Birthdate: 18 January 1979
Birthplace: Kiev, Ukraine
Height: 6'2
Weight: 190 lbs
Sweater Number: 26
Position:Left Wing / Right Wing
Drafted/Acquired: Signed as a rookie free agent
Marital Status: ???
We're all familiar with the Simon Gagnés and Justin Williams of this world: a top prospect plays for a top team in Europe, the CHL, or the NCAA. He gets drafted, signed, and handled with kid gloves as he's groomed for stardom. For every kid who comes along the accepted route, however, there are still others who sneak into the NHL by more circuitous paths. Ruslan Fedotenko is a perfect example of this phenomenon. During the 1998-1999 season, Ruslan Fedotenko was an undrafted player laboring for Sioux City of the USHL. Never heard fo the USHL? Well, there's a reason for that, chaps! It's a pretty obscure minor hockey league--well below the AHL and the IHL.
A sharp-eyed Flyers scout noticed "Rusty" (as his teammates call him) and Fedotenko was signed for the 1999-2000 season. The organization sent him to the AHL to hone his game. The youngster struggled and suffered the indignity of being sent down to the Trenton Tigers of the ECHL. He earned a call-up to the AHL and went on to become the Phantoms' rookie of the year. In the process, he broke the Phantoms' franchise record (then belonging to Andy Delmore) for assists by a rookie in a season.
Hockey observers expected Fedotenko to spend a second year in the AHL, but that was not to be. With the Flyers' constant injuries and poor start, Fedotenko found himself getting another call-up--this time to the big dance. Two years removed from the USHL, Fedotenko received time on the first line with Keith Primeau and Mark Recchi before eventually settling into a steady role with the second and third lines. In the 74 games of his NHL rookie campaign, Fedotenko had 16 goals and 20 assists. That gives him 36 points--11 more than the more-heralded-first-round-draft-pick-rookie winger, Justin Williams.
Why has Fedotenko been so effective this year? Perhaps it's Billy Barber's influence, but Fedotenko plays with that quantity Flyer fans love best: heart. He pays the price in front of the net and in his own zone. He forechecks; he backchecks. His exuberance has been infectious--a precious commodity in a locker room that still has a tendency to fall asleep at times. His hockey sense and good hands has produced those key goals. In the season finale, he scored the game-winner that gave the Flyers home ice for the first round of the playoffs.
At 22, Fedotenko may still be a diamond in the rough, but it's now quite definite that he's truly a diamond.
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