‘Red Penguins’ documentary has Iron City Beer, stripper cheerleaders
This must be seen to be believed. Director Gabe Polsky’s “Red Penguins” dropped its trailer this week, a film in which the Pittsburgh Penguins bought into the early-1990s commercialization of the former CSKA Moscow Red Army hockey team.
If you can only watch one crazy documentary about an NHL team venturing into the turbulent waters of post-USSR breakup, this is it. Distributed by Universal, it will be available digitally Aug. 4 via iTunes and Amazon, as well as cable on demand.
Among the promotions thought up by Pittsburgh Penguins marketing whiz Steve Warshaw: Iron City beer-drinking bears on the ice and strippers dressed as cheerleaders. The “Russian Penguins” became a hit among young Muscovites, and it was mostly fun and games until the Russian mob moved in.
Warshaw is the protagonist of Polsky’s film, with former Penguins owner Howard Baldwin playing his part, as well. Legendary Red Army coach Viktor Tikhonov and general manager Valery Gushin are featured.
The film, which earned praise at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, was to be shown as a Pittsburgh special event in March. Obviously, that wasn’t possible due to COVID-19. Polsky is the filmmaker behind acclaimed 2015 documentary “Red Army.”