Hockey is one of those sports that a person really has to get into since it requires a great deal of discipline as well as interest in order to really make it work. But once a person does find that they’re interested and is willing to push their body to the limit they might find that it’s something that affords them a great deal of strength, balance, and poise in life. In the movies the sport gets played up and dramatized quite a bit but it usually ends up being quite enjoyable since the sport is used to tell a story that people can get into without any real trouble and is also used to show the kind of pride that hockey players take in their team and where they play for. There are typical issues on a hockey team that you might find in any other sport, but the issues that get brought to the ice definitely end up getting resolves in a slightly different manner.
Here are five of the best hockey movies ever made.
5. Youngblood
It’s easy to be honest with this one, hockey is a physical sport and you can’t be a weakling on the ice or you’re going to get drilled. Dean figures this out the hard way when he loses a fight, even though he’s picked for a team. When one of his best friends on the team goes down however he realizes that he has to learn how to put up his hands and do some damage, since all the skating and scoring in the world isn’t going to save him from a beatdown when it happens. By the end of the movie however he ends up facing up to the same guy that took down his friend and finally taking him out in decisive fashion.
4. Slapshot
Hockey isn’t always meant to be as violent as you see in the movies but it certainly seems like it might lean that way all on its own. When Reg’s team is to be folded up and used as a tax write-off though he decides to let them cut loose and promotes the violence as he lets the infamous Hanson brothers off the chain. The reaction of the crowd is extremely telling since they happen to respond in a positive manner to the increased aggression and obviously want more. Unfortunately the ramifications throughout the league tend to make this one of the worst decisions that Reg could have ever made.
3. Mystery, Alaska
In small towns where just about everybody knows everybody it’s easy to see how illusions and pride could go hand in hand since there’s really nothing to compete against and more of a chance to bond and simply get along with each other. But when a promotional match between the New York Rangers and the boys of Mystery, Alaska is set up a lot of folks in town tend to worry that this will destroy their reputation and put an end to the illusions that they might actually be any good. Despite losing the match they also manage to secure two NHL contracts for two of their best players, and also earn the respect of the Rangers.
2. The Mighty Ducks
This is one of those time-honored classics that never seems to get old even as the actors continue to do so. A struggling pee wee hockey team that has no chance of beating anyone meets up with their new coach, a high-powered lawyer named Gordon Bombay that’s serving community service for crimes that he committed due to arrogance and pride. In the process though the coach and the team find that they can learn a lot from each other, and while Bombay remembers his love for the game the kids get to finally learn how to play and even better, how to enjoy themselves while coming together as a tightly-knit unit.
1. Miracle
This movie happens to be important since it dealt with a real-life occurrence in which the US Hockey team managed to beat the Soviet Union, something that hadn’t been done in quite some time. The general tumult within America was so great at the time time that people needed something, anything, to lift their spirits up, and the Olympic games were just the thing since they offered a pleasing release to the people and a chance to see something amazing happen since a group of untested young men, many that had never played on the same team, were put together for the express purpose of becoming a tightly-knit group that could overcome a system of play that the Soviets had been using to dominate other teams for so long. The victory was something that has resonated throughout history and become something of a staple within the history of the Olympics.
Hockey might not be your sport, but it’s still fun to watch sometimes.
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