Some "Minor" Value To These 2025 Films

 

Mark Pukalo

This category of my 2025 movie rankings includes many of the most disappointing films of the year and others that provided just enough entertainment in different ways to avoid the bottom.

I have been calling it low honorable mention in the past. but it should be renamed "barely watchable." Depending on your taste in films, you may get more from some of these films than me. I just could not put them higher.

The most disappointing films on this list of 73 are "Death of a Unicorn," "The Luckiest Man in America" and "Die My Love." I had read poor reviews of Colin Farrell's "Ballad of the Small Player" beforehand, so I can't say I was surprised at how lifeless it was.

The trailers for "Death of a Unicorn" made it seem like it would be way more fun and Paul Walter Hauser (above) tried hard to improve a substandard story on an interesting subject in "The Luckiest Man in America." 

I realize "Die My Love" is mostly about a woman dealing with post-partem depression and it was supposed to be a bit rough, but I was more annoyed than interested about what was going on. "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You" (see in the top 25) did a much better job with a similar subject.

I offered some charity to "Flight Risk," "Electric State" and "War of the Worlds" which have been features of many top 10 worsts of the year. They each had a few elements that made me keep my eyes on the screen until the end. I also did not want to be cruel to "Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie," which I had on the other day while I did some work.

Otherwise, there are no real surprises here. If you watch 300 movies per year, I would say many of these are at least worthy to be put on while you are relaxing at home. There is plenty of star power in these films, including Daniel Day Lewis, Robert DeNiro, Natalie Portman, Cillian Murphy, Nic Cage and others.

I'm not stopping you from viewing any of them. But I did warn you. Keep your expectations low.

Barely Watchable 

The Alto Knights - Two crime bosses fight for control of New York City. Robert DeNiro plays both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, who were once friends. The plodding film barely makes this category.

A Merry Little X-Mas - Alicia Silverstone in a predictable "sort of" romantic comedy for the holidays. It's your typical film this time of year on Netflix with a small amount of laughs. The drones were funny.

Anenome - It's actually a whole lot of nothing with some fine acting in between. A man (Sean Bean) visits his brother (Daniel Day Lewis) in a remote forest to summon him home to talk to his troubled son. It drags quite a bit.

Ballad of a Small Player - Edward Berger created a masterpiece with "Conclave," but the talented director produced a mess with this one. Not real sure what the point was in the cliched story of a high-rolling gambler (Colin Farrell) on the slide.

Black Phone 2 - I don't mind sequels, but they have to give you something to embrace that's different or humorous. The dream realm?  Come on, man. The original wasn't bad. It did not need a follow up.

Bloody Axe Wound - A comedy/slasher film about an aging serial killer trying to hand over the hardcore video-making business to his adopted daughter. Lead Sari Arambulo is appealing. Hope she gets some better roles.

Bone Lake - The plot of this sexual thriller has plenty of holes, but there's just enough intrigue and uniqueness to keep you going for 90 minutes. 

Bring Her Back - The makers of a very good horror film "Talk to Me" went over the top on this one with body horror and a rather thin plot line. Just your average violent horror flick. Twins Danny and Michael Philippou will do better.

Bring Them Down - Well-acted, but rather dull, film about two neighbors feuding over the theft of sheep in Ireland. Christopher Abbott and Barry Keough star in the family drama.

Clown in a Cornfield - I'm stealing this from an Ebert.com review, but it is sort of a cross between "It" and "Scream." The slasher film about a small town in the Midwest is better than expected and Katie Douglas has a future with her cute girl-next-door looks.

The Conjuring: Last Rites - I really did not watch much of this series, but I tried to get through the horror of the finale and I accomplished it. It works enough to reach this level.

The Cut - Orlando Bloom tries real hard with a substandard script in this boxing film about an Irishman trying to return to the ring after a decade.

Dangerous Animals - Expected this to be in the lowest category, but I stayed with it. An Australian madman likes feeding young women to sharks.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie - Daffy Duck and Porky Pig attempt to save the world from an alien attack. A few laughs.

Death of a Unicorn - Elliot (Paul Rudd) hits a mythical creature on the way to the secluded home of rich potential clients with his daughter (Jenna Ortega), and all hell breaks loose. It's more weird than funny most of the time. Ortega's character saves it from being lower on the list.

Deep Cover - A group of improv comedians go under cover on a mission for the police and get deep into their new personas with some unsavory people. It's fine.

