Spectacular, brutal, spectacular confrontation on the ice is akin to gladiatorial battles. Hockey is an amazing game, popular all over the world, owning the hearts of millions of people. Cinematography tells us the stories of legendary hockey players, depicts the most striking battles on the ice, tells us how to raise a boy to be a hockey star.
Explore a wide variety of stories in our selection of the best hockey movies of recent years. Suggest your favorite movies about this wonderful sporting game and we’ll be sure to add them to the list!
Maurice Richard
- IMDB Rating – 7.6
- Genre: Drama, Biography, Sport
- Production Canada / 2005
- Budget: CA$ 8,000,000
- Director Charles Binamet
- Starring: Roy Dupuis, Stephen McHattie, Julie LeBreton, Philip Craig, Patrice Robitaille, Michelle Barrett, Diane Lavallee, Toni Calabrette, Francois Langlois-Valliere, Pierre-François Legendre.
Known by its second title, The Rocket is a Canadian-French film about the iconic NHL era and the legendary player Maurice Richard, who led his team to a record five Stanley Cup victories.
The story begins with his childhood and ends with the famous “Richard Riot” in 1955, Richard’s “riot,” when his fans protested the suspension of their idol when he hit a referee. This is an exhaustive narrative of the legendary player that was created with his consultation.
The film was shot over several years, and for the accuracy of the hockey scenes, dialogues, and surroundings of Richard, the makers turned to him while he was alive, as well as to his relatives, friends, and colleagues.
Les Pee-Wee 3D: L’hiver qui a changé ma vie
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Drama, comedy, family, sports
- Production Canada / 2012
- Budget: CA$ 8,300,000
- Directed by Eric Tessier
- Starring: Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Remy Goulet, Alice Morel-Michaud, Gabriel Verdier, Thomas Derasp-Verge, William Monette, Justin Bustamante, Joseph Bustamante, Jeremy St-Onge, Normand Dano
Where better to make exciting movies about hockey than in Canada? Eric Tessier, a filmmaker from Quebec, has created another story of an athlete who has many difficulties and the only meaning of life is to strive to win his favorite game.
Janot, a promising young hockey player, moves with his father to Montreal to start a new life after the death of his mother. Despite his honed athletic skills, the guy is depressed and grieving, and unable to train fully. But he develops a love interest and a powerful rival, which motivates the guy to get back on the ice and achieve the heights of hockey.
This is Quebec’s first film to be shot in 3D.
The Mighty Ducks
- IMDB Rating – 6.5
- Genre: Family, sports, drama, comedy
- Produced by USA / 1992
- Budget: $10,000,000
- U.S. grossed: $50,752,337
- Directed by Steven Jerek
- Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith, Heidi Kling, Josef Sommer, Joshua Jackson, Elden Henson, Sean Weiss, M. C. Gainey, Matt Doherty
Disney’s inspirational sports movie that has become a classic of the genre. Gordon Bombay is a “dirty” but successful lawyer who often resorts to illegal methods. One day he is caught for drunk driving and sentenced to a huge term of community service.
Gordon played hockey as a child, and now he is appointed coach of an unlikely children’s team. Stubborn Bombay decides to make the careless boys a real storm of hockey ice, and at the same time get rid of unpleasant sports memories of his youth.
It was thanks to this film that the famous NHL club Anaheim Ducks got its name.
Mystery, Alaska
- IMDB Rating – 6.7
- Genre: Drama, comedy, sports
- Production: Canada, USA / 1999
- Budget: $28,000,000
- U.S. grosses: $8,891,623
- Director Jay Roach
- Starring: Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack, Burt Reynolds, Colm Meaney, Lolita Davidovich, Maury Chaikin, Ron Eldard, Ryan Northcott, Michael Buie
The tiny town of Mystery, lost in Alaska, sits next to a large lake where the entire population spends every winter playing their favorite game of ice hockey. Thanks to a widespread enthusiasm for the game, Mystery gains unexpected fame – they publish a big article about it in a popular magazine.
To make his town even more famous, the local government arranges a friendly match with the mastodons of hockey, the professional team “New York Rangers”. A great idea quickly becomes full of difficulties, from the reluctance of the big players to travel to the wilderness, to the differences in the rules. And soon the long-awaited match is in jeopardy…
The New York Rangers cast in the film is fictional. The real players refused to take part in the filming.
The Cutting Edge
- IMDB Rating – 6.9
- Genre: Melodrama, sports, drama, comedy
- Production USA / 1992
- U.S. box office hours: $25,105,517
- Director Paul Michael Glaser
- Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice, Terry O’Quinn, Dwyer Brown, Chris Benson, Kevin Peakes, Barry Flatman, Rachel Ottley, Steve Sears
A gripping sports romantic comedy about the passion for the ice that will leave no hockey player, even if he can’t play.
Doug Dorsey is a former captain of the U.S. national team who was forced to leave the NHL because of injury. He is being recruited by the famous Russian-born coach Anton Pamchenko, who is preparing skater Kate Mosley for the Winter Olympics. The problem is that the girl is extremely professional, and therefore arrogant, expressive, and ordinary partners do not suit her.
