Style Showdown: Sergei Fedorov vs Dany Heatley
Let's start off by just calling a spade a spade real quick. The calendars just flipped over to August. Which means that there really ain't dick going on in the world of sports at the moment aside from NFL training camps. We're in the dog days of summer, and sometimes that means you need to create some hypothetical arguments to pass the time. Typically that will just naturally lead down the path of GOAT debates.
This is no different. Let's talk GOATs. But in an area of life that actually matters. We're talking about hockey style. And when it comes to naming Steezus Christ, the conversation always starts and ends with two beauties--Sergei Fedorov and Dany Heatley.
Sergei Fedorov is the Sty Father. There were definitely guys who came before him who cared about the way they looked out on the ice, but I truly don't think anybody ever treated the game like a runway the same way Fedorov did. This guy was decades ahead of his time.
Obviously the signature item here were the white Nike skates. It's one of those things that will forever and always belong to Sergei Fedorov, and Sergei Fedorov only. You could pull up a pair of white Nike skates 100 years from now and people will still know those are Fedorov's. And it wasn't just the white skate, but the tongue flop too. Just so insanely crispy and clean. Everything about the look is pure perfection, and clearly it helps that the Red Wings have such an iconically crispy and clean uniform to go along with it. Do I think this whole look would have been just as elite had Nike not taken over the branding during those years? For sure. But something about the Nike logo plastered on everything here makes the look as iconic as they come.
While you can tell that Sergei Fedorov went out of his way to look like an absolute stallion, Dany Heatley had a more organic approach to the steeze. He looks like he just didn't give a fuck out there, but somehow managed to put together one of the tastiest combinations of gear we've ever seen.
Like any true beauty, it all starts with a Bauer 4500 bucket. The comically large shin pads were perfect for the era, the orange Synergy grip with the blade spray painted black also makes you yearn for the years of walking into a pro shop and seeing a wall stacked with Synergy's for the first time. But the signature item here is always going to be the Eagle mitts. Without a doubt the most iconic pair of gloves to ever hit the show. That's one of the biggest misses in hockey right now. I feel like gloves have just lost their life out there. They all just blend together, and maybe that's because everybody realizes they'll never be able to recreate the magic that Heater had with his mitts. I don't know if it's due to the Thrashers color way, or because nothing they make these days can come close to an old pair of Eagles, or a combination of both. But all you need to do is see a photo of those gloves and you instantly know who was wearing them. Also, sneaky underrated accessory here is a skate lace to tie up the pants.
Both of these guys are legends. Clearly two of the best to ever do it. But only one of them can truly be #1. So sound off in the comments, we'll tally up the votes and send the results to the Hockey Hall of Fame.