Die My Love - Jennifer Lawrence (left) is very powerful as a woman struggling with life and marriage after the birth of a child. Other similar movies have been much better. This falls in a category of films that think they are smarter than they actually are.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale - I enjoyed the first two films, but this one was like a meaningless episode of the TV series. My crush on Michelle Dockery made it watchable on Peacock, though.

Duplicity - A decent mystery thriller on Prime about a police shooting of an unarmed black man with a few twists near the end. Much better than some of the latest Tyler Perry efforts.

Eenie Meanie - It's Baby Driver with a girl and an inferior script. Samara Weaving does her best in a below-average role. Not as bad as expected, though.

Electric State - Big budget movie about the aftermath of a war between robots and humans in which a sister tries to find her brother, who is being used for his advanced brain by an evil corporation. It's a mess, but has a few good moments in the second half.

Everything to Me - A driven young woman, with a goal to be the next Steve Jobs, must deal with a difficult family life and friends who are not as focused on major success as her.

Exterritorial - A recovering soldier has her young son kidnapped at the US consulate in Germany before fighting to prove the corruption and find her boy. Lead actress Jeanne Goursaud is fierce and gorgeous.

Flight Risk - A pilot (Mark Wahlberg) hired by a criminal to kill a government witness creates a dangerous trip from Alaska in a small plane with a smart and tough Air Marshall (Michelle Dockery) on board. Expected worse. Still not very good.

Fountain of Youth - Natalie Portman and John Krasinski, two estranged siblings, go on a quest for an ancient artifact. It is not National Treasure. It's not awful. It just needed to be way more fun.

Freakier Friday - I either didn't watch the first one or don't remember it, but there was nothing really entertaining in this sequel about a magical switch of bodies between a mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter (Lindsay Lohan). See right.

Freaky Tales - Four stories from Oakland in the late 1980s are intertwined, involving music, crime, basketball and social interaction. Sleepy Floyd scored 51 points in an NBA game? It was kind of disjointed for me.

Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie - The popular Netflix musical/comedy show for children comes to the big screen with  Kristen Wig and Gloria Estefan making appearances. Can't be too mean and put it lower. I'm sure the little kids liked it.

Goodbye June - Kate Winslet's directorial debut about four diverse siblings spending time with their mother before she dies is solid, but somewhat slow and not particularly unique.

Grand Tour - The story of a confused or cowardly man who takes off on his fiance before the wedding. The woman finds him eventually and goes on a journey herself. Not quite sure what they were getting at, but the old-style film was different at least.

Griffin in Summer - A pretentious young playwright becomes infatuated by the handyman his mom hires and welcomes the young man to his high school play cast. Everett Blunck plays the young boy with personality and the likeable Abby Ryder Fortson (Are You There God? It's Margaret) shows up.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle - A different scenario than the 1992 film. It doesn't feel like anything new with Maika Monroe and Mary Beth Winstead brawling throughout.

Hot Milk - A young woman (Emma Mackey), trapped by a domineering mother with a mysterious illness, travels with her to the Spanish coast and finds herself. Kept waiting for more intrigue. 

Ice Road Vengeance - Just some illogical Liam Neeson violence and fun. The script is cliched and forced, but you have heroes to root for.

Inheritance - Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) is the daughter of a former spy who gets drawn into an international conspiracy by her estranged father. It is a mess, but Dynevor is compelling enough before a poorly executed ending.

Into the Deep - A woman who lost her father to a shark attack fights the fear when caught in a battle with modern-day pirates on the water. Richard Dreyfuss, of all people, shows up as the wise grandpa for the young woman.

Last Breath - Woody Harrelson stars as the senior member of a team that inspects underwater pipelines and he tries to save a co-worker stuck at the bottom of the ocean. There's nothing really new here, but it isn't horrible.

Left-Handed Girl - Somewhat interesting Chinese film about a family (left) struggling to make ends meet in Taipei. Nina Ye is wonderful as the little girl and Shih Yuan Ma is a powerhouse as her "sister." Academy Award-winning director Sean Baker co-wrote the film with director Shih-Ching Tsou. The final 20-30 minutes lost me.

London Calling - Passable comedy/drama with Josh Duhamel as an assassin with sight issues sent away, following a botched job, to take care of the son of a crime boss and make him a man. Not as bad as it could have been.

Love Hurts - A realtor trying to live a normal life is pulled back into conflict with his former crime boss and brother. Ke Huy Quan is fine in the lead and there are a few laughs. However, it's mostly just boring fight scenes.

