Ruslan Fedotenko brings Stanley Cup to Kyiv (07/25/04)

Ruslan Fedotenko brings Stanley Cup to Kyiv

by Vasyl Pawlowsky
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - The most coveted trophy in professional ice hockey, the Stanley Cup, arrived in Kyiv on July 19 accompanied by Kyiv native Ruslan Fedotenko, who scored both goals for his team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Tampa Bay had defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

Mr. Fedotenko's first stop with the Stanley Cup was his home rink, the Avangard ice arena in Kyiv, where he first began his career. There the 25-year-old right wing met his former teammates.

At a ceremony at the Hall of Columns in Kyiv's City Hall, Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko offered congratulatory words and then presented Mr. Fedotenko, his wife, Debbie, and his father, Viktor Fedotenko, who both had accompanied the hockey star to the ceremony, with watches. The mayor also bestowed the city's highest honor, the "Znak Poshany," or Award of Reverence, to the Stanley Cup champion.

In addition, Mykola Kostenko, head of the Ukrainian Sports Federation announced, with obvious pride: "The collegium of the federation came to a unanimous decision and has decided to award you, Ruslan, the title of Merited Sportsman of Ukraine."

When it came time for Mr. Fedotenko to speak, he was clearly at a loss for words in trying to express how it feels to win such a coveted award, and to have the opportunity to bring the cup to Ukraine. According to tradition, each player on the Stanley Cup-winning team has the opportunity to have the cup for two days.

"Everyone strives for the most prestigious award," he said, adding that he "will never forget the moment" when he raised the Stanley Cup over his head after Game 7.

"I would say that winning the Stanley Cup could be compared to winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games," Mr. Fedotenko noted, and later added that he would be proud to once again don skates as a member of Ukraine's Olympic hockey team. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, while he was on the Philadelphia Flyers roster, Mr. Fedotenko played for team Ukraine - the first time ever a Ukrainian team participated in Olympic hockey competition.

While at City Hall, Viktor Fedotenko, who lives in Kyiv, recalled how all the parents of the Tampa Bay Lightning players had been invited to the playoffs by the team. He said the team's management made families feel like part of the whole Stanley Cup experience.

Close to 800 people gathered on Independence Square to see Ruslan Fedotenko and the Stanley Cup. During their wait for the arrival of the cup and its entourage, fans watched reruns of Mr. Fedotenko's performances in the Stanley Cup playoffs on two large screens. For the first time ever those on the square were treated to the song composed by Canadian Howard Cable, called "Saturday's Game," better known as the theme song to "Hockey Night in Canada."

As Mr. Fedotenko and the Stanley Cup arrived at the capital city's central square, security officers created a pathway from the stretch Lincoln, bearing both Washington state and Kyiv license plates, toward the stage. Mr. Fedotenko joyously raised the cup over his head to cheers from the crowd. Most of the time the cup was handled by an NHL official wearing white cotton gloves.

The Stanley Cup glistened on its pedestal while Mr. Fedotenko and his entourage - which now included his wife, and both his parents - were introduced to the audience to many rounds of applause. Some in the crowd wore Ukrainian hockey team jerseys, Montreal Canadiens jerseys or shirts with sayings such as "Canada is Hockey." Several onlookers said they were there to honor a person they considered a hero.

"I think it's great that Ruslan Fedotenko brought the Stanley Cup home to Kyiv," 24-year-old Yaroslav Melnyk, a private businessman who hails from Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, told The Weekly. "He did for Ukrainian sports, what Ruslana did for Ukrainian music, and while I couldn't get close enough to see the cup up close, and couldn't afford the time to stick around, I could see it shining. And I felt very proud for Ruslan and his parents, and I am glad he brought one of the greatest sports trophies to Ukraine," Mr. Melnyk concluded.

"It was incredible to see the cup," said one Montreal native who asked to remain anonymous. He added, "I never thought I would ever get that close to it, and be able to read the names of players that I idolized as a child. And the most amazing part about all of this is that I saw it here in Kyiv. It's just incredible!"

| Home Page |