“To this day, you just can’t believe it happened,” former teammate Kris Draper said. What his life is now, wasn’t Konstantinov’s life back then, or could have been. He’s never regained full mobility or mental faculties. Everything can change, in such an instant.”įor Konstantinov, specifically, the ugly turn of events tragically turned his life upside down.Ī potential Norris Trophy-winning player, Konstantinov was a star player at age 30 who could have extended and strengthened the Red Wings’ then-dynasty, and enjoyed a potential Hall of Fame career.īut, instead, Konstantinov today needs a walker to get around. “We were just talking about it the other day, actually, the impact (on the families involved, the organization). “Just terrible, so sad,” said Jimmy Devellano, then Red Wings’ general manager (current senior vice-president / alternate governor), who had drafted and brought Konstantinov to North America. And then, in an instant, as news of the accident spread, and the severity of it became known, suddenly the mood became much darker. Just six days after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, their first in 42 years, and had the entire city of Detroit rejoicing. The date was June 13, 1997, the ugly date when former Red Wings defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov, along with team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov were involved in a serious limousine crash that left Fetisov with a bruised lung and chest contusions, Mnatsakanov paralyzed from the waist down, and Konstantinov with head injuries that have impacted his life. ![]() Although his number 16 has not been officially retired from the Red Wings organization, no player has been given the number since.“We’re getting older,” said Chris Osgood, former goaltender and current television analyst. However, the Red Wings still recognized him as part of the team, and in one of the most iconic moments in NHL history, he raised the Stanley Cup the following year from his wheelchair once the Red Wings claimed the title a second time. ![]() As a result of the crash, Konstantinov’s career was cut short in an instant. Following a golf outing, Konstantinov, along other Red Wings, were involved in a limousine accident. Immediately following the Stanley Cup victory, tragedy struck the entire Red Wings organization. He would take runner-up for the NHL’s best defenseman, the James Norris Memorial Trophy, this season as well. In the 1996-97 season, he helped his team win the Stanley Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers. This is the highest rating a player has finished with in the past 20 seasons, since Wayne Gretzky finished with +70 in the 1986-87 season. He was part of the legendary “Russian Five.” During the 1995-96 season, he earned the NHL Plus/Minus Award, with a plus/minus of +60. In the 1993-94 regular season, he scored three short-handed goals to tie for the NHL lead amongst defenseman. He was drafted 221st overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, and immediately had an impact on the team, once he was able to join after the fall of the Iron Curtain. ![]() After playing for the Soviet club CSKA Moscow, Konstantinov was noticed by a Detroit Red Wings scout at the 1987 World Junior Championships, when a brawl broke out in the Soviet Union-Canada game. Vladimir Konstantinov, more popularly known as “the Vladinator”, “Vladdie” or “Vlad the Impaler”, was a hockey player known for his devastating ability to put opposing players on the ice.
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