Russian Five

The Russian Five was a group of five Russian professional hockey players who have played in the 1990s at the Detroit Red Wings. The group consisted of Sergei Fedorov (C ), Igor Larionov ( RF), Vyacheslav Kozlov (LF), Vladimir Konstantinov (V) and Vyacheslav Fetisov (V).

Together, they played an important role for the team, especially on their way to the Stanley Cup victories in 1997 and 1998. Often they were highlighted for their playing skills and the good interaction when they were on the ice. Many a time it was one of the "Russian Five", which was a game decided by one goal.

The "Russian Five" lost a member a few days after the Stanley Cup triumph in 1997, when Vladimir Konstantinov was involved in a car accident and serious injuries contributed to both physical as well as mental disabilities had the consequence. After the accident, the Red Wings wore in the following season in honor of Konstantinov and a supervisor of the team, was also severely injured in the accident, a patch with the words " faith ", both in English and in Russian. This motto helped the team strength for the playoffs draw in 1998 to win the second Stanley Cup in a row.

Shortly before the end of the transfer window 1998, the team signed the Russian defenders Dmitri Mironov. With him "Russian Five II" was founded, a less successful version with Fedorov, Larionov, Kozlov, Fetisov and Mironov.