Welcome to another edition of the Rainy Day Movie List. To celebrate the end of the NHL Lockout, you need to check out these hockey hits!
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
I refuse to create this list without mentioning this childhood classic. Emilio Estevez stars as Gordon Bombay, a successful yet rude defense attorney that ends up getting arrested for drunk driving. His boss and the court decide that it is time for him to play by the rules. So, for his community service he is assigned as coach for a Pee Wee hockey team.
At first Coach Bombay wants nothing to do with this gang of misfits especially when he finds how terrible the team is. Eventually his lifetime friend and mentor, Hans, convinces Bombay to teach them what he learned in his glory days as a Pee Wee hockey player.
Throughout the film Bombay teaches these kids the art of teamwork and what it truly means to be a “Duck”. He teaches them to believe in themselves in life and on the ice.
I mean what better way is there to show that you are truly a part of a team called “The Mighty Ducks” then getting detention for quacking in unison at your teacher and principal after getting in trouble.
Miracle (2004)
This movie is example of a simple highly entertaining game turning into so much more. Directors, producers, and writers collaborate all the time to come with creative ideas for amazing films but sometimes even they need a true story that is already amazing to make a film.
Miracle is one of these amazing true stories and it is about the 1980 United States Men’s Olympic hockey team led by Coach Herb Brooks that defeated a vaunted Soviet team that had dominated for many years.
The game earned the moniker of “Miracle on Ice” thus where the title of the movie came from. This game took place during the Cold War and served as an inspiration to a lot of Americans.
The movie does an excellent job of telling this unbelievable job of accurately telling the story of this amazing team and how much it meant to them to the country to beat the Soviets and win the gold medal.
Kurt Russell stars as Coach Herb Brooks and delivers a stellar performance including giving one of the best speeches in the history of sports films.
Youngblood (1986)
The film stars a young Rob Lowe playing a seventeen year old hockey player named Dean Youngblood with big dreams of playing in the NHL.
Youngblood is a star hockey player in New York that plays a very flashy finesse style of hockey, but when he starts playing in the Canadian junior hockey league he soon finds out that his style of hockey does not garner much respect from his teammates or other teams.
With help from the team’s captain, played by Patrick Swayze, Youngblood learns the true meaning of toughness on and off the ice. The movie shows how truly tough and gritty you must be to play hockey and how to persevere through the pain from the sheer brutality the game has on your body.
Youngblood was a simple farm boy that came in relying on his speed and flash to impress coaches and other players until he learned that you could not just leave your own blood on the ice but the blood of others that try to question your toughness and resolve.
Slap Shot (1977)
In the mid to late 70s the NHL belonged to the “Broadstreet Bullies” aka the Philadelphia Flyers but they never had to contend with Paul Newman’s Charlestown Chiefs. The Flyers garnered their nickname because they imposed their physical will on people and made games very violent by always goading the opposition into fights throughout the game.
In the film Slap Shot the Charlestown Chiefs led by Reggie Dunlop played by Paul Newman had the same success with their opponents. This movie is hilariously entertaining and will have you laughing for hours on end.
D2: Mighty Ducks (1994)
We all know movie sequels usually do not live up to the original but the film D2: Mighty Ducks did. Emilio Estevez reprises his role of Coach Bombay when he is chosen to lead Team USA’s hockey to a gold medal at the Junior Goodwill Games.
He has to pull off his best coaching job yet because not only is a big intimidating team from Iceland standing in his way but he must also find a way to get his team comprised of new players with a wide array of personalities to work together.
His team is made up of players from his old Duck’s squad that he led to a championship in Pee Wee hockey as well as new players recruited from around the country that bring with them special skills. The movie shows that no opponent is too big to conquer no matter how fast, big or strong.
All you need to do is outsmart your opponent and rely on Coach Bombay.