Sergei Fedorov - International Play

International Play

In the (U-20) 1987 World Junior Championships, Fedorov made his national team debut for the Soviet Union. The Soviet team was ejected (as well Canada) for their part in the infamous punch-up in Piestany bench-clearing brawl during the final game. The fight is famous for officials having turned off the arena lights in a desperate attempt at ending the 20 minute melee. He played again with teammate Alexander Mogilny in the 1988 World Junior Championships, both made the tournament All-Star Team, finishing with a silver medal.

The Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny line made its international debut at the 1989 World Junior Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. The top line of CSKA Moscow teammates combined for a total 38 points and led the Soviet Union over Canada for the gold medal. The combination of the three formed was promising for head coach Viktor Tikhonov, with expectations to replace the previous top Soviet line, the K-L-M combination of Vladimir Krutov, Larionov and Makarov.

Later that year, he made his senior debut with the Soviet national team as a 19-year-old at the 1989 World Championships in Sweden. He played with the full roster Soviet Union team that won the gold medal over Canada in their final game, and played along aside club teammates Mogilny and Vladimir Konstantinov. He also led the team in goals (6) and was second in points (9). The Soviet Union would repeat gold at the 1990 World Championships in Switzerland against Czechoslovakia, with Bure playing on Fedorov's wing.

In the 1991 Canada Cup, the team representing the Soviet Union was missing most of its top stars due to severe political turmoil at home. Many players were declining to play for the team, and some were purposely left off the roster (such as Pavel Bure, Vladimir Konstantinov, etc.) for fears of defection. It was not known until weeks before the start of the tournament that they would even send a team. This was the final major senior event in which a team representing the Soviet Union (USSR) would play. Fedorov was asked to join the team (one year after defection), which he accepted to represent his country. Though the team finished in fifth place, he did help hold an undefeated Canada to a 3–3 tie in Quebec City in their last game, where a young Fedorov was paired against tournament MVP Wayne Gretzky.

In the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Team Russia had played five preliminary games in order to set the groupings for the main tournament stage. Russia was the only team that went undefeated (winning against USA (Detroit), Sweden (Stockholm), Finland (Moscow), Germany (Landshut) and tied against Canada (Calgary). The U.S.A, Sweden and Finland games saw the pairing line of "Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny", for the first and only time internationally on the senior level, and was considered "perhaps the best forward line on earth" at the time. With Pavel Bure injured at the end of the U.S.A game, he was not able to play in the main tournament. One of Fedorov's goals came in the round robin of the tournament in the second period against Canada in Vancouver on a breakaway pass off the boards from defensemen Darius Kasparaitis, where he sprinted to the puck, and shot it over the blocker of goalie Curtis Joseph to tie the game. Fedorov and Mogilny played on the same line and both led the team in scoring, but they lost in the semi-finals against U.S.A, after defeating Finland 5–0 in the quarterfinals.

On a team that was missing many of their top stars due to players declining and injuries, Fedorov with Pavel Bure and Mikhail Shtalenkov carried the team to a silver medal with Russia in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, Fedorov and the Russians knocked out the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals 1–0, and ended the tournament winning a bronze medal in their final game against Belarus.

In response on his decision to play hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Fedorov said, "I don't think it is appropriate to delay my decision about the Olympics any further. As much as I would enjoy representing my country in Italy, I'm afraid that at this point in the season my focus has to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets... I feel that the most important thing is for me to continue to work towards being 100 percent healthy. My main priority and responsibility is to the Columbus Blue Jackets and I don't believe participating in the Olympics, which is a short, intense tournament, would be the best thing to do."

The Washington trio, Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Fedorov, competed on the same line for Team Russia and won the gold medal at the 2008 World Championships, 5–4 in overtime against Canada in which he set up the game-winning goal to Ilya Kovalchuk. The tournament was the held for the first time in Canada (Quebec City) for the 100th anniversary celebrations. Team Russia would repeat the gold against Canada again at the 2009 World Championships. He also played for Russia in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, entering the competition ranked number one in the world. He was the eldest player in the tournament at 40 years-old. Russia lost in the quarterfinals but he finished the Olympics at a point-per-game, and tied Ovechkin for second on the team overall.