Hockey has really made a stand in films similar to all primary sports, hockey plays an extensive role in American pop culture. Although it’s one of the least most popular sports, some Hollywood motion pictures have been made on the subject of hockey. From the classic late 70s comedy hit “Slap Shot” to the 1984 movie “Youngblood” when the sport of hockey was at its heyday in the late 20th century of the 1980s decade, to the year 1992 when the “Mighty Ducks” was released to familiarize hockey to a new generation of sports enthusiasts. Anyway the sport itself is profitable in the movies and keeps people interested, especially the hockey fans who don’t get the recognition for the movies that were made on the subject of this sport. Hockey also crossed over into American television from shows like “Cheers” to “Home Improvement” and even “NYPD Blue” with some characters either making references to being fans of hockey or having something in their environment to tell the audience that they were familiar with the sport. New shows like “Rescue Me” featured some scenes of people playing hockey as part of a charity event. Most recently the plot on an episode of the show “Leverage” was featured about a hockey franchise in the state of Oregon.
Hockey is the most popular in Canada and a extremly important part of Canadian culture. It always features Canadian-produced shows and has now launched a new genre of reality and scripted shows while the United States has not yet attempted to create a reality show about the sport of Hockey having covered everything from law enforcement to talent shows, but not the sport of hockey. Film director Kevin Smith who’s a big hockey fan and wears alot of different hockey jerseys, always manages to add in some reference to the sport in his films such as Mallrats and Jersey Girl using the technique of the background moving to make it look like the people are walking and in conversation or thought, it’s kind of like Smith’s trademark film making technique. Hockey is still not as popular as basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer, and golf, but it’s slowly coming into its own.
Cartoons have made their presence known into making hockey a part of their story lines like Peanuts where Snoopy who’s well known by any one who’s a fan of the Peanuts cartoon, that he loves ice hockey and many comic strip frames feature him playing the sport with his constant companion Woodstock. It’s creator the late Charles Schulz was well known for his love of ice hockey. The only other cartoon that had a reference to hockey was in the show The Simpsons where Lisa was playing in a hockey match. Hockey has also stepped into the world of music with singers like Stompin’ Tom Connors and Warren Zevon. Hockey has been an integral part of American and Canadian culture in some way shape or form, and has boosted the popularity of the sport tremendously among the people who are its true fans. It will continue to grow in popularity for years to come. It’s usually those who live in cold climates that will appreciate such a sport as hockey. Hockey’s history spans many years, but in Canada with the likes of “Hockey night in Canada” it’s a way of life just as football and basketball are a way of life in America, Canadians appreciate the fast action and how it brings people out to have a good time and enjoy a sporting event that’s a national pastime like baseball.
Americans enjoy their professional sports games. For most Canadians its hockey and beer. The majority of the hockey movies were made around the time Hollywood was going through the phase where films were being made about sports, books, video games, songs, and historical time periods. The Mighty Ducks was the most recognizable recent one in the last 15 years of a rehashing of hockey themed movies.
Movies, Television and Music About Hockey
July 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
