Review of Red Army (2014) by Gordon D — 23 Feb 2015

Really? Seriously? Are you kidding? Is this what we will remember in terms of Soviet system impact on the NHL? It does very much remind one of Americans recounting World War II... so very, very bizarre in that 4 fronts and 9 allies, including the Soviets (20 million dead vs. 400,000 = 5:1 ratio), just sort of get removed by white out. Once again and as usual, American arrogance, hubris, myopia leads the way. This is a doc that is quite good on the Soviet system but just unbelievably pathetic on its take on that system's impact on the NHL.

Lake Placid saw a tired, aged and otherwise spent Soviet team play against a gaggle of no-name amateurs who had more lucky bounces than Betty Boop on a Friday night. How is it possible that it so conspicuously and deliberately overlooks and otherwise ignores what took place 8 years prior in the 1972 Summit Series between virtually the same Russian team in it's prime against the likes of the NHL's Esposito brothers, the Mahovlich brothers, Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke, Ken Dryden, Jean Ratelle and the legend of the time, Paul Henderson? These were the stars of the NHL when a bet about naming a significant player in the league with an American passport would guarantee you $20 against the most fanatical of fans... Because there just weren't any. Like none.

Like zero.

This series was the first and, by far, far, far, the most significant exposure the NHL had to the Soviet system. And what a shock it was. What an enormous wake up call! It was the thing that changed everything. Every thing. They, the Soviets (ie Russians), were THAT good... mind boggling, jaw dropping good. Just use google and go deep into this. Just ask Gretzky who was 10 at the time.

Please.

You will not be disappointed.

And then there were the several subsequent tournaments, culminating with what might have been the greatest hockey spectacle of all time, the 1987 Canada Cup, featuring a very rejuvenated and motivated Soviet team (just a mere two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall) and two of the highest scoring NHL stars of all time, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, who teamed together to score 39 points in 14 games... the last three games, all between Team Canada and Team USSR, ended in 6-5 scores. I quote from Wikipedia:

"In Game 2, which is considered by some to be the greatest hockey game ever played,[3] Canada led 3-1 after one period, but this time it was the Soviets who came from behind to tie it 3-3 in the second. Canada scored twice more, each time Mario Lemieux assisted by Wayne Gretzky, but the Soviets replied each time. The tying goal was a brilliant end-to-end rush by Valeri Kamensky with 1:04 remaining in regulation time. After a scoreless period of overtime, which featured some brilliant goaltending from Grant Fuhr, Gretzky and Lemieux hooked up for the third time of the evening at 10:07 of the second overtime. It was the fifth assist for Gretzky on the night and completed a hat trick for Lemieux.".

For the record, there was an American team in the tournament... featuring such Hall of Fame legends as Corey Millen and Dave Hallet. The Americans went 2-3 with a minus 1 goals against, and just didn't quite make it into the final elimination round... Don't get me wrong, the US program has come a LONG way since then and has become very impressive, mostly by head hunting Canadian talent into the US college system that would otherwise have gone into Junior hockey.... but ok... any thing goes when it comes to winning... fine...the formula/strategy has definitely worked.

But...yet... again... how is it possible to construct an historical documentary about the Soviet impact on the game of hockey and mention exactly ZERO of the above?

To ignore ALL of this and contextualize using what any hockey fan knows is a cotton-in-the-bra/sock-in-the-shorts event... the 1980 Olympics... not only short shifts the NHL and its extraordinary history but considerably weakens the true impact and greatness of the Soviet program. We live in a World Mr. Polsky, not a fairytale land known as a 'Merka. It would do all of us a great service to recognize this and offer credit where credit is due. The game did, after all, originate in Canada. Or did you not know this either?