The Art of War, Part I

Russia’s failure to medal at World Juniors struck a nerve in a culture that demands perfection. For Larionov, it was only the first lesson in a much broader curriculum.

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Sergei Fedorov once told me that the development of Russian hockey was best compared to a vintage of wine:

We had to survive the nineties; hockey was not the first goal. People had to survive, get a job, have mone…