Perhaps the most intriguing aspects of 'Mafia Power Play' is the contradiction between the NHL's vigorous public statements belittling the charges of Russian mob connections and their private investigations into the allegations. Those discrepancies are brought to light by interviews with, among other, Jim Moody, a former head of the FBI's organized crime investigations who was hired by the NHL to look into the matter. Mafia Power Play' would have a lot more punch if it significantly advanced this story beyond the points established in a controversial May 1998 article by Robert Friedman in Details magazine, a report credited in tonight's broadcast. Even so, viewers unfamilar with the material are sure to find it startling and disturbing. We are told, for example, that one Vyacheslav Ivankov, a convicted extortionist, is in business with Slava Fetisov, who helped win the 1997 Stanley Cup for the Detroit Red Wings and now is a New Jersey Devils coach.
Inferences are rampant, but evidence is lacking.
That's easy to believe, and perhaps the producers were counting on the bad reputation of Russian operators to get away with an hour filled with speculation. The program can't even decide whether the players are victims of the Russian Mafia or accomplices. That one of them is Florida's Pavel Bure, one of the niftiest mixes of speed and skill in the league, makes for a good story. But the piece is better for its rich details and background on the growth of organized crime and its relation to hockey within Russian culture. Frontline' presents a sobering look at how the National Hockey League has become compromised by elements of the Russian Mafia.