It can’t be true, but it is. That fresh-faced Soviet kid named Sergei Fedorov who broke in with the Detroit Red Wings is now in his 18th NHL season. Wow. Time flies. Not only that, he is one goal away from tying Alexander Mogilny as the all-time Russia-born goal-scoring leader in NHL history. Fedorov is currently number one in games played, assists, and points, and it’s only a matter of days before he gets that 473rd goal.

Fedorov was drafted by Detroit in 1989 and left the Soviet Union a year later to play in the NHL. His favourite player growing up was Red Wings’ captain Steve Yzerman, so it’s not hard to imagine how he felt the first day he met his idol at the Joe Louis Arena. Fedorov copied Stevie Y is every respect. He inverted Yzerman’s number 19 to wear 91. He dressed the same way and used the same brand of equipment.

For some 13 years it looked like they would have one more thing in common – an NHL career played entirely with Detroit. Fedorov won three Stanley Cups with the Wings, and in addition to nine 30-goal seasons he also won his share of individual honours, notably the Hart Trophy and Lester Pearson Award in 1993-94 and two editions of the Selke trophy as the best defensive forward in the league.

But in the summer of 2003, Fedorov flew the coop, joining Anaheim after signing a five-year, $40-million contract. He left a winning organization, and almost as soon as he did his career went into a freefall. Sure, he had a good first year with the Ducks, but they missed the playoffs. Just five games into the following year he was traded to Columbus, a team that has never appeared in a single playoff game in team history.

Although Fedorov continued to make huge sums of money, it was the Red Wings that kept advancing deep into the playoffs with regularity. His play was, at best, uninspired, and at worst, well, worse than uninspired. After almost three years with the Blue Jackets, though, Fedorov received an emotional heart transplant. He was traded to Washington and immediately found a new reason for playing.

The Caps, of course, have two incredible young Russians on the team – Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. Rather than the oldtimer inspiring the kids, however, it was the kids who inspired the oldtimer. Ovechkin loved playing so much – loved scoring! – that he didn’t need inspiration. His play was so infectious it made Semin a better player, and when Fedorov arrived the veteran felt like a kid again.

This Russian troika helped revive the Caps in the second half of the 2007-08 season, and the team made an improbable rally to make it into the playoffs. Although their time in the post-season was short, all three took a short flight to Quebec City after the season to play for their country in the 2008 World Championship. They were vital to the team’s success, culminating with a dramatic 4-3 overtime win over Canada to capture the nation’s first gold medal since 1993.

Fedorov, who had not played in the World Championships since 1990, seemed relaxed and comfortable playing hockey that mattered once more. In Washington, expectations are high now that the team has an energetic coach (Bruce Boudreau) and a nucleus of young talent. For Fedorov, his career has come full circle. He was once the young darling of Detroit, but now it is Ovechkin, who is the wunderkind of Washington. They are, however, vastly different players.

Ovechkin is invisible in his own end but a force unlike any other inside the opposition blueline. He is not known as a skater but more for his incredible shot and physical play, perhaps the first true power forward Russia has ever produced. Fedorov was always silky smooth, a deft stickhandler – now you see him, now you don’t – who had breakaway speed. As such, there is no reason for ego or jealousy to taint their partnership in D.C.

Fedorov will turn 39 years old the week before Christmas, but don’t expect him to retire any time soon. Coach Boudreau has taken a page from Detroit coach Scotty Bowman’s strategy by using Fedorov as a defenceman. For Bowman, the move was the result of injuries to his blueline corps as well as the knowledge that Fedorov was a great skater and reliable in his own end as a forward. The shift to defenceman was impressive and seamless.

For Boudreau, it’s much the same, but the result for the player might be to extend his career several more years. Fedorov might not be the offensive force he was at 24 years of age, but he still has a ways to go before his days are done, especially if he looks down the bench and sees Ovechkin every night.

Ironically, while Steve Yzerman will lead Team Canada into the 2010 Olympics as his country’s executive director, don’t be surprised to see his protégé playing for his country in Vancouver in a year and a half.

ANDREW PODNIEKS