"If you can play Hockey, you can do anything".
Once known as being riddled with racism and exclusiveness, Ice Hockey over the years has made some positive steps towards being a more diverse and inclusive sport.
Since the late 70's, Neil Henderson, the program Founder and Head Coach of Washington DC's Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, also known as the Cannons (America's oldest minority oriented Hockey club) has shown that if you give a kid - no matter what race, ethnicity or gender - a stick, a puck, some equipment, ice time and a chance, they can become hockey players.
Even more importantly, they can become better people.
THE CANNONS is a 2021 documentary film directed and written by Steven Hoffner and co-directed/ co-written by A. J. Messier; executive produced by Robert Ford (The Cost of Winning) and actor Robert Walker-Branchaud (Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, The Walking Dead), with former NHL goaltender and current ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes, serving as associate producer, as well as 2015's black hockey documentary, "SOUL ON ICE: Past, Present & Future" creator, writer & director, Kwame Damon Mason. Mason is also the creator & lead voice of the SOUL ON ICE podcast, as well.
Throughout THE CANNONS, we are given an in-depth journey & harrowing storytelling of this legendary coach, from his time as a talented youth player growing up in the era of segregation, to his time in the military, to his time when he even coached an all white hockey team in Utah. Later, we are witness to his induction into the US hockey Hall of Fame, the first African-American bestowed such an honor.
After many years, Henderson maintains a deeply committed relationship with his wife, which the film documents, as they both deal with the happiness, as well as the trying times in each of their everyday lives.
We are also introduced to two of Coach Neil's senior players, Robert and Rayvon, and are given a glimpse into their everyday lives as they both pursue not only their hockey dreams, but also their commitment to family, friendship, school and aspirations of college and careers.
Although none of his former players have reached the NHL, Henderson is responsible for producing a generation of black hockey players and fans in the Washington DC area, and beyond. He also helped launch a generation of at risk & economically disadvantaged kids - both boys & girls, black & non-black - on the path to the right course in their lives, including multiple high school and college graduates, ice hockey professional players and coaches, and even a Navy captain. The last mentioned, being Ralph Featherstone. Featherstone, a Lieutenant Colonel and US Marine aviator, came up through the ranks through Henderson's Fort Dupont program and later went on to become the first black captain of the United States Naval Academy's hockey team.
Featherstone is also featured in THE CANNONS, as he returns to the DC area to help Henderson out with coaching, and is faced with a harrowing life-changing decision throughout the film (no spoilers).
The CANNONS is much more than a Documentary film and not simply a "HOOP DREAMS" on ice, and, definitely far from being a Hollywood cliché like hockey version of "THE BLIND SIDE".
It is raw, joyful, inspirational, insightful, thoughtful, emotionally charged, and truthful, while not being preachy.
This gripping film will get you pulled in from the start and you'll be riveted to want more, even as the credits roll, while former players reflect on Coach Neal Henderson's impact on the hockey community & their lives.
I dare anyone proclaim THE CANNONS to be just another sports movie.
Because it is not.
It is a human experience one.
Reviewed by: Tracy A. Smith
(aka @nhlblak58 on INSTAGRAM)
