Slap Shot (1977)

Slap Shot (1977)

In director George Roy Hill's irreverently funny, R-rated, brutal and bloody sports-comedy film - it was one of the best of its sub-genre ever made. The film was noted for its rampant profanity, raunchiness, toxic male adolescent behavior, nudity, and on-ice rough-house violence in order to save a failing, third-rate minor Federal Hockey League team (the Chiefs) in Charlestown, a fictional rust-belt Pennsylvania steel-mill town (based upon Johnstown, PA). The area was threatened with the closure of the local plant and massive lay-offs and unemployment. Screenplay writer Nancy Dowd based the story (with many sub-plots) on her brother Ned Dowd's experiences playing minor league hockey (with the Johnstown Jets) in the US in the 1970s.

There was no soundtrack for the film, but it featured some well-known hits of its decade, including Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" and "Say That You Love Me," Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From," and Leo Sayer's "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing."

The lengthy (123 minutes), authentic and raw film reflected the late 70s era before diminishing masculinity, when drinking, gambling, sexual activities, and the delay of responsibility and adulthood were openly practiced and celebrated. Stars in the off-color film included Paul Newman as aging, foul-mouthed and irascible hockey star Reggie Dunlop - a player/coach for the final season of The Charlestown Chiefs of the second-rate Federal Hockey League, and the newly-recruited Hanson Brothers trio (Jeff, Steve, and Jack, played by Jeff & Steve Carlson and David Hanson), hockey players who wore black-framed coke-bottle glasses.

Slap Shot took in modest revenues of 28ドル million (and was a blockbuster in Canada) on its budget of 6ドル million, even though it was initially regarded as obscene, vulgar, and lacking in "good taste."

• in the pre-credits sequence, during his live TV-show called "Sports Talk" in Charlestown, PA, the toupeed sports-show host Jim Carr (Andrew Duncan) asked about the "finer points of hockey" as he interviewed hockey playing goaltender Denis Lemieux (Yvon Barrette); the Charlestown Chiefs player was questioned about "icing," "high-sticking," "slashing"; Denis demonstrated by almost choking the questioner: ("High-sticking happen when the guy take the stick, you know, and he go like that"); he also demonstrated slashing, tripping, hooking, and spearing - all actions that can result in penalties: ("All bad. You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by yourself, and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free")

• the failing hockey team, the Charlestown Chiefs, were scheduled for an 8 pm home game against the Hyannisport Presidents at the War Memorial; on the ice that evening, as the team's aging player/coach for the Chiefs, # 7 Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) was introduced, he was booed by a hostile spectator in the lower-class crowd: "Dunlop, you stink!"; after the home team's five members were announced, the National Anthem was played - as the title credits rolled

