Ice hockey, partially because of its popularity as a major professional sport, has been a source of inspiration for numerous films, television episodes and songs in North Americanpopular culture.[1][2]
A number of notable Hollywood films have been made about hockey. Notable hockey films include Slap Shot; The Mighty Ducks, successful enough to spawn two sequels, a cartoon series, and an NHL team named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now the Anaheim Ducks); and Miracle.[3] The first two are fictional comedies; the last is a drama based on the true story of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" USA Olympic gold medal team.[4]
One of the earliest commercial films that featured the sport prominently was the 1972 Canadian production Face-Off, starring Art Hindle. Many other films are less hockey-oriented but nonetheless prominently involve the sport. Ice Angel involves a male ice hockey player who dies and comes back to life in the body of a female figure skater. Both Happy Gilmore and The Cutting Edge centre around failed hockey players using their talents for other sports (golf and figure skating, respectively), while Wayne's World contains a number of prominent references to the sport during the film. The movie Big Daddy features actor Adam Sandler watching a hockey game involving the New York Rangers. The Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Sudden Death is set and shot entirely in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the (supposed) stage for the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals. In the movie The Town, bank robber Doug MacRay (played by Ben Affleck) is a former draft pick of the Boston Bruins whose hockey career derails because of his propensity to get into fights with his teammates. In another Boston-based movie, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Eddie (played by Robert Mitchum) is taken to a Boston Bruins game (against the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1972–1973 season at the old Boston Garden) right before he is killed. Upon watching Bruins great Bobby Orr, he states "Can you imagine being a kid like that? What is he, 24 or something? Greatest hockey player in the world. Number four – Bobby Orr. Geeze, what a future he’s got, huh?" The Canadian buddy cop filmBon Cop, Bad Cop features a by-the-book English Canadian teamed with a rule-bending French Canadian to investigate a series of murders connected to professional hockey.
In Quebec, the 1997 film Les Boys is a cult classic for many hockey fans, enough to spawn three sequels. The fourth installment of Les Boys featured "Hockey Legends" such as Guy Lafleur, Pierre Bouchard, Martin Brodeur, Yvon Lambert and more.
Hockey has also been referenced many times in the series known as the View Askew Movies, which were written and directed by actor/director/writer/hockey fan Kevin Smith. His first movie, Clerks, featured a street hockey game played on the roof of a store, but many of the players in the game wore ice hockey jerseys, including jerseys of the New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Soviet Union. Mallrats shows the character Brodie (Jason Lee) playing an ice hockey game on the Sega Genesis game console. Chasing Amy includes a scene in which Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck attending a high school ice hockey game. Dogma did not feature ice hockey but included three street hockey playing teenagers as henchmen for a demon. More recent, Smith's film Zack and Miri Make a Porno features a rec league ice hockey scene, several Pittsburgh Penguins references and a scene outside Mellon Arena.
In the animated motion picture A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), Snoopy skates on the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City, fantasizing about scoring the winning goal in the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Ryan O'Neal's character in the international hit 1970 film Love Story (based on the novel of the same name by Erich Segal) was a hockey player for his college.
In the 1996 cult favorite Swingers, Trent (played by Vince Vaughn) is playing an NHL 93 video game with his friends and extolling the toughness of Jeremy Roenick (then of the Chicago Blackhawks) and takes delight in bashing Wayne Gretzky (then of the Los Angeles Kings) in the game.
Dwayne Johnson starred in the film The Tooth Fairy, where he played an ice hockey player forced to moonlight as a tooth fairy.
The 2012 film Goon starred Seann William Scott as a bouncer from Boston who becomes an enforcer in a Canadian hockey league.
The 2013 Russian film Legend № 17,[5] a biopic of Russian ice hockey legend Valeri Kharlamov from early childhood, rising to the pinnacle of the sport and his untimely death.
Television
United States
Hockey also frequently shows up in American television, particularly in shows set in the colder regions of the US, such as the Northeast and Midwest. One of the recurring characters on Cheers was Eddie LeBec, a French-CanadianBoston Bruins goalie who married regular character Carla Tortelli. LeBec later was cut from the team and joined a traveling ice show; the character was eventually killed off. One memorable episode of Seinfeld, "The Face Painter", involves the antics of Elaine's face-painting boyfriend Puddy, a rabid New Jersey Devils fan, and Jerry's stubborn refusal to thank an acquaintance for New York Rangers playoff tickets after the game when he had already thanked him numerous times beforehand. In NYPD Blue, the character of PA Donna Abandando, played by Gail O'Grady and a love interest of Detective Greg Medavoy in season 3, was a noted New York Rangers fan, having previously dated one of the players. Her Rangers pennant famously hung over her desk at the front of the squad room. Many episodes of Home Improvement included references to the Detroit Red Wings and in one episode, Tim and his neighbour Wilson are at a game when Wilson wins the door prize. Many Friends episodes also involve Joey, Chandler, and Ross attending New York Rangers games.[6] While it is true they are Ranger fans, a Detroit Red Wings jersey can also be seen hanging below a goalie mask in Joey and Chandler's apartment in season two.
