Former Russian and NHL player Viacheslav Fetisov appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” last night to promote the new documentary, “Red Army,” about the USSR hockey team. Host Jon Stewart said, “Hockey in the '80s and '90s really did stand in for both our countries as a kind of proxy battle of ideologies. I think we were one and two in that proxy battle. Did you feel that pressure as well in Russia?” Fetisov: “Yes, we grow up to dream about playing in the Olympic Games and represent your country.” Stewart asked, “Are you worried we’re going back to those days of more poisonous rhetoric between the two countries?” Fetisov: “The world is so fragile … and I feel it’s not going well. We should build more bridges between our countries.” Stewart said, “The two of us of together not only share our athletic prowess, but what’s beautiful about this film, you understand the human quality of the people behind the system, underneath the system. It humanizes it in a way.” Stewart then asked Fetisov to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to appear on the show and said, “He doesn’t have to wear a shirt. He can do whatever he wants” (“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central, 3/4).
