“Puttin’ on the Foil” During Special Screening & Themed Game at PPL Center
January 26, 2023
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are going to capture the spirit of the thing but won’t be getting any of that stinkin’ root beer when they host Slap Shot Weekend on March 3-4 at PPL Center.
On Friday, March 3, all current and new Phantoms Premier Members are invited to “put on the foil” and attend an exclusive screening at PPL Center of the iconic 1977 classic, that has been edited for the intended audience, with live commentary and a once-in-a-lifetime Q&A with Dave Hanson, who played one of the three legendary Hanson Brothers in the film. It’s an amazing opportunity, that has not been offered before, to ask Dave about his experience in the film in which Paul Newman starred as coach and captain Reggie Dunlop of the Charlestown Chiefs.
Dave Hanson is going to “Let ’em know you’re there” when he’s in attendance at the Phantoms home game the following evening on Saturday, March 4, which is sure to feature plenty of “Old Time Hockey…just like Eddie Shore!” Hanson will meet with Phantoms fans and drop the ceremonial first puck in a night filled with clips from the immensely quotable movie that is a favorite of hockey fans everywhere. We’ll be makin’ it look mean and will also make sure the machine doesn’t take his quarter!
Hooray for the Charlestown Chiefs…Champions of the Federal League!!! It’s Slap Shot Weekend at PPL Center March 3-4!
Set in the fictitious town of Charlestown, Pennsylvania, the cult classic Slap Shot was wacky, rude, incredible and irreverent in its portrayal of minor league hockey in the 1970s. The film also included scenes in two arenas where the Phantoms travel each season at Utica and Syracuse. In a fun coincidence, the Slap Shot screening at PPL Center on Friday, March 3 comes on the same night in which the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have an away game at the Syracuse Crunch in the same arena that included a scene with a brawl in the stands as well as the famous line, “The peanut vendors are standing up to them!”
Dave Hanson was a player with the Johnstown Jets of the old North American Hockey League when he was cast in the film along with Steve and Jeff Carlson as the hilarious Hanson brothers. Hanson’s impressive playing career included 33 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars. He racked up a massive 2,360 penalty minutes via stops in Birmingham of the WHA and Oklahoma City and Indianapolis of the CHL. He also played 184 games in the very same league in which the Phantoms play now with American Hockey League stints on the Adirondack Red Wings, Hampton Gulls and Rhode Island Reds.
Hanson finished fifth in the AHL with 267 penalty minutes in 1980-81 while playing for the Adirondack Red Wings where he won the Calder Cup in a best-of-seven series against the Maine Mariners while understandably being one of the most popular players on the team. He even stayed in the American Hockey League following his playing career when he thrived as general manager of the Albany River Rats following a stint in the same role with the Capital District Islanders.
