Characters

Ogie Ogilthorpe – one of the greatest characters the game has ever known.   I love the movie Slapshot.   It was such a parody of the game and life itself.  While a little hard to listen to unless you are a longshoreman, like the movie Rocky, it’s a collection of funny scenes, one after another.  I’ve met more than a few hockey players who are twins of the characters in this moving.  It really does present that ultimate philosophical question – does life imitate art or does art imitate life?

Paul Newman claimed playing the role of Reg Dunlop was one of his favourite characters of all the movies he did.   He also said that although he never swore much in real life, there was a “hangover” from this movie and the cleanliness of his language was never the same.

Obama, Romney, the Hanson Brothers and the NHL Lockout

Ok, this post has a title that has to be one of the better ones I’ve written.   And it’s all grounded in real life proving that truth is stranger than fiction.

I’m not a big TV watcher but ended up in front of the tele tonite around the time the presidential debate was to begin.   Like any open minded guy, I couldn’t just default to watching the debate when there might be something better on, something a little more culturally enriching perhaps, especially with TSN and ESPN being only a couple of clicks away.

And am I glad I am open-minded because sure enough, I landed on channel 30 just in time to catch the scene from Slapshot where the Hanson Brothers go to prison and use their one phone call to phone the pizza man.  Not only that, but when Paul Newman comes to bail them out, I got to hear this exchange, a cinematic classic if there ever was one:

Newman (to the booking officer):  “These guys are folk heroes.”

Booking officer: “They’re criminals!”

Newman: “Ok, but most folk heroes started out as criminals.”

And one other beauty a few moments later (not the exact words) that Newman yells into the cell holding the Hanson triplets: “Hey guys, Peterborough lost tonight so as of right now, we’re in a playoff spot!”

He had me at “Peterborough”.   And so you see, with the NHL locked out and Slapshot playing instead of a real hockey game, Mr. President and Mr. Governor lost me before they opened their mouths.

Gabby Dugan – King Of Hockey

Again, I am reaching way back for this one but I do remember seeing a real old film between periods on Hockey Night In Canada when I was a kid.  (It must have been real old because it has been a long, long time since I was a kid).  The CBC played it as a serial over several weeks.  I remember the lead actor purposely taking penalties because of a pretty girl sitting somewhere near the penalty box.

Anyway, the IMDB movie database has some details on it.  If you ever get a chance, it is vintage hockey cinema.