''He Shoots, He Scores'' () is a Canadian '' téléroman'', or television drama series, revolving around a fictional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team based in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. The series aired from 1986 to 1989 on the

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

network, and revival series on TQS in 2001 and on TVA from 2004 to 2015. The first season was filmed in both French and English, the English version appearing on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

as ''He Shoots, He Scores''. It was the first television series to air simultaneously in English on CBC and in French on Radio-Canada. (An earlier series, ''

La famille Plouffe ''La famille Plouffe'' was a Canadian television drama, more specifically a téléroman, about a Quebec City family that first aired in the French language on Société Radio-Canada in 1953. The show was created to fill a void in francophone tel ...

'', had aired on both networks, but not simultaneously; the English version aired approximately a year behind the French series. Each episode of ''Lance et Compte'', however, aired in English as ''He Shoots, He Scores'' in the same ''week''.) The series was scripted by Réjean Tremblay and Louis Caron for the first season, and by Tremblay and Jacques Jacob after that. Following the end of the regular series, a number of television movies continued to air into the 1990s. A new generation of the series started to air in 2001 and a movie was made in 2010.

Synopsis

The series was written by Réjean Tremblay and novelist

Louis Caron Louis Caron (born July 21, 1942) is a Canadians, Canadian journalist and writer from Quebec. He is most noted for his novels ''The Draft Dodger (L'Emmitouflé)'', which won the Prix Québec-Paris in 1977, ''Le canard de bois'', which was a finalist ...

for the first season (later replaced by Jacques Jacob), and tells the story of the fictional

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

team Le National from Quebec City, and its players. The main protagonist is Pierre Lambert ( Carl Marotte), the young, handsome player drafted by Le National from the

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

Dragons junior team. In the first series, Pierre Lambert is selected to play for Le National de Québec, his boyhood team, along with his best friend Denis Mercure (Jean Harvey). During that year, Pierre learns how to control himself at the pro level and how to deal with hockey and his love life. The second series is focused on the World Cup of Hockey. Pierre Lambert is selected to play for Team Canada but personal issues cause him to play poorly. Pierre has to deal with those issues in time to help Canada win the World Cup. The theme of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

hockey players wanting to flee their country and play in North America is also included in the series. In the third installment of the series, with Le National de Québec dealing with big financial difficulties and with an injury-plagued Pierre Lambert, the future in Quebec is in doubt. Pierre Lambert and his friends will have to start winning and find a way to keep Le National in Quebec.

Cast

* Carl Marotte : Pierre Lambert * Macha Méril : Maroussia Lambert * Yvan Ponton : Jacques Mercier * Marc Messier : Marc Gagnon *

Michel Forget Michel Forget (born February 27, 1942, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec actor. Background Forget had a long acting career in which he participated in several films and television series which were popular among French Canadians. In 1986, Michel ...

: Gilles Guilbeault * Sylvie Bourque : Linda Hébert * Marina Orsini : Suzie Lambert * Jean Harvey : Denis Mercure * Marie-Chantal Labelle : Ginette Létourneau * Denis Bouchard : Lucien Boivin * Jean Deschênes : Paul Couture * Thomas Donohue : Phil Aubry * Eric Hoziel : Mac Templeton * Jean-Sébastien Lord : Hugo Lambert * Robert Marien : Robert Martin * David Nerman : Steve Bradshaw *

Lise Thouin Lise Thouin (10 July 1950) is a French Canadian actress and writer.Bulletin critique du livre français - Issues 583-584 1997- Page 1062 "De retour d'un voyage en Europe, la comédienne Lise Thouin est atteinte, durant l'été 85, par un virus foud ...

: Nicole Gagnon * August Schellenberg : Allan Goldman * Timothy Webber : Gary Bennett * Sophie Renoir : Marie-Lou * Daniela Akerblom : Geneviève *

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022), which were nominated for a combined fourteen Academy Award ...

