Released in its native Canada in 1973, this film had a tryout run in Minnesota in 1974 (due to its hockey theme) where it flopped before being released in January 1975 to a small Manhattan theater where it garnered very good reviews.

One of the few Continental vhs slip covers I own -most were of the big box variety.

Trivia: Keir Dullea starred in another Canadian film that had a similar tough time at the U.S. boxoffice until it was rereleased under a different title. This film was so intemnse that NBC was foreced to cancel its network television showing. It started a whole new subgenre. Name the film? What subgenre did it start? Name its alternate theatrical rerelease title and its television title? The director went on to direct a classic childrens film with the same theme as this film, and shared one word of the title. What is that family classic?