''Chicks with Sticks'' (also released as ''Hockey Mom'' and ''Anyone's Game'') is a 2004

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. It was written by Don Truckey and directed by

Kari Skogland Kari Skogland is a Canadian filmmaker. In 2016, she co-founded independent production company Mad Rabbit. Her most recent project is the '' Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' television series for Marvel Studios. Career Skogland started as an edi ...

, and stars

Jessalyn Gilsig Jessalyn Sarah Gilsig (born November 30, 1971) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Lauren Davis in ''Boston Public'', Gina Russo in ''Nip/Tuck'', Terri Schuester in '' Glee'', and as Siggy Haraldson in ''Vikings''. Early li ...

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Awa ...

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor and television director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000), as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick in t ...

, Juliette Marquis,

Michie Mee Michelle McCullock (born November 1, 1970), better known by her stage name Michie Mee, is a Canadian rapper and actress. Canada's first notable female MC, she is considered a national hip-hop pioneer. Early life and career McCullock was born in ...

and

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series ''Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbett ...

. Set in a small town in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, the plot follows former ice hockey Olympic-hopeful Paula Taymore (Gilsig) who bets the local men's recreational-league champions that she can assemble a women's team and beat them. The film premiered on 24 May 2004 on

The Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...

and

Movie Central Movie Central (occasionally abbreviated as "MC", mostly in program guides) was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to operate ...

, and was screened at the

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. The Festival's ...

later that year. The film won three

Rosie Awards The Rosie Awards is the name given to the Alberta Film and Television Awards, presented annually by Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA). AMPIA is non-profit professional association that supports its members by encouraging the ...

Plot

Paula dodges bill collectors while working and raising her young son Stewie in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education. ...

. Her brother Ross enlists her to play as a substitute in a local hockey match, helping his team to beat the league champions, the Chiefs. Afterwards, sexist comments lead Paula to wager that she can assemble an all-female team and beat the Chiefs by women's hockey rules. She and Chiefs' captain Curt soon regret this and try to cancel the match, but it has already been announced on local radio and become the talk of the town. With the help of her mother Edith and local DJ Heather, Paula assembles a team from the area, including destitute goalie Felicity, doctoral student Kate, soldier Brigitte, mechanic Charlene, and Calgarian Marcie. Training arguments cause Paula's commitment issues to resurface; Edith rallies the team and uses

bake sale A bake sale, also known as a cake sale or cake stall, is a fundraising activity where baked goods such as doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies, sometimes along with other foods, are sold. Bake sales are usually held by small, non-profit organizations, ...

fundraising for team uniforms as the Black Widows. The Chiefs face hardships so Paula excuses them from raising matching funds. Curt bribes Ross to overlook the addition of a talented player to the Chiefs' roster, but the outsider is beaten by Felicity's friends and left unable to play. However, Marcie disappears before the match along with the prize money. In the big match, the Chiefs take an early 3–0 lead before their momentum is broken when Kate draws a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

against Curt and the Widows score on the

power play Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to: Sports * Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games * Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket * Power play (cur ...

. The Chiefs score again, which is answered by the Widows who pull their goalie to close the

first period First Period is an American architecture style in the time period between approximately 1626 and 1725, used by British colonists during the earliest English settlements in United States, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia and later in ...

4–2. The radio coverage draws a crowd to the arena during the intermission. After confirming that there is betting on the match, Paula confronts Felicity in the changing room about

throwing the game In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

but refuses to pull her from the roster, insisting that the team is a family. Paula takes a heavy

bodycheck Checking in ice hockey is any of a number of defensive techniques aimed at disrupting an opponent with possession of the puck or separating him from the puck entirely. Most types are not subject to penalty (ice hockey), penalty. Types Body che ...

to score in the second period. While recovering, she explains to Stewie that years earlier she'd left the women's Olympic ice hockey team

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

because she was afraid of not making the team, and not because of him. She promises to try her hardest for what's important to her. Both teams adopt a man-on-man defensive strategy for the third period. The Widows score on a breakaway, take the lead in the last minute, and then score an

empty net goal An empty net goal, abbreviated as EN or ENG and colloquially called an empty netter, occurs in several team sports when a team scores a goal into a net with no goaltender ''(goalie)'' present. Ice hockey Empty net goals usually occur on two occas ...

. An executive from a national television network approaches Paula, offering the Widows a place as a founding team in a new professional women's hockey league. Following the post-game handshake, the Widows pose with a custom trophy dubbed the Family Cup.

Cast

Cast: *

as Paula Taymore *

as Curt Bonner * Juliette Marquis as Felicity Carelli *

as Heather Desmond *

Tanya Allen Tanya Allen (born 1975) is a Canadian actress, best known as the harried assistant Audrey on the CBC sitcom '' The Newsroom''. At age 15, she began training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. In addition to her film and ...

as Kate Willings *

as Steve Cooper *

as Edith Taymore, Paula's mother * Andrew Chalmers as Stewart "Stewie" Taymore *

Pascale Hutton Pascale Hutton (born June 14, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She was born in Creston, British Columbia. Hutton attended the conservatory acting program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadia ...

as Charlene Manski *Kevin James Kruchkywich as Ross Taymore * Brad Turner as Vic Duguay *Kurtis Sanheim as Jimmy *Andrew Krivanek as Dale *

