Rewatchables Reference

• All three agree: The Hanson Brothers' first game – their unleashing/wreaking havoc sequence. Bill calls it 'one of the greatest sports movie sequences of all time.'
• Other contenders: The opening scene (Jim Carr's toupee, Denis explaining penalties); Reg meets the Hansons at the bus station; the Eddie Shore masturbator story; Reg taunting Hanrahan ('Suzanne sucks pussy'); the Syracuse final game introductions.

• CR: Calling arenas 'the War Memorial' instead of corporate names; the 'us versus the owners' trope.
• Sean: The 'that guy' actor cavalcade – Swoosie Kurtz, Paul D'Amato, M. Emmet Walsh, Michael Ontkean.
• Newman's leather/fur jacket. Jim Carr's terrible local sports interviews.
• Lindsay Crouse and Newman together (five years before 'The Verdict').
• No helmets in hockey. The Deep Throat/Meatball porn double feature marquee.
• Sad '70s daytime TV (Hawaiian showcase, soap operas, bowling).

• The cable TV version (badly censored language, darkened screen for nudity).
• Melinda Dillon later becoming the mom in A Christmas Story (cognitive dissonance).
• The tough/homophobic language throughout.
• 'Slap Shot' 2 (2002) and 'Slap Shot' 3 (2008).
• The bus driver wearing a swastika on his helmet.

• Bill: The three Hansons hitting a guy, shot from behind the boards as the guy slowly sinks down.
• Sean: The national anthem shot – on the ref's face with the three Hansons visible behind him.

• Fleetwood Mac's 'Rhiannon' playing when Ned's wife Lily arrives at the bar.
• 'Right Back Where We Started From' (Maxine Nightingale) plays approximately five times throughout and functions as the film's theme.

• Bill: The striptease ending and the sudden forfeit. 'The forfeit has always bothered me for 47 years.'
• Sean agrees: the forfeit 'feels like you get cheated out of a great sports movie moment' and may hold it back from being THE best sports movie.

• Bill: The movie would be better if Ned saw his wife and instead of the striptease, jumped off the bench, fought McCracken, won, and the team won with a traditional sports movie ending.
• Sean: The rare movie where he'd happily watch a sequel – the Minnesota Part 2.

• Al Pacino wanted to play Reggie Dunlop, but George Roy Hill chose Newman.
• Nick Nolte tried hard to get Ned Braden but Michael Ontkean (a real college hockey star) got it. Nolte ended up doing North Dallas Forty.

Strother Martin as McGrath in the final game – 'Old time hockey! Eddie Shore!' – 'He really dials it up.'

• Sean: M. Emmet Walsh as Dickie Dunn.
• Bill: Swoosie Kurtz or Paul D'Amato.

• Bill: Tim McCracken (Paul D'Amato).
• Sean: Doctor Hook – 'one of the scariest faces of all time.' There's a claim Wolverine's look was based on him.

Should have had a real NHL enforcer from the mid-'70s on the Syracuse team (Dave Schultz, Jon Wensink suggested).

• The Quebec French translation making it 'the Godfather for French-speaking Canadians.'
• Reggie Dunlop based on former EHL Long Island Ducks player-coach John Brophy.
• The Carlson brothers' real penalty minutes (Jeff: 264).
• Ogilthorpe based on Goldie Goldthorpe (25 fighting majors before Christmas).
• Nancy Dowd's subsequent career: original Coming Home script, uncredited work on North Dallas Forty and 'Ordinary People'.

• Newman: No – Apex is Butch Cassidy/'The Sting' era.
• Michael Ontkean: Debated between this and Twin Peaks.
• Hockey fighting: Yes, this era was the peak.
• Hockey movies: No question, 'Slap Shot'.
• Minor league hockey: Debated vs. Bull Durham for minor leagues in general.

• Denis is hyped as a great goalie but keeps getting lit up.
• How can Syracuse get 5 new players for the championship game?
• During the Hanrahan taunting scene, Reg is just standing in place on the ice.
• The first game with the Hansons is suddenly sold out after nobody came to games.
• Why wasn't Ned in the WHA or NHL? There were 30 teams and ~600 roster spots.

Probably prestige TV. After 47 years you could adapt it as a TV show. CR suggests telling it from Anita McCambridge's point of view. They note Shoresy is essentially 'Slap Shot as a sitcom.'

• How many years did Ned Braden play in the NHL?
• What year did the Bradens get divorced? ('No' they didn't make it out of the '70s.)
• What was the 'unfortunate Danny Pratt tragedy'? (Consensus: Ogilthorpe murdered someone on the ice.)

• CR: The leather leisure suit; the Hanson glasses prescription.
• Bill: The Newman fur/leather jacket; Reggie's blue road jersey.
• Sean: The foiled-up gloves.

• CR: 'All folk heroes start out as criminals.'
• Bill: 'Give the fans what they want.'

• Bill: All the Right Moves (1983) – same filming location, Johnstown PA.
• Sean: Butch Cassidy or 'The Sting' (Newman double feature).

Unanimous: Paul Newman. You can also make a case for hockey itself: 'What is hockey if 'Slap Shot' doesn't exist?' Every hockey player has seen this movie.