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Women’s hockey stories Netflix should option

Five stories we think should become feature films.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced they’re making a feature film about the 1999 US Women’s Soccer team and their World Cup win. The film will be based off Jere Longman’s book “The Girls of Summer: The US Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed The World.”

That got us thinking about women’s hockey stories should Netflix pick up for their next feature film. Here’s some ideas and, Netflix execs, we’ll take our check when you’re ready.

Be Bold For Change boycott of USA Hockey in 2017

This was the most obvious pick. It could stick to just those few weeks leading up to the World Championship, tying it all together by winning the gold in Plymouth, Michigan. Or it could keep going all the way through winning the first Olympic gold medal in 20 years in PyeongChang.

The Unified Korea team at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang

If they need a book to base it, Seth Berkman’s book “A Team of Their Own” is all about this team. Just to recap the general story: the South Korea national team had been training for literal years leading up to hosting the Olympics in February 2018. Just weeks before their first game, it was announced North Korean athletes would join the team. There’s so much to this story that a movie might run long, but really this also just means you should probably read Berkman’s book.

Sweden winning silver at the 2006 Olympics

We’ll keep going on the Olympic theme here. The setting is Turin, Italy and its the third time women’s hockey is in the Olympics. The US and Canada hold the two previous Olympic gold medals and are favorites to meet in the Gold Medal Game again. But then in come Sweden in the semifinals, beating the US in a shootout to move onto the Gold Medal Game against Canada. It was the first time Sweden had ever beat the US. As we all know, Canada won that game, but Sweden’s story would make for a great movie!

This also sparked the discussion of who should play head coach Peter Elander. The resounding idea: Stellan Skarsgård.

Riikka Sallinen’s life story

Some fun facts about the Finnish player as to why her life story should be a movie:

  • She retired for in 2003 before deciding in 2013 she wanted to keep playing, and did so at the highest level. She won her second Olympic bronze medal in her second go-around where she was in the top 10 of scoring.
  • She won her first Olympic bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics. Sallinen was the leading scorer in those games.
  • Other accolades include five SM-Sarja (now Naisten Liiga) titles, three European championships, one silver medal and six bronze medals from the World Championships, and an induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame. She is also one of two women in the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.
  • The Naisten Liiga’s most valuable player award is named after her. /

Making the case that Riikka Sallinen is the GOAT

Manon Rhéaume life story

In 1992, goaltender Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play in the NHL when she played one period in net for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason exhibition game. Her other accolades includes an Olympic silver medal in 1998, two World Championship gold medals, and numerous “first women to play in x league” spots in record books.

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