Honoring a tragic 10 year anniversary
Source: Detroit Free Press
Ten years ago, the Detroit Red Wings were supporting two teammates and a team massage therapist at Beaumont Hospital only six days after winning their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.
“It’s amazing that a decade has gone by,” said Wings general manager Ken Holland, who was assistant general manager under GM Jimmy Devellano at the time of the accident. “You get caught up in your own life, in your job. Days turn into months, months into years, and then you are looking back: Where does the time go?”
Ten years ago, most of the team attended a golf outing at Orchards Golf Club to celebrate their NHL title. At the conclusion of the outing, everyone got in their respective cars. Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov, and Sergei Mnatsakanov went in a limo together. The driver, Richard Gnida, blacked out at the wheel and did not wake up even when Fetisov, Konstantinov, and Mnatsakanov pounded on the glass to try to wake him up. The limo rammed into a tree injuring all of those in the car.
“We were just praying the whole way there that it wasn’t as bad as it turned out to be,” said John Wharton, the Wings’ trainer at the time. “We’d heard that the limo hit a tree, but we were like, ‘It’s a limo. How bad can it be?’ I wasn’t prepared for what we arrived to at the hospital that night.”
Fetisov escaped from the twisted wreckage with relatively minor injuries and was released from the hospital a few days later. Richard Gnida, who was behind the wheel, also was treated and released — he’d later serve seven months in jail for driving with a suspended license.
Ten years ago, Konstantinov went from one of the best and most physical defenseman in the game to a man lying in a hospital in a coma. He wouldn’t come out of the coma for over a month. Today, he needs help from a nurse around the clock. He can slowly walk with the help of a walker.
Today, he’s a shell of the man Detroit fans grew to love over a six-year NHL career in which he established himself as a fierce competitors. (”If somebody stabbed him through the heart,” Wharton said, “he’d jump on the ice with the knife still in his sweater.”)
The “Vladinator,” who turned 40 a few months ago, lives in the Detroit area but requires full-time nursing care and struggles to get around with the aid of a walker. His wife, Irina, now lives in West Orange, N.J., with their daughter, Anastasia, who just graduated from high school. The family declined to be interviewed.
Ten years ago, Mnatsakanov was celebrating a Stanley Cup victory in just his first year with the team as a massuer. He felt he finally had a home after leaving Russia in 1996. Today, he’s paralyzed from the waist down, but can easily communicate with his wife, read Russian newspapers, and solve crossword puzzles.
Mnatsakanov began hanging out at Joe Louis Arena, where the Wings were in the middle of a playoff run. He’d been invited by Fetisov, who knew the massage therapist from his hockey days back in Russia.
Fetisov asked Mnatsakanov to begin working on him and was grateful to reconnect with someone in the States familiar with old world techniques. Soon, the therapist was working out the kinks for much of the team. The next season, the Wings signed him to a contract and the family settled in Grosse Pointe Woods.
“Hockey was his life,” said Elena. “He had reached the top — the NHL. He was very happy.”
Ten years ago, the city of Detroit went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. After celebrating their first Stanley Cup victory in 42 years, fans traveled to Birmingham to leave notes and flowers at the scene of the accident. Fans held candlelight vigils in honor of those critically injured and lying in a hospital bed.
Source: Detroit Free Press
Ten years ago, I was 10 years old sitting at a car dealership when I saw the news report about the tragic accident on TV. I was glued to that tiny TV until my mom forced me to leave. I was too young to fully grasp the situation, but I remember being sad because Vladdie was one of my favorite players to watch. I remember watching Yzerman pass Vladdie the Cup in ‘98 and being so happy for the team. The team that believed.
Over the past ten years, the Detroit Red Wings organization has financially taken care of Vladdie and Sergei by donating over $1 million to funds benefiting the two families.
They’ve been taken care of,” Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano said. “And they will continue to be.”
Konstantinov regularly attends home games, watching and cheering from owner Mike Ilitch’s suite. He’ll arrive early with his longtime nurse — Pamela Demanuel — and often visits the dressing room for 5-10 minutes before warm-ups. And it’s there with his ex-teammates that the old fire — and the fun — is rekindled, however briefly.
“Nobody wore Versace like Vladi,” Draper said, laughing. “So whenever I see him, if he’s wearing a sweater or something, I’ll ask him if it’s Versace. And he’ll say, ‘Of course!’.
“And when you go to shake his hand, if you tell him how strong he is, he just smiles and squeezes harder.”
Said Larionov: “He still remembers you. It’s good to see. He’s not just a guy who got hurt in a car accident. He’s a guy who remembers, especially when he sees his old friends. You can see it in his eyes.”
Other Great Reads
The Detroit Free Press reprinted three articles they published back in 1997 or 1998. You can check them out at the following links.