: Anders Johansson

Background

''Lance et Compte'' is a common

Quebec French Quebec French ( ), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety (linguistics), variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in education, ...

hockey expression, equivalent to the English "He shoots, he scores" (the latter was originally one of the catchphrases of hockey commentator

Foster Hewitt Foster William Hewitt, (November 21, 1902 – April 21, 1985) was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for ''Hockey Night in Canada''. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt. Early life ...

). The team Le National is a direct copy of the real-life Nordiques, up to the logo (the Nordiques have the

lower case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...

letter "N" as symbol; the National has a

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

"N"). The Dragons are themselves a copy of the

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origin ...

from the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

. Copies of real organizations are common in Québécois téléromans. Examples: '' La Presse'' newspaper is ''L'Express'' in the episode "Scoop" and the ''

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the State police, provincial police service for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. There is no official English name, though the agency's name is sometimes translated as Quebec Provincial Police ...

'' police force is the ''Sûreté nationale'' in "Jasmine". However in the TV movies that aired immediately following the original series, the real junior team names are used including the

and the

Shawinigan Cataractes The Shawinigan Cataractes () are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Shawinigan, Quebec. The franchise plays their home games at the Centre Gervais Auto, and were originally known as ...

. The show also became known was known for its occasional somewhat risqué love scenes.

Incarnations

In addition to its English airing in Canada, the show was adapted in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as ''Cogne et gagne'', with France French dubbing. A well known incarnation of ''Lance et Compte'' is the series of parody sketches of

Rock et Belles Oreilles Rock et Belles Oreilles (RBO) was a Canadian radio, television, and stage comedy group popular in the primarily French-speaking province of Quebec during the 1980s and 1990s. Their name was a pun on the Hanna-Barbera blue dog character Huckleber ...

dubbed ''Snappe pis Bourdonne''. Several TV movies have been made in the franchise and were shown on TVA from 1991 to 1992. # ''Tous pour un'' # ''Le Crime de Lulu'' # ''Le Moment de vérité'' # ''Le Choix'' # ''Envers et contre tous'' # ''Le Retour du chat'' A new generation of the original series started to air in 2001 with a new breed of players (and presence of the original characters) and aired on TQS. Since 2004, three more series have been aired on TVA and a fourth is currently under production also to be aired on TVA. ''Lance et Compte: La Nouvelle Génération'' focuses on a new star named Danny Bouchard. Pierre Lambert is now retired and the agent of Bouchard. Le National de Québec have been playing very poorly for years now and if the team continues losing they might yet again be threatened to move out of the city. With the help of the new coaches, Le National have to find a way to win and fast. ''La Reconquête'' focuses on the love life of Danny Bouchard and Marc Gagnon. Bouchard is rapidly turned into a man he is not by his new mistress Valérie Nantel and could result in a dramatic ending. Marc Gagnon also has to find a way to deal with his emotions as he still has feelings for his ex, Suzie Lambert. ''In Lance et Compte: La Revanche'', Pierre Lambert's son, Guy, is called up by Le National de Québec in the middle of the season. In his first game, he injures and kills a player from the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

with a body check into the boards. The series primarily focuses on his trial and his love life but also on the revenge of Annie Girard, Danny Bouchard's widow, towards his mistress Valerie Nantel. The theme of steroids in sports has also been included in this installment. ''Le Grand Duel'', the show's seventh season aired on TVA in Fall 2009, it focuses on the rivalry between

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

it also includes Suzie Lambert's battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. The theme of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

in minor hockey is also included in the series. A movie called ''Lance et Compe: Le Film'' ("Lance et Compte: The Movie") hit the theaters on November 26, 2010. It focused on the crash of the team bus between Roberval and Quebec City. At least half the team and coaches died from the crash. The 8th season titled ''Lance et Compte: La Déchirure'' is a direct follow up to the movie. The 9th and final season titled ''Lance et Compte: La Finale'', starring Jason Roy Léveillée and Sarah Dagenais-Hakim as part of a new generation, was broadcast in 2015."Le retour de Lance et compte : Go, go go !"
'' Métro'', January 9, 2015.

References

External links