My top 30 films - No.11

11. Slap Shot (1977) - "You'll see Paul Newman doing things you'd never expect him to do... saying things you'd never expect him to say!"

At the beginning of this year, there was an ice hockey movie released called Goon. I am yet to see it because there is only one thing I want to know. Is it as good as Slap Shot? The greatest hockey film ever.

The lead character in Slap Shot is Reggie Dunlop, played by Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid), who is the player-coach of a minor league hockey team called the Charlestown Chiefs. The team is in dire straits, as they're on a losing streak and they're financially unstable because of the closure of the local mill. Eventually it is revealed that the Chiefs are to fold at the end of the season.To add to these problems for Reggie, he has to deal with the arrival of three new players - the Hanson brothers. He decides to initially leave them out of the team, because of their immaturity, their unreliability and "they brought their fuckin' TOYS with 'em!" He eventually gives them a chance and they turn out to be a bunch of violent thugs. Whilst he's not a great player or coach, Reggie is good at annoying the opposition. This includes sleeping with the wife of an opposing player and finding out something to use against him and trying to encourage some of his players to be more like the Hansons. He is also a bit of a conman and tries to keep up the team's spirits by inventing a conspiracy that they are going to be bought by a group of senior citizens in a retirement home in Florida. The only problem is that only the manager knows who owns the Chiefs. However, not everyone is won over by this new style of play. The Chiefs' star player Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean (Twin Peaks)) would prefer to play cleanly and is described by Reggie as being 'chickenshit'. It doesn't help that Ned is having troubles with his wife Lily, who Reggie keeps trying to advise. Of course he's an expert, considering that he and his wife have unofficially separated.

Let's just forget about the following two films. One of them had Stephen Baldwin in it. They just don't capture the same spirit of ice hockey that the original film did. When I'm playing dek hockey, we use lines from the film to motivate us, such as "Give 'em old-time hockey!" This film has such a cult status in the hockey world, it has made celebrities of the Hanson brothers. They are so recognisable and they turned down the chance to appear in their own spinoff film to concentrate on their hockey career. It's written by Nancy Dowd and is born out of the hockey experiences of her brother Ned, who plays a player called Ogie Ogilthorpe (me (look at the hair)). In fact, most of the cast had experience of playing hockey. Michael Ontkean turned down a contract offer to play for the New York Rangers. The majority of extras were also hockey player at the time, including current Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Bourdreau.

One of the early name to play Reggie Dunlop was Al Pacino. However, he fell out with director George Roy Hill after he asked Pacino if he could skate. He considered that a "facetious" question and has admitted later than he regretted missing out on the role. Stick to playing Tony D'Amato in Any Given Sunday, Al. Paul Newman is fantastic in this role; in fact he said he had more fun making this movie than any other. George Roy Hill also directed Newman's other famous appearance, in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

If you don't know any of the rules of ice hockey, watch the opening scene of Slap Shot. That's all you need. That scene is a great way to start the film, but my favourite is the one below. It perfectly illustrates why hockey is a great. More people go to hockey games to watch the fights than stay away because of them. You can away with anything in this sport, well almost. People were critical of the film early on, calling it "foul-mouthed and unabashedly vulgar". However, after repeat viewing they grew to love the film. Gene Siskel said he regretted giving the film a mediocre when he first saw it. No offence to The Rocket, Miracle or The Mighty Ducks, but Slap Shot is the greatest hockey film ever. Barry Melrose says so and he's cool, especially when he had a mullet. Don't take mine or his word for it. You'll have to watch and see.

P.S. Buy me a soda after the game...