Growing up in Canada the importance of hockey has been drilled into my head from a young age. The sacrifice of waking up early to hit the rink, the run to the Stanley Cup by your favourite NHL team, and how it was almost a pre-requisite that you learnt to skate not long after you could walk. Despite being a sport that's been unable to work its way into the American conscious there's been two highly entertaining hockey-based films to the tune of the Paul Newman starring Slap Shot and the always guilty pleasure of 1986's Youngblood (with a young Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and then unknown Keanu Reeves) which makes the appearance of this Canadian-shot mockumentary all the more disappointing when you consider the makers, who are supposed to have soaked in the sport since birth, seem to have absolutely no idea how to make the game exciting and are constantly propping up their jokes with a plethora of raunchy humour.

The Puck Hogs tells the story of filmmaker Gyan (Sanjay Talwar) who has decided to follow around and film the exploits of the title recreational hockey team after they decide to get back together for one last hurrah and make a run for the coveted Kinsmen Cup before they fade away into obscurity. There's your typical batch of characters from the down-to-earth team leader, to the two brothers who are always fighting, to the Russian goaltender with a temper. They're clichés that have been done before (and better) in other sports comedies and the added aspect of trying to make this resemble a documentary can't hide that fact.

Basically, for 90 minutes or so, we have to keep the company of a bunch of characters who are forgettable at best as they get up to various locker room shenanigans (including the flick's only real amusing moment where they find a dead rat in one of the guys equipment bags), play some extremely slow paced hockey, constantly get drunk at the local strip club, and head towards the championship game. Scripter Eric Lunsky also throws in some passable attempts at various love interests when he's not busy having people chewing on urinal discs. There's also a liberal dose of Canadiana throughout that made this feel like a lower-budget riff on the popular television series "Trailer Park Boys".

Ever since seeing The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (yes, I didn't even start with the original!) as a youngster I've always had a soft spot for sport comedies where a group of sad sacks are able to rally together and win against the odds all the while learning a valuable lesson. It's something we can all relate to in one way or another and we can root for our team of "losers" to pull it off. I can't say I ever cheered for the guys in The Puck Hogs. In fact, I mostly just wanted them to go away. With the exception of Daniel Kash as the short-tempered Russian goalie Sergei nobody here makes any sort of impression on you. You just don't care if they win.

That's a big problem with this type of flick: not caring. Pair that with the shoddy so-called "action" sequences that makes a fast-paced sport as sluggish as possible and there's no reason to bother with this. Slap Shot did it infinitely better - and so did its bland direct-to-DVD sequels for that matter. (Chris Hartley, 5/16/11)

Directed By: Warren P. Sonoda.
Written By: Eric Lunsky.

Starring: Jeff Geddis, Joe Dinicol, Jason Weinberg, Colin Mochrie.