Shaun Johnston Shaun Johnston is a Canadian movie and theatre actor best known for his role as Jack Bartlett on the CBC drama ''Heartland'', which debuted in October 2007. He co-founded the Shadow Theatre in Edmonton and made his first professional forays ...

as Luke * Valerie Pearson as Doris *Chantal Perron as Brigitte Peron *Vanessa Holmes as Brenda Pullman *

Natassia Malthe Linn Natassia Malthe (; born 19 January 1974) is a Norwegian model and actress. Early life and career Malthe is the second of two daughters. She was born in Oslo, Norway, to a Norwegian father and Malaysian mother from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. H ...

as Marcie Rutledge *Colin A. Campbell as Brent *Chris Lozanski as Garrett *

Ron Stern Ronald Stern (born January 11, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for 12 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and San Jose Sharks. Playing career Stern was born in Sa ...

as Ringer *Sherry Lynn Friesen as Vic's Wife * Brandon Firla as Alex Perkins *Dee Bateman as Coach *

Beverley Mahood Beverley Mahood (born 2 November 1974) is a country music singer-songwriter and television host in Canada. Beverley emigrated from Belfast to Canada as a child. She is also formerly part of the all-female trio Lace, produced by the renowned L ...

as Singer at dance Turner and Stern are retired

National Hockey League 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 ...

players.

Writing and development

The film was written by Don Truckey. Some of the characters are based on girls that he knew while growing up in

Westlock Westlock is a town in central Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1913, the town is primarily an agricultural, business, and government administration centre serving communities and rural areas within surrounding Westlock County. Geography Westlock i ...

, Alberta, as the son of a high-school gym teacher. The project was initially called ''Paula's Power Play'', and Paula played one game in a men's league as a substitute player, dazzling everyone with her skill which led to the challenge. Truckey's script attracted little interest – the sports film genre being dominated by formulaic American productions – until early 2002 when two things occurred: ''

Men with Brooms ''Men with Brooms'' is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy film, starring and directed by Paul Gross. Centred on the sport of curling, the offbeat comedy tells the story of a reunited curling team from a small Canadian town as they work through their ...

'' was a minor hit and Canadian women won Olympic gold for hockey. A production deal was made under the working title ''Chicks with Sticks'', with plans to present the film on pay television during the 2003–04 hockey season. Studying the women's play in the Olympic games, the filmmakers realized that female players approached hockey differently, with more passing and less shooting. Rather than the original idea of taking on the men's team at their own game, the filmmakers changed the story so that the men are forced to adjust to the women's pace. Gilsig immediately wanted the role on receiving the script. Describing herself as a "huge hockey fan" from a hockey household, she had played

ringette Ringette is a contact sport, non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using Ice skates#Ice hockey skates, ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a #Equipment, blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice ...

and undertook daily training in preparation. Kidder, a hockey mom and grandmom who played pick-up hockey as a girl, also took quickly to the script.

Production

With a budget of $3.5 million, the film was produced by Nancy Laing of Alberta-based Earth to Sky Pictures and Debbie Nightingale of the Toronto-based Nightingale Company, with co-producer Christina Willings. Directed by

, the movie was filmed in November and December 2003, in

Okotoks Okotoks (, originally ) is a town in the Calgary Region of Alberta, Canada. It is on the Sheep River, approximately south of Calgary. Okotoks has emerged as a bedroom community of Calgary. According to the 2016 Census, the town has a population ...

, outside of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta. Some filming was done at the Sarcee Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on the Tsuu T'ina Nation west of Calgary. The hockey scenes were shot late at night, which was the only time an arena was available during peak hockey season. Nightingale credited director of photography Paul Tolton for filming action sequences while "bobbing, weaving and crouching" on skates, often on a 12-hour shooting schedule. Eight stunt performers were recruited from Calgary's Mount Royal College Cougars women's ice hockey team, which had won the previous year's provincial college conference. Other female hockey players were recruited from Calgary's Olympic Oval Extreme team and from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The picture was edited by Jim Munro and has a running time of 86 minutes.

Release

''Chicks with Sticks'' premiered as a

on 24 May 2004 on

and

. The television movie had its theatrical premiere at the

(CIFF), where it was screened on 27 September 2004 at the Globe Cinema. The film was released in the United States on streaming services in October 2005. In 2005, the film was released on DVD by Kaboom Entertainment in Canada under the title ''Anyone's Game'' (''Enjeux sur glace'' in French) and by

Monarch Home Video Ingram Entertainment Inc. is an American distributor of home entertainment products, like DVDs, audiobooks, video game software and hardware. Ingram Entertainment Inc, is the nation's largest distributor of DVD software. History The company has ...

in the US as ''Hockey Mom''.

Reception

Critical response

In 2011, Joe Iannello of

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

listed ''Chicks with Sticks'' as the 9 hockey movie of all time, writing that the often-underrated film has a great battle-of-the-sexes story and good sports scenes. Jim Bawden of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' recommended the film and called it "an excellent example of Canadian independent filmmaking".

Awards

The film won three

from the Alberta Media Production Industries Association: Best Drama (over 60 minutes), Best Actor to Kevin Kruchkywich, and Best Actress to Chantal Perron.

Plot

Cast

Writing and development

Production

Release

Reception

Critical response

Awards

Footnotes

Notes

References

Further reading