• early in the first period of play, the Chiefs were already behind 2-0; but then one of the team's best players scored - # 10 and left-wing Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean) - the straight-playing, top-scoring, Princeton-educated team member; in the booth, announcer Jim Carr told how Braden was now the leading scorer in the Federal League with 18 goals; as Ned returned to the bench, he gave a quick look toward his tomboyish, alcoholic wife Lily (Lindsay Crouse) in the stands
• during the game, the unseen owner of the team (who was experiencing a long losing streak, disaffected fans, and declining revenues), phoned, pressured and threatened the team's stingy and cheap manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) to quickly bolster the team's chances, sell season tickets and gain revenue and publicity
• in the next sequence, it was clear what the owner had demanded - a gimmicky fashion show stunt with the players forced to participate as fashion models; backstage, player Jim Ahern (Stephen Mendillo) told his team manager about his upset: "I look like some c--k-sucking faggot in this thing...Nowhere in my contract does it say I gotta make a fool outta myself"; Joe ignored the complaint and went to find Reggie and Ned
• the team's captain Johnny Upton (Allan Nicholls) also complained to Joe that he would flash everything if he was degraded and ordered to participate:
  • "I'm gonna flash' em, Joe!....I'm gonna walk down that stinkin' aisle, I'm gonna open this faggot bathrobe and wiggle my dick at 'em!...Yes, I am Joe, and you know why? Because I want you to have a heart attack and die so that we never have to do this s--t again! You and your f--kin' fashion shows!...I'm gonna wiggle it at 'em, you cheap bastard. I'm tellin' ya. You'd better be prepared, because when I yank it out, everybody in that audience, with the exception of my wife, is gonna be runnin' for the exits"
• off-screen, Upton made good on his threat when screams of shock and disgust were heard from the female audience while McGrath was on the phone in the nearby hallway
• Carr held another talk-show interview with Ned Braden and Reggie Dunlop - contrasting them as representative of "two generations of pro hockey"; the first caller into the show criticized "old guard" and "veteran" player Dunlop as too old: "Hey, Dunlop, you old fart. Why don't you get outta the game and let some..."
• in truth, Reggie knew that his hockey career (and his working years) would soon be over, and even besides that, the team was also facing a dwindling audience with a loss of 10,000 mill-worker jobs in their dying town; after the show, Braden and Dunlop discussed their uncertain future prospects: "Every sucker for himself, I guess"; concerned, Dunlop felt that had to do something to save the team and his own livelihood; in the team office, he asked Joe: "What happens if the mill closes?" - but Joe deflected the question and reminded Reggie of his own threatened future:
  • "The golden years are behind you. One season, you'll be hanging up the blades and retiring the axe"
• penny-pinching team manager McGrath told Dunlop how he had acquired a trio of "new boys" (team recruits) from the Iron League; after Dunlop was asked to meet the new team players at the bus station, McGrath was on the phone cancelling a future order, and offering to sell team property: ("the skate sharpener, the massage table, the Jacuzzi, our bus")
• at the local station, Reggie met up with new players (who wore black-framed coke-bottle glasses) - the Hanson Bros: 18 yr. old Jeff (Jeff Carlson), 20 yr. old Steve (Steve Carlson), and 19 yr. old Jack (David Hanson); the boys were caught in the act of loudly vandalizing a Coke machine: (Steve: "F--kin' machine took my quarter...It took my quarter"); at their hotel (with paid expenses for just a week), Reggie discovered they had toy model cars in their luggage
• shortly later, Dunlop complained to McGrath that the boys were juveniles and acted in an infantile manner, and he threatened to not play with them:
  • "You cheap son of a bitch. Are you crazy? Those guys are retards!...They brought their f--kin' toys with 'em!...They're too dumb to play with themselves. Boy, every piece of garbage that comes into the market and you gotta buy it!"
• however, McGrath considered them "a good deal," and he was inspired to recall a memory from his coaching past about a rookie guy (Reggie himself) that he had molded into tip-top shape:
  • "I was coachin' in Omaha in 1948 and Eddie Shore sends me this guy that's a terrible masturbator. You know, couldn't control himself, but he would get deliberate penalties so he could get into the penalty box all by himself, and damned if he wouldn't, you know..."
• the evening before the team departed on a bus road-trip for an away game, the players, coach Reggie, the town's Times Herald newspaper reporter Dickie Dunn (M. Emmet Walsh), and Ned with his troubled wife Lily were drinking beers; in another of their frequent fights, Lily complained about living in the "dump" mill town as a hockey-wife: ("It's ridiculous for us to be here. We stick out like a couple of sore thumbs....I don't wanna have a stinkin' fight again....I just wanna get out of this goddamn dump"); he literally accepted her offer: "You take the van. I'll keep the dog" [Note: Ned was referring to his beloved St. Bernard dog Ruby]

