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20 years later, Wings recall ‘unbelievable tragedy’

Detroit — The years really have flown, like a blur, and sometimes when you pause for a moment and reflect, it’s difficult to believe.

Twenty years. Really?

“We’re getting older,” said Chris Osgood, former goaltender and current television analyst. “The years are flying by.”

The date was June 13, 1997, the ugly date when former Red Wings defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov, along with team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov were involved in a serious limousine crash which left Fetisov with a bruised lung and chest contusions, Mnatsakanov paralyzed from the waist down, and Konstantinov with head injuries which have impacted his life.