Came to make sure this had nothing to do with The Guardian Project. Left satisfied.
This was my first reaction followed immediately by "why would anyone make a documentary about that crap".
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
The lightbox was being wonky on the trailer for me, so if anyone's looking watch it.
On the surface this documentary looks great, but I'm curious as to what the NHL's relationship to it is. It appears they've got some pretty candid in-arena footage so I imagine the NHL was at least partial on board with this.
But at the same time there's the whole concussion awareness & the legal issues around that. So I wonder how much (if any) say the NHL had in the content... either way, looks promising.
Looks like a legit documentary and has some great classic guys in it as well.
As for Brian Mcgrattan, I am a big fan of his and loved his time as a Flame. I still see him around town on a regular basis and seems like a great guy but I think this feud with Damiem Cox has gotten a bit overboard, especially now.
I don't have twitter so I don't know the FULL story but from what I gathered from CP and other news stories was some bad comments Cox made when Mcgrattan was hurt in a fight during his time with the San Diego Gulls.
Now we all know how most people feel about Cox, the guy is #1 sh** disturber along with Eric Francis sometimes but in a lot of ways, this "skill or persona" is what effectively keeps some of these marginal media guys employed. If he was just another guy with a hockey opinion, maybe he wouldn't a job? In business and sports you got to bring a different skillset in order to stand out.
As for Brian Mcgrattan, as I said earlier I am a big fan of his and I am a pro-enforcer fan in the NHL but sometimes the rebuttals these enforcers use to talk about fighting and concussions etc is a little frightening.
What I do remember was Cox using the term suicidal to describe him because of Big Ern's insistence on continuing to fight etc. It probably wasn't the greatest term to use and I understand fully that its Mcgrattan's life and right to continue to earn a living but you can't blame people who have a general concern for someone's well-being, especially with the known risks now.
I don't mean to derail the thread or anything but when I had a quick look at the Twitter feed and it seems that this thing has escalated to the point where its kind of strange. I don't know if Damien Cox's marriage is anybody's business and I don't know if the optics are good for a hockey player losing it on a journalist or media guy is a good thing.
Like I said, I don't want to derail anything but I think this feud has gotten a bit out of control. I don't know the full story or anything but the optics don't look good. At the end of the day you just want these enforcers to have a great career, make some $$ while they are at it and retire safely with no long lasting effects. Far too often in films and interview's you hear about this "soldier & war" mentality when at the end of the day these athletes are playing a game and usually get kicked to the curb when they are no longer useful to their respective clubs.
Jay Baruchel is a Canadian with a pretty obvious love of hockey. With some decent pull in Hollywood, I wouldn't doubt if he was a main reason the movie ended up getting made.
I think it's good to include people like that in these films to connect with the audience. Recognizable people with a knowledge of the history of the game, but can give us the perspective of the layman vs the perspective of the enforcers. It's hard to understand why/how they do what they do, so you kind of need that "normal person" buffer.
Jay Baruchel is a Canadian with a pretty obvious love of hockey. With some decent pull in Hollywood, I wouldn't doubt if he was a main reason the movie ended up getting made.
I think it's good to include people like that in these films to connect with the audience. Recognizable people with a knowledge of the history of the game, but can give us the perspective of the layman vs the perspective of the enforcers. It's hard to understand why/how they do what they do, so you kind of need that "normal person" buffer.
All that plus from doing "Goon" I'm sure he has some interesting things from doing research and talking to enforcers over the years.
Can't wait to see the Westgarth bits. His story after going to Belfast has been a interesting one
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For those of you interested in watching the film in theatres, the Calgary International Film Festival is screening it. I'm not sure about the exact date as the festival schedule hasn't been released yet but the festival runs between Sept. 21 - Oct. 2.
Just thought I would do a little bump on this since the schedule was released and this has a pretty decent showing in terms of former Flame coverage.
Brett Hull, Kevin Westgarth, Brian McGrattan, Jarome Iginla are all featured. Some other big names are as well. The film looks quite interesting from the trailer.
It is playing on Saturday the 24th at 9:30 and on Monday the 26th at 4:30. Here is a link to the trailer, schedule and ticket options. Eau Claire theatre downtown is the venue.
Ice gaurdians documentary.