The Luckiest Man in America - Based on a true story of a broken man who figures out a way to beat a game show and win a lot of money. Paul Walter Hauser tries, but the rest of the cast is not able to make an awkward script into an entertaining film.

My Mother's Wedding - Kristen Scott Thomas directs and stars as the mom, who is getting married for the third time after being widowed twice and her three diverse daughters arrive home for the ceremony. Not enough depth to this story, basically about grief.

My Oxford Year - I love Sofia Carson, but this is her worst film yet. The relationship is way too quick to develop and there is little chemistry. Carson saves it from the bottom, though.

Ne-Zha 2 - Follow up to successful animated film from China is hard to follow. You probably have to see the first one. But it looks good, at least.

Night Always Comes - Vanessa Kirby stars as Lynette, a woman who spends 24 hours trying to raise $25,000 to buy a house she is renting after her dopey mother spends the down payment on a car. Kirby is strong, but the Netflix film didn't pull me in.

O'Dessa - A Dystopian science fiction rock opera about a talented young singer who travels to the authoritarian center city to spread her music. It's a mess, but Sadie Sink (left) draws your eyes and tries.

Off Track 2 - A woman in a failing marriage takes on a long-distance bike race to escape her problems. The first one, about cross-country skiing, had a little more heart.

The Parenting - Couldn't really get into this story about a haunted house where two couples are meeting with their dating sons. I guess some liked it, but it was blah to me.

Parthenope - The story of a beautiful, intelligent diva born in Naples, who navigates through an eventful life as men fall at her feet. Celeste Dalla Porta (right) is stunning. She should get some better roles going forward.

Playdate - Stepdad Kevin James in a comedy caper made for Prime. It seems light and funny at first, but sort of goes off the rails with a group of cloned kids.

Play Dirty - Your basic heist film with Mark Wahlberg leading a group of thieves trying to steal from fellow thieves. Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) plays the double-crossing beauty well.

Predator: Killer of Killers - Dark animated film with a lot of action, but it did not really grab my attention enough to hone in.

Rabbit Trap - Dev Patel stars in this psychological horror film about a couple who go into the wild to create sounds for a new album. The isolation, childhood trauma creeping in and a strange visitor make for some mystical happenings. It's a bit too vague, but the first-time director shows promise.

Regretting You - Messy tragedy turned love story with good-looking people. Based on a book by Colleen Hoover (It Ends With Us). Nice to see McKenna Grace grown up. She is a good actress.

Sacramento - Buddy film with Michael Cera and Michael Angarano driving to Sacramento, ultimately to resolve issues about becoming a father. With the solid cast, which includes Maya Erskine and Kristen Stewart, I was expecting better.

Seven Veils - A young woman is tapped to direct an updated version of her mentor's opera and it brings back teenage traumas. Amanda Seyfried is good in the lead and Rebecca Liddiard is wonderful in a supporting role, but the concluding half hour does not deliver much.

Shell - Elisabeth Moss (right) plays a struggling actress who tries a program with a mysterious health guru (Kate Hudson) to try and look younger, but she gets gruesome results. It's kind of along the same lines as "The Substance," and not quite as good.

Sister Midnight - A young Indian woman, struggling with an arranged marriage, begins to open up after some overnight experiences in this dark comedy. Hard to explain, but Radhika Apte is good in the lead role.

Smurfs - Moderately cute cartoon about the little guys rescuing Papa in Paris. The animation and the songs are passable.

Steve - Cillian Murphy is brilliant as a damaged counselor at a reform school in England going through a stressful day. It's solid, just not any more than that.

Strange Harvest - Sometimes humorous mockumentary about a serial killer in California who performs ritualistic murders. The cops are actually quite funny.

The Surfer - Nic Cage plays a former surfer trying to buy his father's old house on the water in Australia, but there is a group of bullies that own the beach. Let's just say, he has a bad day. However, the plot is kind of a mess.

Tornado - A young Japanese girl flees from an evil group of men trying to get the fortune she hid after her father was killed. It is an interesting, different kind of western.

The Toxic Avenger - A down on his luck janitor at an evil drug company (Frank Dinklage) is transformed into a sort of super hero - after being exposed to toxic waste - and fights the bad guys. Better than expected.

The Ugly Stepsister - A modern-day Cinderella story, which uses some pretty gross body horror. Just not my bag, but it was stylishly done enough to avoid the lower level.

The Unholy Trinity - A man returns to his hometown to avenge his father's death and find the gold he hid. However, he gets involved with local disputes in this Western with a solid cast.

