Page 10 - The Wayne Dispatch

The Russian Five to play at the State Wayne

In the late 1980s, the Detroit Red
Wings hockey team was a laughing
stock, often called the “Dead Wings.”
After a wealthy pizza magnate
bought the failing franchise, he ap-
pointed an unorthodox General Man-
ager to build a championship team.
Throwing off conventional wisdom,
the new GM looked to America’s
mortal enemy in the Cold War, the
Soviet Union itself. Through a plot
that sounds like a spy novel, the Red
Wings organization brought on one
Russian after another, sneaking
them out under cover of night and Champions highlight
whisking them to the Motor City,
only to find that the new players Champions of
faced another problem: Integration. Wayne fundraiser
The film follows the stories of the By Carolyn Marnon
five Russian players that emigrated ple decided to set aside national world champions in 1997. With the A voice of the Detroit Red
to America, took root in Detroit, identity to reach for the stars. city of Detroit euphorically reveling Wings, Art Regner, will attend a
Michigan, and struggled to fit in, all “If I had one word to describe the in victory, over a million people special fundraiser event on
while training day and night to be- people of Detroit,” a statement from flooded the city’s long deserted Wednesday, April 3, for Champi-
come Stanley Cup champions. The filmmaker Joshua Riehl say, “it downtown for parades and parties. ons of Wayne at the State Wayne
new immigrants had to learn to com- would be Resilient. No matter how We were kicking off the greatest sum- Theatre. A meet and greet will take
municate with their teammates, as- many times we get knocked down, mer celebration of our lives, but that place starting at 6:30 p.m. where
similate into the culture, and we find a way to get back up. It’s that all ended 6 days later when tragedy beverages and hor d'oeuvres will
become Americans. Yet, along the resilience that attracted me to the struck. A limousine accident took be served. A brief documentary of
way, the Russians began to teach the story of The Russian Five and our heroes from us at the height of the Champions of Wayne will be
rest of the team the core of Soviet pushed me to embark on a 6-year their careers and our joy. Years later, shown prior to a special screening
hockey, and better still, they started journey to make this documentary when I too was in a car accident that of the The Russian Five starting at
winning. film. Like everyone else in Michigan would require multiple back surger- 8:00 p.m.
The Russian Five is the true story in the 1990s, I followed the Detroit ies, I dreamt of making my first fea- This special fundraising event
of immigrants that became American Red Wings with a passion. In a city ture documentary. The perseverance is limited to 300 tickets. Tickets
heroes, teammates that became fam- where sports are such an integral of the Russian Five in coming to are available for $25 through the
ily, and a scrappy, resilient city that part of the culture, the Detroit Red America, winning the Stanley Cup Phoenix Theatres/State Wayne
became a world champion, twice. It’s Wings were the closest thing to a and overcoming the tragedy of the website https://www.phoenix-
a story about hopes and dreams be- Championship caliber team we had. limo wreck, would be a source of in- movies.net/loc_statewayne or can
coming reality, and the harsh reality Despite decades of not bringing spiration that helped me overcome be purchased at the State Wayne
of dreaming big. The names Federov, home the Stanley Cup, they were still my own injuries and pursue a career Theatre.
Larionov, Fetisov, Kozlov, and Kon- our heroes and gave us hope. After in documentary filmmaking. I
stantinov are legend now in the years of disappointment and heart- wanted to share with the world that
Motor City and their influence is still break (42 to be exact), the Detroit this isn’t just a hockey story, but a ian Five. – Joshua Riehl
felt throughout the National Hockey Red Wings, led by the first five-man, human story, and a very Detroit one The Russian Five will be shown
League today. all-Russian line in NHL history, fi- at that. That is why it is an honor to starting Friday, March 22, at the
And all because a few brave peo-
nally hoisted the Stanley Cup as share with you, the story of the Russ- State Wayne Theatre.

10 · March 2019 · The Wayne Dispatch