Last week news came out that there is a Mighty Ducks TV series in the very early stages of creation.

Will it pick up 20 years later with the same characters now living their post-Gordon Bombay life, or will it be a total reboot back to the beginning of another bunch of loveable losers?

This article isn’t about trying to figure out the truth to that question – on a recent Puck Yeah Podcast episode that was fleshed out in depth – but to promote the notion that the Mighty Ducks films are the greatest & most important sports movies/franchise in sports movies history.

So how does this ridiculous hot take explain itself in a climate that includes sports films such as ‘Tin Cup’, ‘The Karate Kid’, ‘Remember The Titans’, ‘Bull Durham’, ‘Caddyshack’, the ‘Rocky’ films and even ‘Slap Shot’ for god’s sake?

Here are the reasons:

1. Introducing future hockey players and fans into the sport
There are a countless number of Kiwis who grew up in the late 80s and early 90s (this writer included) who were introduced to the great sport of hockey by watching ‘Champions’, then ‘D2: The Mighty Ducks’ and then ‘D3’. Some of the top NZ Ice Blacks have admitted their love for the film growing up, calling it their favourite hockey film and couldn’t recall how many times they would have watched the movies as kids with their brothers, sisters and mates.

It also introduced Margot Robbie to hockey turning her into a hockey player in Australia, where she was a goalie!

2. Joshua Jackson
Before he was blowing up on TV in that punishing show ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and the actually pretty good ‘Fringe’ he was Charlie Conway with the hot mum who had the skills but never had the coaching/father figure to fulfil his talents.

3. The Anaheim Ducks nee The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Disney bought an NHL franchise in the early 90s and before the inaugural season in 1993 they wanted to make sure the team launched into the market with the biggest splash possible. How do you do that in Hollywood? Create a movie first and then launch your professional sports team.

Hasbro did a similar thing for the launch of their Transformers toys, releasing the epic 1986 feature-length animated film – you know the one where Optimus Prime dies – before unleashing their toys to take over the world. So Disney already had a fan base for the team from people who had watched the films and now wanted to follow the hockey team.

4. How to figure out the difference between Iceland & Greenland
In the second film the hot Iceland Assistant Coach that Gordan Bombay goes out to eat ice cream with explained the perfect rule to remember the difference between the two… “Greenland is full of ice and Iceland is really nice!”

5. The Flying V
Is there a play in any other sports film that gets referenced by more real teams than ‘The Flying V’ does? It’s fair to say the play isn’t actually very advantageous and possibly illegal in terms of interference rules, but the amount of times someone has yelled out “Flying V!” at some hockey game is crazy.

So there you go, the most detailed and perfectly argued reason why The Mighty Ducks films are the most important/greatest sports films ever! 

Plus we look at the performance of Adam Henrique since being traded to Anaheim. Let’s be honest, it’s approximately 85% Ducks chat – with honourable mention to the Junior Ice Blacks who are currently in Bulgaria for the IIHF Under-20 Division 3 World Championship.

Puck Yeah is a weekly hockey podcast produced in Auckland, New Zealand. Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or with your favourite podcast app to get every episode free.

The New Jersey native currently plays for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League and will provide a strong scoring presence for the USA team that will play against Canada this June in Auckland, Wellington, and Queenstown.

As a player who has previously come down to Australia for this tour, organiser Kerry Goulet was excited to have T.J. involved again, calling him “an unbelievable hockey player.” Brennan’s stats and accomplishments can definitely back that up. In 2014 and 2016 he won the Eddie Shore Award as the best defenceman in the league. For that 2015-16 season with the Toronto Marlies, he was scoring close to a point per game pace with 25 goals and 43 assists in 69 games – that led the team in scoring while also being tied for third in league scoring, a rare feat for a player of his position.

Brennan is considered to be an elite offensive defenceman at the AHL level and was recently announced in the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic rosters for the fifth consecutive year.