War of the Worlds - The new wave version of the classic movie on Prime uses drones, computers, surveillance and government criminality. It is somewhat entertaining if you put aside the ludicrous scenarios as Ice Cube and his family try to save the world.

Watch the Skies - A young woman joins her father's former UFO Sweden group to try and find him years after his disappearance. Was expecting more and the main character should be more compelling.

Winter Spring Summer or Fall - Harmless meet-cute love story on Prime with Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White (My Old Ass) figuring things out. It is not a particularly unique script.

Wolf Man - When a son's father is finally declared dead after being missing for a long time, he takes his family to their old cabin. However, there is a wolf man there. It all makes sense, it has Julia Garner, but there is little to like here.

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Keira Knightley's latest is a mystery that we uncover a little too early in the film. Keira (right) is great as usual in this somewhat ordinary story of identity crimes on a yacht trip with creepy rich people.

40 Acres - Dystopian story about a group trying to survive and protect their farm from evil invaders. Danielle Deadwyler stars as the fierce leader. It does not draw your undivided attention. However, it has some intensity.

100 Meters - Japanese animated film that follows a gifted young sprinter and a boy with anxiety issues who he takes under his wing. The two become top national sprinters and compete against each other down the road. I didn't find it particularly thought-provoking.

"Him" Easy Choice As Worst Film Of 2025

 

By Mark Pukalo

The past few years it has been very difficult to decide on what was the best and worst movies. For 2025, the job is as easy as it could be.

The best on my list will be revealed some time in February. It's not a surprise. The worst, for the second time in three years, is a sports movie. Well, sort of.

The supernatural, sports horror film "Him," about a star quarterback's descent into Hell is ridiculous, gratuitously violent and just plain unwatchable. From what I hear, there was a better script for this film that was cast aside for some reason. Maybe that one would have allowed it to escape the top 10 worst.

While "Dashcam" and "Mother!" are probably still my two most hated movies ever, this one is easily the worst of 2025. Director Justin Tipping does not distinguish himself with this mess and it's disappointing that the brilliant Jordan Peele puts his name on this film as one of the producers.

It's also too bad the upcoming film "Melania" did not debut in 2025. Maybe "Him" would have had some competition.

The top 10 worst films have some beloved stars like Bill Murray, Samara Weaving and Kristen Stewart. No Bruce Willis this year. Many of the dishonorable mentions are under-the-radar streaming films you should avoid. Others have great actors that I like. Sorry Alicia Vikander, Dave Bautista, Josh O'Connor, John Travolta, Paul Mescal, John Lithgow, Elizabeth Olsen, Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro and Zach Braff.

No doubt, horror lovers may not like some of my choices. For me, horror films have to be smart and/or unique like "Talk to Me." There has to be something that sets them apart. Not just violence and gore.

I might annoy some critics, many of which liked "Hedda," "The Rule of Jenny Pen," and "The History of Sound." I may also make people wonder why "Flight Risk" or "War of the Worlds" are not here. I'll admit, they were close. LOL.

However, here's my final list of the worst films of 2025.

Dishonorable Mention

Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story - Abraham Van Helsing moves his wife and two sons to the United States two decades after Count Dracula dies, but they can't escape the past. Didn't really get the significance.

Ad Vitam - After escaping an attempted murder, a man must find his pregnant wife who has been kidnapped by evil guys in this French film. It's hard to follow.

Ash - An Alien-like science fiction adventure with a woman waking up alone on a ship after a mission to a faraway planet fails. It gets pretty confusing after that.

The Assessment - In a futuristic, dystopian society, couples are assessed to see if they will be allowed to have a child. Aaryan (Hamesh Patel) and Mia (Liz Olsen) go through a rigorous test with assessor Virginia (Alicia Vikander), but it never really gets compelling or logical.

The Calendar Killer - A woman in distress calls an emergency service in this German film. The damaged operator tries to save her in this odd, confusing film.

The Comeback Trail - The comedy with a great cast, including Robert DeNiro, Tommy Lee Jones, Zach Braff and Morgan Freeman, was originally released internationally in 2020. Not many laughs.

The Damned - Ambitious, but quite boring, film about a community struggling to survive a harsh winter while facing an impossible decision when a shipwrecked foreign ship reaches their shore.

The Heart Knows - Foreign film about a wealthy businessman who falls in love with the widow of the man that was the donor of his heart. It's not really original. 

Hell of a Summer - Dumb slasher film at a summer camp. I guess it was supposed to be a little humorous, but there are no real laughs.

