Slap Shot

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In director George Roy Hill's 1977 comedy, Slap Shot, Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is the player-coach of the struggling minor league Charlestown Chiefs hockey team. Because the town mill, Charlestown's main employer, is set to lay off 10,000 workers, and with the local populace worried about their livelihoods, attendance is down, and the Chiefs are on the verge of folding. Fortunes change when the team signs the Hanson Brothers, Jeff (Jeff Carlson,) Steve (Steve Carlson,) and Jack (David Hanson, ) who are essentially hockey goons that just want to play "old time hockey. Like Eddie Shore!" Desperately trying to save the team from folding, Reggie unleashes the Hanson Brothers' violent brand of hockey onto the opposition, exciting both the team and the fans, who return to supporting the team, although the Chiefs' star player, Ned Bradon (Michael Ontkean,) refuses to adapt to the team's new thuggish style of play. Slap Shot was written by Nancy Dowd (she also wrote the Academy Award-winning film, Coming Home,) who based the film and characters on her brother Ned Dowd's (who plays rival goon Ogie Ogilthorpe) 1970's minor league hockey career. Many of the actors had actually played minor league hockey (the guys that portrayed The Hanson Brothers had played with Dowd for the Johnstown Jets.) Ontkean played college hockey for the University of New Hampshire, and Paul Newman had played hockey when he was young (he once said that Slap Shot was the most fun he'd ever had filming a movie because he enjoyed being around the players. That, and he got to curse a lot, which he didn't really do in real life.) Slap Shot is a hilarious, classic sports comedy, well worth the watch, even if you know absolutely nothing about hockey. In fact, I've linked to a clip of the film's opening, in which goalie Denis Lemieux (Yvon Barrette) attempts to explain penalties to the audience during a pregame television interview. Funny funny funny stuff! (Info verified by Wikipedia)