While Vancouver fans have quickly come to love new Vancouver Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau for his role in driving the team forward, many are likely unaware of his role in one of the most iconic sports movies of all time. .
The Movie: The 1977 Hockey Comedy Classic Slap punch, starring Paul Newman as the player and coach of a struggling hockey team in a dying industrial city.
The film was shot in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1976, where Boudreau played for the Johnstown Jets of the now-defunct North American Hockey League at the time.
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The moment gave Boudreau, along with several other Jets, a chance to spend some time on the Hollywood screen.
“It wasn’t a cameo, it was a starring role,” Boudreau joked in a recent media availability.
“It was a great experience. Who would have thought in 1976 when we were making the movie that would become the iconic classic that it is today. I was lucky enough to play for the Johnstown Jets.”
While Boudreau didn’t have any lines in the movie, some of his Jets teammates did. The legendary (and legendarily violent) ‘Hanson Brothers’ featured in the film were played by real-life Jets Dave Hanson and Steve and Jeff Carlson.
Boudreau’s involvement in the film didn’t stop at his appearances on ice.
His Johnstown apartment was used as Newman’s home when director George Roy Hill learned that he was the messiest of his teammates.
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“(He) walked into the locker room and said, ‘Who has the most unkempt and messy apartment on the team?’ And they all stood up and pointed at me, ”Boudreau said.
“So I was the lucky one to get the recipient of Paul Newman and the dog to sleep in my bed.”
Boudreau also met the movie star in what may have been his first attempt at training, when he was asked to teach Newman how to slap shot.
“Frankly, he just wanted me to show him how to shoot,” Boudreau said.
“I went into a 10 minute rant about how to do something. He said, ‘Okay, that’s enough, kid.’ It brings back great memories. “
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