The film chronicles the journey of the 1980 US Olympic Mens ice hockey team. Then University of Minnesota head coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) interviews with the United States Olympic Committee, discussing his philosophy on how to beat the Soviet team, calling for changes to the practice schedule and strategy.
Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a Canadian-born firefighter with the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau who suffered a personal crisis after he was unable to save a young girl from a house fire. Now removed from active duty, Darren is the fire marshal for the Civic Arena.
Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is a successful Minneapolis defense attorney of the Ducksworth, Saver & Gross firm, who never loses a case but whose truculent courtroom antics have earned him no respect among his peers. After successfully defending a client resulting in his 30th win, Bombay is called into his boss's office to be congratulated, but also chastised for embarrassing the judge. Regardless, he celebrates by going out drinking and is subsequently arrested for drunken driving. Bombay is sentenced to community service by coaching the local "District 5" PeeWee hockey team. Bombay has a history with the sport, although his memories are far from pleasant: Years ago, Bombay was the star player on the Hawks, but he missed a penalty shot in the championship game, costing his team the title for the first time and disappointing his hyper-competitive coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith).
Former peewee ice hockey coach Gordon Bombay is a star in the minor leagues and is expected to make it to the National Hockey League soon. However, after a career-ending knee injury, he returns to Minneapolis. Bombay is then offered a chance to coach a team representing the United States in the Junior Goodwill Games. Team USA consists of many of the old Ducks, in addition to five new players with special talents.
Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) is an aspiring ice hockey player who possesses a powerful and dangerous slapshot that his late father (Louis O'Donoghue) taught him as a child (Donnie MacMillan). However, Happy also possesses an over aggressive streak and lack of skating talent that consistently preclude him from joining a hockey team. His girlfriend Terry (Nancy McClure), a schoolteacher, leaves him because of his hockey obsession.
The film begins in a little Indian village, where we are introduced to Guru Pitka talking into his recorder which allows him to sound like a man, a woman, or Morgan Freeman. He is the #2 Guru in the world, next to Deepak Chopra. A flashback shows us that Pitka is an orphan of missionaries in India. Both Pitka and Chopra were taught by Guru Tugginmypudha. Pitka says he wants to become a Guru so that girls will love him, so Tugginmypudha puts a chastity belt on him until he can learn that loving himself is more important than being loved by others.
Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is the aging player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey team in the fictional Federal League. A perennial loser for years, the team's manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) has resorted to extreme cost-cutting techniques and embarrassing promotional antics to keep local interest alive. Dunlop, while not particularly talented as either a player or coach, is a skilled con man, and regularly manipulates the team to his own advantage. During a hopeless season, the Chiefs pick up the Hanson Brothers, bespectacled violent goons with childlike mentalities, complete with toys in their luggage. Horrified at being given players who seem stupid, immature, and unreliable, Dunlop initially chooses not to play them.
Kate Moseley is a world-class figure skater representing the United States in the pairs event at the 1988 Winter Olympics. She has genuine talent, but years of being spoiled by her wealthy father Jack have made her all but impossible to work with.
The film opens as the Ducks are being awarded junior varsity hockey scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, a prestigious prep school that coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) attended. Bombay announces that he will be leaving his position as coach to take a job with the Junior Goodwill Games, much to Charlie's dismay. Bombay's spot is filled by former Minnesota North Stars player Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling). Initially the Ducks clash with Orion's disciplinary coaching tactics and his focus on defense over scoring. Orion abandons several Duck traditions and strips Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson) of his Captain's 'C', stating that the tricks and tactics the team used in the Pee Wee league won't work at this level. He is proven right when, in their first game of the season, the Ducks take an embarrassing tie after losing a 9-goal lead. Orion is livid, but makes a valid point (about hockey and life) when he states that the Ducks won't be able to dominate every game and have to learn how to play "two-way hockey," not choking when the game isn't going their way. Charlie's only consolation is meeting Linda (Margot Finley), a young student petitioning to change the school's team name (The Warriors) as it perpetuates an offensive Native American stereotype. Though she initially writes him off as a mindless jock, the two start to hit it off.
Le jeune hockeyeur Dean Youngblood découvre le hockey sur glace de haut niveau dans l'antichambre de la Ligue nationale de hockey. Dean Youngblood a 17 ans et quand il est sur des patins à glace, il ne craint personne. Bien décidé à intégrer la ligue Nationale de Hockey, il rejoint l'équipe canadienne des Mustangs de Hamilton, persuadé que son adresse sur une patinoire lui vaudra l'admiration des foules. Mais Dean découvre rapidement que la vitesse et l'agilité de son jeu ne font pas le poids face à l'énergie et la hargne de l'équipe des Bombers de Thunder Bay. Grâce aux conseils de Derek Sutton le capitaine des Mustangs, Dean va apprendre que la vitesse ne suffit pas et qu'être le meilleur a un prix.
When a body is found hanging on top of the sign demarcating the Ontario-Quebec border, police officers from both Canadian provinces must join forces to solve the murder. David Bouchard (Patrick Huard) is a rule-bending, francophone detective for the Sûreté du Québec, while Martin Ward (Colm Feore) is a by-the-book anglophone Ontario Provincial Police detective. The bilingual detectives must resolve their professional and cultural differences as well as their bigotry and prejudices.
The plot revolves around the players on a hockey team ("Les Boys") that play in a low level amateur hockey league. They are made up of a wide variety of professions and personalities, including a police officer, a barely competent doctor, a mechanic, an unemployed hockey trivia buff who has lost his confidence as a goaltender, a shifty real estate salesman and a closeted gay lawyer. The team is sponsored by a pub owner, whose son desperately wants to play hockey with the older men. The film starts at the time of the league championship, at which time the team is soundly thrashed in the final.
The movie is about a fictional small town in Alaska named Mystery, where hockey is the cohesive activity that unites the town. The "Saturday Game" is a weekly event of amateur four-on-four pond hockey played on the open ice of the town's frozen lake. The team consists of ten local townsmen of varying ages and occupations with two goalies and eight skaters publicly scrimmaging each other every Saturday. As there are only ten spots on the team, in order to make room on the roster for the younger up-and-coming town players an older more senior member of the team must be kicked off the team. After an article describing the town and its players appears in Sports Illustrated, a nationally televised exhibition game is scheduled between the NHL's New York Rangers and the hometown favorites in Mystery, Alaska.