After winning the Gagarin Cup in only his first year behind the bench of a professional hockey team, Sergei Fedorov has been named the Kontinental Hockey League’s top coach for the 2021–22 season.
CSKA's Sergei Fedorov is 2022 KHL Coach of the Year!#KHLAwards pic.twitter.com/FYNYHXCGvQ
— KHL (@khl_eng) May 19, 2022
Fedorov, 52, joined KHL club CSKA Moscow as head coach in 2021–22 after previously serving as the team’s general manager from 2012 to 2017.
He also won a silver medal as an assistant coach for Team ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) in the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
CSKA Moscow won the 2022 Gagarin Cup as KHL champions after defeating Metallurg Magnitogorsk in seven games in the final round of the playoffs.
The series against Magnitogorsk capped off a strong year for CSKA, which went 29–13–5 in the regular season en route to its second KHL championship.
Sergei Fedorov does it again! CSKA pulls goalie in OT and wins it in 2nd straight game! pic.twitter.com/Nt6eLyHCNM
— KHL (@khl_eng) December 6, 2021
Then coached by Igor Nikitin, CSKA lost in six games against Avangard Omsk in the 2021 Gagarin Cup Final. Fedorov subsequently led the club to redemption in the 2022 championship series.
While his coaching career is still in its infancy, Fedorov has a long and well-documented history of excellence in the professional hockey world.
During his National Hockey League playing career, Fedorov scored 483 goals and 1,179 points in 1,248 career regular-season games with the Detroit Red Wings, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington Capitals.
Fedorov won three Stanley Cups (1997, 1998, and 2002) as a member of the Red Wings. He also won the Hart Trophy (league MVP, as voted by the media), the Lester B. Pearson Trophy (league MVP, as voted by the players), and two Selke Trophies (top defensive forward) during his tenure in Detroit.
Coincidentally, the Red Wings are currently without a head coach after declining to renew Jeff Blashill’s contract with the team last month. It’s unclear whether the Red Wings would have any interest in potentially bringing Fedorov back to Detroit — he didn’t exactly leave on friendly terms — or if his contract with CSKA would even allow him to leave.
More from WingsNation
- Red Wings sign defenseman Steven Kampfer to one-year contract
- Hellberg remains strong for Sweden in shootout win over Finland at 2022 Worlds
- Is Dylan Larkin a top-10 center in the National Hockey League?
THIS ARTICLE BROUGHT TO YOU BY DAILYFACEOFF
Looking to up your fantasy hockey game? DailyFaceoff has the tools you need for both daily and season-long fantasy leagues, including a lineup optimizer, daily projections, and a whole lot more. Sign up for the DailyFaceoff tools here.