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In the film Red Army, recounting the resentment he faced from North Americans following his move to the NHL, Fetisov cites the south-Boston born John Cunniff, his second coach with the Devils, as someone who wouldn’t even “look at Russians.”

“I don’t know specifically about Cunny, but there were a lot of old school coaches and players who were afraid of those guys coming over and ‘stealing’ jobs from North Americans,” Shanahan said. “But we also had a lot of younger guys like Kenny Daneyko and Kirk Muller who saw what he and Alex could do for us as a team.”

Jim Schoenfeld was Fetisov’s first NHL coach. He was also the coach who made Fetisov a healthy scratch for what would have been the defenseman’s 14th NHL game on Nov. 4, 1989, in Calgary. The game, a 7-3 New Jersey defeat, was televised in Russia.

The game also marked Schoenfeld’s last one behind the Devils’ bench, as he was fired two days later.

“No, I don’t think it was a coincidence that was my last game, but I also don’t believe that was the only reason,” Schoenfeld, in his eighth season as Rangers’ assistant general manager, told Slap Shots last week. “Of course I knew who he was, of course I knew the significance of what I was doing, and of course it was a hard call, but I thought he’d been beaten down and worn and needed a rest at that point.

“You could see he was a real elite player, but I don’t think Slava realized how good this league was and that he had to be in top shape in order to play at a highest level. Most importantly, the most physical players on the other teams were all targeting him and running roughshod over him.

“I had a long talk with Slava. He obviously wasn’t happy. But the times I’ve seen him since, he’s been friendly. If there’s animosity, he doesn’t show it.”

Fetisov played well for the Devils, but was never a difference maker. He re-ascended in Detroit with Scotty Bowman’s Russian Five that included Larionov, Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov and Vladimir Konstantinov.

In New Jersey, Kasatonov was the better player.

“In Detroit, Slava was in a place where they all appreciated his style,” said Shanahan, a teammate for the 1997-98 consecutive Red Wing Cup championships. “It was a different environment.

“We were talking one time about his whole experience of leaving Russia and coming to New Jersey,” he said. “And Slava told me, ‘You know, it was so draining to try to get my freedom, it was such a grueling fight, I didn’t realize I was going to have another fight here.’ ”

The Great Fetisov.

The great “Red Army.”