Following on from our earlier recap of the Red Wings triumph in 1997 (in the lead up to our Countdown to Christmas) It is worth reflecting on both sets of the Russian Five, the latter of whom who were an integral part of the team’s success.
The Red Wing’s Russian Five was a quintet of three forwards and two defensemen comprising Igor Larinov, Sergei Federov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Viacheslav Fetisov. Of the group, it is perhaps the latter who is the most crucial to the story. Fetisov was the first ever Soviet to leave the country on a working visa and thus laid the platform for not only other Russian hockey players to do the same, but all other Russian expats working overseas.