Doug will have to literally fight for respect in her eyes, learn a new business – pairs figure skating, to tolerate mockery of brutal former colleagues. But the main thing comes to life in him – the will to win on the ice arena.
This film has three sequels, telling separate stories with different casts.
Miracle
- IMDB Rating – 7.4
- Genre: History, sports, drama, biography
- Production: Canada, USA / 2004
- Budget: $28,000,000
- World Box Office: $64,429,010
- Director Gavin O’Connor
- Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Sean McCann, Kenneth Welch, Eddie Cahill, Patrick O’Brian Demsey, Michael Mantenuto, Nathan West, Kenneth Mitchell
By the 1980s, the USSR team dominated the ice field. The U.S. team’s victory over the Soviets at the 1980 Winter Olympics was hailed as a miracle. But even more amazing is the story of the team that snatched victory in Lake Placid from the season’s favorite.
Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell), a famous hockey coach, is appointed coach of the national team seven months before the Olympic tournament begins. His task is to try to give a decent fight to the USSR team.
He finds a non-trivial solution, and instead of famous players he recruits the most energetic, promising and talented players from student clubs, and then begins to create from them a cohesive team of professionals.
Actor Kurt Russell’s salary was cut to feed a hot lunch to the extras who played spectators in the stands during the final match. By the way, this movie is a remake of the 1981 film Miracle on Ice.
Goon
- IMDB Rating – 6.8
- Genre: Drama, comedy, sports
- Production: USA, Canada / 2011
- World Box Office: $6,985,158
- Director Michael Downes
- Starring: Shaun William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber, Alison Pill, Mark-André Grondin, Kim Coates, Richard Clarke, David Petkau, Eugene Levy, Ellen David
A hilarious and life-affirming sports comedy that reveals the underbelly of the minor leagues of hockey, the launching pad for many famous hockey players. The plot centers on an ordinary working man, the shy, bashful bully Doug Glatt, who once punched a hockey player right in the middle of a game.
But instead of the police came to Doug team coach and offered him a place taiga, simply a bouncer, who works on the ice by force. The team’s low rating skyrocketed thanks to Doug’s successes, becoming a true star.
And then one day Doug has a serious opponent, which will not be easy to defeat. Realizing that the victory of the team depends only on him, Doug is ready for heroic efforts.
In 2017, the sequel to Epic Muddle was released.
Tooth Fairy
- IMDB Rating – 5.0
- Genre: fantasy, comedy, family, sports
- Produced by USA, Canada / 2009
- Budget: $48,000,000
- World Box Office: $112,462,508
- Director Michael Lembeck
- Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Ryan Schackler, Seth MacFarlane, Julie Andrews, Chase Ellison, Destiny Whitlock, Brandon T. Jackson, Dan Joffre
A sparkling comedy about a hockey player who one day finds himself in a fairy tale, a fantasy film starring Dwayne Johnson. Derek Thompson is an aggressive athlete, a cynic and a brute, nicknamed “The Tooth Fairy” because of his power moves, after which the teeth of his opponents are left on the ice. Unfortunately, Derek hasn’t been able to score in 10 years.
He is dating a woman who has two children, whom Derek often saddens with his down-to-earth nature. And then one day the real fairies decide to teach the bully a lesson by turning him into one of them for a week. Derek learns about the tooth fairies’ complicated business, and at the same time he regains his childhood faith in miracles, his self-confidence, and begins to see the world differently.
The script of the film was created back in 1993, and it was assumed that the main role will play Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Go Figure
- IMDB Rating – 5.6
- Genre: Action, drama, melodrama, comedy, family, sports
- Production USA / 2005
- Directed by Francine MacDougall
- Starring: Jordan Hinson, Whitney Sloan, Kristin Rose, Ryan Malgarini, Tanya Gunady, Amy Halloran, Brittany Karren, Sabrina Spear, Jake Abel, Christy Yamaguchi.
One of the cutest and most inspiring Disney sports movies of recent years. The main character is Kathleen Kingsford, genuinely passionate about figure skating and dreaming of becoming a champion. She notices the legendary Russian coach Natasha Goberman, but to train with her girl needs a lot of money, which the family of Kingsford simply do not.
To help the talented figure skater, Natasha convinces her friend, the coach of the women’s ice hockey team, to give the girl a scholarship so she can combine ice hockey and figure skating. Kathleen enthusiastically accepts the help, but soon discovers that the intense training makes her life a lot harder than she thought it would be. In addition, hockey begins to take over her heart…
This story was nominated for Best Film at the Young Artist Awards.
MVP: Most Valuable Primate
- IMDB Rating – 4.1
- Genre: Comedy, Family, Sports
- Production: Canada, USA / 2000
- Budget: $4,500,000
- U.S. box office receipts: $1,248,746
- Directed by Robert Vince
- Starring: Bernie, Louie, Mack, Russell Ferrier, Lomax Stady, Kevin Zegers, Jamie Renee Smith, Alexa Foxx, Jane Sawerby, Ingrid Tesch
A funny teen comedy in an entourage of hockey, growing up, and school problems. Three-year-old Jack is a male chimpanzee, the subject of Professor Kendall’s experiment, who dies before completing his work.
