JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Please bear with me, I’m going to attempt to capture the spirit of the thing.
It started as a quirk in the schedule. With the Robert Morris men’s team slated to play a Sunday home game, that made for a rare Saturday off.
Instead of taking the day off, I traveled to the Flood City to shoot some photos of the Johnstown Tomahawks and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.
But it turned out to be so much more than that. The Tomahawks, Cambria County War Memorial Arena and the city were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the iconic hockey film Slap Shot, and I got caught up in the festivities.
I arrived at the War Memorial, and was immediately surrounded by individuals dressed in blue jerseys and a staff wearing tape-covered glasses. Obviously, I had forgotten what day it was. It was almost unforgivable, as I could quote the movie verbatim, and the lore as a hockey fan never grows old.
After a quick chat with media relations, I was brought to Vicki Carlson, the wife of one of the famed Hanson Brothers, Steve. I was invited to stay for the event, which was a game comprised of pay-to-play for charity celebrities, as well as a couple of the fabled Charlestown Chiefs. At one point, two of the celebrity players got into a fight, and it was all about how the other “called out the Chiefs.”
Jerry Houser tried to thank the crowd after the game, and got choked up as a chant of “KILLER” broke out of the crowd. I believe that an “OHHWNNNNNNS” chant started at some point. It was the stuff that you just can’t make up.
Afterwards, we all were invited to the Aces, the famous bar from the film, that has been converted to a banquet facility. After speaking to the players, staff, and celebrities involved in the event, it was made very clear that this was more than a get together for the rag-tag crew from the late seventies — it was a way of life. The stories I listened to (most of which I will probably never be allowed to tell) were things you would have never dreamed of. These Chiefs, made to be larger-than-life on the silver screen, were mere mortals that loved the game and it’s rituals more than most would believe.
Player-actors such as Houser, who played Dave “Killer” Carlson, who hadn’t been back to the Flood City since filming were overwhelmed with emotion over the whole day. Yvon Barrette, the man who brought french goaltender Denis Lemieux to life, said his signature catchphrases on video and even over the phone to one guest’s wife. I must have heard several references to Dickie Dunn, the Chrysler plant, and yet again, some that I cannot repeat in writing.
So that was my day off. I decided to get stock footage for Hockey’s Headwaters for a couple of the Johnstown Tomahawks. That, my friends, was my Saturday.
One hell of a quirk in the schedule, don’t you think?
Allan Nichols, who played team captain Johnny Upton in the movie, goes for a skate. — BRIAN MITCHELL
Steve Carlson has to watch from outside the glass after getting “thrown out”. — BRIAN MITCHELL
Dave Hanson looks for a check along the boards. — BRIAN MITCHELL
It wouldn’t be a game with the Hanson Brothers without some shenanigans. — BRIAN MITCHELL
Yvon Barrette, who played goaltender Dennis Lemieux, looks on from the bench. — BRIAN MITCHELL
Jerry Houser, who played defenseman Dave Carlson, addresses the crowd. — BRIAN MITCHELL
Had to get in front of the camera for this shot with Jeff Carlson.
Where to go after the game? The Aces, of course. — BRIAN MITCHELL
For more pictures, here is a full gallery… brought to you by Jim Carr’s Sports Talk.
