Slap Shot (1977) - A MUST SEE CULT MOVIE TOP ENTERTAINMENT - ALL TIME ICE HOCKEY MOVIE Starring Paul Newman

Slap Shot is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by George Roy Hill, written by Nancy Dowd, and starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean. It depicts a minor league ice hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a factory town in decline.

In the fictional Rust Belt city of Charlestown, Pennsylvania (inspired by the real city of Johnstown, where the movie was filmed), the local steel mill is about to permanently close and lay off 10,000 workers. This indirectly threatens the existence of the town's minor league ice hockey team, the Charlestown Chiefs, which is struggling with a losing season, incompetent players, and increasingly hostile spectators. Player-coach Reggie Dunlop, like most of the team, has no employment prospects outside hockey. As a money-saving measure, the team's penny-pinching manager, Joe McGrath, signs the young, immature Hanson Brothers.

After seeing Charlestown fans responding positively to violence, Dunlop unleashes the Hansons, whose play mainly consists of brutalizing the other team. To motivate the players, he leaks to a newspaper a fabricated story about a potential sale to a community in Florida, hoping that if the team becomes popular enough, it will happen. The brawls bring fans to the games, increasing attendance, and the Chiefs start winning.

Ned Braden, the team's top scorer, refuses to take part in the violence; Dunlop attempts to get him to fight by exploiting his marital troubles, encouraging but failing to get Braden's wife Lily to leave him due to his coldness. Games devolve into bench-clearing brawls, which become increasingly violent. Dunlop offers a $100 reward to any player who assaults Tim McCracken, the player-coach of the rival Syracuse team. The Chiefs rise up the ranks to become contenders for the league championship. Dunlop attempts several times to reconcile with his estranged wife Francine, who wants a divorce and to take a job on Long Island. After Lily moves in with Dunlop to get away from Braden, Dunlop takes her to meet Francine, and the women commiserate over their difficulties in being married to hockey players.