from Gillian Kemmerer of the Caviar Diplomat,

There are some hockey players whose signatures on the game could never be forged.

You may attempt to mimic their exact starting conditions—a frozen backyard pond, the formative coach, an influential father—yet the alchemy would never produce a replica. Sergei Fedorov is one such example. There will never be a carbon copy #91, and Sergei himself acknowledges that it would be nearly impossible to reconstruct the scenario in which he became a supernova. You’ll read more about that below.

In Gabe Polsky’s documentary In Search of Greatness, true sporting dominance appears to be the result of a certain degree of creativity, artistic expression and showmanship—a boredom with the rules by which everyone else governs themselves.

Between those white Nike skates and impossible finishes, Fedorov hardly breaks this mold. His style was definitive, and for years, untouchable—ushering in a Hollywood aura that translated on and off the ice.

In light of this legacy, I was not sure what I would be met with when I sat down across from Fedorov. Where one might expect ego or, at the very least, a media-ready suit of armor, I was met with the opposite...

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