• meanwhile, Reggie met up and briefly danced with his red dress-wearing, estranged wife Francine (Jennifer Warren) - another disgruntled 'hockey wife' who was seeking a divorce; although they were no longer living together, Reggie told her: "I think about you all the time. Nothing is ever over. If I wasn't so goddamn busy, I mean, I'd see more of ya"; she told him that his days were numbered - as a bad coach, as a losing player on a team that would soon cease to exist, and as her marital partner; when he suggested what he would do to save himself: "I'm gonna come back to you," she shocked him with a blunt statement: "Too little, too late"
• outside, Reggie watched a break-up unfolding between Ned and Lily when she ran up to Ned and handed him a book: "I underlined the f--k scenes for ya"; she ignored his instructions: "Get back in the van. You're gonna catch pneumonia"; Reggie came up to Lily and tried to encourage her to remain with Ned; the bus departed for Lancaster, PA with the Hanson Brothers joining the team; player Johnny Upton complained about the new recruits: They're f--kin' horrible-lookin'," while Reggie shifted blame onto McGrath: "Don't look at me. It's McGrath's doing....I think it's a f--kin' disgrace!"
• on the bus ride, Ned announced he was taking 5ドル bets on their ETA in Lancaster - to raise money so that he could buy and own the team: ("My ambition is to win all your contracts, own this club and run it my way. I'd make a fortune")
• in the locker room while dressing for their upcoming game on the "s--ttiest rink in the f--kin' league," Dunlop and some team members showed concern about a player on the roster for the opposing Lancaster Gears team named Oggie Oglethorpe (Ned Dowd, brother of the film's scriptwriter) ("He's a criminal element. The worst goon in hockey today"), but learned he had been suspended; while suiting up, Dunlop noticed the three brothers taping foil to their knuckles ("Putting on the foil")
• in a back office, Ned overheard McGrath on the phone bargaining for an office position - knowing ahead of time that the Chiefs would soon be disbanded: "The mill is closing, and I think next year I'd be interested in a good front-office job"; meanwhile, the players psyched themselves up for the game: ("That's what we're here for, guys. To win"), but Braden was disheartened and during the game, he told Reggie and others:
  • "We're history...McGrath's tryin' to get himself a job. F--kin' team's folding...He wasn't going to tell ya. The old f--ker was holdin' on till he could scrounge up another job. Cover up his wrinkled old ass"
• Reggie left the bench, ran to the locker room, and confronted McGrath who sheepishly admitted: "This is the last season. It'll be announced tomorrow"; later at their hotel room, some of the players made plans to be traded or find other jobs; as he left the hotel, Dunlop visited the Hansons' room and found them playing with their toy cars on a race-track
• during the road trip, Dunlop slept with Suzanne Hanrahan (Melinda Dillon), the neglected wife of opposing Long Island Ducks goalie Tommy Hanrahan (Christopher Murney); while she was lying naked in bed with him, she revealed to Reggie how she was sleeping with women; he said he didn't blame her, since men's bodies were unattractive to him: "I don't blame you though Suzanne, I mean, well see, women's bodies are beautiful. But men's bodies, see I see 'em everywhere you know, in the locker rooms, their c--ks all over the place and everything...; she persisted in telling him how she became a lesbian during her husband's frequent absences:
  • "I've been sleeping with women. Are you shocked?... Every time Hanrahan went out on the road, I would go over to this wife's house. And we would get drunk, and we would talk about how depressed and lonely we were without the guys. Every week blah, blah, blah. And one night, we were talking about how we hated the life, and how we had never done much of anything ourselves. And I don't know why really, we were like kids, we started playing with one another. We were drunk as usual. And the next week we did it sober, and it was terrific!...When Hanrahan found out about it he went crazy! He-he said if I was a dyke that made him a queer. And he started slappin me around. I ended up in the hospital.... I'm on the lam, I'm hiding out... Oh, God. I'm so sick of those games. They seem so childish"
• Dunlop expressed his frustrations about his fate if the team folded: "I don't know what I'm gonna do....It ain't easy. I don't see myself in one of those bulls--t nine-to-five jobs....Suzanne, I ain't a rookie any more"; she commiserated with him: "Here I am, a no-good hockey wife"
• to encourage further attendance and hope for the team's future, Reggie initiated a fabricated rumor by hinting to the Times Herald newspaper reporter Dickie Dunn (who was writing a tribute article on the "Chiefs Fold: A Sad Commentary") that the owner was negotiating a potential sale of the hockey team with a city in Florida: ("A senior citizen's community in a southern state that's in the market for a hockey team...Actually, it's Florida...Those poor old people down there, they gotta have something to root for")

