The Detroit Red Wings were considered a powerhouse team in the 1950s, but spent the next four decades at the bottom of the standings nicknamed the "Dead Wings". They knew they had to make a change if they wanted to make their fans happy, so they took a chance and in the 4th and 11th round of the 1989 Draft, the Red Wings picked Sergei Federov and Vladimir Konstantinov. It was unheard of wasting high draft picks on players they potentially couldn't get in Russia, but the Red Wings organization knew they had to take a chance. Luckily they paid a local news journalist who spoke Russian to talk to both players and tell them that they were drafted. Federov knew that if they are caught by a KGB agent, all three of them would be in trouble, so they leave to meet the next year.
Originally the Red Wings meet with Federov ready with his contract and money in Chicago, but he wants to finish his military contract first. Months later his team is in Oregon for an international tournament, and the Red Wings secretly escort him through the hotel kitchen, into a car in the back alley of the hotel, and fly him back to Detroit. The first piece of the puzzle is secured. However, Vladimir Konstantinov (known as "Vlad the Impaler" on ice), is stuck in Russia bounded by a 25-year military contract. He is a family man and doesn't want to desert his wife and daughter, so the Red Wings concoct a plan to pay off Russian doctors to say that he has an uncurable disease and must be discharged from the military. All the doctors agree, but they are unable to fly out of Russia due to the coup against Gorbachev. Luckily trains are still open and they travel to Budapest so they can fly to the US with Konstantinov and his family. The second of the five is in the US.
The next player they pick up is Vyacheslav Kozlov, a child-prodigy. Similar to Konstantinov, he is bounded to the Russian army, so they again bribe doctors to get him released. In March 1991, he comes to the US and is playing with the other two Russian Red Wings. The next two players were less dangerous to get and were both already in the NHL. Viacheslav Fetisov was a former Red Army captain, so they sign him in 1995 to mentor the other three Russian players, while Igor Larionov was a promising center who saw the money his other Russian companions were getting and wanted in. By October 1995, all five of the "Russian Five" are in Detroit and playing their five-unit hockey in a way that surprised their opponents. Within two years they make the Stanley Cup Championship but lose in a sweep. They however won consecutive championships in 1997 and 1998. Although they had to go through many hardships like the unfortunate accident after the 1997 championship, the Russian Five changed how international players were looked at and how to form a championship team. You can learn the whole story in the documentary, "The Russian Five".
It's interesting how sports can unite people, regardless of their loyalties to conflicting countries. This was also seen through ping pong diplomacy, where sports were a way for America and China to ease tensions. It shows the capabilities of people to cooperate, and that people can still be united despite other prohibitive factors.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really intriguing post! I think it's really interesting how the Russian-American political rivalry manifested itself within so many aspects of society, even sports. Only about 15 years before this event, hockey again found itself in the middle of the Cold War ideological conflict. In the 1980 Olympic semifinals, the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviet Union after the latter was undefeated in the Olympics since 1968. Although the the Russian Five represented the integration of Russians and Americans in spite of the political rivalry, the defeat of the Soviets in 1980 helped boost American morale and re-invigorated a feeling of confidence within America's cause for the Cold War.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-hockey-team-makes-miracle-on-ice