Sticks and pucks hit big screen

Over the past couple of weeks I have been discussing sports and movies including boxing, football, baseball and basketball.
When I mentioned hockey movies - my newsroom friends joked asking there have been five hockey movies?
How many knew that John Wayne (Idol of the Crowd - 1937) and Rita Hayworth (The Game That Kills - 1937) were in hockey movies?
Before I list my top five hockey movies - here are a few honorable mention choices:
Rhino Brothers, Goon, Broad Street Bullies, Net Worth and Mystery, Alaska.

5. Sudden Death (1995)
At first thought, many would not put this movie in the hockey list but it did include Game Seven of the Stanley Cup so that counts.
Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a Canadian-born firefighter who serves as the fire marshal for the Civic Arena.
While attending Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks with his daughter and son, he discovers a crime operation occurring in the arena.

4. The Mighty Ducks (1992)
The basic story -- outcast coach (Emilio Estevez) handles a team of outcast kids and turns them from losers into winners.
This led the way to two more movies to complete the trilogy (1994 and 1996).

3. Youngblood (1986) Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze in a movie together makes for a talented duo.
A skilled young hockey prospect hoping to attract the attention of professional scouts is pressured to show that he can fight if challenged during his stay in a Canadian minor hockey town.

2. Slap Shot (1977)
Slap Shot starred Paul Newman with a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town.
Reggie Dunlop (Newman) is the aging player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey team in the fictional Federal League that resorts to provoking fights at games to secure goals.
Attendance increases as the season goes on the Chiefs win the Federal League title by forfeit when a referee is punched.

1. Miracle (2004)
Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad.
After taking a late 4-3 lead, the US team goes into a defensive mode, as the Soviet team becomes increasingly aggressive to score in the final ten minutes.
The clock ticks down the final few seconds, in which commentator Al Michaels says his now-famous words, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Two days later, the team would defeat Finland to win the gold medal.
The movie ends with Brooks staring out over his team with pride as it crowds together on the gold medal platform.

UP NEXT: The top five track and field movies.