Slap Shot Original: The Man, the Foil, and the Legend

In Slap Shot Original, Dave Hanson gives readers not only a behind-the-scenes look at what life was like on the set during the filming of the classic movie, but also treats them to stories from the actors and players themselves..

 

The Hanson Brothers are back in Slap Shot 3: The Junior League, with the exclusive DVD available now.

 

Slap Shot Original

SLAP SHOT ORIGINAL: THE MAN, THE FOIL, THE LEGEND

By Dave Hanson with Ross Bernstein

Forewords by Bob Costas and Gordie Howe / Introduction by Jeff & Steve Carlson

Now, in his highly anticipated autobiography Slap Shot Original: The Man, The Foil, The Legend, Dave Hanson, who played Jack Hanson in Slap Shot, offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of an iconic movie as well a peek at the crazy world of hockey in the 1970s. Slap Shot fans will love Hanson's hilarious stories from the movie set and beyond, including:

• Paul Newman showing up unannounced at his front door to “see what a hockey player's apartment looks like.”
• Recalling everything from filming memorable scenes to pulling endless practical jokes to drinking large amounts of beer.
• How more fun was had behind the scenes than on the screen!
• A master storyteller, Hanson talking candidly about what life was like after filming Slap Shot, as he climbed the ladder into the ranks of professional hockey.

Hanson's tales in Slap Shot Original: The Man, The Foil, The Legend tell of a man chasing a dream and discovering the important things in life, while having a lot of fun doing it. And he never fails to entertain, starting with tales of growing up in a tough neighborhood and discovering hockey, which gave him a much-needed sense of direction that took him to the University of Minnesota and beyond in a quest to make it to the NHL.

Hanson finally made it to the game's top tier, playing for the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars, but his journey gave him so much more: a great family, friends, and experiences that will make his fans laugh while pulling at their heart strings.

About the authors:
Dave Hanson is best known for playing “Jack,” one of the unforgettable Hanson Brothers in the movie Slap Shot, but he also enjoyed a memorable hockey career that spanned 10 seasons and included stints with three World Hockey Association teams and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars. Today, he manages the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh, where he lives with his wife, Sue (who also appeared in Slap Shot), daughters, Erin and Sara, and son, Christian. Dave also continues to make regular promotional appearances around the country with his fellow Hanson Brothers, Steve and Jeff Carlson.

Ross Bernstein is the best-selling author of more than 40 sports books. His work has been featured on CNN and ESPN, and in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.He is also a motivational speaker, sharing the inspirational legacy of the late Herb Brooks, coach of the fabled 1980 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic “Miracle on Ice” hockey team, with corporations and groups across the country. Ross and his wife, Sara, have a five-year-old daughter and live in Eagan, Minnesota.

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Slap Shot Original Review
BOOK REVIEW: Hanson brother revives movie memories with memoir

by Paul Lane, 12/31/08, The Journal Register

The classic hockey movie “Slap Shot” remains wildly popular nationwide, but especially in hockey hotbeds like Western New York.

What locals might not know, though, is that the inspiration for one of the film’s key scenes came from the Buffalo-Niagara region.

In discussing the filming of the movie in his autobiography, “Slap Shot Original,” Dave Hanson of the Hanson brothers detailed how many of the film’s events were based on actual minor-league hockey experiences involving his team at the time, the Johnstown Jets.

The Jets were in a playoff series in 1975-76 with the Buffalo Norsemen, who played at the Tonawanda Sports Center in North Tonawanda. Fans and players in NT verbally abused an African-American Jets player throughout the game, Hanson said, tossing nearly every racial epithet that could be thought of at him.

Looking to defend their teammate, Hanson and another Jets player hatched a plot to retaliate against one particularly verbose Norsemen player during the pregame warm-ups before the next game, which took place in Johnstown. So they jumped the player as he warmed up before the game, launching a brawl and prompting the Norsemen to forfeit the series after they refused to play the game.

That scene, of course, played out in “Slap Shot” as the Hanson brothers of the fictional Charlestown Chiefs initiated a brawl prior to a game in the movie, prompting one of the funnier lines of the film after the referee warned the Hansons to behave as the national anthem played behind them (the line can’t be repeated here).

Such recollections are what make “Slap Shot Original” worth reading. With the help of veteran writer Ross Bernstein, Hanson shares many of the behind-the-scenes stories of the movie’s filming — a lot of which, for some reason, involved male nudity — and the real-life hockey careers of Hanson and his “brothers.”

A native of Wisconsin who grew up in Minnesota, Hanson bounced around the minor leagues for several years, frequently crossing paths with the Carlson brothers, Jack, Jeff and Steve. As Johnstown teammate Ned Dowd spent a year recording the team’s actions for his screenwriter sister, it became apparent that Hanson and the Carlsons had to play a part in Nancy Dowd’s project.

