By Thomas Kearey

Read NHL.com's review!

The list of great hockey movies is a short one. But now there’s a new title, “In the Crease,” (InTheCreaseMovie.com) to add to the collection, and it has the hockey world buzzing about how it’s the best in years. It also boasts Devils forward Brian Rolston among its stars.

The action-packed and inspiring real life story of a teenage hockey team’s quest to win a national championship, this 90-minute film also features 15 NHL stars including Rolston sharing their own early hockey experiences and triumphs. “In the Crease” premiered on VERSUS and has topped the rankings as the #1 Bestselling Sports DVD in the country.

“We really wanted to do for hockey what Friday Night Lights did for football and Hoosiers did for basketball,” said producer Matt Gannon, who has previously made Oscar nominated films and grew up playing hockey himself in the New Jersey area. “And that’s tell a great sports story about a team overcoming adversity and riding the high of big wins and the heartbreak of tough losses.”

Fans and young players also get to hear a lot from some of their favorite NHL stars, and it’s a more personal side we don’t normally hear about. For Rolston, it meant sharing how he grew up playing hockey in Michigan and how much hockey has meant to him and his family. He also talks about passing the game on to his own kids and how his boys are already in love with the sport at a young age.

For “In the Crease,” Gannon and co-director Michael Sarner filmed the elite, California Wave Bantam AAA travel team as it trained for the USA Hockey National Championship and culled the movie from over 180 hours of footage spent with the team on the ice, in locker rooms and at players’ homes, as well as from interviews with coaches and scouts. They also spent weeks crisscrossing the country to speak with NHL players like Rolston to get the pros perspective and add a fantastic extra dimension to the story.     

“This is a film that gives a true inside look at the hockey experience. Players, coaches and families around the world can relate to it, and hockey fans get to see some of the best young talent in the game and what really goes on behind the scenes, “ said Sarner. The Wave team draws some of the top players from across Southern California and has sent several to the NCAA Division I and WHL ranks, as well as to the US National Team.

Despite the team’s recent success, it’s still an underdog story. “These are beach kids who walk into an ice rink in flip flops, strap on their equipment and play against some of the best young teams in the country with much more impressive histories like the New Jersey Jr. Devils and New Jersey Rockets,” said Gannon. Both the Jr. Devils and the Rockets appear prominently in the film at Nationals as well. “But, in the end, it’s not just the Wave’s story we’re telling, it’s every team’s story of what it takes to become champions.”

Gannon believes the film also shows how “NHL players like Brian Rolston are just the coolest, most down to earth professional athletes in the world.” 

“Brian was unbelievably generous with his time, “ said Gannon.

You can view the trailer and buy the DVD at InTheCreaseMovie.com. Devils fans get an extra $5 off by entering discount code HOCKEY07!