You know how it goes—he's 6'7", dwarfs a regulation NHL net, etc. etc. But for one fan, Fedotov caught her with more than just how tall he was—rather, it was how he played that captured her attention (and has held it ever since).
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov is hard to miss.
You know how it goes—he's 6'7", dwarfs a regulation NHL net, etc. etc. But for one fan, Fedotov caught her with more than just how tall he was—rather, it was how he played that captured her attention (and has held it ever since).
"I first saw him play back in the 2022 Olympics and he initially really caught my attention just as a Flyers prospect on a big international stage," Brig (who opted not to have her last name published for privacy reasons), a lifelong fan of the Flyers, said of discovering Fedotov. "His goaltending in the Olympics was pretty unbelievable, but he also just had such a specific style and confidence that was really fun to watch."
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov (82) and winger Travis Konecny (11) after the Flyers' 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Wells Fargo Center.
With a new player on her radar, she naturally wanted to learn as much as she could about Fedotov. However, with the now-28-year-old completing his mandatory Russian military service at the time, and the general accessibility obstacles that come with researching foreign players, made her mission a difficult one.
"When everything went down for him that summer, I tried to read as much as I could about his whole story and get a sense for who he is over in Russia to try to understand the whole situation a bit better," she said. "It was pretty clear from his play and his accomplishments (Olympic silver medalist, Gagarin Cup champion, KHL best goalie award winner) that he’s something special, but it felt at that point like the likelihood he could come to Philly was pretty slim (especially after re-signing with CSKA when his military service ended). So then in March, when suddenly he was here, I was just so excited that this player I’ve been so intrigued by for so long is finally on the team that I’ve grown up loving."
Fedotov joined the Flyers in a rather unexpected move back in April of this year, where he slotted into the NHL as Sam Ersson's backup, in what the organization hoped would be the team's consistent goaltending tandem for the 2024-25 season.
Seeing your favorite player in the flesh is a formative, indescribable, and overall magical feeling that is a core memory in every hockey fan's journey. For her, seeing Fedotov finally with the Flyers was every bit as extraordinary as she could've imagined.
"In the time since, I’ve gotten to kind of dig back into the archives of his KHL career and fall in love with who he is as a player and a person all over again," Brig explained. "There can sometimes be a bit of a language and accessibility barrier as far as some of the content and information from the KHL being available here, but since he’s been a Flyer, I’ve gotten back to just trying to absorb anything available about him."
Goalies are often easy players to love, but what specifically makes Fedotov worth keeping so close to her heart?
"I just love his personality as well as his style of play," she stated. "He’s everything I like in a player: intense, with a flair for the dramatic on the ice, but just incredibly kind and goofy off the ice. I think he’s a player who gives a lot of himself and does anything he can for the team on the ice, but his passion for the sport carries beyond that. For example, this offseason, he was undoubtedly making huge adjustments in his life, but he was still taking time to help out with a few youth hockey teams in the area soon after the season had ended. I think there’s a lot to love in any professional athletes who invest in their community in that way, especially when they’ve effectively just gotten here.
"Everything I had seen of him playing in the Olympics or the KHL made me really excited for how good he could be once he got his feet under him. I just think he’s a great guy and he’s so easy to root for. It was difficult to see that something was off for him in his first couple of starts, but I knew that once he got a chance to adjust and get his confidence back, he would find himself again and it’s been beautiful to watch."
"Everything I had seen of him playing in the Olympics or the KHL made me really excited for how good he could be once he got his feet under him. I just think he’s a great guy and he’s so easy to root for. It was difficult to see that something was off for him in his first couple of starts, but I knew that once he got a chance to adjust and get his confidence back, he would find himself again and it’s been beautiful to watch."
Fedotov faced intense backlash on social media after experiencing some struggles in his first few NHL games, something that broke her heart, but also inspired her to take action.
"Players, and especially goalies, face so much scrutiny and there can be a lot of pure vitriol online when they aren’t performing at their absolute best," Brig acknowledged. "I know it was difficult for me to see the animosity that was being directed at him, so I can only imagine what it feels like from the player’s perspective. I just have so much admiration and respect for him, so it felt like someone needed to send a positive message and it might as well be me."
And so came the idea to make Fedotov a sign to hold up to the glass during pre-game warmups, in hopes that he would be able to see it and understand that there were fans that loved him and supported him amidst the wall of negativity online.
The sign, written in Cyrillic, simply said, "We love you, Vanya!" on it (Vanya is a nickname for the name Ivan, commonly used in Russia).
"I had the idea right around the Halloween game when I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in my own life, and as he had a shaky start and the Flyers had just started the three-goalie system, I felt like he might have been going through a sort of paralleled situation mentally," she said. "I just wanted to show support for him as a player who means so much to me, and I wanted to make sure he knew there was unconditional love for him in this city, even when the critics are loud.
"I can’t imagine the mental toll of everything he’s been through, but everyone benefits from knowing they have love and support in a new place. This game came after he’d had that statement win against Tampa Bay, so I think his confidence was certainly on an upward swing anyway, but I think knowing that there are fans who care so deeply about you not only as a player but as a person, has to help in some way."
Fedotov did, indeed, see the sign, and made sure she understood how much he appreciated the gesture.
"It's so important when you can see the support from the fans, from the people who care about the team and about you," Fedotov said when asked about the sign. "In that moment, it's unbelievable."
For him, the fact that it was written in his native language only made the moment more special—especially the inclusion of his nickname, which he doesn't hear much of in North America.
"[To see] the Russian words, you feel so warm," he said. "It's a very good feeling. You have a smile, so that's awesome...[The nickname] surprised me! Vanya...I think not a lot of people [in North America] know that nickname...[I was] smiling [because] not many people call me Vanya because it's more for close friends, people know me really good."
Dozens of fans hold up signs to the glass during warmups, but Fedotov said that hers stuck with him and will continue to stick with him as he navigates his journey within the Flyers organization.
"It's really good. I'm a new part of this team, and of course everybody wants to laugh and have good feelings," he told me. "The support gives [me] confidence. I know the fans here really love hockey, and if you give yourself for the team, for hockey, everybody will love you and support you. And that's what I try to do. I do my best, just step by step."
And for Brig, having that kind of impact on him is everything.
"Honestly, it really means the world to me," she said. "I had never previously done anything like that at a game, so it wasn’t really something I ever saw myself doing. I just have cared about him for so long and felt like he needed to know there was love for him in Philadelphia...Ultimately, it was such a small thing, but under the circumstances, it felt like the best thing I could do in that moment.
"I keep joking that I still haven’t recovered from that moment, but I truly am still in disbelief. It’s been such a long road for him to finally get to this point, and I just feel so lucky to get to see my favorite player on my lifelong favorite team. I’m so grateful that he saw it, and sharing that moment through the glass was just so unbelievably special to me. I don’t think I could ever forget how that made me feel."
