The Russian Five by Keith Gave

In the final years of the Cold War, the struggling Detroit Red Wings hockey team was desperate to find players that could help them turn their franchise around. At the time, some of the best players in the world were playing for a state-controlled team in the Soviet Union. Because these players could not leave their current team without facing prison time or other serious consequences, most NHL teams were not interested in them. The Red Wings, however, were determined to get Russian players for their team by whatever means necessary.

The Russian Five tells the story of five of these players and how they managed to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. For instance, one player faked cancer so the Red Wings could bribe his doctors to send him to the U.S. for treatment, while another was spirited away from his hotel by Red Wings management after an overseas game. The author (a sportswriter and former Russian linguist for the NSA) was intimately involved in many of the events of the book: because of his background and press credentials, the Red Wings used him to pass messages to the Russian Five.

The events of this book could have been lifted directly from a spy thriller, and the author conducted many interviews which allowed him to describe everything in great detail from multiple perspectives. The glimpses into everyday life in the Soviet Union were particularly fascinating to me. I would recommend this book to any hockey fan looking for a sports book that’s a little out of the ordinary.