As the AHL affiliate to the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are currently second in the Atlantic Division with a 23-12-5 record. Brennan is in the final year of his current two-year deal with the Flyers. At age 28, with his offensive skills from the blueline he could still provide a much-needed scoring boost to many NHL/AHL teams looking to bolster their lineup either at the Feburary 26 trade deadline or for the 2018-19 season.

In an interview with RadioSport Breakfast yesterday Kerry Goulet revealed that David Hanson (from Slapshot fame) will be the coach for the American team. The remainder of the USA and Canada team rosters for the 2018 Ice Hockey Classic are scheduled to be announced within the next couple of weeks.

Puck Yeah is a weekly hockey podcast produced in New Zealand. Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or with your favourite podcatcher to get every episode free.

(Photos sourced from Phantomshockey.com)

TEG Live state that the USA and Canada exhibition teams will feature a collection of current stars, illustrious veterans, plus promising young talent that will showcase the speed and skill of international ice hockey. Previous tours have featured the likes of Brent Burns, Scott Darling, Kyle Quincey, and Mike Commodore.

Commodore captained the Canadian side for the 2017 Ice Hockey Classic and mentions that he thoroughly enjoyed the series. “It was great to see so many passionate ice hockey fans come out and support us in Australia,” Commodore said. “Touring Australia with the Ice Hockey Classic has been a highlight in my career and it will be fantastic to reignite the rivalry with USA (in) New Zealand for yet another year.”

Hosting an outdoor hockey game takes a lot of work as seen on the ‘Road to the Winter Classic’ documentary series that follows the progress of the NHL teams and ice crew as they prepare for the annual event, but it’s a challenge that Westpac Stadium’s chief executive Shane Harmon is aware of and excited for.

“The team have a 72-hour turnaround period to build, freeze, unfreeze and dismantle the rink. But we believe it is worth the effort to create such an exciting and innovative event experience for fans,” Harmon told Stuff.

Tickets go on sale from midday today via Ticketmaster for Auckland and Ticketek for Wellington and Queenstown.

Auckland: June 22, tickets range from $79 to $199.
Wellington: June 23, tickets range from $31 to $171.50.
Queenstown: June 28, standing for $81.50, $101.50 for unreserved seating.

(Photos supplied by TEG Live)

via NHL / MSG Network

He’s got the look of a hockey player too!

The latest is Winnipeg Jets prospect Mikhail Berdin, who currently plays for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL.

Berdin makes the most of it and really owns the celebration, one that will definitely see him highlighted on sport shows around the world today.

Martin Brodeur might have some competition on his hands – but his goalie goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs remains the gold standard.

More hockey on ‘Saturday Night Live’ please!

What a beauty!

It’s not just that you can play as NHL team mascots that makes it fun, but the hits are bigger (and more frequent) and the charismatic rink announcer will elicit a few chuckles from his quirky one-liners.

The announcer is a nice change within itself considering how boring and stale the commentary of Doc Emrick and Ed Olczyk has become in the main game.

The rules of the game have been simplified in an effort to maximise the goalscoring, and therefore, the fun. The blue line is gone so there is no offside and faceoffs only occur at the start of a period. If play has to reset after a goal is scored or the goalie covers up the puck, it’s a quick restart from a standing position.

Tactics can come into play through these quick restarts, whether you’ve got the puck or not. Depending on your skill level, if you have the puck you can deke around the defenders and drive towards the net to score a top-shelf highlight reel goal. If you’re starting without the puck, use the body to take out your unsuspecting opponent, leaving you open to attack with a 2-on-1 breakaway as seen in the tweet above.

There are no on-the-fly line changes either, but you can substitute a player during the intermission – the action is non-stop until the clocks runs out.

The biggest fun factor is the ‘Money Puck.’ Suddenly the next goal can be worth 2-3 goals – which is crucial when wanting to crush your opponent…or start the greatest comeback since the ‘It was 4-1’ game 7 when the Boston Bruins knocked the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the playoffs.

