The NHL is back and if you’re a die hard hockey nerd, a casual fan, or somewhere in-between, we recommend getting excited for the teeth-knocking, ice-skating action with a great hockey movie.
To help pick the right flick, we rounded up ten of the best hockey movies of all-time.
In the sequel to Mighty Ducks, coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is chosen to lead team U.S.A., so he reunites his trusty band of misfit hockey players. But they have their work cut out for them: they’re taking on the vicious Icelandic team lead by Wolf Stansson (Carsten Norgaard), and they must avoid the temptation of selling out to sports promoter Tibbles (Michael Tucker).
Charlestown Chiefs head coach Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is running a failing hockey team in Slap Shot. In a last-ditch attempt to win back the fan’s attention, Reggie enlists the Hanson Brothers – two players known for being exceptionally violent. The plan works, because everyone loves to see some blood on the ice.
Doug “The Thug” Glatt (Seann William Scott) is back in Goon: Last Of The Enforcers, but he’s hung up his skates for life as a father and husband. However, after Doug’s nemesis, Anders Cain, is made captain of his old team, he’s forced back into the rink.
In the original Goon movie, Seann William Scott plays rebellious bouncer Doug Glatt. He gets into a fist fight with a hockey player that ends in a knockout punch from Doug, and an onlooking coach sees his potential. Although Doug has no hockey training, he uses his thuggish nature to become a menace on the ice.
Breakaway is a quirky hockey comedy with a bizarrely star-studded cast that includes Rob Lowe, Ludacris, Camilla Belle, and Drake.
The movie follows Rajveer Singh (Vinay Virmani), a college dropout set on becoming a hockey star.
However, as a Sikh, he faces constant discrimination from hockey players, and push-back form his traditional family.
In Youngblood, Rob Lowe stars as a gifted young hockey player with a great name: Dean Youngblood. Dean gets frightened of the hockey world when his teammate and best friend, Derek (Patrick Swayze), gets injured by hockey bully Carl Racki (George Finn). Luckily, Dean’s father helps him toughen up for the rematch against Carl.
The Mighty Ducks is a sports movie classic. It follows Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), a young lawyer who’s ordered to coach a kid’s hockey team after getting a DUI. Although he’s reluctant at first, Gordon starts to love his team of misfits.
Dwayne Johnson stars in Tooth Fairy as Derek Thompson, a hockey player with a penchant for knocking out his opponents’ teeth. But when he dismisses a young fan, Thompson is unwillingly given a new teeth-related job: the tooth fairy.
Fans of The Office will recognize the plot line of Sudden Death from Michael Scott’s homemade movie “Threat Level Midnight.”
Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a security guard at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, but when he takes his kids to a game, the arena is taken over by terrorists. They have the Vice-President held hostage, and are threatening to blow up the whole arena, so Darren is forced to take action.
There’s a reason every P.E. coach plays Miracle for their class on rainy days. The deeply inspiring story follows player-turned coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), who pieces together a team of hot-headed college stars in hopes of defeating the seemingly unbeatable Soviet team at the 1980 Olympic games.
It’s a classic David and Goliath story with plenty of hockey-player brashness, 80s charm, and inspiring teamwork that makes it one of our favorite hockey movies ever.