In an episode of The Simpsons, "Lisa on Ice", Bart is the star of his peewee hockey team, the Mighty Pigs, coached by Chief Wiggum. Lisa is eventually forced to become a goaltender on an opposing team—the Kwik-E-Mart Gougers, coached by Apu—to avoid a failing grade in gym, and she blossoms from a nervous wreck to an intimidating star. Eventually, the two teams play each other. Towards the end of the game, Bart is awarded a penalty shot, but before he shoots, he thinks of all his memories with Lisa. Lisa does this as well, and the two embrace each other. The episode finishes with the two teams tying each other and furious fans destroying the hockey arena. In another episode, Bart answers his teacher's personal ad and uses the picture of hockey great Gordie Howe.
The South Park episode "Stanley's Cup" centres around ice hockey; it features the Detroit Red Wings playing the Colorado Avalanche in Stanley's Cup final, where before third intermission score is 2-2. Then Avalanche team is replaced (on their suggestion) by 2- and 3-year-old kids due to "mental hell they had" (kids were meant to play with other kids between intermissions and they promised to their friend suffering leukemia that they will win for him). Kids obviously cannot rivalize with professional hockey players and they lose 31-2 and in addition all kids are getting injured due to extremely brutal play from Red Wings including intentional skate kicks and punching. Red Wings are celebrating win and kid with leukemia dies just because they lost match, so he lost with sickness. Also in the episode "It's Christmas in Canada", when the boys are in Canada, one of the members of the Canadian crowd is an ice hockey player, no doubt a reference to the popularity of the sport in Canada.[citation needed]
The Fox TV series Bones incorporated ice-hockey into the show by guest-starring none other than Luc Robitaille himself. "Lucky Luc" appears in a dream that Special Agent Seeley Booth has after being knocked out during a hockey game, and tells Booth to look at what "brings the team together." The show, titled "Fire in the Ice", had several elements of ice hockey, including a firefighters–federal agents hockey game, the murder victim a hockey player, and of course, "Lucky Luc".
At the end of one episode of Who's the Boss?, Tony and Angela are at a hockey game. Angela asks Tony what the red circle on the ice is for, and Tony indicates that it is blood (humorously furthering the stereotype of hockey violence). In Scrubs, Dr. Cox frequently wears a Detroit Red Wings jersey while not at the hospital; this is because of John C. McGinley's real-life friendship with Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios. Joey from Full House also frequently wears Detroit Red Wings jerseys on the show, while his room is also decorated with several pieces of Detroit Red Wings decorations.
House M.D. is filled with reference to the sport. In the episode Distractions, the main character is described as not wanting to think of "the Flyers sucking", the series being set in New Jersey. No More Mr. Nice Guy has a scene in which House and Wilson drink in a bar, with a hockey game on TV in the background. In Painless both the patient and his son are hockey players. At the beginning of the episode Unfaithful a homeless man is offered a New York Rangers sweatshirt to which he jokingly responds "Are you crazy? We're here in Jersey". The cold opener of the season 8 episode Perils of Paranoia features an attorney knocking down an alibi by demonstrating that the defendant read about a New Jersey Devils game in the paper rather than watching it on TV. The same season has the episode Transplant in which House and Chi Park visit the room of a deceased patient, filled with Devils memorabilia. The patient of the episode Gut Check is a minor league hockey Enforcer.
In How I Met Your Mother, hockey is referenced several times to accentuate Robin Scherbatsky's Canadian side. In one episode, Robin goes on a date with Brad at a Canucks-Rangers game.
Because of hockey's huge popularity in Canada, it is considered one of the most important elements of Canadian pop culture. Hockey is central in homegrown television and movies such as the CBC Television series Hockey: A People's History and Hockeyville, the Global TV reality show Making The Cut: Last Man Standing, as well as scripted shows like CTV'sPower Play (1998–2000) and Showcase's Rent-a-Goalie (2006–2008). In the popular Canadian animated series The Raccoons, ice hockey played a big role in the 1981 special 'The Raccoons on Ice'. CBC and its French language division, SRC, have made several entries into the He Shoots, He Scores/Lance et Compte franchise. The original series was filmed in both French and English, while subsequent series and movies have just been in French. The CBC premiered the hockeydrama MVP in January 2008. Long running Canadian comedy series The Red Green Show incorporated a hockey reference on each program as Red Green would end each show by saying, "Keep your stick on the ice."
