Youngblood

The best hockey movie since Slap Shot (we know, competition was scarce), Youngblood may seem, on the surface, to be “Feathered Hair on Ice,” but soon reveals itself to be a Hoop Dreams for Canadian farmers. The story of an upstate New York farm boy (Rob Lowe) who goes to Canada to play in a brutal Junior A hockey league (“I’ve got to play Juniors if I’m ever gonna play pro,” for those who don’t understand the importance), this movie boasts sports clichés, random sex scenes, the first onscreen appearance of Keanu Reeves (who can forget his butchered French-Canadian accent: “Zat man is, fucking, an animale!”), and some great lines still quoted in locker rooms nationwide (“Thank God there’s still a sport for middle-sized white boys!” “Don’t take no shit from them Canucks!” and the classic “Wanna go, pretty boy?”). Completing the holy trio of cheese, Patrick Swayze appears as the hardass team captain—this before things went horribly twinkle-toed (Dirty Dancing was released a year and a half later). Youngblood also inspired every grammar-school hockey player to do that “skate in a circle/kick the puck” move every time they got a penalty shot. And every goalie since has wanted that “evil goalie” skull mask. Sadly, the DVD “package” kinda blows—nothing but a trailer. But when a lost classic gets a digitial washing, who cares?