nicknames "Vladinator" and "Vlad the Impaler" among the media and fans, as well as “the Red Shark”. Konstantinov was part of the unit known as "The Russian Five", which consisted of him and fellow defenseman Slava Fetisov, and forwards Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov. Konstantinov earned the NHL Plus/Minus Award in 1995–96, with a plus/minus difference of +60. The +60 was the highest rating a player achieved since Wayne Gretzky finished with a +70 in the 1986–87 season; it wouldn't be matched or surpassed until Johnny Gaudreau registered a +64 in the 2021-22 season. In 1996–97, Konstantinov helped his team to win the Stanley Cup against the Philadelphia Flyers. Flyers head coach Terry Murray expected his top line of centre Eric Lindros, left winger John LeClair and right winger Mikael Renberg—known as the "Legion of Doom" for its scoring and toughness—to face Konstantinov. However, Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman surprised the Flyers by instead opting for the finesse-oriented defense pairing of Nicklas Lidström and Larry Murphy to neutralize the Lindros line's forechecking. In that same year, Konstantinov was runner-up to Brian Leetch for the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL's best defenseman. This would turn out to be Konstantinov's final season. Limousine crash Following a golf outing with the Stanley Cup on June 13, 1997, celebrating the Red Wings' Stanley Cup triumph, Konstantinov, along with Russian hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov, hired a limousine to drive them home. The driver, Richard Gnida, whose license was suspended at the time for drunk driving, lost control of the limousine and hit a tree on the median of Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham, Michigan. Konstantinov spent several weeks in a coma. As a result of the limousine crash, Konstantinov suffered from serious head injuries and paralysis while Fetisov escaped with relatively minor injuries and was able to play the following season. Mnatsakanov sustained significant head injuries as well, and spent some time in a coma; he has had a considerably more difficult recovery. After the Red Wings successfully defended the Stanley Cup in 1998, Konstantinov was brought onto the ice in a wheelchair, surrounded by his teammates, to celebrate the win. Throughout the playoffs the Red Wings' catchphrase was the single word, "Believe", and throughout the 1997–98 season the Red Wings wore a patch, with the initials of Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov featured prominently, with the