It was 25 years ago today that quite frankly one of the greatest units in NHL history was assembled.
Sergei Fedorov, Vladamir Konstantinov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Viacheslav Fetisov, and the final piece of the puzzle, Igor Larionov made their debut in Calgary as “The Russian Five” dominating the Flames in a 3-0 win with Kozlov and Larionov netting two of the three total goals for Detroit that night.
The five-man unit though for the Red Wings didn’t come together by accident. It was the genius and innovative approach of then head coach and general manager Scotty Bowman who had to think outside of the conservative box that was North American dump and chase hockey.
Not only that though, Bowman had to roll the dice.
There are no guarantees in the NHL now and there wasn’t a quarter of a decade ago. In order to get Larionov, Bowman had to part with forward Ray Sheppard who was good for 150 goals over the course of four seasons.
But big risks pay off with big rewards and that’s exactly what Scotty got with Igor right off the bat.
Again, 25 years ago tonight the NHL world was introduced to not only Soviet-style hockey but Soviet-style line combinations. Typically in North American hockey, lines consisted of your three forwards while defensive pairings were independent of that. Now that’s largely how it remains today, however, Soviet-style line combinations called for five-man units which is exactly what Bowman had in mind when the Larionov piece was finally added.
“My main trick was not to unite all five Russians every time,” Bowman said. “I was worried that the opponents would be able to figure out how to play against them. Often, I would wait until the second or even third period to get them out on the ice together. It always got other teams confused.”
But it wasn’t just Bowman who was causing opposing coaches headaches, it was the Russian Five giving opposing players fits when they were finally unified on the ice.
Instead of dump-and-chase hockey, Fedorov, Kozlov, Larionov, Fetisov, and Konstantinov introduced the NHL to a style of play that led to the Soviet Union dominating the world scene for decades. This included puck control like no one has ever witnessed in North America up until that point combined with blaring speed. Not only that Kozlov and Fedorov would oftentimes switch up the wings on the fly further confusing opponents while creating a number of scoring chances throughout the game.
Ultimately the Russian Five helped the Red Wings set the NHL record in 1995-96 with 62 wins while finishing one point shy of tying the record for most points in a season (132), set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976-77. The group also helped deliver Detroit its first Stanley Cup in 42 years during the 1996-97 season.
Sadly though a limosine accident after the team’s 97 Cup win seriously injured Konstantinov ending his career and leaving the Russian Five without a vital member of the unit.
Detroit would eventually go on to win the 1997-98 Stanley Cup with a “Russian Five Part Two” of sorts when the team acquired Dimitri Mironov from the Anaheim Ducks for a draft pick and defenseman Jamie Pushor.
Still, though, the lasting impact of that original Russian Five led to a revolution of sorts that helped changed the NHL game forever. It broke the League out of dump and chase hockey with a heavy forecheck and gave additional team’s a blueprint to achieve success in different ways. Not only that, the Russian Five set a standard and image for the Red Wings that would follow the team well into the new Millenium with that influence even lasting to this day.