After securing star Paul Newman for her R-rated comedy, the Carlsons were recruited to pretty much be themselves. Jack got called up to the majors, though, so Hanson took his place and filled out the bespectacled, long-haired trio.

The players-turned-actors often ignored the script, Hanson wrote, instead simply acting how they thought hockey players should act in those situations. Rather than become annoyed, the director loved the improvisation and allowed the trio carte blanche to fill in gaps as needed.

Hanson’s book is filled with anecdotes about the film, including recollections from hockey greats such as former coach Barry Melrose and several people at the NHL managerial level. Whether you have always wanted to know that Hanson first met Newman in his briefs (after being awoken from a nap in his apartment) or are simply a fan of the movie, this material won’t fail to entertain.

Hanson also delves into the rest of his life, which isn’t the primary sell but is more interesting than one might think. After the film was released, he and the Carlsons turned down a seven-year movie deal to pursue their hockey careers. Hanson appeared in a handful of NHL games, scoring one goal in the big leagues, before hanging up his skates to focus on raising his family and eventually making appearances nationwide in his film persona.

The writing in this book isn’t very griping or humorous, but it doesn’t need to be because the source material is fantastic by itself. All the book has to be is written well enough to deliver the message, which it definitely is.

Even hockey fans who haven’t seen the film — if there are any — will find “Slap Shot Original” interesting, but anyone who’s seen the movie will find the book an excellent complement to perhaps the greatest sports movie ever made.

Holiday sports book review: Slap Shot Original

by Tom Yelle, 12/9/08, Sportsweek

It’s hard to believe more than 30 years have passed when the movie “Slap Shot” was released.

Since then, and since the first time I was able to view it in the setting of a downtown Minneapolis movie theatre — the old Skyway — it seems like it has never aged. Furthermore, as a hockey movie, it became mainstream and one which provided some of the most-quoted lines used in everyday sports life.

“...Get the foil.”

Making this all possible was the general story line depicting minor league hockey in the 1970s. What put this movie over the top, however, were the antics of the zany Hanson brothers.

With their goofy looking glasses and their yuk-it-up, beat-em-up behaviors on- and off-ice, the Hanson brothers were embraced as folk heroes by people in all walks of life: high-level movie stars, race car drivers, politicians and though they might not readily admit it, members of the clergy.

With that said, the recently released book “Slap Shot Original” authored by one of the Hanson brothers, Dave “Killer” Hanson and co-written by famed Minnesota hockey author Ross Bernstein, is definitely a complement to the movie.

For those who want to know more about the original “Slap Shot” movie starring the late Paul Newman, it can be found in the first half of this book published by Triumph Books.

If you thought the movie was off the wall, then when it is revealed through Dave Hanson’s words what went on behind the scenes, you will be left shaking your head and muttering “Whoa!”

Indeed, the Hanson brothers were the spotlight characters of the movie because of what they did. It was no different on the movie scene in Johnstown, Penn. What transpired between shots — behind the back of director George Roy Hill — was nothing short of outrageous. And Newman seeing how much fun this work had become, was right in there stirring the pot with the Hansons. When you get to the 33-page Chapter 7 of the book, “Slap Shot reflections,” (a chapter that can be skipped until after the entire story is read), you are left wondering who could have come up with this story line.

That was easily explained: it is based on true happenings and the life in 1970s minor league hockey experienced by Dave Hanson. The fact is, this movie came about because one of Hanson’s teammates — in moments of craziness — used to take a tape recorder in and around the dressing room to conduct goofy interviews with  teammates.

Some of these tapes were heard by this player’s sister (Nancy Dowd), who was connected with Hollywood and she was so entertained that she pitched it as a potential screen play and movie idea.

The rest was history.

But that is only part of the book and Hanson’s story.

Once past Chapter 7 — if you skip or choose to read all the reflections from various celebrities or cast members, you get a real taste of Dave “Killer” Hanson’s life in professional hockey. You understand his desire, his duties as a tough guy in a tough sport and his dreams. You are invited into the unglamorous word of minor league hockey, the ups and downs, the travel from here to there, from Johnston to Birmingham and point between and from promised land — the National Hockey League — to the land of broken promises only because money won out or someone’s ego intervened.

Through it all Hanson survived, raised a family and got a couple of opportunities in the NHL with the Red Wings and North Stars. And because he had been one of the Hanson brothers in the movie, he always had and still possesses celebrity status where ever he travels.

In more ways than one, it is a fabulous hard cover book affording the reader 256 pages of life insight that sells for $24.95. And it can be read quickly, though as your mind wanders back to the original movie and to the 1970s when minor league hockey was as much about fighting and filling seats as it was moving the puck, you find yourself desiring more...