As a filmmaker, Powell River’s Brett Harvey took on one of the most challenging subjects in Canada: the use of enforcers in hockey.
Hockey is a religion to most Canadians and whether you are a viewer or a player of the game, you most likely grew up with it from childhood on. In his film, Ice Guardians, Harvey tackled issues surrounding the “Enforcers” of the game and was successful in dissecting and making sense out of a very complex subject.
Enforcers in today's NHL are comparable to the gladiators of the past. The driving theme is that for most enforcers the only way they could make it to the NHL was to fight and once they achieved a modicum of success they could never go back to just playing the game without the fight.
Harvey is successful at weaving in the violence that comes with the fighting and the blood together with the human condition of the enforcer: their fears, their challenges, their injuries, their adrenaline rushes, their nerves and their respect for the honour code of fair fighting.
Harvey breaks down the issue of why fighting is still a big part of the game. The audience cheering on the blood sport takes some responsibility. However, the overriding theme Harvey works away at is the need to protect the greats of the sport. Would Wayne Gretzky be the player he was without Marty McSorley? Could he handle the physical toll the game puts on the players if the enforcer did not protect him?
Obvious comparisons with other world sports like football, soccer and baseball, where fighting is not part of the game, is dealt with, and the overriding reason for the difference is that the speed in hockey, along with carrying a weapon (the hockey stick), was largely to blame. Concussions were examined in the film and the assumption that the fighting engaged by the enforcers caused most of the concussions was disproven.
Technically speaking, the film is excellent. Harvey has amassed a wonderful collection of interviews with enforcers, doctors and media personalities, and weaves their stories with historical footage from past NHL games. Kudos for the editing of the picture.
As a viewer, Harvey took us on a ride looking at many of the aspects of fighting in the NHL, the causes and effects. But most compelling was how the movie blossomed into stories about enforcers and their human emotions and conditions. Harvey revealed something new and made them real. For this reason I have given the film four out of five tugboats.
Ice Guardians is available on Netflix Canada.
Stephen J. Miller is a producer and creative writer in feature films and television, and owner of repertoire movie theatres.
