Not long ago, Canadians were a distant second when it came to competitive hockey. For decades, including during the Cold War, no one could touch the success of the Soviet Union.
In the new film “Red Army,” director and suburban Glencoe native Gabe Polsky tells the story of Viacheslav Fetisov and other players of that era. The documentary touches on not only their rise to dominance, but the cost of that greatness growing up in Soviet Russia.
Polsky, 35, is the son of Ukrainian immigrants and played Division I hockey at Yale. He became curious about the Soviet teams when one of his coaches growing up turned him on to a much different style than the one normally taught in North America. That, and in 1987 he saw a tape of those teams for the first time.
“What I saw was a religious experience,” he said. “And not just in hockey but in sports, how dominant they were. The combination, the creativity, they were constantly creating opportunities every time they touched the puck they were doing something interesting with it. Whereas you watch an NHL game today and you’re lucky if you get two or three interesting plays in a whole game.”
RedEye spoke to Polsky about the Miracle on Ice, riding on Vladimir Putin’s plane and Patrick Kane being underrated.
How important is it to tell this story now, in this political climate?
You see in this movie Russia’s struggle to regain its identity and pride. It’s been a crisis. And that’s what [the Red Army was] doing. The hockey team was giving them unity and a sense of pride because they’re so good. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s trying to re-establish that. He’s trying to re-establish Russia’s place in the world today and the prestige that it had in Soviet times. [The movie] also shows on the other hand the cost of limiting the individual during those times. These guys leading Russia today are all products of the Soviet Union. If you understand the story, you’ll understand them better because that’s what they lived through, that’s all they know, the Soviet mentality, for good and worse.
Do you get a sense from the Soviet players that they thought it was worth it?
It was state-run, everything. They funded their sports system where they took kids from a young age and trained them and made them into superstars. But they were doing that because they wanted to promote communism all over the world. They wanted to show how dominant they were and basically spread their ideas. Sports communicated that. That was something that was purely political.
The players, now they didn’t care. What were they supposed to do? They wanted to play hockey. They understood what they were doing, but what were they going to do, not play because you don’t support it politically? [They were thinking] you’ve got to play because you want to be the best in the world.
Lots of people think of the Cold War as black and white in terms of good and evil. How did your own perceptions change in making this movie?
Part of the reason I wanted to make the movie is because I understood these cliches. I was on both sides in a way. On the one hand I love [“Rocky IV”], but on the other hand you can’t just make it black and white like that, [as if] ‘they’re the bad guys, we’re the good guys.’ And that’s a problem. The Russians, as you see in the movie, are kind of standoff-ish. They’re aware they’ve become a cliche. And this movie unveils the humanity behind this team and who these guys were.
What’s the legacy of Soviet hockey? It’s the “Miracle on Ice,” unfortunately, right now. It was an incredible story at that time, but we made it into the lasting legacy of Soviet hockey. The truth is every time they were on the ice it was a miracle in what they did, the dominance that they achieved. They barely lost a game. That’s what should be celebrated. In our culture, in any culture, you want to celebrate people who are doing good things and bring sport to another level. Then we can all make it better.
What did your Russian coach make you do?
Somersaults on the ice, we’d carry each other on our backs. Skating around tires, and we’d pass to the tires. Basically develop kind of an awareness. It’s all about passing. You only touch the puck for a couple seconds before you give it away. He would warm us up so much before a game and we’d be so tired that we couldn’t even skate. But in the long run we realized like [bleep] I’m weak. Maybe we lose that game, but you realize like it’s about training your body and being strong.
Were you a better player because of it?
It was apples and oranges in the sense that my vision was made better and my sense of the creative aspects of the game. But as soon as I left his team, no one else could play that way. I had to dumb myself down. Guys wouldn’t know where you were, you’d pass too quickly, no one’s ready for your passes.
Do you think there’s a lack of appreciation for how good the Soviets were?
