Scotty Bowman on The Russian Five

Acclaimed hockey coach, Scotty Bowman, reflects on one of his most defining moments of his time on the ice. In his first interview since the premiere of 'THE RUSSIAN FIVE' - and before its debut on PBS - Coach Bowman reflects back on the legacy and foundation he helped build in Detroit, and what he says he learned from being a part of this incredible moment in sports history. Watch on Detroit Public TV Channel WTVS 56.1 on December 17 at 9pm ET.
Watch "One Detroit" Monday and Thursday on Detroit Public TV at 7:30p ET. Or catch the daily conversations on our website at OneDetroitPBS.org, Facebook at / onedetroit , Twitter at / onedetroitdptv and Instagram @One.Detroit.

[@paulconvery680]

Thanks Scotty for the memories. I'll never forget '97 when a playoff goal was scored, we could hear neighbors blowing air horns. The atmosphere downtown after a win was something Detroit truly needed.

[@Shamedog]

Putting 91 on D was genius

[@paulconvery680]

Thank you Scotty.

[@gulfwarvet9895]

Thank you for sharing this. The Russian influence back then and now has made the North American hockey more exciting to watch. I was pretty young and didn’t really understand the big deal back then. But, to look back, Detroit had some awesome Russian talent! Hockey is a lot like chess, you always have to think ahead of the play. The Russians are great chess players.

[@travzimmerman1340]

They changed the game in North America.

[@gulfwarvet9895]

@@travzimmerman1340 I definitely don’t like today’s finesse style hockey. I think that is more due to the euro influence than the Russian style play. But you are certainly correct, they did change the game. I just have to believe that they came here during the Cold War, with a lot of pressure to perform (which they were use to) in a foreign land that was hated by their government. They not only performed but made names for themselves as great hockey players. I think the Detroit Red Wings and the NHL in general provided a fun atmosphere for them to play again and they took full advantage of it.

[@migjager7352]

Scotty is a true hockey genius and a giant in the history of the sport. Thanks for this.

[@Diogenes-ty9yy]

I always thought the best Soviet players I ever saw were Boris Mikhailov, Valeri Kharlamov, and Vladislav Tretiak, none of whom ever got the chance to play in North America. Those Soviet Olympic and Red Army teams were loaded and Kharlamov always impressed me as the best of the best, when he got the puck, it was "must see TV." I only regret I didn't get to see him very often but he was memorable.

[@andrewmcinnis1123]

I agree 👍 Don't forget Vladimir Petrov, he was a part of that line as well! Valery Vasiliev on defense 😊😊

[@Diogenes-ty9yy]

@@andrewmcinnis1123 I agree, though when we speak of those vintage Soviet teams, just about everyone was a star. Kosotonov, Federov, Maltsev, Kirbukin, Balderis and the rest, it's about impossible to think of anyone who wasn't brilliant. And the coaches, first Tarasov and then Tikhonov, brilliant. (I always wondered if NHL coaches like Mike Keenan were trying to emulate Tikhonov who, from what I've seen was a hard driving SOB and feared by his players.)

[@migjager7352]

Yes, the speed and strength of Kharlamov was truly remarkable for his era, although Makarov was perhaps as good- equally fast and talented.

[@michaellaughlin8457]

the mans a 9x Stanley cup winner hall of fame legend coach 👍and I loved watching him coach his teams 👍

[@yobrant]

Love the old Russian style.

[@gregoryvangaya8971]

They really added to our game.... Showed us a thing or two, made the game greater. We must always honour the Russians for that.

[@ahmadalhaisam3316]

@@gregoryvangaya8971 not 1 or 2 things they did alot

[@LocalFoe]

Great interview with the greatest coach.

[@kolptroop9983]

Scotty, thank you for every single moment you were the coach of my beloved Red Wings. It was such a fun time to be able to watch the teams you assembled in my hometown of Detroit. Thank you for bringing the cup back to the city and for being able to enjoy it with my Father. #LGRW Always. Retire #91.

[@motogig7803]

Great to see Scotty. The Russian Five what a force transformed the game. Nice at the end to hear Scotty say make it fun for th he little ones. Fundamentals will carry a player throughout their career.

[@989sportsallspprts5]

He is a real coach with lots of heart and a real bench boss of teams from the nhl

[@989sportsallspprts5]

His style of coaching is different for the Russian great 5

[@Netgazum]

This man is what a great leader looks like. He trusted and built up ihs lieutenants and let his players play. Humble on top of it all.

[@timfronimos459]

Yzerman should hire Igor Larionov as next coach. RedWings need to break the mold of stale hockey today.

