.

Red Kelly is currently 91-years-old.

Which is ironic because 91 will be the number everyone is thinking about when Detroit slowly raises Red Kelly’s number 4 to the ceiling to forever join Red Wings history.

Now, I have about 2,038 questions as to why, right now, 52 years after Kelly ended his playing career and 60 years after leaving Detroit, the Red Wings organization has decided it’s time to retire his number. And if your knee jerk answer right from the get-go is “to sell more tickets” I think you’re crazy. Friday night’s game, Detroit vs Toronto no matter what context- is going to sell. Raising some not-so-popular-Wings’ Original 6 jersey from 60-years-ago really isn’t going to bring out the big bucks. I doubt the Ilitch’s are hurting for cash, and to enshrine a players number in the rafters alongside Howe, Yzerman, Lidstrom, Lindsay, Sawchuk, etc. seems like a drastic play just to make a few extra bucks off programs detailing the career of Red Kelly. There is no question Kelly had a Hall of Fame career and is deserved of the rafters, but why now? 

But, let’s move beyond the why now? question, the number one question that will arise during Kelly’s banner raising ceremony will not be “why not?” More specifically “Why not 91? Why not Sergei Fedorov?”

Let’s just start with the numbers: 13 years with Detroit, 908 games played, 400 goals, 554 assists, 954 points. 6-time All-Star, Fastest Skater Winner ’92, ’94, Hardest Shot Winner ’02. Hart Trophy winner (league MVP) 1994. Selke ’94, ’96. Ted Lindsay Award (best player voted by players), 1994. A part of three President Trophy winning teams (95, 96, 02), four Stanley Cup Finals appearances (95, 97, 98, 02), and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion (97, 98, 02). Hall of Famer in 2015. International Hockey Hall of Famer in 2016. I’d like to also note that during the Wings three Cups with Sergei he had 20 playoff points in 97 and 98, and 19 in 02. He is regarded as one of the top NHL playoff performers of all time and in 2017 was named as one of the top 100 players of all time by the NHL.

You get all that?

That alone right there should be a reason to raise a players numbers into the rafters. Period. When you think of the hay-day of the Detroit Red Wings dynasty that we grew up with, Yzerman’s name probably comes up first but immediately following that it’s Fedorov. He is a staple and part of the foundation on what Hockeytown was built on. Now, let’s take a peek outside of the numbers, and look at Fedorov the person.

Sergei was drafted by the Red Wings in 1989, in the 4th round 74th overall. The Wings wanted him so bad, they had him defect from the Soviet Union. Via Freep.com:

In 1990, while CSKA Moscow was playing in Portland, Oregon, for a pre-Goodwill Games match billed as “Icenost”. After being ejected from the game during the first period for fighting, Fedorov changed into street clothes and watched the remainder of the game behind the glass where the team exits to its locker room. Fedorov would follow the team into the locker room between periods. However, at the end of the game, Fedorov quietly slipped in with the crowd of spectators in the same area of the exiting team and onto an airplane bound for Detroit, thus becoming one of multiple future NHL stars to have defected from the Soviet Union to play in the League.

Sergei Fedorov was explosive. Both on and off the ice. There was a not a female Red Wing fan in the 90’s that did not think Sergei was a complete heart throb. When my dad bought my sister and I Wings’ jerseys, my sister was 14 at the time, and there was ZERO question as to what player she was getting. (I eventually stole the jersey from her and still wear it to this day, see below, note the Believe patch, double note my buddy rubbing it for good luck).

He wasn’t Yzerman. He wasn’t Lidstrom. And that’s what made him beautiful. He added spice. He added flair. He was Russian. He was exciting and different. He dated Anna Kournikova who is one of the first woman (along with Britney in the Hit Me Baby One More Time video) growing up as a young lad who I credit with discovering that I was into girls. An awakening if you will.

He was apart of the iconic and legendary Russian Five, which has an entire documentary and book named after them.

Where’s Red Kelly’s book? Where’s his super model girlfriend I discovered my boyhood too? Kidding, Red Kelly probably deserves it even though he’s 91, played for us 60 years ago, and probably 85% of the Wings fan base has never seen him play. I understand the Wings are pretty stringent with who they throw up there, and I respect them for that. If we turned into the Pistons who seem to be on a jersey retirement spree (yet still let players wear the retired numbers) I would be upset. But look around the fucking rink next time you’re there and tell me how many Fedorov jerseys you spot.

But Frank! He had major contract disputes and left us for another team in 2003! 

Grow up. It’s a fucking business. And if that’s the real reason Ilitch won’t retire him that is just putrid garbage. Sergei Fedorov has made more money for the Ilitch’s and the Red Wings organization than he could have ever possibly lost them. He was a young hot-shot athlete who had won three Stanley Cups and played 13 seasons in Detroit. He was young and naive. He probably had a desire to experience the Cali-lifestyle and even says looking back he blames his agents for pushing him in the wrong direction. These are hardly reasons not to enshrine one of Hockeytown’s legends. It’s because of players like him that Detroit is even called Hockeytown. It’s players like Sergei why we went to 25 straight playoffs and won the Cups we did. And if you disagree about his jersey retirement simply because you still have poop in your jeans from the day you saw a picture like this:

Just remember moments like this:

Fedorov scored 483 goals in his entire career. 400 were with Detroit. His career after Detroit is irrelevant. He’s a Red Wings legend and needs to be honored as such. Let’s not let a petty 7 years of weird jerseys overshadow or discredit 13 years of electric Detroit-Russian greatness. #retire91 #lgrw 🍾

– Frank