Russian Five

The Russian Five is the name of two separate but related units of five Russian ice hockey players. Internationally and in other languages, those two units were alternatively known as Big Red Machine – not to be mixed up with Big Red Machine within baseball.

The first, also known as the Green Unit was a unit of players for both the CSKA Moscow and the Soviet national hockey teams during the 1980s. It consisted of Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov on defense, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov (also known as the KLM Line) at forwards. The five dominated national and international hockey for nearly a decade before being split up when heading to the NHL in the early 1990s.

The second unit, also known as the Red Army and "The Wizards of Ov", was a lineup for the Detroit Red Wings during the 1990s. The Russian Five—all hockey legends in their own right in their native Russia—emulated the style of the Soviet Red Army teams that dominated world and Olympic competition during the 1970s, '80s and early '90s with a combination of speed and puck control.

Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman put together the five-man unit, leading the Red Army line through a spectacular display of their prowess in which they played a two-minute shift at both ends of the ice, denying all attempts at defensive maneuvering. The five skater group included forwards Igor Larionov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov with Vladimir Konstantinov and Viacheslav Fetisov on defense.

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