Though not as prevalent on the big screen as the likes of baseball or boxing, the best hockey movies highlight the thrill of the sport. Watching the National Hockey League games is a favorite pastime of many people. With a mix of skating, puck-handling skills, and physical brutality, hockey is a truly unique and demanding pastime that can create some terrific drama on screen. The best hockey movies honor the sport itself while telling their own stories.
There is surprising variety among the most notable hockey movies, spanning all kinds of genres. There are the typical inspiring stories that viewers usually expect within sports dramas, however, there are also hilarious comedies, thrilling action movies, and family-friendly stories. There have also been hockey movies that explore the most famous and captivating true stories in hockey history. From die-hard fans of the sport to those who are far removed, the best hockey movies will entertain them all.
10 Mystery, Alaska (1999)
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Not the Alaskan-set noir story the title might suggest, Mystery, Alaska follows an amateur hockey team in Mystery, a small fictional Alaskan town obsessed with their weekly pond hockey game played by local citizens every Saturday. The town gets over-excited when their team is given the opportunity of a lifetime after being chosen to play a televised exhibition game against the NHL's New York Rangers. The movie has the underdog sports movie vibe of Rocky. While it never reaches the heights of that classic, it is a fun little story with Russell Crowe as the team veteran who may be getting too old for the game he loves.
9 Les Boys (1997)
- Stream on Tubi
Les Boys came out in 1997 and follows an amateur hockey team and the men who play on it. The aging players are often incredibly immature, which is part of what contributes to the comedy of this film. There are a number of subplots involving the players and their childish antics. The movie features some humor that would be frowned upon today, but other aspects of it have a lot of heart, making it a classic among many fans twenty-four years later. Some would even rank it among some of the more popular but still hilarious sports comedies.
8 Indian Horse (2017)
- Stream on Netflix
A darling of film festivals across Canada, Indian Horse explores disturbing issues that other hockey movies dare not touch. The story follows the life of Saul, a young indigenous Canadian boy growing up in the corrupt, racist, and abusive Canadian Indian residential school system. Throughout his life, Saul deals with soul-crushing racism and abuse. As he struggles with life-threatening alcoholism, Saul doesn't let the hardships he endures keep him from becoming a great hockey player or finding meaning and happiness amidst the serious circumstances. The small movie gained strong acclaim for its honest and grounded approach to issues not often tackled in sports movies.
7 Legend No. 17 (2013)
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A Russian movie that never enjoyed a North American release, most readers likely haven't heard of or seen Legend No. 17. Garnering several prestigious Russian film awards, the story follows the life and career of Valeri Kharlamov (Danila Kozlovsky), one of the greatest players in Soviet hockey history. Although Kharlamov was considered small for a professional player, he made up for his lack of size with exceptional speed, intelligence, creativity, and stick skills, earning him two Soviet League MVP awards and two championships with CSKA Moscow. Kharlamov also won his country Olympic gold medals in '72 and '76 and played on the 1980 Olympic team.
6 Sudden Death (1995)
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Jean-Claude Van Damme is reportedly finished with action movies but he has left behind a lot of fun entries in the genre. One of his best is Sudden Death which could be called "Die Hard at a hockey game." Van Damme plays a former firefighter who finds himself as the only one who can stop a group of terrorists who take the Vice President hostage in a stadium during the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The sport of hockey takes a backseat to the action here, but there are still a lot of great hockey-centric moments like Van Damme taking on a terrorist dressed as a hockey mascot and Van Damme having to step in as the goalie during the game.
5 The Rocket (2005)
- No streaming options available
A true story based on the career of Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, this biopic shows the struggles the hockey player had to go through to rise to the status he did. Playing for the Montreal Canadiens, Richard believed, along with many others, that French Canadian hockey players were not treated as well as English Canadian players. The mistreatment led to extensive conflict with the NHL president. The film is a fascinating look into the life of one of the most famous hockey players in history and the impact he had on the game.
4 Goon (2011)
- Stream on Prime Video
An enforcer-focused hockey movie, Goon tells the inappropriately comedic story of Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), an unintelligent but kind-hearted bar bouncer from a brainy family. After showing his vicious fighting skills at a local hockey game, Doug is invited to the team as they're in dire need of an enforcer to protect their talented but troubled young star (Marc-Andre Grondin).
The comedy is entertaining and ultimately charming, but it also clearly has a lot of ion behind it, which contributes to the beating heart of the film. Scott is hilarious as the simple and sweet brute while Liev Schreiber was a standout ing role as the over-the-hill player looking to face off with Doug for his grand farewell.
3 Miracle (2004)
- Stream on Disney+
Miracle tells the true story of a team of ragtag American college hockey players who took on a heavily favored Soviet Union team at the height of the Cold War in the 1980 Olympics in what's considered the biggest upset and most important game in American hockey history. The story of team coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is enough to inspire anyone who's ever been rejected.
Though Kurt Russell's western movie persona is what his fans might most associate with the actor, he is excellent at playing the tough yet ionate leader of this team. The movie was a modest hit at the box office and a critical success even winning an ESPY for best sports movie.
2 The Mighty Ducks (1992)
- Stream on Disney+
The Mighty Ducks is a movie that introduced most of the millennial generation to the sport of ice hockey. It stars Emilio Estevez as Gordon Bombay, a self-centered Minnesota lawyer sentenced to community service in the form of coaching a youth hockey team after he's arrested for drunk driving.
In addition to providing early roles for stars like Joshua Jackson, Marguerite Moreau, and Elden Henson, the movie spawned two sequels, an animated series, and an NHL expansion team based out of Anaheim. The film features the flawed Bombay growing to care for these children, and the heart behind The Mighty Ducks franchise is part of what makes it one of the best sports movies for kids to enjoy, as well as adults.
1 Slap Shot (1977)
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Considered one of the best comedy movies from the '70s, Slap Shot is a classic. It follows the Charlestown Chiefs, a fictional minor-league hockey team led by player-coach Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman). When Dunlop discovers that his underperforming team is set to disband at the end of the season, he unleashes a new weapon on the league: the Hanson Brothers. The brothers wreak havoc on the league with their dirty and violent style of play, leading the Chiefs to realize fans will show up for a violent team even more than a winning team.
Even in the critically acclaimed career of Paul Newman, Slap Shot is considered one of his best, which is really all the praise that the film needs. Though a lot of the jokes in the movie are quite dated now, the ion for the game shines through and makes it the top hockey movie still to this day.
