I just saw this movie (Slapshot) for the first time tonight, ya know, just flipping through the channels and it was on. Damn funny movie. I’m not a big sports fan, but I like sports movies. The writers always dumb it down enough so I can understand what they’re doing. Anyway…
I was shocked that only the goalies wore helmets back then. Surely hockey in the 70’s was chock full of brain and mouth injuries. When did players start wearing helmets and better protective gear?
And yes I know I can probably google it, but I like asking questions like this on the Dope because of the discussion and old timers reminiscing about stuff.
I lived in Johnstown, PA when the movie was filmed. Most of the hockey players in the movie (including the Hanson Brothers) were actually members of the local minor league team, the Johnstown Jets. Two of the Hanson brothers were played by Jeff and Steve Carlson, two of the three real-life brothers that the Hansons were based upon. The third brother, Jack, was playing for the Edmonton Oilers, and so was unable to take part in filming. Jack Hanson was played by Jets player Dave “Killer” Hanson, upon whom the part of “Killer” Carlson was based. The home ice referee was played by Jets player-coach Dick Roberge, who had been a close friend of my parents.
I get homesick every time I see that movie. I walked most of those streets. I saw many a basketball and hockey game in the War Memorial and my high school graduation was held there.
I recall an item in the Johnstown paper during the movie’s filming in 1976 that Robert Redford, as a joke, had called the local Sears store and ordered a toilet to be sent to Paul Newman’s trailer.
Hockey was slow to mandate helmets; the NHL didn’t require them until 1979, eleven years after Bill Masterton died of a head injury that a helmet probably would have prevented. Some players wore them before then, but it was unusual and considered wimpy.
Goalie masks started being worn in the 1960s, probably as a result of the development of the slap shot (the earlier wrist shot was more of a finesse move and didn’t travel as fast, but it was hard to pick up a slap shot to the face).
As the question has already been answered, I’ll take you up on your invitation to reminisce. I was a kid when helmets became league-mandated, but I clearly remember thinking how weird and disappointing it was – it seemed so impersonal to watch a bunch of guys play all wearing helmets, how was I supposed to connect with my favorite players? Looking back (again, I was a kid at the time, so I wasn’t that contemplative) I had to make a fan switch from following the players’ faces, like in baseball, to focusing on their numbers, like in football. It seemed very strange.
Now, when I watch old hockey footage, I am distracted by how shocked I am that they aren’t wearing helmets! Put your helmet on! Those flying pucks and sticks are dangerous!
I confess I still miss the old school goalie masks though. The current goalie helmets seem goofy to me.
Hi Cochrane! Born and raised in Johnstown, and I was there when the movie was being filmed as well. Still one of the biggest things to happen there in the last fifty years (well, there was that little flood in '77…).
Love the flick, have it on DVD and a reproduction poster framed on the wall.
Went back during the Christmas holiday, and the ‘Hanson Brothers’ made an appearance at a Chiefs home game while I was in town. The crowd went wild, from all reports.
IIRC, the helmet rule had a grandfather clause that allowed a player to go hatless if he had played before the rule. As the old-timers retired, the bareheads dwindled.
With helmets and face shields, is there more diving in front of a shot than there once was?
Nobody(other than Trent McCleary) blocks shots head first. Players want to block with their legs, not their head. Very few players wear full face shields so a puck to the face will cause all kinds of damage. And to be honest, I would not be at all confident that a full shield could properly protect my face from a 100 mph slapshot.
You do see more shot blocking in the game today but that’s not because of mandatory helmets.
Craig MacTavish, current head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, was the last NHL player to play without a helmet. In some circles, “Craig MacTavish” is slang for having sex without protection.
I recall the same thing. During the Islanders’ dynasty (1980-'84) you saw both. But more and more players started wearing helmets even if they didn’t have to.
