Chris Driedger was 16 minutes away from profitable the 2022 males’s World Championships for Group Canada when catastrophe struck.
A post-to-post push led to the whole tear of his ACL, ending his night time and placing his skilled hockey profession in jeopardy. He watched Finland full its comeback from the sidelines, feeling helpless, haunted by the “click on” sound his knee had made when he pushed into his proper publish.
Driedger was given a 9 month restoration timeline. Again at residence, it was six months earlier than medical doctors let him skate. As an alternative of letting the monotony of day by day rehab defeat him, he found a brand new ardour and spent the following three years following it by means of.
That is the story of how a Winnipeg-born goaltender — now a part of the Jets group, simply down the street from the place he grew up — discovered himself producing a documentary movie a few California-based curler hockey league with one of the distinctive backstories in hockey historical past. It’s referred to as “Professional Seashore Hockey: Solar, Surf and Slapshots” and Driedger says producing it helped change his mindset at one of many darkest instances in his profession.
“It was a lifesaver having one thing else happening to take my thoughts off the truth that I wasn’t in a position to play hockey — which is, , my total life.”
By the late Nineties, Wayne Gretzky had come and gone from Los Angeles however his legacy remained. Curiosity in hockey was at an all-time excessive and businesspeople went in search of a approach to capitalize. A kind of individuals was David B. McLane, the wrestling promoter who began GLOW: The Attractive Girls of Wrestling.
McLane needed to take a run at curler hockey, taking his expertise within the leisure business to model new terrain, so he created a league referred to as Professional Seashore Hockey. Video games have been performed on outside rinks with ramps behind the web, angled glass to maintain the ball (not puck) within the play, and a two level line that labored equally to the three level line in basketball.
The league was populated with ex-roller-hockey stars, together with just a few NHL gamers, operating for 2 months for 3 straight summers — turning curler hockey into an outsized spectacle. It was made for TV, with all three seasons airing on ESPN2, however developed a cult viewers at Huntington Seashore the place it was filmed.
Driedger was 4 years outdated when the league launched. He didn’t discover out about it till partway by means of his first season with the Seattle Kraken, the place he was reunited with longtime teammate and buddy, Max McCormick.
Over brunch, McCormick informed Driedger about his buddy Jake Cimperman and the thought for a “curler hockey documentary.” McCormick was skeptical at first, Driedger says, however the second McCormick confirmed him the league’s teaser video, Driedger was hooked.
“It was this bizarre, fascinating mixture of the WWE and the NHL that I’d by no means seen earlier than,” Driedger says. “I simply watched it and immediately thought, ‘If I noticed this teaser, I’d need to watch the documentary.’”
Driedger nudged McCormick to arrange a name with Cimperman. That decision and those that adopted went properly; finally Driedger and McCormick helped ship Cimperman to Los Angeles to begin interviewing individuals for the movie. The three of them held common conferences to type out the route of the documentary, plan advertising, and strategize its launch, making a manufacturing firm referred to as Sin Bin Studios.
Driedger says the most important driving pressure for his involvement was his personal curiosity.
“The league was simply so wild and fast-paced and distinctive and aired on ESPN. That introduced this stage of intrigue and I needed to know extra. There have been ramps behind the web and I needed to know who considered that. How did that play out in video games? Did the gamers go up these ramps? I’m pondering in my head: Think about there’s ramps on the ice in hockey. That may be absurd. So there have been a number of questions I needed solutions to.”
An out of doors rink at Huntington Seashore. (Courtesy Shelly Castellano)
“And the characters have been actually good. Mike Butters from Winnipeg was taking part in at 6-foot-3, 255 kilos or one thing like that and he was a fighter … All of it was earlier than my time nevertheless it simply appeared wild, like I needed to know far more about it simply from the teaser.”
All of these questions took a backseat throughout Driedger’s first season in Seattle — and once more when Driedger acquired the decision to play for Group Canada.
However the curiosity remained. When Driedger tore his ACL, went residence, and began what would change into 9 months of rehab, he wanted a wholesome place away from the rink to direct his ambitions. He’d already taken a persona aptitude take a look at facilitated by former Jets defenceman Jay Harrison by means of the NHLPA. He’d spoken with private strategists John Hierlihy and Duncan Fletcher, exploring enterprise alternatives in actual property.
