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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
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