Grab your passports and sharpen your skates, comrades—because on the latest episode of Cinematic Underdogs, we’re defecting straight into one of the most Cold War-adjacent sports docs ever crafted: The Russian Five! That’s right—we’re back and chatting about the real-life Red Dawn that hit the NHL when the Detroit Red Wings recruited five elite Soviet hockey players straight outta the Iron Curtain. Envision The Mighty Ducks facing-off against Mission: Impossible—missing teeth, Russian camaraderie, KGB henchman lurking in the shadows. The doc goes far beyond hockey, though—tapping into Cold War dynamics, draft day auspiciousness, and an on-ice revolution, whizzing by on skates.

Sergei Fedorov, Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov. Slava Kozlov, Igor Larionov: this legendary group of Soviet-born ice-skating assassins redefined line chemistry and international talent acquisition with slap shots hard enough and accents thick enough to leave opponents dizzy. They brought a USSR-informed brand of hockey to the NHL (emphasizing puck possession, short passes, constant motion, & a deep understanding of spatial awareness) and quickly revolutionized the NHL in the 90’s with a fast, fluid, & cerebral style of play, ending Detroit’s 42-year Stanley Cup drought with a championship in 1997—and again in 1998 (albeit without Konstantinov, who was paralyzed in a tragic limo accident just days after they hoisted the cup in '97).

In the episode, we slice through everything: top-secret phone calls, high-stakes defections, shadowy figures in trench coats, and yes—the heartbreaking limo accident that nearly shattered the dream team and wore heavily on the players’ hearts as they repeated their championship run. From behind-the-scenes espionage to Stanley Cup glory, The Russian Five is so wild you’ll think it was ghostwritten by Tom Clancy and coached by Gordon Bombay. So lace up, comrades—because this week, we’re dropping the puck on The Russian Five.

 Let’s get Red-y to rumble!