Japan
The Fuji TV-produced drama Pride (2004) centred on Satonaka Haru, played by Takuya Kimura, whose life revolves around ice hockey and dreams of moving to Canada to play in the NHL.[7]
United Kingdom
In the UK a Pingu episode called "Pingu Plays Ice Hockey" was produced in 1989 which featured Pingu, Robby, Pongi, and various hockey players.
In the Peanuts comic strip, the gang would play ice hockey during the winter months, usually on outdoor ponds. Snoopy would occasionally join his human friends on the ice (once drawing a two-minute penalty for kissing Lucy on the nose during the face-off). In the off-season, Snoopy would sometimes “skate” barefooted atop his doghouse, wielding his hockey stick, and fantasizing about winning the Stanley Cup. Linus, watching from below, would be the “hockey fans”. In one strip, Linus challenges Snoopy: "Prove to me that you're a real hockey player." Snoopy grins, revealing that several of his front teeth have been knocked out. Linus walks away, convinced. In later years, Snoopy would play ice hockey with his bird pal Woodstock and his bird friends, using a frozen birdbath as the skating rink.
Youth hockey is celebrated in cartoons and comic strips such as Small Saves.
Canadian comic book artist Jeff Lemire created the series Essex County, set in his hometown. The series frequently makes reference to ice hockey and features several characters who play the game.
The webcomic called The Downward Spirals stars a team of anonymous hockey-playing opossums as they compete in the Meadow Hockey League.
The webcomic Check, Please! stars former junior figure skating champion Eric "Bitty" Bittle starting his freshman year playing hockey at the prestigious Samwell University in Samwell, Massachusetts.[8] The comic follows all four of his years at Samwell University and in later comics also features the fictional NHL team the Providence Falconers due to Bitty's romantic relationship with Jack Zimmermann who signs to the team after graduating college.
Among the more famous hockey references in music is "The Hockey Song" by Canadian folk singer Stompin' Tom Connors. Warren Zevon is known for a hockey song called "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" from his 2002 album My Ride's Here. The song's title is in reference to the commonplace fights that tend to break out between players during games and tells the tale of Buddy, a Canadian farmboy turned hockey goon. "The Hockey Theme", the long-time theme music of Hockey Night in Canada (now the theme song for the NHL on TSN), has been described as "Canada's second national anthem".[9]
There are several less well-known songs which either directly or indirectly feature hockey references and hockey teams, such as "Zamboni" (a reference to the machine used to resurface the ice between periods and after games) by the Gear Daddies; "Helmethead" by Great Big Sea, which details the romantic exploits of an AHL player; and "Time to Go" by the Dropkick Murphys, which references hockey directly, as well as the colours of Boston's NHL team, the Boston Bruins (black and gold).
Instrumental-only songs that have become associated with ice hockey include "Nutty" by The Ventures, itself likely based on the B. Bumble and the Stingers' earlier, and similar work Nut Rocker, as "Nutty" was used by television station WSBK-TV for their Boston Bruins telecast theme for over twenty years, and was used later for some years by NESN for their Bruins telecasts, and "Brass Bonanza", used for the now-defunct Hartford Whalers NHL team's games at the start of a home game.
Canadian band The Tragically Hip has a number of songs that with hockey references, including "Fifty Mission Cap", about former Toronto Maple LeafBill Barilko, "Fireworks", and "Lonely End of the Rink". Their song "Wheat Kings" is not about hockey, but the Wheat Kings is the name of a hockey team in Brandon, Manitoba. In addition, "Heaven Is a Better Place Today" is a tribute to the late hockey player Dan Snyder.
The American rock group Five for Fighting's name is a hockey penalty reference chosen by singer John Ondrasik, who is an ice hockey fan. Also, L.A. hardcore band Donnybrook takes its name from a slang term referring to a fight between players during a hockey game.
The name of the Boston hardcore band Slapshot is an ice hockey reference, and they have taken this concept further with the album titles Sudden Death Overtime and Greatest Hits, Slashes and Crosschecks.
Jerry Only of New Jersey punk band The Misfits is a huge fan of the New York Rangers. The Misfits recorded the song "I Wanna Be a New York Ranger".[citation needed]
Swedish hardcore band 59 Times the Pain have recorded the song "2 Minutes remaining in the 3rd" on their album More Out of Today, a song explicitly talking about ice hockey; in their video clip for the song "More Out of Today", the singer of the band wears a Chicago Blackhawks jersey.[10]
Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi have made numerous references to the sport in their lyrics, with ice hockey often being used as a political metaphor. The song "Dear Coaches Corner" on the album Supporting Caste urges Ron MacLean to offer an alternative political perspective for young hockey fans on Hockey Night in Canada as opposed to the militarism and patriotism encouraged by Don Cherry.[11]
Canadian heavy metal band Anvil from Toronto, Ontario recorded the song "Blood On The Ice" in 1988, which first appeared on their studio 1988 album Pound For Pound and a year later on their live album Past and Present – Live in Concert. The song explicitly describes the aggressiveness and power of the game.