A negative Money Puck could see your opposition lose 2-3 goals. That’s one way to earn a shutout for your goalie and gain a few bonus points!

Before the game there’s a coin toss to see who will decide the rules of the game. A winner could be decided by reaching a goal limit, or a regular 3-period game. Money Puck can also be turned off, but that goes against the spirit of NHL Threes. Typically goal limits will make the game last longer but consider it like a game of tennis, especially if you choose the ‘must win by 2’ option.

As I mentioned in my NHL18 review a few weeks ago, in the future I would like to see NHL Threes developed into a standalone game because there is so much potential here to appeal to hardcore and casual hockey fans alike who aren’t so concerned with having a realistic simulation.

You can either play online or couch co-op with friends, or enjoy the mode’s very deep single-player campaign. And when I say deep, I don’t mean there’s a cinematic storyline like other current generation sports games, but rather there is a lot of teams across the Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metro divisions to beat if you want to unlock everything.

You start off as the fictional ‘Fridge Raiders’ team with a roster of lowly skilled nobodies but as you progress through the campaign, you will be able to unlock better players to improve your team. Performances are rated with a 3 star system. The more stars you earn, the more you will unlock. Depending on the opposition, you could unlock a new stadium, jerseys, logo, mascots, or a hero player.

Halfway through the first part of the campaign, the Pacific division, this is how my starting lineup is shaping up.

NHL Threes will truly shine best playing couch co-op with your mates. You can play with the complete skill-stick controls, a hybrid of stick and button, or the classically simple NHL94 control scheme. Tailor the controls to your liking and in no time you’ll be off scoring goal after goal while leaving a trail of crushed bodies behind you.

Now all EA need to do is add flaming pucks and brick wall goalies.

0:00 – Introducing Chris Aylward, director of ‘The Hockey Film’ and talking hockey with Canadians, our favourite pastime.
3:56 – How Chris came to meet BHL President Cam Green, who both grew up in St Catharines, ON but had never met before
6:21 – The beginnings of ‘The Hockey Film’

8:12 – Chris getting his childhood hero Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Alan Bester involved with the documentary
14:55 – The long road of development and production for a documentary while also working a full-time job
19:10 – The one goal for ‘The Hockey Film’ and aiming for Toronto International Film Festival
20:20 – The variety of people who feature in the documentary, including New Zealand’s Backyard Hockey League
24:25 – Pond hockey in New Zealand, it is a thing!
25:50 – Interviewing Walter Gretzky, father to The Great One

28:10 – Actually small-talking about the weather and how it’s affected the documentary’s production
31:13 – Chris growing up near Buffalo, NY as a Leafs and Oilers fan
33:07 – The community of St Catharines and the Niagara Ice Dogs
36:22 – The original working title of ‘The Hockey Film’ and why Chris changed it
38:13 – Intertwining all the different people into the documentary that will tell the story of ‘The Hockey Film’ and how Chris plans on doing that
39:08 – Other hockey documentaries that have inspired Chris
40:24 – Chris dreams of coming down to New Zealand to play hockey outdoors at Lake Tekapo
42:00 – Including the NZIHL’s West Auckland Admirals into the documentary
43:19 – Facing setbacks and the current status of production
50:19 – When will the film’s production see Chris shooting in New Zealand?

53:22 – Chris’ epic story of creating his own POV camera for his goalie mask to film his games before GoPros were invented
1:02:49 – If the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup before ‘The Hockey Film’ has finished production, would Chris include the victory parade in his documentary?
1:09:20 – The narrative structure of ‘The Hockey Film’ and finding the right balance for personal storytelling and the documentary’s characters
1:15:30 – Release plans for ‘The Hockey Film’ in New Zealand, Canada, and other film festivals
1:23:05 –  We say goodbye to Chris Aylward and quickly wrap things up

For more information check out THE HOCKEY FILM online. Photos provided by Chris Aylward.