Films and hockey have a long history. There are some great hockey movies out there, and there have been some terrible ones. In this article we look at 3 of the best and 3 of the worst. Despite some real stinkers on this list, they are still films we would rather watch 100 times more than Marc Staal play defense.

The Best

Here are three of the best. We’ve included some trivia for your reading pleasure because, our readers deserve that.

Slap Shot

For all its warts, Slap Shot nonetheless deserves the top spot on any ice hockey film list. Vice hails Slap Shot’s “irrefutable” cultural impact and iconography, as it offers an unadulterated glimpse into the wild side of the sport. Starring Hollywood legend Paul Newman, who did most of his own ice-skating, Slap Shot is not afraid to show the intense competitive nature of hockey. Yet, the depiction of the team’s spirit is where the heart of this film truly lies and why it is so beloved by hockey and film fans alike.

Interestingly, some of the events in Slap Shot actually happened in real life. The scene where the Hansons — Jeff, Steve, and Jack — go into the stands to confront a fan who threw a set of keys at Jeff was true to life. This incident occurred in a North American Hockey League game between the Johnstown Jets and the Mohawk Valley Comets at Utica, New York. In that game, a fan threw a cup of ice at Jeff Carlson, who then attacked the fan in the stands along with his brothers, whose names were, yes, you guessed it, Steve and Jack. As in the film, the three brothers were duly arrested.

Mystery, Alaska

This comedy-drama film, released in 1999, features ice hockey as a unifying force for the fictionalized town of Mystery in Alaska. A cast of disparate characters from all over town usually play four-on-four pond hockey on the town’s frozen lake, which later hosts an improbable match-up: a team of amateurs from Mystery against the NHL’s New York Rangers. The amateurs from Mystery give the game all they’ve got, but ultimately fall short. Their effort, though, is lauded by the townspeople and the Rangers themselves, and shows how hockey can be the heart and soul of local communities.

An interesting tangent to the movie is how it turned out to be prescient in terms of holding outdoor games. Years after its release, outdoor games became commonplace in the NHL, with the real-life Rangers taking part in a few of them. Curiously, the Rangers were always designated as the “away” team even in outdoor games held in New York. The Daily News explains how this is a tax break-saving measure as long as the Rangers and the NBA’s Knicks play all their home games at the Garden, the MSG gets a considerable tax break – almost $50 million a year. To put that into perspective, Yoreevo reports that today the maximum deduction for taxes, which includes property and local tax, in New York is $10,000. The fact that the MSG gets such preferential treatment shows how important it is to hockey, New York, and American sports.

Miracle

The danger of depicting an underdog story on film is overselling the underdog angle. Fortunately, this film doesn’t fall into that trap. It sets up the greatest upset in sport history perfectly, humanizing the process of transforming a team of upstarts into eventual champions. It’s a clichéd story, but the fact that it actually happened makes the plot compelling nonetheless. Also compelling was Kurt Russell, who portrays Team USA coach Herb Brooks with aplomb, imploring his players and delivering an iconic pregame speech that the best of coaches would be proud of.

Unfortunately, the real-life Herb Brooks didn’t live long enough to see the film, which was released in 2004. Just days after Miracle finished filming, Brooks was involved in a fatal car accident on Interstate 35. The movie, rightfully, was dedicated to Brooks’s memory, with a dedication at the end stating, “He never saw it. He lived it.”

The Worst

Here are three of the worst. No trivia this time because, because they don’t deserve the attention.

Sudden Death

The events of Sudden Death take place during game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Essentially Die-Hard set in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, this is an over-the-top action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The plot is nonsense, the acting is poor, and arguably the most improbable part is when the hero pretends to be the Pittsburgh goalie and saves a vital shot.

Youngblood

Youngblood features Keanu Reeves manning the net, alongside Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, who obviously are out of their element in this bummer of a film. Don’t even get us started on that laughable stick fight, or that Lowe penalty shot that hits the back bar. That’s an automatic goal for Christ’s sake!

MVP: Most Valuable Primate

Sure, Jack the Chimp was bad-ass in this film, but seriously? A chimp playing ice hockey for the Los Angeles Kings? And he’s wearing The Great One’s number 99. Unacceptable! As Yahoo! Sports correctly points out in its brief film review, 99 is retired leaguewide, meaning no one can wear it in the NHL anymore. Least of all a chimpanzee. That fact alone should’ve been enough for this film to not see the light of day.

So, as our Rangers continue their rebuild, tell us what you think about this list. Did we miss something? Feel free to share with us your thoughts as we all wait for the Rangers to be relevant again.