Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov in an interview with , he said he planned to play in the new team under the number 28, but he ultimately reflected it as a tribute to striker Claude Giroux.
In the summer of 2022, Fedotov signed a rookie contract with Philadelphia, but he was called up for military service. At the end of his service, the goalkeeper signed a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow. On March 28, the capital club announced the termination of the contract with the hockey player. The military team retained the goalkeeper’s sporting rights in Russia. On March 29, the Flyers announced the transfer of Fedotov.
— Why did you choose number 82?
— I reflected my number 28. I thought about taking it and discussed this topic at the club. But in Philadelphia, Claude Giroux played under him. He scored a lot of points, played a lot of seasons. Maybe one day it will be taken out of circulation – I don’t know. But we decided it would be better to associate ourselves and our game with another number. You don’t know how things will develop in the future. But maybe people will start thinking about number 82. This is a purely practical hockey decision. I just exchanged two numbers. There is always the possibility of changing the number to another,” Fedotov told .
Last season, the 27-year-old goalie played 49 games in the KHL regular season and playoffs, keeping five clean sheets. While with CSKA, Fedotov won the 2022 Gagarin Cup and, with the Russian team, won silver at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Giroux played for Philadelphia for 15 years. Previously, only one hockey player had played more than 1,000 games with the Flyers: Bobby Clarke. In just 1,000 games in Philadelphia, Giroud scored exactly 900 points (291+609).
Source : MatchTV
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