After some adventures, Jack finds himself with the Westover family, who have recently moved to Nelson Township. Teenager Stephen Westover is passionate about hockey, but the local team consists of nothing but losers. Suddenly Stephen discovers that Jack is a great hockey player…
The success of the film led to two sequels about Jack’s adventures: The Skateboard King and The Snowboard King.
Breakaway
- IMDB Rating – 5.7
- Genre: Drama, comedy, sports
- Production: Canada, India, USA / 2011
- Directed by Robert Lieberman
- Starring: Vinay Virmani, Camilla Belle, Russell Peters, Rob Lowe, Anupam Kher, Gurpreet Googie, Sakina Jaffrey, Noreen DeWolfe, Pamela Sinha
An obsession with sports is one of those addictions that, for the most part, brings only good things. “The Offensive Game” is a Canadian, U.S., and Indian co-creation about a talented young hockey player, Rajvir Singh, son of a transportation company owner.
Darvesh’s father disapproves of his son’s hobby, planning to make him heir to the family business, and the hockey league treats the guy rather cool, despite his serious successes. And then Rajvir creates his own team, which will have to go through many difficulties on the way to success.
The film was shot in Ontario, where one day a hungry homeless man wandered onto the set and the director fed the man and gave him a job as an extra.
Sudden Death
- IMDB Rating – 5.8
- Genre: Action, thriller, crime
- Produced by USA / 1995
- Budget: $35,000,000
- World Box Office: $64,350,171
- Director Peter Hyams
- Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Booth, Raymond J. Barry, Whittney Wright, Ross Malinger, Dorian Harewood, Kate McNeil, Michael Gaston, Audra Lindley, Brian Delight
Let’s dilute sports passions with a light action film about hostage-taking, “Sudden Death” starring Van Damme. His character is Darren McCord, a firefighter. He goes to an NHL game with his family.
In the midst of the game, unknown terrorists take hostages, including Darren’s daughter. The criminals make monetary demands, threatening to blow up the crowded stadium if they refuse, but they don’t take into account that among this frightened crowd is Daddy Van Damme, who is very worried about his daughter’s life.
Critics considered this film “another imitation of Die Hard,” and rightly so.
Hello Destroyer
- IMDB Rating – 6.3
- Genre: Drama
- Production Canada / 2016
- Directed by Kevan Funk
- Starring: Sarah Canning, Ian Tracy, Ben Cotton, Jared Abrahamson, Darren Mann, Paul McGillion, Michael Kopsa, RJ Featherstonho, Nels Lennarson, David Lennon
The original film has a far more ironic title: Hello Destroyer. It is a drama played out not on the ice but after a violent game, describing the consequences of reckless powerplay in hockey.
Jared Abrahamson plays Tyson, the Prince George Warriors’ new enforcer, who, eager to prove his zeal and integrity, blocks an opposing player too harshly, leaving him with broken vertebrae and a brain hemorrhage.
The team’s fans, who admired the players’ controlled brutality, now live in near-fear of Tyson and demand that he leave, and his life begins to deteriorate rapidly.
This film is a feature-length version of the 2013 short film Destroyer.
Indian Horse
- IMDB Rating – 7.3
- Genre: Drama
- Produced by Canada / 2017
- U.S. grosses: $2,097,362
- Directed by Stephen S. Campanelli
- Starring: Sladen Peltier, Forrest Goodluck, Adjuac Kapashiset, Micheal Heussman, Martin Donovan, Michael Murphy, Edna Manitowaby, Melanie McLaren, Johnny Issaluk, Skye Pelletier
The events of this drama revolve around a family of Native Indian Horses trying to maintain their identity in the 1960s in the Canadian outback. They try to escape the scrutiny of the authorities and reach the lands of their ancestors.
After enduring many ordeals and losing several family members, Saul, the eldest son of the family, finds himself in an Indian public boarding school, where he is passionate about hockey and shocks those around him with his talent. This boy is destined to become a true hockey star.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Wagamese.
Chicks with Sticks
- IMDB Rating – 5.1
- Genre: Drama, comedy, sports
- Production Canada / 2004
- Director Kari Skogland
- Starring: Jessalyn Gilsig, Peter Outerbridge, Juliette Marquis, Michi Mee, Tanya Allen, Beverly Mahood, Jason Priestly, Margot Kidder, Andrew Chalmers, Pascal Hutton.
The film is about a feminist woman who decides to prove to arrogant men that women can play hockey, a traditionally “male” sport, just as well. Paula is a single mother who recently went through a very painful divorce. Her income barely allows her to pay the bills, and she is looking for buyers for her house, wanting an easier home.
Paula was once a great hockey player who almost made the national team, but she chose family over sports and now occasionally plays hockey at the local stadium. Tired of being mocked by the guys on the local hockey team, who doubt a woman’s ability on the ice, Paula assembles a women’s team to rub the mockers’ noses in it.
The film’s director, Kari Skogland, was nominated for the Canadian Film Award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing.