It was solely after Driedger acquired harm that he thought to say the documentary to Hierlihy, who proved to be a useful useful resource.
“John instantly talked about two or three individuals I ought to speak to. ‘This buddy of mine really performed within the league. This buddy of mine is a lawyer in movie, he works for Paramount Plus — speak to him.’ It simply opened up a treasure trove of contacts that I didn’t even know was on the market,” Driedger says.”
As Driedger chased down these contacts and have become much more invested within the course of, his curiosity for Professional Seashore Hockey continued to develop. He was fascinated by the league flying 60 skilled hockey gamers to an opulent California locale like Huntington Seashore, the place every workforce was given their very own open bar with limitless meals and alcohol.
“Like, how does that play out?” he says, sounding fascinated. “You discover out within the documentary. It’s full chaos.”
The chaos was half blessing, half filmmaking problem. At first, it was tough for Cimperman to get interviews with among the key voices for the documentary. Driedger’s principle is that Huntington Seashore acquired a bit too wild for some athletes — not everyone needed to revisit these days. However individuals he talked to concerning the documentary needed to assist. It turned out Bobby Ryan was an enormous fan of Professional Seashore Hockey when he was a child, for instance, and that Luc Robitaille and Pat Brisson — two of the most important names in California hockey — performed on the identical curler hockey workforce again within the day. One after the other, the items fell into place.
“We acquired Bobby on the documentary and he’s nice. He has a cool look the place he had a crush on the host of Professional Seashore Hockey … Luc Robitaille is a giant a part of the documentary. He was taking part in on rollerblades all summer time on the seashores and he felt that was a little bit of his edge. Identical with Pat Brisson, the tremendous agent. He and Luke have been on the identical curler hockey workforce in the summertime … They carry a number of firepower to the doc and so they’re each very well-spoken, very distinguished individuals. I believe it simply provides a little bit of legitimacy.”
At this level, “Professional Seashore Hockey: Solar, Surf and Slapshots” is in its closing levels of postproduction. Driedger, McCormick, and Cimperman are planning to launch it later this yr, capping off over three years of collaboration on a mission that will not have come to fruition with out Driedger’s knee damage. He missed virtually a complete NHL season for Seattle. He has solely performed two NHL video games since, however continues to carve out an AHL profession.
Driedger’s on-ice profession was in reliable peril — finally main him again to his hometown all of those years later. The Jets had been fascinated about Driedger for some time; it appears affordable that they’ll be fascinated about his AHL mentorship and NHL expertise once more when the 30-year-old’s contract is up for renewal this summer time. For his half, Driedger says he understands he has one shot to make an impression in Winnipeg, calling it a “dream” to play for his hometown workforce. He’s going to do all the things he can to profit from it, beginning along with his Winnipeg-themed masks.
There can be tributes to all of his minor hockey groups: the Fort Garry Flyers, the AA Twins, and AAA Monarchs. He hopes to have one other alternative to design a Winnipeg-themed masks subsequent season, however is aware of greater than most that nothing is promised within the NHL. He says he’s taking advantage of his time in Winnipeg, spending time with shut household and associates, and persevering with to push himself on the ice and off of it.
“There’s so many ups and downs in hockey. Typically issues are going nice, you’re taking part in improbable, and also you’re transferring up. You’re taking part in within the minors and now you’re within the NHL and issues are thrilling. However everybody has down years the place issues aren’t going properly. There’s accidents. It’s only a curler coaster experience, man, and I’ve discovered having one thing else going to maintain me grounded is tremendous, tremendous useful.”
Driedger understands that nothing is promised in movie, both. He’s thrilled that athletes are beginning to take media manufacturing into their very own fingers, however understands Sin Bin Studios gained’t doubtless begin its subsequent mission with the form of funds Michael Jordan had for “The Final Dance” or David Beckham for “Beckham.”
“Max and I, we study by doing,” he says. “The easiest way to study is to go forward, make the leap, and go do it. It’s been a blast.”
(Prime photograph of Chris Driedger, Chris Cimperman and Max McCormick: Courtesy Jake Cimperman)