Category: Hollywood and Hockey
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The acting careers of Brodeur, O’Ree
Martin Brodeur has as many acting stints as he does regular-season NHL goals — two apiece. Not too shabby given that goaltending was the basis for a career that will land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame next week. Then again, Brodeur was fairly versatile, all things considered. He was a prolific playmaker, tallying…
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The Flyers and Homer Simpson: Treehouse of Horror and beyond
In their athletic afterlife, the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers served two minutes in the box. The jury box, that is, or most accurately the goggle-box. And it was technically two minutes and five seconds for those keeping diligent time. It happened on the Fox network 25 years ago this Sunday. As The Simpsons was well into…
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Pro Beach Hockey, we barely knew ye
For the moment, Pro Beach Hockey still has two years on the XFL’s lifespan. In late January 2018, WWE’s fizzled football offshoot was greenlit to join entertainment’s rash of reboots. After lasting a single campaign on its first try in 2001, the XFL is slated for another go-round starting in 2020. Notably, as ESPN’s Darren…
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When two prides of Brantford collided
The late Phil Hartman was years ahead of Wayne Gretzky in many places. Both beloved Brantfordians moved to the Lower 48 and dispensed their talents in Los Angeles and New York. They would each earn a spot on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Only one of them had remained in his homeland long enough for his…
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Jeff Glover knows hockey is still hot in Atlanta
Jeff Glover and NHL Center Ice missed a potential collaboration at the turn of the decade. The subscription service delivering regional telecasts to displaced diehards ran a montage of supposed customers. Pairs depicted included Flyers fans in New York, Penguins patrons in Los Angeles and Blackhawks buffs in Boston. Their universal message: “We may live…
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Jim Gaffigan took a cab with a Hab (sort of)
Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert did not mention the imminent 10th anniversary of The Love Guru when the chance arose. Seven weeks before the June 20 “milestone,” the actor and standup connoisseur spent nine minutes beside Colbert’s Late Show desk. Their portrayal of a fictitious Hockey Night in Canada broadcast tandem stayed off that segment.…
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Jack White loves a cohesive team; on ice or in film
Originally from Windsor, Ont., Jack White moved to Los Angeles in the ’70s to pursue an animation career. While there, he set up hockey clinics to help share the game he loved in a relatively new market. White would eventually become one of the premier hockey technical directors in Hollywood, working on movies like The Mighty Ducks…
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Elden Henson: Sharpshooter to criminal prosecutor
For Elden Henson, life has taken quite an interesting journey since his Mighty Duck days as stereotypical hockey tough guy Fulton Reed. When he was cast as Reed in the first film, Henson, whose film-credited surname was Ratliff, was not the only one in his family to nab a starring role. His brother, Garette Ratliff…
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Miracle’s West: ‘It all started with Mighty Ducks 2’
Long before he played through a bruise on the leg as Rob McClanahan, goaltending prodigy Nathan West launched his acting endeavors by taking a bruise on the palm. Before he fought a rival-turned-teammate in character as McClanahan, he briefly brawled with Ken Wu. And before he reenacted an historic Olympic gold-medal clincher, he surrendered a…