Putting on the Foil
I have recently been asked by the boys if I could bring more from the world of hockey to DSB on a regular basis. Apparently, I must be doing something right. I, of course, jumped right at the chance finding that speaking my mind on the subject lately seems to ooze right outta me, much like blood has with the occasional fight on the ice. Keeping right in line with that statement brings us to the name of our new recurring post. For any true hockey fan no explanation is needed, but I have decided (being the first edition of Putting on the Foil) that we’ll start with the topic that inspired our name.
Since these posts will be centered on anything and everything hockey, I figured why not start off with my top three greatest hockey movies. Now I’m sure one would begin to think, "How many movies are there out there that really involve hockey, or are based around it?" There actually are quite a bit, but only a few worth your time. Everyone has seen or heard of Disney’s Mighty Ducks, but no worries...no "Flying V’s" here.
This movie was released in 1999, directed by Jay Roach (who would go on to do the Austin Powers movies) and stars Russell Crowe and Burt Reynolds just to name a few. This flick is rated R for language and sexuality. As a quick rundown on the story would go, you have a very small town where everything is based on hockey and the famous "Sunday Game". The town’s small squad of elite players scrimmage against one another every weekend with the town watching and cheering their play. These skilled players from the north soon find themselves up against the New York Rangers in an NHL exhibition game. Yea right, would never happen...but this is a movie people. It boasts your typical hockey humor and has a nice feel good story to it. Thanks to that feel good story you could even manage to sit down and watch this one with a significant other. After all, one of the best quotes from the movie has to be, "I fornicate and play hockey because those are the two best things to do in cold weather". I think that might be my new motto since I'm headed to Buffalo soon. Either way, if you haven’t seen it you should check it out.
#2 MIRACLE
Released in 2004 and directed by Gavin O’Connor, this movie stars Kurt Russell who portrays the player turned coach, Herb Brooks. Brooks was the great coach for the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team. The movie is based on the true story of the trials and tribulations of this famous team, and their trek to the Olympics overcoming the best and what most believed to be unbeatable team from Russia. Everyone thought Brooks was crazy filling his roster with young talent from all sorts of backgrounds - - mostly amateurs and college players. Other teams at the time filled there benches with hockey greats that had been playing longer than the age of most of his team. Now I know I’ll probably never hear the end of this, since this movie was put out by Disney and it’s only rated PG thus not giving you the full feel for hockey with the unbelievable amounts of foul language. That’s alright though, I’ll take my criticism. Any true hockey fan will most likely tell you it’s on their list. After all, it did win an ESPY in 2004 for Best Sports Movie. Another feel good story...one that just so happens to be part of our history, so you can’t go wrong here. What America needed was a Miracle, what they got was a hockey game.
#1 SLAP SHOT
Released in 1977, this movie was directed by George Roy Hill and stars Paul Newman. Newman plays ‘Old Time Hockey’ player-coach Reggie Dunlop. The story centers around this bewildered bunch of bozos that form the Charlestown Chiefs who are soon to be out of jobs at the end of the season as the team is about to fold. Dunlop then conjures a story out of thin air, that a retirement community from Florida is interested in buying the team and moving the squad to the sunshine state, to lift his fellow players playing efforts and spirits. Accompanied by the addition of the Hanson brothers and fueled by the myth of playing in Florida, this once poor excuse for a hockey team find themselves winning games simply by injecting insane amounts of fighting and pure violence into "the spirit of the thing". Once again, any true hockey fan will have this movie on their list...most likely at the top. Yeah it’s long before the time of great high definition quality, but that’s quite alright with this fan. There is plenty of vulgar language and great old-school sexual references to go around and make up for it. Grab some beers because this one is a definite must see!
Thanks for coming and suckling Daddy's Sugar Ball...
Posted by Plain White TS at 12/9/2009 2:00 AM 
Categories: Putting on the Foil
Tags: Mystery Alaska Miracle Hockey Movies Slap Shot
Categories: Putting on the Foil
Tags: Mystery Alaska Miracle Hockey Movies Slap Shot
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