Fetisov playing in the 2008 Legends Classic in Toronto.
Born	April 20, 1958 (1958-04-20) (age 51), Moscow, USSR
Height Weight	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Pro clubs	NHL New Jersey Devils Detroit Red Wings RSL HC Spartak Moscow CSKA Moscow
Ntl. team	Soviet Union
NHL Draft	145th overall, 1983 New Jersey Devils
Pro career	1977 – 1998
Hall of Fame, 2001

Viacheslav (Slava) Alexandrovich Fetisov (Russian: Вячеслав (Слава) Александрович Фетисов, Vjačeslav (Slava) Aleksandrovič Fetisov; born April 20, 1958, in Moscow, Soviet Union now Russia) was the Minister of Sport in Russia in 2002-2008, is the current member of the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kontinental Hockey League, chair of the WADA Athletes Committee,^[1] and a former ice hockey defenseman, considered one of the best defensemen of all time, a long-time captain for the Soviet Union national team. He was voted one of six players to the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) Team of the Century in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries, receiving the most votes out of all players.^[2]

With Igor Larionov, he was instrumental in breaking the barrier that stopped Soviet players from joining the NHL. Fetisov was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

On the international stage, Fetisov is one of the most decorated players ever, winning two golds (1984, 1988) and one silver (1980) in the Olympics, and seven golds (1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990), one silver (1987), two bronzes (1985, 1991) in the World Championships, one Canada Cup in 1981, and Ice Hockey World Junior Championship in 1978. At the 2002 Olympics, he was head coach of the Russian national team, winning the bronze. Fetisov and team mate Igor Larionov, along with Scott Niedermayer and Joe Sakic, are the only players to win the Stanley Cup, World Ice Hockey Champions, Ice Hockey at the Winter Olympics, World Ice Hockey Junior Championship, and Canada/World Cup Championship.

On the club level, Fetisov played for CSKA Moscow (1975-89), New Jersey Devils (1989-95) and Detroit Red Wings (1995-98). He won two Stanley Cups with Detroit (1997, 1998). After retiring as a player, Fetisov became an assistant coach with New Jersey (1999-2002), winning the Stanley Cup in 2000. In his heyday, many referred to Fetisov as the Russian Bobby Orr.

Fetisov was awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1984)^[3]

On March 29, 2005, Fetisov joined the World Anti-Doping Agency's Athlete Committee as its inaugural chairman.^[4]

Following a private party on June 13, 1997, celebrating the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup triumph, Fetisov, along with teammate Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov, hired a limousine to drive them home. The driver, Richard Gnida, whose license was suspended at the time for drunk driving, lost control of the limousine and hit a tree on the median of Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb north of Detroit. Konstantinov spent several weeks in a coma before finally pulling through. He also suffered from serious head injuries and paralysis, while Fetisov escaped with relatively minor injuries and was able to play the following season. Mnatsakanov sustained heavy head injuries and also spent some time in a coma. He has had a considerably more difficult recovery than Konstantinov. The driver was charged with and convicted of driving with a suspended license.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] See also

Fetisov's red uniform (#2) from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 1999.

8806 Fetisov, a main-belt asteroid is named in honour of Fetisov.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Viacheslav Alexandrovich Fetisov

• Fetisov at Hockey CCCP International
• Viacheslav Fetisov's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Viacheslav Fetisov's biography at Legends of Hockey