• after promising Dickie that the Chiefs would no longer be a "fifth-rate" team if it was up to him, during a game against Hanrahan's team, Dunlop used Suzanne's sexual revelations to taunt and totally distract goalie Hanrahan about his wife's gayness: "Hanrahan - Suzanne sucks p---y! Hey, Hanrahan, she's a dyke! I know, I know! She's a lesbian, a lesbian, a lesbian!"; the tactic led Hanrahan to desert the goal and chase after him, and both teams dropped their gloves and began fighting, and Dunlop was beaten up and penalized; ultimately, the Chiefs won the game and ended a losing streak, and later in the locker room (with a cut face), he told his teammates: "I told him his wife was a dyke...His wife is a dyke!"
• Braden argued with Dunlop over the cheap trick that won the game for them: "That was wrestling s--t. They didn't have a backup goalie. It was a garbage goal....It was a garbage win," but Dunlop justified his underhanded tactic: "You gotta twist them and f--k with them"
• later while driving in town, Dunlop caught a glimpse of Lily walking across the street and followed her to a park; she was in a sour mood (due to her husband's inattention to her and a possible recent break-up?) and didn't want to talk to him, and even obscenely criticized the park's dog statue - a memorial to the animal that saved Charlestown during the 1938 flood; when he offered to take her in to his apartment, she walked off
• afterwards in the local bar with many of the team members watching a soap-opera on TV, Braden alerted them to Dunn's suspicious newspaper article about the team's possible move to a St. Petersburg, FL community; it caused excitement and hope, but one asked: "What sucker would buy the Chiefs?"; Reggie began to realize and notice that the working-class fans liked violence on the ice; he began to encourage "goon" hockey action by unleashing the menacing and ruthless Hanson Brothers trio ("Ok, guys, show us what ya got!"), which included frequently beating up and brawling with their opponents - and caused them to be ejected; however, attendance at the games began to increase and the team started winning games (four consecutive games in a row); Reggie was encouraged: "We're kickin' the s--t outta everybody. We're unbeatable"
• a booster club formed and groupie fans began to loyally follow after the team in a school-bus; at an away game in the pre-game warm-up period, a fight broke out on the ice against the opposing Peterborough Patriots team; during the playing of the National Anthem, the Peterborough Referee (Larry Block) skated up to a bloodied Steve Hanson and threatened him: "I got my eye on the three of you guys. You pull one thing, you're out of this game. I run a clean game here. I have any trouble, I'll suspend ya" - Steve shouted back that he was standing at attention until the song ended: "I'm listening to the f--kin' song!"
• the many dirty, rough-house violent tactics on the ice by the Hansons actually saved the franchise (and spread to other teammates who joined in), and they won their fifth consecutive game against the Patriots; on the bus, team member Ned Braden refused to engage in the dirty-tactics, beatings and brawls: "I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna goon it up for you"; when Reggie threatened to bench him, Ned replied: "I'll take my chances"
• on their way to play another road-trip game against the Hyannisport Presidents, the team mooned out the windows of the main team bus and the boosters (in the school-bus behind them) did the same, shocking the residents of the town

• a brawl broke out during the game after one of the Hansons was hit by an object thrown by a fan that shattered his glasses; the brothers charged up into the stands to brutally pummel him, but ended up beating up some innocent bystanders; after the game was won by the Chiefs, the Hansons were arrested by the police in their locker room; even Reggie didn't stand up for them and urged the cops: "I throw up my hands. I can't control 'em any more. They gotta be punished. Will you do me a favor and put 'em behind bars?"; as they were taken away to the station, Dunlop yelled at the brothers: "Don't admit to nothin', you guys," but then he phoned his friend Dickie Dunn to describe how his three players were victims of "trumped-up charges"; to avoid any further troubles, Braden bailed out the 'criminal folk-heroes' at 250ドル dollars each and they were released to boisterous cheers from their Boosters Club
• as a result of a loss by the Peterborough team, the Chiefs were entered into the play-offs - they had six straight wins on their road trip
• late that evening as Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" played on the soundtrack, a group of three unhappy hockey-wives, including an upset Lily, were parked in the same vehicle and awaiting the arrival of the team bus; Lily admitted to them: "I've been s--t-faced for the past week...If I'm not tight, I can't stand it"; before the bus reached town at its outskirts, Braden asked to be let out, to walk the remainder of the way home
• when Lily realized Braden wasn't on the bus, she sped out of the lot in her van; Reg jumped into the van and attempted to calm her down, and forwardly suggested: "Let's go someplace. You know the Aces?...I got a better idea. Let's die in bed"; after he called her husband a "weirdo": ("He don't run with the traffic"), she also accused Reg of being the same kind of person, but he disagreed: "Me? I'm normal" - she quipped back: "Yeah? Well, then, normal is f--ked"; he recommended that she leave Ned because he was driving her crazy ("He treats you like s--t") like his estranged wife Francine felt about him; outside his place although he invited her in, she told him: "Get out...Beat it!"
• soon after Francine (on the street in Charlestown) notified Reggie that she was planning to move away from the town's Gilda's Cut & Curl to accept another hairdresser-salon job in Long Island: ("Business here is just dead") - and reminded him: "We have to get divorced one of these days"
• in McGrath's office, Dunlop reminisced about how they got "s--t-faced" about 10 years earlier, and he had seen McGrath wearing chick's clothes (with a black bra and tassels) and dancing in front of a mirror in a zebra-skin jockstrap, and Dunlop had felt ashamed for his manager's behavior when he came onto him: ("I wanted to tell you that I forgot the whole thing. Years have passed. Now I'm sexually liberated. I don't care who's a fag no more. I mean, who cares? It's natural. It's all around us")
• during a 4 pm interview on Jim Carr's radio sports talk TV show, Dunlop further encouraged his team members with a personal 100ドル bribe or bounty for an upcoming game: "A hundred bucks of my own money for the first of my men that really nails that creep"; he urged them to assault his "chief punk" enemy - the rival player-coach Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken (Paul D'Amato) of the Syracuse Bulldogs during the 8pm War Memorial game that evening; McGrath was upset and called Dunlop to complain: "You can't put a bounty on a man's head!"; "Killer" Carlson (Jerry Houser) also called to express his interest in earning the bounty
• Dunlop was also interrupted by loud knocking on his door and the arrival of Lily who brought over her belongings and proposed to move in with him after leaving Braden - she was accompanied by their St. Bernard dog Ruby who instantly took to Reggie's bed; she promised to have developed a new attitude of taking control of her life: "I'm gonna get a grip on myself. I'm gonna start using my imagination, go with the traffic. I've been goin' about this all wrong. I probably am terrific"
• before the game in the hallway of the arena, McCracken personally confronted Dunlop: "Dunlop, you suck c--k," to which Reggie replied: "All I can get"
• a rowdy, expectant sold-out crowd in a "carnival-like atmosphere" entered the War Memorial to watch the "bounty" challenge against the Syracuse team's rival player-coach McCracken, described by announcer Carr - "McCracken - also known as Dr. Hook for his scalpel-like prowess with the stick, has been known to carve a man's eye out with a flick of the wrist"; during the game, McCracken taunted Ned who refused to play dirty with him; as the crowd booed Braden, Dunlop was also upset with him (calling him a "chicken-s--t yello-belly") and instead, he supportively sent in "Killer" Houser to fight against McCracken; Ned complained: "We win 'cuz I score goals," but Dunlop disagreed: "We win 'cuz I make 'em crazy" - and Braden was benched; Braden retaliated and punched out Dunlop when accused of not loving his wife Lily
• unable to play, Braden visited Carr in his broadcaster booth, where he spilled his guts 'over the air' about his sexual problems at home in his marriage: "I skate to get away from my wife!...We fight. She wants me to quit hockey... She also has a drinking problem, and I have no idea where she is"; he also accidentally discovered Carr's "ugly" toupee: ("Why do you wear that rug? It's just sensationally ugly")