November 3, 1997: Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov return to the Wings’ locker room for the first time after their accident on June 13th.
Red Wings trainer John Wharton spent Wednesday afternoon at Beaumont Hospital, where you’ll often find him, talking to injured Wings Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov. He kidded with Konstantinov, telling him that with travel and a cramped schedule, it’s getting tougher for team members to visit.
Konstantinov, runner-up as the NHL’s best defenseman, sat listening with his head down, as he often does. “Why don’t you come down and see us?” Wharton asked in jest.
Konstantinov’s head shot up. He nodded three times, excited by the notion. Wharton asked their wives about the possibility. They were all for it, and so were the doctors. And so Saturday, the men were back where they belong, spending about 2 1/2 hours inside the locker room, where Konstantinov’s locker remains intact. Back with their friends, teammates and countrymen. Back on the bench as the team practiced.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Wharton said. “It all happened pretty quickly, and that’s the way I think it had to happen — just spur of the moment. Because if it was too contrived, there might have been too much in terms of expectations. It was real spontaneous, and I think everybody was pleased that it did finally happen. I think it was a great day for all of us.”
January 31, 1998: Konstantinov steals the spotlight at the White House.
“He looked great,” gushed center Kris Draper after he, Vladdie and the Wings had toured the White House on Friday afternoon. “He smiled and recognized us and was so excited. It’s so great to see him.”
“He’s been recognizing the players, and saying ‘Hello,’ ” right wing Doug Brown said. “And that’s nice to see. He seems to be enjoying it.”
A little later, they met Clinton in private. Coach Scotty Bowman related the first words Clinton said to Vladdie.
“He said, ‘I like the look in your eyes,’ ” Bowman said. “And Larry Murphy said, ‘You should see him when he plays.’” …
Her Vladdie had been a treasured guest at the White House.
“His short-term memory is not that great,” she said. “So in a week he will probably forget that he was in Washington. But we have lots of pictures to remind him.”
Pictures to remind them both of the day her Vladdie — Hockeytown’s Vladinator — had the American president smiling and shaking his hand.
Source: Detroit Free Press
June 17, 1998: Konstantinov celebrates a back-to-back Stanley Cup victory.
“Vlad-die! Vlad-die! Vlad-die!”
It was coming from everywhere now.
The star was helped to his feet, acknowledging the thunderous applause by standing. This wasn’t just Wings fans anymore, it was the entire arena.
Flashbulbs popped from every angle. Konstantinov was back where he belonged.
“It felt great when everyone stands up and cheers,” Kozlov said. “Vladdie deserves that. We could not do this without Vladdie. We miss him on the ice for so long. It was good to see him back.”
For months the fallen comrades were away from the rink, away from their buddies, but they were never forgotten. Silently, a bond was formed as the Wings gathered in Beaumont Hospital last June. Silently, they promised to play through the heartache, become a better team for it, and persevered despite their friends’ absence.
They would celebrate again with Vladdie and Sergei, and they would do it in grand style. Last summer, they got six days. Now, they have a lifetime. When the team returns to Detroit, to be embraced by the city and smothered at another parade, the fans will be saluting not only those who triumphed on the ice, but those who could not be there.
The Associated Press got some quotes from Steve Yzerman and Jimmy Devellano today about the 10 year anniversary:
”It’s hard to explain how it feels when you see Vladdy now,” former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said Wednesday, the 10-year anniversary of the accident. ”He is alive, first of all. But we all know what kind of athlete and personality he was.
”That night is still pretty vivid and all the guys think about it regularly, especially when they see Vladdy.” …
”I’m thrilled Vladdy can get around with a walker. That pleases me to no end,” Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano said. ”His mind is still pretty sharp, too. He understands when you talk to him and he’s able to engage you in light conversation.
”We take all of this as a bit of a blessing because obviously, it could’ve been worse.”
The Blog That Yost Built remembers hearing about the accident ten years ago.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was in our dining room playing IndyCar Racing 2 when our phone rang. I didn’t pay much attention as I was lapping my car around one of the fantasy tracks that someone with more computer knowledge than myself had come up with. A couple of minutes later, my dad appeared in the doorway. He had tears in his eyes. He informed me that that was a relative on the phone. A family friend of theirs worked in the ER at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. He had just called their house to break the news. My dad told me, “There was a limo crash with some of the Red Wings inside. Two of them are in surgery and they’re not sure if they’re going to make it. One of them is Konstantinov. The other one is so bad they’re not sure who it is.”
My IndyCar went straight up into the wall.
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2 Responses to “Honoring a tragic 10 year anniversary”
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June 14th, 2007 at 1:36 am
I still can’t believe it’s been ten years….
Very nice tribute.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:23 am
[…] also honored a much more tragic ten year […]