Twenty years ago today, the Russian Five debuted

October 27, 2015 MiHockey Staff

By @MichaelCaples –

Twenty years ago today, Scotty Bowman created the ‘Russian Five’ line.

The five-player unit really needs no introduction, of course. Forwards Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozlov joined defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Viacheslav Fetisov on the ice to create the iconic Russian Five on Oct. 27, 1995, marking the first time a NHL club put five Russians together on the ice at the same time.

The ‘Russian Five’ would go down in Hockeytown lore as one of the primary components of a team that brought Detroit its first Stanley Cup championship in four decades.

Check out this old-school video shared by the NHL with a youthful broadcast team of Dave Strader and Mickey Redmond talking about the new line before and during their debut.

Highlights in the clip show how well it worked, too.

On this day 20 years ago… #RussianFive https://t.co/gD4PXR456H

— NHL (@NHL) October 27, 2015

We recently talked to Bowman about his Russian contingent, as well. Check that out here:

Checking in with Scotty Bowman (a @RedArmyMovie exclusive) Story/video: http://t.co/p5mokivSjX #RedWings #RedArmy pic.twitter.com/DedjQKg0zv

— MiHockey (@MiHockeyNow) June 17, 2015