‘Red Penguins’
Documentary captures collision and culture shock of Pittsburgh ingenuity and Russian hockey
Early in “Red Penguins,” a documentary that underscores how people are definitely not alike all over, Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin gleefully tells the general manager of the legendary CSKA Moscow Red Army hockey team, “Trust me, I’ll make you a good capitalist.”
It was a nice try.
In the early 1990s, then-Penguins owners Baldwin and Thomas Ruta thought it might be worth a shot to send Steve Warshaw, their go-getter executive vice president for sales and marketing, to Moscow. The Red Army team was in disarray and financially struggling after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Its top stars had jumped to the NHL. Its arena, on army grounds, had fallen into disrepair and squatters were living in the boxes high above the ice. Times were tough for everyone: A medical doctor was driving the Zamboni because it paid better than hospital work.
Perhaps the Penguins could infuse some capital, introduce Western marketing and make connections with talented up-and-coming players.
“All we had to get was one player to justify [it],” Ruta says in director Gabe Polsky’s new documentary.
The film, which was a hit at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, was to be introduced to Pittsburgh audiences with a special event at the Carnegie Science Center in April. Instead, it’s available for rental through iTunes and through cable provider On Demand.
“We were really looking to create a joint venture,” Warshaw said in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview. “Hockey as diplomacy with the former ‘Evil Empire,’ as [President Ronald] Reagan called it. Instead, they wanted no part of us.”
It was clear from the beginning things would not go smoothly.
“I remember our first press conference where we were expected to be greeted as liberators, and just the opposite happened,” Warshaw said.
“The media was ferocious and really attacked us. Even the name ‘Penguins’ came up. One of the reporters said, ‘Why would you name a hockey team after a fat, slovenly, flightless bird?’
“And I said, ‘Well, if it’s good enough for Mario Lemieux and winning Stanley Cups in the NHL, then it’s good enough for the Red Army.’”
“That did not sound great to them. They were upset that the NHL had taken all of the best players.
“We were left with what I said to the media were ‘acorns,’ and that we were going to grow more oak trees. One of the reporters stood up and said ‘BLEEP your acorns, we want our oak trees back!’”
“Red Penguins” is a story that combines elements of the Wild West, “The Godfather” and, of course, hockey.
“It’s important for people to know the motivation we had when we went into the deal,” Baldwin said. “When we went in, initially, to be blunt, it was in order to get an edge and make some money and with my background coming from the WHA, well, I like doing things against the grain.”
In 1993, the Stanley Cup champion Penguins bought a 50% stake in what would be branded the “Russian Penguins.” Warshaw was dispatched to handle marketing in a country where corporate logos on the side boards were unheard-of. The film presents his efforts with a mounting, “can-youbelieve-this?” sensibility. There are Iron City Beer-drinking bears on the ice, strippers outfitted as cheerleaders at intermission (a strip club was in the basement of the arena) and Olympic figure skating champions practicing routines between periods.
And then the Russian mob moved in. Political and civil unrest in Moscow was punctuated by
escalating violence in the streets. Eventually, Warshaw said, he left the country out of fear for his safety. In casual conversation with some businessmen, one mentioned a contract on his life.
Disney reportedly considered a partnership, then ran back to its Mouse House as things fell apart. The Penguins/ Russian Penguins partnership was strangely glorious while it lasted, and that comes through in the film. Reviews of “Red Penguins” in Toronto were uniformly admiring. Even The Hockey News weighed in:
“‘ Red Penguins’ is packed with dichotomies. … Every scene presents a clash of sorts: Soviets vs. Americans, communism vs. capitalism, hilarity vs. catastrophe. And that’s why it’s such a memorable watch.”
Filmmaker Polsky was no stranger to Soviet hockey. His 2014 documentary “Red Army” featured Stanley Cup winner Slava Fetisov, considered one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the game. In “Red Penguins,” Warshaw serves as a guide.
Mr. Polsky said he did many of the “Red Penguins” interviews in Russia in October 2017. Although he didn’t find U. S.- Russia relations to be especially strained, “it just felt like something weird was happening.”
One interview in the film is cut short when a strange man stands by, threateningly, as Mr. Polsky talks to a KGB prosecutor. “It was pretty scary.”
Until he met Warshaw, Polsky was done with the subject of Red Army hockey.
“I was promoting ‘ Red Army’ in New York at a festival and Steve came up afterward. I was almost angry at him for pitching this because I had just shown this movie and the last thing I wanted to do was tell another story about the Red Army team,” Polsky told the Post- Gazette.
Warshaw kept sending Polsky boxes of memorabilia from his almost three years in Moscow. Finally, the director, writer and producer relented.
Warshaw is central to the documentary, taking us back to the 1993- 94 and 199495 seasons in Russia. In the film, Ruta refers to him as the Penguins’ “gunslinger in the Wild West.” It’s an apt description; Warshaw was frenetically dedicated but, in his own words, “young and naive” about the challenges in Moscow.
Red Army coach Viktor Tikhonov and general manager Valery Gushin provide the Russian point of view. There are also interviews with former Soviet journalists, government officials and even the Russian
Penguins mascot. Alexander von Bush comes off as an odd bird with a Salvador Dali mustache and a big ego who often removed his Penguin head on the ice so people could see his face.
In the executives’ offices, strange men would appear to watch Warshaw and copy his correspondence. He learned to not question it. There were more immediate dangers once the Russian Penguins and fans began filling the arena. A criminal element arrived, often toting sawed- off shotguns beneath their long coats and taking over the luxury boxes.
At one point in the film, Warshaw says he realized his partners had skimmed about $ 100,000 from the club to build themselves an Italian marble sauna. When he confronted them, his Russian colleagues don’t bat an eye.
“Crazy times,” Warshaw said. “And with the sauna, there were tons of naked people walking around the building all the time.”
His promotional efforts, however, were a success. The Russian Penguins were the hottest show in Moscow. Fans ate up the weird promotions, although “culturally, we had to be careful.”
“I remember one of the promotions that we called off at the last minute was a dash for cash on the ice, with 10s and 20s and 5s. The fans would have a minute to collect as much as they could. Luckily, Viktor Gusev was my voice of reason in Moscow. He was our VP of media and public relations. He warned me: Do NOT let an image of Russians crawling on their knees for the almighty dollar appear anywhere.
“What seemed like an innocuous, fun promotion would actually be devastating. Culturally, anthropologically, just an awful, terrible move.”
Not all of his ideas were flamboyant, however. Although it’s not depicted in the film, he began having “legends nights” to honor former greats who played for the Red Army team. Goalie Vladislav Tretiak’s number 20 was retired and a banner honoring him was hoisted to the rafters before a game.
Warshaw, now a sports promoter whose clients include Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers, said such ceremonies were an anomaly in Russia.
“Remember, when you played for the Red Army, you were really just a cog in a wheel that could easily be replaced,” he said.
“[ Tretiak] said to me afterwards, ‘ Isn’t it ironic it took Americans to honor me and my career, in Russia.’”