OK, is it just me, or is the VHS video "Mario, Mike & the Great Gretzky" about the 1987 Canada Cup one of the best hockey documentaries ever made? To the point, the producers followed (mainly) coach Mike Keenan through the awesome 1987 CC tournament, with emphasis on his interactions with Gretzky and Mario Lemiuex. This is fascinating. Now, to be sure, there are some slow moments during the 80 minutes, like Keenan being interviewed at a golf tournament. And the narration, while the voice over sounds good, can be somewhat rah-rah vapid.

But, while it seems this production company was not the "official" documentray team (I have that too, "The Blades of Summer,") they still had access to lots of good opportunities for footage. The stuff is awesome. Some examples: USA coach Bob Johnson going nuts on a Finnish ref after a game (the language in this video is full of cursing,) Mario lounging around his hotel room, Keenan blowing his cool before overtime in game 2, Chris Nilan being interviewed, ref Koharski telling Gretzky to f**k off, Grant fuhr being interviewed after game 2 of the final, a player interview where another player walks in the background stark naked (full frontal here,)  ... what player today would ever let stuff like that be filmed!!!

Make no mistake, this video isn't loaded with tons of hockey clips, tho it has its fair share. The doc is about the team before and after the games, and the footage is VERY candid.

When it comes to pro sports, I used to be a big fan but now I'm really jaded, and its rare if I watch a NHL game a year. I loathe baseball now. But this vid, which I discovered in a discount bin, blew me away with its "cinema verite" approach.

Remember now, the 87 CC was maybe the best (or second or third best, after the 1972 Summit Series and the 1980 Olympics) hockey series ever. Two of the final three games went into overtime, and all ended 6-5, the last famous goal in the dying minutes of the tournament.

Alas, this is a VERY RARE BIRD. A company called Telescene Films made it in 87, and Alliance reissued it in 1998. Its not on DVD and it seems impossible to find a VHS copy online, even with the rare VHS dealers.

If you do find it, enjoy it! I did.