Former Red Wings masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov passes at 71

The extended family of the Detroit Red Wings has suffered a loss today, as it was announced that former team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov passed away at the age of 71. He had worked with the team from 1993 through 1997. 

Mnatsakanov's life was forever altered less than a week after the Red Wings captured the 1997 Stanley Cup, as he was badly injured alongside defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov in the horrible limousine accident caused by an impaired driver.

Both were in comas for weeks;  Mnatsakanov was paralyzed from the waist down. Defenseman Slava Fetisov was also in the limousine, though he suffered minor injuries and was able to play a final NHL season in 1997-98. 

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