31 Years Ago Today, the Red Wings Unleashed the "Russian Five" on the NHL

On October 27, 1995, 31 years ago today, the Detroit Red Wings did something the NHL had never seen before. 

Coach Scotty Bowman rolled out the Russian Five, marking the first time any team in history had used five Russian players on the ice together in an NHL game. The group was elite, headlined by Sergei Fedorov, who was joined by standout talents in Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Kozlov, Slava Fetisov and Igor Larionov. The five had come together only days earlier, when Detroit acquired Larionov in a trade that sent Ray Sheppard to San Jose.

Detroit went on to blank the Calgary Flames 3-0, with Kozlov and Larionov each scoring and the unit generating 15 of the team's 25 shots on goal.

The Russian Five would go on to score 117 of Detroit's 325 goals in the 1995-96 season, a year in which the Red Wings won an NHL-record 62 games but fell to Colorado in the Western Conference Final. Later in 1997, Detroit would go on to sweep the Philadelphia Flyers for their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

Of the five, Fedorov became the true superstar as the Hall of Fame forward recorded 483 goals and 696 assists for 1,179 points in 1,248 NHL games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and, this past season, had his No. 91 retired by the Red Wings.

Larionov, known as "The Professor," recorded 169 goals and 475 assists for 644 points in 921 NHL games and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Kozlov was the youngest of the five but still put together a great career, posting 853 points in 1,182 NHL games, with the later part of it spent with the Buffalo Sabres and Atlanta Thrashers.

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On the blue line, Fetisov was the veteran of the group with the former captain of the Red Army playing for the New Jersey Devils before coming to Hockeytown. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001 after recording 36 goals and 192 assists in 546 NHL games.

Konstantinov was the group's enforcer, with a hard-hitting style that earned him the nicknames "Vladiator," "Vlad the Impaler" and "the Red Shark" from media and fans. He finished his career with 47 goals and 128 assists for 175 points in 446 games and led the league in plus-minus (+60) in 1995-96. Tragedy struck six days after the 1997 Stanley Cup win, when Konstantinov was critically injured in a limousine crash that ended his career.

Detroit dedicated the following season to Konstantinov and swept Washington to repeat as champions in 1998. Captain Steve Yzerman put the Cup in Konstantinov's lap, and Fetisov and Larionov pushed his wheelchair on the victory lap.

The five changed how North Americans viewed Russian players and how puck possession was taught, leaving a legacy that still shapes the game today.

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