ODD MAN RUSH

By Tab Bamford, The Fourth Period

Growing up in Central Park, he fell in love with the Rangers and wanted more than anything to play for them one day. He was good enough to play junior and eventually played at Harvard for a couple seasons until a back injury took him off the ice. Bill Keenan continued chasing his dream – but that dream took him overseas to Sweden to continue his on-ice education.

Along the way, he started writing. It started as emails to his teammates in college recapping their most recent game; they were often humorous takes on what happened on the bench or in the room more than a specific description of the action on the ice. But Keenan enjoyed putting words together, and the reaction he got from his teammates.

While in Europe, Keenan would send similar emails to his parents and friends. His experiences weren’t special or unique at the time to him, but sharing them helped him unpack his life in a way that others could relate.

The hockey gods didn’t work in his favor, however. So, eventually, Keenan came back to New York and got an internship in finance.

Keenan was miserable. He pointed to a quote TV show runner by David E. Kelley from a college commencement speech as his motivation: “The only thing worse than a job you hate is a job you can tolerate.”

Keenan decided his stories tied together into a story that transcended the rink. Life lessons from the ice about chasing dreams and the circumstances along the way that build character as much (or more) than creating a star player.

A self-proclaimed Cliff Notes and movie guy who didn’t like writing became an author. Keenan’s stories came together in the book, “Odd Man Rush: A Harvard Kid’s Hockey Odyssey from Central Park to Somewhere in Sweden – with Stops Along the Way.”

Keenan then started another journey – finding a publisher. After 500 emails to publishers and almost as many rejections (many of which were simply non-replies), Keenan found an agent in Toronto who bought his vision. In 2016, with one of his heroes – Adam Graves – writing the foreword, the book hit shelves.

As he started his internship with a bank, an off-the-cuff comment from a coworker opened Keenan’s brain to a new idea.

While discussing the book, a young woman asked who would play Keenan in the movie.

A movie? You have to be kidding.

But the rush of writing a book was still there and Keenan started his next project. Translating the book into a script with no formal training wasn’t an easy chore, but Keenan was passionate about seeing his story in another medium.

He finished the script in a Microsoft Word document and started trying to figure out how he would get a movie made. Who better to work with on a hockey movie than Howard and Karen Baldwin?

Howard Baldwin has a long love affair with hockey. The original owner of New England Whalers, he retained ownership of the franchise when they became the Hartford Whalers and joined the NHL. He later owned a stake in the Minnesota North Stars and, more prominently, the Pittsburgh Penguins. While the owner of the Penguins, Baldwin invested in the Red Army Team in Russia; that story is the focus of a new documentary titled “Red Penguins,” which we recently highlighted here at The Fourth Period. In 2010, Baldwin was inducted into the WHA Hall of Fame.

He has another passion: filmmaking. The CEO of Baldwin Entertainment Group, he has worked with the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Bacon, Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley and Gerard Butler. Their films have grossed tens of millions of dollars at the box office and received critical acclaim.

Keenan tried to send his would-be script to a number of hypothetical emails that might belong to Howard Baldwin. One landed in the right spot. And he got a reply.

“The most important part of the book to us was a clear sense of a young man that had many options but loved and had the passion to try to play in the National Hockey League and to try to be a professional hockey player,” Howard Baldwin said. “Both Karen and I always advocate that if you have a passion for something, give it a shot. That doesn’t mean you will succeed, but it does mean you won’t be able to look back and wonder ‘What if?’ This young man went out and tried it.”

From there the journey to becoming a film had as many serendipitous turns as his hockey career had lacked.

“The Baldwins are relentless,” Keenan said. “They accepted my naivete and helped me navigate the film making process. They bought into the project – and me. I quit hockey in 2012 and developed some resentment of the game. [The Baldwins] gave me a new lease on the game.”

The Baldwins got in touch with Grant and Todd Slater, the founders of Slater Brothers Entertainment and the founders of the Hamilton International Film Festival in Hamilton, NY.

Grant Slater’s life story mirrors that of Keenan. He also played ECHC hockey at Colgate, where his father Terry was the longtime head coach. Grant’s hockey journey also took him to Sweden before joining his brothers Todd and Wade in the entertainment industry.

When the Baldwins sent the script to the Slaters, both parties saw how special the story could be. But it needed work and a professional touch to transition the book to a workable script.

But two families who knew the game and appreciated the journey Keenan had been on and the authenticity of his approach.

“The great thing about [Keenan] is, from his rough screenplay to buying into shooting the movie in upstate New York, he was incredibly receptive and collaborative,” Todd Slater said. “He worked hard to make the film happen from start to finish.”

Keenan was a grinder in the process of making the movie as much as he was on the ice. He was tasked with fixing the script, and he did it. He had to secure financing for the film, and he accomplished that mission as well. He even got involved in the casting of the movie, making sure they recruited actors and athletes who would make the hockey feel real to the audience – and who could tell the story in a way that would be true to its reality.

There was one sentiment that was true for Keenan and the Slater brothers.

“We were worried about the film being legit hockey because our old teammates wouldn’t let it slide if it was obviously fake,” Grant Slater said. “There’s a hockey culture we all came from. We came from different backgrounds but shared the common thread of the game of hockey.”

One of the lead actors in the film is Dylan Playfair, the son of Edmonton Oilers associate coach Jim Playfair who played a lot of hockey himself. He said what turned him on the project was the elements that aren’t covered in so many hockey movies.

“This movie shines a light on what keeps guys playing the game beyond the NHL,” Playfair said. “This touches on what keeps guys going back to the rink day and night and the camaraderie of the guys in the room.”

While the hockey in the film holds up, the chemistry among the actors in the movie is more impressive. And it was real. Filming in the small town of Hamilton, NY, the crew was in a bubble. They went to the same small bars and restaurants during filming and everyone admitted it was a family atmosphere. Todd Slater shared one story of an actor who had a minor role in the film paying for his own hotel room to stay around the filming just to be with the other folks working on the project a little longer.

One unique relationship that developed between members of the cast was between children of hockey icons.

Alexa Lemieux, the daughter of Super Mario, makes her acting debut in the film. She opened up about being nervous on the set when filming began, but a veteran actor helped settle her down.

“My first scene was with Trevor Gretzky and he really calmed me down,” Lemieux said. “We obviously come from a similar background, but to have him there to help guide me and as another mentor to me was really special.”

Gretzky, the son of The Great One, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs as a first baseman in the seventh round of the 2011 MLB draft and played six seasons of minor league baseball. In “Odd Man Rush,” Gretzky plays the best friend of the main character who is playing in the NHL – and video games across the pond while talking through life and hockey.

“These are the really special moments to be involved with in this business,” Todd Slater said.

The making of this film could be made into a movie itself. But the core of the story is about a young man chasing his dream until reality arrived unannounced at his doorstep. Keenan experienced the cultures of the hockey dressing room in different countries, learned about love and developed as a man with hockey at the forefront of the entire story.

“I hope in the future when hockey teams get on the bus and get done watching ‘Miracle’ for the millionth time, someone says ‘Hey, put on ‘Odd Man Rush,’” Keenan said.

“Odd Man Rush” is now available on iTunes and Amazon.

All images courtesy of Odd Man Rush.