Henry Danger The Movie: Based on the Nickelodeon series, a crime fighter battles through multi verses to make things right. Didn't really understand what was going on.

High Rollers - John Travolta and Gina Gershon star in this messy heist drama that veers off in several directions. 

The History of Sound - Two good actors - Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal - try to revive a boring script about a relationship between two gay men who enjoy folk music. I didn't really get the plot.

Holland - Nicole Kidman plays a woman with a seemingly perfect suburban life who uncovers a sinister lie in this twisted tale that loses you several times.

i Hostage - A lone attacker takes over an Apple store with demands and the police try to rescue the hostages. There is nothing new here.

In the Lost Lands - Milla Jovovich plays a witch who never turns down a job, but gets involved in a spat between an overlord and his ambitious wife. Dave Bautista is also there as a bad/good guy. Not sure which he actually is.

Locked - Eddie (Bill Skarsgard), a man down on his luck, breaks into the wrong car and gets locked in by a bored rich man. The premise isn't bad, but it's kind of all over the place without real direction in the final 30 minutes.

Old Guard 2 - Good immortals fight bad immortals in this sequel with a lot of star power on Netflix, including Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman and Henry Golding. First one was better.

The Rule of Jenny Pen - A bored old man with a puppet, who used to work at the facility (John Lithgow), torments fellow assisted-living residents late at night under the radar of the staff. I didn't find it intriguing like some other critics.

The Surrender - A grieving widow hires a mystery man to go through a ritual that could bring the husband back to life while her daughter protests. It's weird and unique enough, but it's not an easy watch for non-horror fans.

2073 - I'm not sure what they were going for here. It's a documentary about fascism with a glimpse of what the future would be with it. However, the non-documentary element is very vague.

Worst of the Worst

10. Love Me - It had a promising first 15-20 minutes or so, but then it went off the rails. Way too confusing with its symbolism about a relationship between weather buoy and a passing satellite after a catastrophic event. Kristen Stewart could not save it.

9. Hedda - Modernized version of an 1891 play about Hedda Gabler. Nothing in this really interested me, but Tessa Thompson is good at playing a nasty woman. Many critics liked this. I was bored by it.

8. I Don't Understand You - A gay couple travels to Italy for a vacation, as they are in the process of adopting a child, and all Hell breaks loose. Not enough humor to make up for a below-average script.

7. Fear Street: Prom Queen - More violent shenanigans at Shadyside High school and this one doesn't have as much intrigue or fun.

6. The Monkey - Bad horror film about an organ-grinder ceramic monkey with mystical powers that attaches itself to a family and causes a lot of freak deaths. Dumb and confusing.

5. Riff Raff - Great cast for this mob/comedy story that isn't really funny. Bill Murray comes after former mobster Ed Harris at a country home and it gets awkward.

4. Section 31 - Very poor Star Trek spinoff that never gets very compelling while trying to give you a few laughs. It tried to be both and did not succeed with either.

3. The Woman in the Yard - A woman deals with her depression as the evil spirit of her psyche appears in the backyard all in black. The film makes little sense and is so bad it's not even scary.

2. Borderline - A confusing comedy/horror film about a criminally delusional man (Ray Nicholson) stalking a beautiful pop star (Samara Weaving). It looked bad at the start and did not get any better. Sorry Samara.

1. Him - A great college quarterback, recovering from an attack, is trained by the best of all time (Marlon Wayans) to be his replacement on the top team. However, jealousy and evil lurk in the shadows. The script is poor, the storyline ultimately makes no sense and the gratuitous violence is disgusting as well. Nearly walked out of the theater. It's been a while since I did that. I want to say it was during "Burn After Reading." I just had to see how crazy the ending would be. It was bloody and stupid.

PREVIOUS WORST MOVIES OF THE YEAR PICKS

2024 - Mean Girls

2023 - Sweetwater

2022 - Dashcam

2021 - False Positive

2020 - Dolittle

2019 - Cold Pursuit

2018:  Mile 22

2017 - Mother!

2016 - 13 Hours and Hail Caesar!

2015 - Chappie

2014 - The Monuments Men

A Quarter Century Of Enjoyable Films

 

By Mark Pukalo

Once we all had survived Y2K, everything changed.

Well, maybe not. But movies sure started to become a bigger part of my life after Jan. 1, 2000.

I was going to theaters around Hartford before the turn of the century. However, my visits soon became more frequent. By the end of the next decade, I was documenting the best movies I saw during each Oscar Year.