They sold out every stadium they played in. You look at them and everyone’s scratching their heads and thinking, [if] you’re a black and white [thinking] guy and you’re thinking “[bleep] those Russians, those sons of bitches, we’re gonna beat them up.” But that’s a very nonsophisticated mentality. Or you say, “my God, it’s [bleeping] genius artwork.” It’s like you’re watching a cultural achievement and you’re thinking “holy [bleep], we’ve got to do this over here.” But for some reason everyone says “no no no, they’re the bad guys, we don’t do what they do.” Instead of embracing at least that good part saying “hey listen, maybe we could be a little more creative, and we should study this.” I think maybe it’s just a matter of time because it was the Cold War and we couldn’t dare like anything Russian [at the time].
Was it like that in Division I hockey?
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Yeah, first of all they didn’t even know what [the Soviet style] is. If I did something creative on the ice, most of the time you’d have to wait a few seconds before you pass because no one’s used to getting passes right away. It’s discouraged. But everyone who plays Division I hockey is very capable. [It’s just that] when you’re not used to being creative and using those muscles, it’s not gonna happen.
What’s the craziest thing you experienced in making this movie?
I get to Sochi [to interview Fetisov] and I fall asleep because I was up all night traveling. I get five calls [from Fetisov saying], “Where are you?” I said, “I’m here at the hotel,” and he says, “All right, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” So I’ve got to get the whole interview together, and I can’t just shoot in a corner. So he shows up and we do the interview and it was fine.
He said [after our interview], “OK, I’ve got to go.” And I said, “Where are you going?” And he said, “I have to go meet Putin.” And I said, “Well I don’t know how I’m going to get home.” I asked him, “How are you getting home,” and he said, “I’m taking the presidential plane.” I go, “Can I come with you?” And he sort of looks at me like I’m crazy. Then he calls somebody, I don’t know who. He says, “Yeah this guy, he’s of Ukrainian descent,” he doesn’t want to say I’m American. So he gets off the phone and says, “Well, you’re going to go on the presidential plane. You see what I can do?” I was like all right, great. We’re about to get on the plane and he said don’t look at anybody, look straight down, go straight to the back of the plane and don’t talk to anybody. I went on the plane and got a ride back to Moscow, and basically every Soviet hockey legend was on the plane.
Did you just not talk to anyone the whole time?
I was so happy to be getting a ride at that point, I was so tired. Basically the front of the plane was so nice, as you could imagine, and they had all the hockey legends there. And the back of the plane was for like the staff, just basic economy seating. But he came back in the middle of the flight and asked me how I was doing and we had a drink together.
Was there any resistance to you making this movie?
I think no one knew what I was doing. I think they thought, “Oh, this kid wants to make this movie about Russian hockey.” They said “Oh, whatever, I’ll talk to him.” Fetisov I think was slow to get on board because of how he might be perceived. He says some things that are controversial a little bit. He comes off pretty raw. It wasn’t until we got to Cannes and everyone was applauding that he was like a movie star. But he was worried at first, like “What is my country going to think?”
How is such a creative style of hockey born out of such an oppressive philosophy?
These guys, the only place they were free was on the ice. It was kind of like the most free hockey that ever existed by far. They called them the robots? We were like the dumb robots, whereas they were artists.
You could walk down a street in Chicago and you say, OK, I get a sense of sort of the artistry that exists in this building. It’s all there to see and it speaks to you about the culture. Sports are the same way. They speak to you in a lot of different ways. You can tell who somebody is by the way they play sports.
Would you say Patrick Kane is the embodiment of that style today?
Yes. Even though he’s considered one of the best players in the NHL, he’s the most underrated. The guy can make plays from anywhere. He’s an amazing passer and finisher. Every time he touches the puck, it’s exciting. And shouldn’t we want hockey like that, widespread, instead of just one guy in the league? It’s a natural talent but at the same time something that can be encouraged and brought out of people.
Chris Sosa is RedEye’s sports editor. @redeyesportschi