Red Army

The Soviet Union's national ice hockey team was one of the best in the world. It was almost entirely composed of players from CSKA, the ice hockey club of the Red Army. From a young age, the players were disciplined and distinguished by a style of play that emphasized teamwork and functioning as a collective. During the Cold War, the team was seen as proof of the superiority of the socialist system. As part of the propaganda, the team's sole mission was to defeat the West. Slava Fetisov, the captain, was one of the first to be brought to the USA by NHL clubs during the Perestroika era, lured by promises of prosperity and freedom— a move that led to him being declared a political enemy back home. However, the new beginning in the West was rocky: the playing style of the Soviet athletes seemed incompatible with the American system of stars and individualists.