• Dunlop drove Lily to the town's hair-salon to speak with Francine to discuss their familiar difficulties with husbands who were hockey-players; Francine encouraged Lily with her own story about leaving Reggie: "Oh, it's lousy at first. You think you're dying. But then it's fabulous. I mean, you become a new woman... Well, you know what you have to do for yourself? You have to get out there and circulate"
• on the front yard of her suburban home, Dunlop met up with the disinterested and reclusive team owner Anita McCambridge (Kathryn Walker), a wealthy, matter-of-fact widow who admitted she was amused by Dunlop's manipulation of the news-reporter in town: ("You've certainly got his number"), rumors of the team's sale, and increased attendance numbers
• however, she shocked Reggie by admitting that it would not be profitable for her to sell the team, but that she could easily make more money by folding the team and seeking a tax write-off - recommended by her accountants; Reggie was stunned: ("You mean you could sell us but you won't?"); she answered: ("I could probably sell you. But I can't"); she also claimed that she hated the increasing on-the-ice violence: ("Children imitate what they see on a TV screen. They see violence, they'll become violent"); it appeared that all of Dunlop's efforts to save the team had been for naught
• before storming out, Dunlop lashed out and personally insulted her:
  • "You are totally f--ked. You're garbage for letting us all go down the drain....You could sell us. We're hot. People go nuts for us. You could find a buyer....You know, your son looks like a fag to me. You'd better get married again, 'cause he's gonna wind up with somebody's c--k in his mouth before you can say Jack Robinson"
• afterwards, Dunlop drove over to Ned's house - and attempted to make amends, telling his best player from afar - who had fled to nearby woods - that he was no longer benched: "You don't have to fight if you don't wanna. You can do whatever you wanna do. You know, I've had it with the show business crap, too....Screw the sale. It's probably a bunch of crap anyway" - and then he leveled with Ned, admitting that they would be playing their last game that night in the championship match against the Syracuse Bulldogs, and he wanted it to be won "fair and square":
  • "The team's history, kid. There ain't no next year. I'm tits-up after this game no matter what happens. But I'll tell ya one thing. We're gonna win that f--kin' championship tonight. But we're gonna win it fair and square. I mean, uhm, old-time hockey, none of this wrestling s--t. You know? What the hell? It's my last game. I'm gonna, gonna go out with style! Play it straight! I'd like to have you there with me. (pause) Oh, uh, you know, Lily's been stayin' at my place. She's a terrific gal. We've been havin' a hell of a time"
• in the locker room before the game, Dunlop came straight and admitted to the players that he had deceived them about being sold off and moving to Florida, and how they had been used by the team's disinterested rich owner:
  • "The Chiefs are history, guys. There ain't no Florida deal....I just made that s--t up. We're deader than this stinkin' town is....I conned you guys. I just lied to you. We were never anything but a rich broad's tax write-off. It made no difference whether we won or lost....You know, we ain't hockey players. We've been clowns. We've been goons! We're the freaks in a f--kin' sideshow... Really ashamed of myself. (Ned entered the locker room) See, Ned was right. Violence is killin' this sport. It's draggin' it through the mud. If things keep up the way they are, hockey players'll be nothing but actors, punks. Well, I'm not playin' my last game that way....Yeah. It's my last game, and I wanna play it straight. No more 'Nail 'em.' No more 'F--k with 'em.' That's finished. I wanna win that championship tonight, but I wanna win it clean. Old-time hockey, like when I got started, you know?...I don't know what to say. Christ, it's up to you."

