Posted on 02/25/2022 9:24:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
“NEVER PLAY ‘LADY OF SPAIN’ AGAIN!!! “
“You get sent to the penalty box…you feel shame…”
LOL!!
Well, that brand of hockey was more fun and polite than the Euro/US NCAA influenced garbage we have had in the NHL the last number of years.
Other good hockey films from that era include Face Off (1971) and The Mystery of the Million Dollar Hockey Puck (1975).
Awesome
I don’t think I’ve ever watched it from start to finish
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Prolly because you’re relatively young and didn’t have to pay to see it in a movie house.
After watching hockey under the covers on my tube fired table radio for a couple of years, I finally got to see my Rangers in person at MSG 2/8/56. Once in high school I saw many games from the side balcony, after games we would wait on 49 St. to get autographs and talk to players. Would often ride the subway home with Johnny Wilson and his wife. He even took me into the lockerroom to give me a stick after a Sat. matinee. I had blue seats in the new MSG through most of the 70s and 80s.
The 92 strike ended my love affair with the NHL and the NY Rangers and when they finally won The Cup in 93-94, I just didn’t care anymore.
Moved to WV in early 02 and started following the Pens (I finally got cable) but stopped once the NHL went woke...haven’t watched a game since.
I tell you this to see if my creds come up to your standards of a “serious fan” while still saying, I loved “Slap Shot”
Eddie Shore. Old time hockey.
Maybe it’s an age thing. I became a hockey fan in the 1980s and never saw the thuggery and mediocrity of the 1970s in person. In the eyes of someone who came of age in the era of the “Miracle on Ice,” the Islanders dynasty, and the Gretzky years, a movie like “Slap Shot” comes across as clownish and silly.
Yup. They’re on rotation on CBC lol
Good movie.
You must remember, this film was about MINOR LEAGUE hockey, not even Junior Hockey. I didn’t mention trips out to the Commack Arena in the mid-late 60s to watch the LI Ducks of the EHL. Worlds different than the NHL. No glass above the side boards and only chain link fencing behind the nets. If you got front row seats and a player was checked into the boards, you ducked!!!
Some believe that John Brophy of the Ducks was the true life Reggie Dunlop...IDK.
Can’t believe I forgot about the Ducks...getting old....
I was an NHL hockey fanatic during more of those years growing up as a boy. Those years coincided with the "Big Bad Bruins" era and growing up in East Boston/Winthrop/Revere area, I was of course a huge Bruins fan.
The old Boston Garden was only a few subway stops away and so got to see a lot of games with my paper route money. You could get a decent ticket in those days for just a few dollars and all the pizza and soda you wanted. They practically gave away the obstructed view seats where you literally sat in front of a steel girder. But as a young boy, it was heaven and later in the game as businessmen headed home to beat the traffic, I'd eventually find myself in a prime seat.
My best early memories are those of watching Bobby Orr skate circles around everybody else on the ice. He was a defenseman but often led the Bruins in scoring. His classic move was to take the puck behind his own goal and four seconds later, he'd be across the opposing blue line and in scoring position. Then you'd have Phil Esposito parking himself at the goal waiting for a pass or rebound so he could just shovel it in. Espo scored a lot of easy goals that way. There used to be bumper stickers in those days that stated "Jesus saves, but Espo scores on the rebound".
Then of course, there were the fights. Lots and lots of fights. Back then, fighting was a mutual five-minute penalty and teams would hire "goons" (like the three brothers in this film) whose main purpose were to provoke the better players on the other team into fights in order get them off the ice for five minutes at a time.
Stan Jonathon was a classic Bruins "goon" at the time. Every time he came onto the ice, the crowd would get excited because they knew a fight was likely to ensue. He was a pretty decent player as well, with a very accurate wrist shot. Had he focused on scoring goals, he would have been one of the top scorers in the league for sure.
https://youtu.be/xA8G6omkAwI
One of the things he talks about is how wildly popular the movie was with his fellow professional hockey players, both minor leagues and NHL.
Before the goons were the policemen!
Lou Fontinato for the Rangers and you guys had Bob Armstrong
Jean Beliveau for Montreal, Pullford for the Leafs, Al Arbour for Chicago and Ullman for the Wings.
All these guys could skate and play the game unlike the goons that came later. Though others may have had more pim over the course of a season, they were usually stars like Howe and Hull, that was because they were goaded into fights. The policeman’s job was to mete out some street (ice?) justice.
Those were the days of 50 game seasons. You played everyone at least 10 times. More if you weren’t NY or Bos who seemed to be perennially in 5 or 6 place back then. We didn’t need names on the sweaters. No helmets so we got to know players by their hair styles...after all, we were ALWAYS looking down on them from the rafters. I’ve heard that the reason for the handshake line after a playoff series was because after 10 regular season and possibly 7 playoff games, some real animosities had developed and the Lords of Hockey (when was the last time you heard that?) wanted something to calm things down.
mediocrity of the 1970s.....No.....Different game different skills..... Continental League in the late 70s early 80s..touching the scar from a cross check......
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