“Slap Shot 3” draws misconduct penalty

ORLANDO, Fla. – A little over 30 years ago, American movie goers were introduced to minor league hockey when the late Paul Newman brought Coach Reg Dunlop and the Charlestown Chiefs to life in the original “Slap Shot”. It was an irreverent look at the sport through the eyes of a rag tag band of misfit players on a downtrodden team in a down-and-out industrial town. Downtrodden that is until the arrival of the bespectacled trio of terror known as the Hanson brothers. Following the 2002 sequel “Slap Shot 2: Breaking The Ice”, comes the 2008 straight-to-DVD third movie “Slap Shot 3: The Junior League” and while most hockey fans would never admit to owning a copy (or even seeing) “Slap Shot 2“, “Slap Shot 3” could have been worse. It also could have been a whole better. When director George Roy Hill shot the original, his portrayal of the minors and the saving of the Chiefs – and subsequently the saving of the morale of the people of Charlestown – was the story line. Sure, there were subplots like the relationship between Ned Braden (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Ontkean) and his constantly bored-into-drunken stupor wife Lily (Lindsay Crouse) and Reg and his ex-wife Francine (Jennifer Warren). All of that was woven around the hockey scenes in a film that became a sports classic. This time around, director Richard Martin (son of late comedian Dick Martin)

and producer Connie Dolphin, wanted to go in a slightly different direction but still pay homage to Hill’s masterpiece. The opening montage gives hockey (and Hanson brothers) fans hope with clips of the original Chiefs and their antics combined with a minimal number of shots from the second flick added just to continue the timeline. The narration, done by comedy legend Leslie Nielsen (the “Naked Gun” and “Airplane” movies are some of his best work), leads into a shot of a dilapidated sign that proclaims “Charlestown: Home of the Hansen Brothers” being bulldozed. It seems that real estate magnate Bernie Frazier (played by Linda Boyd) has her eyes on building a mixed-use retail/golf resort/spa/condo/state-of-the-art arena in Charlestown. There are only two things stopping her: Mayor Kenneth (Nielsen) and lacking ownership of the land upon which sits the Newman (homage?) Home for Boys. Frazier manages to take care of both problems by getting the mayor to go on a “vision quest” during which time the town will have a vote on allowing Frazier to take the home and land by eminent domain. Problem is that the home is residence to a group of orphans led by a kid-next-door candidate in Riley (Greyston Holt of “The 4400”, “Durham County” and “Smallville” among other projects). When Mr. Webb, the home’s operator, took off and never came back (allegedly he went to Florida to run a money scam), Riley took on the responsibility of keeping the home going and its residents from being split up by Children and Family Services. He makes a living working at the local rink – where at one time the Chiefs played – where he is constantly flirting with Shayne Baker (Emma Lahana), the rink owner’s daughter and a pretty good hockey player in her own right. Riley and Shayne really like each other but every time they attempt to get together for a date, Riley’s responsibilities at the home keep them apart. To make matters worse, Shayne is being chased after by rich kid/goalie Kaine Frazier (Ryan McDonell), the son of the real estate monster. When Bernie Frazier contrives a way to take three of the younger orphans (she takes them in and hides them in her basement) and talk the town council into closing the home, Riley decides the only way to save everything is to form a junior hockey team (the home has enough players for a couple of full lines and a goalie), win the state title – which includes beating Kaine and his Binghamton team – and revive the relevance of the home and the town itself. The team will need a sponsor, and after failing with several businesses and the town government, Riley turns to the one place he figures he can find the help – yep, the Hanson Brothers (Dave Hanson, Jeff Carlson and Steve Carlson). Turns out that the Hansons at one time lived at the Newman home. When Riley finds them (they are living on a 40-acre parcel that Frazier wants badly), he has some convincing to do because the Hansons have, gulp , become pacifists practicing Feng Sui and have sworn off violence of any kind. They agree to finance and coach the team and needless to say things don’t go well. Even former NHLer Doug Gilmour (in a badly contrived cameo) can’t coach this team. Things turn when the Hanson’s have a bad experience with a bobblehead at the ceremony to retire their jerseys. They revert to the zany, goony hockey players we all know and love and begin to teach the new “Chiefs” the ways of “old time hockey”. To top it off, they bring in their offspring – Toe, Dit and Gordie (played by Trevor Chong, Adam Klein and Willy Lavendel and if you don’t know the famous namesakes, you need to go back to the first movie) who are chips off the old ice sheet, right down to “putting on the foil”. Some of the great Hanson moves, including the classic “running the stick down the opponents bench”, are relived. Along the way, we come across Dickie Dunn Jr. and Dickie Dunn III (Eric Keenleyside and Brett Kelly), who get played by Riley in a remake of the “retirement community in Florida” bit that Coach Dunlop played on Dickie Sr. in the first flick. Run ins with the law for our hero, hockey referees who get paid off by Frazier before the big game only to be outted by Frazier’s assistant Hope (Sara Canning), Riley giving the “let’s play it straight up” speech (another homage to Dunlop), a cameo (again misfit into the movie) by Mark Messier and the usual happy ending all follow. The hockey sequences were choreographed by former NHL player Todd Harkins, who by all accounts did his job well. The game action was pretty realistic but not in enough quantity and let’s face it, can you really invoke the true spirit of the Hansons while they are coaching a bunch of teenagers? If you’re looking for a few laughs mixed with social commentary, teenage angst and a little hockey thrown in, this flick is for you but if you’re looking for some “old time Hanson hockey”, dust off Reg, Ned, Killer, Ogie, Dr. Hook and the boys. It may have some age on it but then again, Gordie got better as he got older, didn’t he? Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com