• Dunlop with the Chiefs ("the rags-to-riches, Cinderella contenders of the Federal League") had decided to follow through on a reversed non-violent strategy, and that they would now play a traditional game of "old time hockey"; however, during the announcement of the team players, it was revealed from the opposing team's roster that they had recruited "goons" to play dirty (including "Dr. Hook" McCracken and released rookie Oglethorpe) and were "real thirsty for a big, grudge-match type victory"; the game devolved into massive series of ugly and brutal fights, while the Chiefs remarkably refused to fight back, and were booed and almost destroyed by the opposing team; in the booth, Carr was stunned: "The Charlestown Chiefs are not fighting back!" and he labeled it "a fiasco" and a "bitter disappointment" for the fans
• the raging manager McGrath barged in on the bloodied and wounded team after the first period: ("We're losin'!...They're buryin' us alive!...You're blowin' it!"), and encouraged them to start brawling again - he announced that NHL scouts were watching the game and might be offering contracts for talented players:
  • "Boys. Every scout in the NHL is out there tonight with contracts in their pocket, and they're lookin' for talent, for winners! Oh! All my years of publicity. All the fashion shows and radiothons for nothin'. They come here tonight to scout the Chiefs, the toughest team in the Federal League! Not this bunch o' pussies!"

• in the second period of play, Ned was the only one who refused to commence fighting, in order to appease the eager fans; he glanced up from the bench and saw Lily in the stands (sporting a new permanent hair-do and seated next to Francine) and was inspired to perform an on-ice strip tease for her (broadcaster Carr called it "a lascivious display") to distract the crowd and players from their brawling; he lowered his uniform, as the arena's band began playing David Rose's "The Stripper"; Ned's striptease caused the players on both sides to stop fighting
• the opposing player-coach McCracken yelled out to a referee that it was "obscene," and wanted a ruling against Ned:
  • "This is a serious game, not a freak show!...Get that pervert off the ice!"
• when the referee refused, McCracken sucker-punched the official from behind - and the Syracuse team was slapped with a forfeiture penalty, culminating with the Chiefs' victory and league championship in the Federal League; Braden - wearing only his skates and a jock-strap, was handed the trophy and proceeded to skate around the area, as the team victoriously paraded after him on the ice (one female in the audience reacted: "He's gonna catch his death out there")
• after the championship game, the team was heralded as home-town heroes during a massive parade down the main street in Charlestown, but they had been disbanded as a team; during Charlestown's victory parade for the team, Lily had reconciled with Ned and rode next to him

• Reg excitedly told Francine that he had accepted a position as the player-coach of the NHL's Minnesota Nighthawks team, and hoped that his fellow hockey teammates would join him there: ("The Chiefs are history, but the minute I get up to Minnesota, I'm gonna bring my guys up there... Listen, if things don't work out, you can get in touch with me in Minneapolis...I could make a goddamn fortune"); she implied that she was leaving him for good - he watched as she drove away with her belongings in a large trailer; when asked by Lily if Francine would be joining him in Minnesota, Reg unrealistically but confidently replied: "For sure!"
• the end credits played as the parade continued