Power Play

Power Play is a one-hour series that takes a behind-the-scenes look into the dynamic and exciting world of professional hockey. The series follows the Hamilton Steelheads hockey club, and focuses on the lives of the players, coaches, agents and ownership. The series stars Michael Riley, Kari Matchett, and Gordon Pinsent. Riley plays Brett Parker, a jaded, big-time, big-mouthed New York sports agent who unwillingly returns to his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario to take over the management of the local team of down-on-their-luck hockey players. Parker's return to Hamilton finds him mending ties with his estranged 17 year-old daughter, developing a suprising romantic interest in his workplace adversary Colleen Blessed (Matchett) and perhaps even more suprising, a growing loyalty and commitment to the team - setting the stage for, as Riley says, "this guy's slow and reluctant journey to redemption". This funny and touching drama is now in its second season on CTV and is also now being aired on UPN.

I am a fan of both hockey and of Gordon Pinsent. What a treat to have seen them come together so successfully! Pinsent is blessed with hilarious dialogue, which he delivers with ease and brilliance. I hope they use him more. Dean McDermott is wonderful, too. Good writing, good cast, good show. I was fortunate enough to see a couple of episodes on a recent trip to Ontario, and was greatly disappointed to discover I wouldn't be able to see it upon my return to the U.S. This country is missing out on some top quality programming by not covering Canadian broadcasting.

I thought this show was really boring and the comedy was not up to snuff.

I remember it well because at the time I was dating a girl who really enjoyed the show or maybe she just pretended she did for the sake of her friend, a girl who was in the show who I remember and see in the cast list but will not name her because I don't want to single her out in my review.... mostly because my review is definitely not going to be a good one, and even though I met her a long time ago she seemed nice and actually seems like she is actually a talented performer who I'm sure has done much better work on much better shows since this one. I'm assuming.

The acting on this show was not very good, the stories and plot lines were terrible. The comedy they do on the show is not funny at all and again is totally predictable, what is the point of doing jokes that are so obvious that everyone watching has already thought of them anyway?

This show is better than MVP, another Canadian hockey series that was on CBC a few years later, but that's not saying much since MVP was awful.

This was an average show. I think it maybe could have gotten better if it stayed on for another season. The acting was fine. Most of the problem was in an obvious lack of money (like in most Canadian TV) where they just seemed to go with cheap everything and cheap stories. Oh well.

As the title says, Power Play has succeeded where many others have tried and failed -- they have made a movie/tv show centering on hockey that isn't crap. The only other production to ever achieve this was a 1994 CBC movie called Net Worth. With strong performances by all the leads, especially by the under-used Dean McDermott as the captain of the Hamilton Steelehads who is very convincing in his role as the soft-spoken jock. Gordon Pinsent is a pure delight to watch, and if you're able to follow all of his fast-spoken, half-muttered dialogue I'm sure you'll laugh as hard as I did. Overall, I'd have to say this power play lived up to it's name, because Alliance-Atlantis seem to have scored their first winner since merging.