''Goalie'' is a 2019 Canadian biographical sports film about the hockey goaltender

Terry Sawchuk Terrance Gordon Sawchuk (December 28, 1929 – May 31, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kin ...

. The film was directed and co-written by

Adriana Maggs Adriana Maggs is a Canadian film and television actress, writer and director, best known for her debut feature film ''Grown Up Movie Star''.Mark O'Brien. The film was given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on March 1, 2019. The film does not use official

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

jerseys due to legal reasons. This is also Sean McCann's final film before his death three months later in June 2019.

Plot

Interspersed with on-ice-action, Terry Sawchuk's autopsy and its cataloging of bodily injury ends with a still of this greatest goalie from the NHL's

original six The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs ...

era, and overscreen text of his accomplishments. The early life of

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

is portrayed as lower middle class. He follows in his older brothers footsteps in becoming a pond hockey goalie. Meeting success, he is drafted by Trader Jack Adams to replace a winning but injured goalie for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. In the age of maskless goalies, Terry is shown receiving pucks to his face, and helping to lead his team to victory. Caught up in his intense and sometimes glamorous new world, Sawchuk marries a Detroit woman and they start a family. They move to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

when he is traded to the Bruins. After he becomes alcoholic, abusive and a philanderer, they divorce. As Sawchuk moves around the league, goaltenders begin wearing

masks A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...

and teams hire more than one goalie per team. Sawchuk visits with his mentor Trader Jack, who recommends Sawchuk retire to enjoy life and teases him for having been gullible, as Jack had leveraged belonging for heroics. Battered by a career on the ice, Sawchuk dies from an otherwise insignificant injury, sustained in a drunken argument. He was employed as a goalie by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

at that time.

Cast

* Mark O'Brien as

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

Jack Adams John James Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouver Millionaire ...

Georgina Reilly Georgina Reilly (born February 12, 1986) is an English/Canadian film and television actress best known to date for her roles in the films '' Pontypool'' and ''This Movie Is Broken'', the television series '' The L.A. Complex'' and '' Murdoch Mys ...

as Pat (Morey/Sawchuk) *

Éric Bruneau Éric Bruneau (born April 21, 1983) is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his regular supporting role as Liam Bouchard in the television series ''Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order ...

as Marcel (Pronovost) *

Steve Byers ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

as Gordie (Howe) *

Ted Atherton Ted Atherton is a Canadian actor. He is best known as Myles Leland III in the TV series '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye''. Early life He moved with his family to Scarborough, Ontario when he was 13. He went to the University of Toronto and obtained a bac ...

as Louis Sawchuk *

Janine Theriault Janine Theriault (born 1975) is a Canadian actress known for her work in the films '' Bleeders'' (1997), ''Owning Mahowny'' (2003), and '' Relax, I'm from the Future'' (2022), as well as the TV series ''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–2002), ''MVP ...

as Anne Sawchuk *

Matt Gordon Matt Gordon (born 1969) is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for playing Doc in the sports sitcom '' Rent-a-Goalie'', and for his portrayal of Officer Oliver Shaw in the drama series ''Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police ...

Tommy Ivan Thomas Nathaniel Ivan (January 31, 1911 – June 25, 1999) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He served as a National Hockey League (NHL) head coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 1947 to 1954 where he won three Stanley Cups, a ...

Jonny Harris Jonathan Harris (born September 22, 1975) is a Canadian actor and comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador.Sean McCann as (70-year-old)

Red Storey Roy Alvin "Red" Storey, (March 5, 1918 – March 15, 2006) was a Canadian athlete, referee and broadcaster. He played football, lacrosse and ice hockey. While active as an athlete, he turned to officiating in all three sports and continued as ...

The roles of married couple Terry and Pat are played by real life married couple O'Brien and Reilly.

Cinematography

The cinematography by Jason Tan, "which has a fittingly vintage edge that does make one feel as though one is watching archival footage from the mid-twentieth century NHL" was commended. It is characterized by a

sepia tone In photography, toning is a method of altering the color of black-and-white photographs. In analog photography, it is a chemical process carried out on metal salt-based prints, such as silver prints, iron-based prints (cyanotype or Van Dyke b ...

Awards

References

External links