Tom Waits, towards the end of his live 1975 album Nighthawks at the Diner, banters with the audience that it is time for him to “make like a hockey player and get the puck outta here”.
Philip Anthony Esposito is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive, and current broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers, winning two Stanley Cups with Boston.
Terrance Gordon Sawchuk was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers between 1950 and 1970. He won the Calder Trophy, earned the Vezina Trophy four times, was a four-time Stanley Cup champion, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame the year after his final season, one of 10 players for whom the three-year waiting period was waived.
Raymond Jean Bourque is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He holds records for most career goals, assists, and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman five times, while finishing second for that trophy a further six times. He also twice finished second in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy, a rarity for a defenceman. He was named to the end-of-season All-Star teams 19 times, 13 on the first-team and six on the second-team.
Douglas Bradford "Brad" Park is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, Park played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Considered to be one of the best defencemen of his era, he was named to an All-Star team seven times. The most productive years of his career were overshadowed by superstar Bobby Orr, with whom he played with for a brief time. Unlike Orr's, however, his teams never hoisted the Stanley Cup. Park was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. In 2017, he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Pentti Alexander Lund was a Finnish Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. Lund was often credited as being the first Finnish player in the National Hockey League.
Francis Charles "Mr. Zero" Brimsek was an American professional ice hockey goaltender who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as a rookie, and the Vezina Trophy twice, and he was named to the NHL All-Star team eight times. He was also a member of two Stanley Cup championships. At the time of his retirement in 1950, he held the records for most wins and shutouts recorded by an American goaltender; these records stood for 54 years and 61 years respectively. In 1966, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the first American goalie to be inducted; and in 1973, he was part of the inaugural class of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, Brimsek was ranked number 67 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest ranked American goaltender.
Edward "Ed" Giacomin is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League between 1965 and 1978.
The 1991–92 NHL season was the 75th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 22 teams with the addition of the expansion San Jose Sharks. For the first time, the Stanley Cup Finals extended into June, with the Pittsburgh Penguins repeating as Stanley Cup champions, winning the best of seven series four games to none against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 1965–66 NHL season was the 49th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.
The 1951–52 NHL season was the 35th season of the National Hockey League. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup by sweeping the Montreal Canadiens four games to none.
The 1955–56 NHL season was the 39th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the best-of-seven final series.
The 1935–36 NHL season was the 19th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The St. Louis Eagles dropped out of the league, leaving eight teams. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Richard David "Nifty" Middleton is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.
The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion West Division were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was at the hands of the Boston Bruins, as the defending champions Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs, something that did not happen again for the next quarter century. With both the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs missing the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs, it was the first time in league history that no Canadian team in the NHL qualified for the playoffs. It was also the final season that teams wore their colored jerseys at home until the 2003–04 season.
Dwight Alexander Foster is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) in the first round, 16th overall in 1977 by the Boston Bruins. Besides Boston, he played for the Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, before retiring in 1987 because of knee injuries.
John Albert McKenzie was a Canadian professional hockey player and coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for several seasons, most notably with the Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup twice. He also played several seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA).
James Grant Schoenfeld is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He most recently was the assistant general manager with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as an interim assistant coach. He was previously a player and a head coach in the NHL for several teams.
The NHL Winter Classic is an annual outdoor ice hockey game played during the National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season on or around New Year's Day. It is generally held in a football or baseball stadium in the United States in an area with a resident NHL team. The Winter Classic is distinct from the league's two other series of outdoor games, the NHL Heritage Classic and the NHL Stadium Series. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. Fifteen Winter Classics have been held as of January 2024. The most recent game was played during the 2023-24 NHL season at T-Mobile Park, with the Seattle Kraken defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3−0.
The 1937–38 NHL season was the 21st season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eight teams each played 48 games. The Chicago Black Hawks were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Bruins–Canadiens rivalry is a National Hockey League (NHL) rivalry between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. It is considered "one of the greatest rivalries in sports." Retired Bruins forward Bob Sweeney, who played for the Bruins between 1986–87 and 1991–92, once called it among the "top three rivalries in all of sports,... right up there with the... New York Yankees–Boston Red Sox." The two teams have played each other more times, in both regular season play and the Stanley Cup playoffs combined, than any other two teams in NHL history.
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