[@Shamedog]

Amen brother

[@user-wb3mu1pe8v]

Да..эт0 было великолепное время Детройта...!!..))

[@kravitz1999]

Great interview Fred! Probably the best interview style I can recall seeing, ask the question and let the guest speak, with no interruptions? brilliant! And I love Scotty, thank you Mr. Bowman for bringing us our must desired Cups. However, USA Hockey? They suck! plain and simple. The only good thing about it is the Junior Team, that aside, nothing but a waste of time money grab. I'm SO glad our High School league dumped them, and we FINALLY got our men's league to dump them. Again though, great interview Fred, thank you for posting!

[@timfronimos459]

Nice to see Fred Nahat(sp) on something other than a PBS intermission. I've been a long time, 40-years, fan of Detroit PBS and he seems like such a quality broadcaster that's been kind of wasted. He should do more programs like this!

[@Tlilancalqui]

I agree with Igor Larionov on posssion. That long pass from the D zone to try to get a tip in, in the neutral zone is a terrible play. I seen schmit for the jets try to do it a couple days ago, made me feel like he deserves to be playing in the KHL. The pass turned into a turn over, came back the other way fast and resulted in a goal against, ended up changing the momentum and the Jets lost after just going up 2 goals.

[@dronlaa]

Thank you Scotty Bowman, thank you for happiest years as RW fun. 👏

[@ryansmithers0000]

Great interview. Scotty is the best

[@nealk6387]

Great interview.

[@user-be6db6el8i]

Great coach and great Man! Especially thanks from Ukraine! Thanks for your words and your work!!!

[@ajam282]

Scotty great Canadian coach! Tarassof greatest coach!!!

[@September2004]

Why hasn't any other coach tried their own Russian Five? Even if it was a failed experiment, kinda surprised.

[@aapelireijonen1839]

Lack of quality material

[@shawnyt6368]

Complicated to answer that. but I would say because the coaching and training systems are more Universal now. Back in the early and mid 90s the Russian players were coming from top secret training camps from within the Soviet system. They pioneered some pretty major things in Hockey. The training and playing systems have largely been incorporated by both sides now... The Russians still have a unique system these days, which is still unique and respected. And don't forget, the Russian 5 were pretty amazing, but so too was Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom etc.. Russian 5 wouldn't win cups without those guys on the team, and we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

[@timfronimos459]

Mostly because creativity has been purged from the game. I don't think anyone is to blame. Players got bigger and the open space diminished. NHL and all pro hockey, in 2021, needs someone to find a way to open up the game without throwing out any of what's good about North American style hockey.

[@September2004]

@@timfronimos459 Ken Dryden suggested making the net bigger. The easier it is to score from a distance, the more the defense would spread out. Makes sense to me anyway.

[@lightDaRus]

Because of money. Then Russians was an element from other system, so clubs paid those players not so much. But now best Russians hockey players got enough. And for R5 we need 5 great players (only truly good players can play hockey in Soviet style). It will be 5 big contracts. But how about other players of your team? So you can't move this way or you lose much more than win🤷 It is NHL system

[@user-yt6of7ns6t]

Спасибо

[@mr.anderson1287]

The good old days😊

[@DingDangg]

Great coach always reminded me of Don Rickles

[@kenlucas7025]

Eat your heart out Don Cherry!

[@September2004]

16:35 If even Scotty Bowman thinks they should push the 'winning culture' mentality back a bit, there's something to it.

[@pjpredhomme7699]

that is mostly on the coach , i coached hockey and a couple other sports for years and i never paid any attention to winning - my only focus was on skill development, i knew that if the skill development came along - the games would take care of themselves- but not once did i ever say a word about winning - prepare , play well - was all i ever said completely unheard of today I guess . and i told the parents up front - and if they different objectives - i was probably not the coach for them

[@September2004]

@@pjpredhomme7699 Well done. Too bad the whole league isn't like that. I could imagine a parent like Fred Trump (Trump's father) complaining that we should be training kids to be 'killers'. I'm not a sports guy, but I always figured what they should at the elementary school level is just have them play. Then the 'coach' of the first team would suggest a *slightly* different tactic and then the play would change and then the other 'coach' would suggest a counter tactic and that would change the way the game is played and that's how they might get a feel for the different styles of the game. I can't imagine being in peewee and having to learn 'systems' like the trap.

[@tomweiland7904]

Scotty's dead on, regarding making it fun for kids, starting out don't worry about winning. Let them learn to love the sport, not winning.

[@user-yt6of7ns6t]

Спасибо