When the Detroit Red Wings had five Russian players skate together for the first time, they made history in several ways. That history is captured in this book by Keith Gave. Here is my review of "The Russian Five"
Title/Author:
“The Russian Five: A
Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage” by Keith Gave
Tags:
Ice Hockey, History,
Politics, Red Wings
Publish date:
March 20, 2018
Length:
328 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
For the first 75 years
or so of its existence, the National Hockey League consisted mostly of Canadian
and American players. Slowly, European
players started playing during the 1970s. But when five players from Russia who
played for the famed Red Army team helped restore glory to the Detroit Red Wings
in the 1990’s, the hockey world took notice. The stories behind these players
and the extraordinary danger to get some of them to Detroit is captured in this
very good book by Keith Gave.
As a journalist who
spoke Russian, Gave had a role with Red Wings personnel by traveling to
Helsinki to speak with one of the players. Because of this, he was able to
provide a viewpoint that makes the stories terrific. They would be intriguing enough as some of
the methods used to get the players out of Russia were straight out of Cold War
spy novels, such as faking a cancer diagnosis for Vladimir Konstintinov.
These pages were even
better than the hockey passages, which were decent but often repetitive. The reader will be reminded several times,
for just two examples, that the New Jersey Devils swept the Red Wings in the 1995
Stanley Cup Finals and that the author introduced the reader to the “Green Unit”
several times. The chapters on the
hockey team felt like they were previous articles put together for the book
instead of written as one story.
That doesn’t take away
from the riveting stories of the five Russians, the danger they faced when
leaving Russia and the sheer joy they felt when they and the Red Wings won back
to back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998.
The latter one was especially touching as the team brought the Cup to Konstintinov in a wheelchair. He, along with a team masseuse, were
seriously injured in a car accident soon after the 1997 victory and the team
wanted to let him know that he was still a part of the team.Those stories are
why this book should be on the shelves of all hockey fans, especially Red Wings
fans.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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