There were consistent trips to the big Cineplex on Silver Lane in East Hartford, Cinema City in Hartford for some Indies and the second-run theaters in Manchester and West Harford. I also went to see some films at Trinity College from time to time - unfortunately without popcorn.

The first year of the century provided many memorable films, even though some of the highly-regarded movies such as "Memento" and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" did not do it for me. However, two movies from that year are in my top 10 of all time. The year also provided gems such as "Traffic," "Coyote Ugly," "Best in Show," (below) "Erin Brockovich," Remember the Titans" and "Thirteen Days."

Remember video rental stores? It was a few years until Red Box arrived in 2002. But I did not get into the 100s of movies viewed per year until 2015. It's been an amazing journey the last few years with streaming available. It has all made me an amateur critic. Maybe I will be a pro some day and make trips to Sundance, Tiff and South by Southwest. Cannes? Probably not. Sorry France.

The first 25 years of the century in film ended last December, so I embarked on the impossible task of putting together a list of my top 25 favorites during that period. It is so difficult to put them in order because they all were special to me, including a 100 or so honorable mentions. It's possible I missed a few between 2000-2015 as well.

However, I'll give it a try. Here's what I came up with.

Honorable Mention (Just some of them): Cha Cha Real Smooth, Conclave, Da5 Bloods, The Descendants, Miracle, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Past Lives, Pure O, A Real Pain, Short Term 12, The Sum of All Fears, Theater Camp, Truth, The Wrestler, 25th Hour.

TOP 25

25. The Hate U Give - Black Lives Matter. This film does not scream that, but the sentiment is clear and it shows the temptations and the impossible decisions minority youths in the inner city have to make. I truly believe this movie should be watched and discussed in schools. Let's talk about how we treat each other and how the police can deal with minorities and situations better. Great writing, great acting, plenty of heart. That's why it was No. 1 for 2018 in my rankings.

24. Sing Street (below) - Director John Carney provides another enjoyable movie with music as the theme. A young Irish lad (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) puts a band together starting from scratch to impress a complicated, beautiful girl (Lucy Boynton). Mark McKenna is brilliant in a supporting role. It is fun, smart and heartwarming.

23. Wedding Crashers - Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have fun crashing weddings and finally meet their matches at the ceremony for a congressman's daughter. Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher draw the two goofs out of their fantasy world and make them better people, but there is plenty of comedy to be had along the way. Will Ferrell makes perhaps his best cameo performance as Chazz, who crashes funerals to meet women.

22. Guardians of the Galaxy - The 2014 film from Marvel Studios is an action/comedy romp with a motley crew of superheroes, led by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Bradley Cooper provides the voice for the cheeky raccoon-like character Rocket, whose buddy "Groot" steals the film. It's just a load of fun and the sequels are almost as good.

21. The Hunger Games - The first of four in the trilogy of adapted novels from Suzanne Collins is based in a post-apocalyptic society of the haves and have nots. Jennifer Lawrence shines as the heroic Katniss, who volunteers in the last-person-standing brutal contest in place of her younger sister. While the sequels are solid, the debut of the series was shocking, powerful and heartwarming.

20. CODA -  Ruby (Emilia Jones) is an under-appreciated high school girl in a blue collar town with a wonderful singing voice who must find a balance between her burgeoning talent and a big role in the family fishing business that includes two deaf parents and a deaf brother. It is a special movie that more people should be able to see - not just Apple TV+ subscribers.

19. Crazy Rich Asians (left) - The romantic comedy based on a best-selling novel is fun and emotional from the first minute to the last. Constance Wu is dazzling as she takes on her fiance's snooty rich mother when the couple travels to Singapore for a friend's wedding. The best love story of 2018. One of the best of all time. Kina Grannis' version of "Can't Stop Falling in Love With You," at the wedding is breathtaking.

18. Moneyball - The 2011 film is based on a book by the same name from Michael Lewis about the 2002 Oakland Athletics, who won 20 in a row, and their general manager Billy Beane. Brad Pitt provides one of his career-best performances as Beane, who tries a new style of scouting through statistics (sabermetrics) to help put together a competitive team with a limited budget while battling his manager and old-school scouts.

17. The Big Sick - Kumail Nanjiani hits a home run with his sly humor "you're the Pakistani Sammy Sosa," playing himself in the true-to-life story. Zoe Kazan was the perfect casting as Emily "I don't date time nerds," but the big surprise was Ray Romano's perfect deadpan performance. Everything seems to come together perfectly for this film, which you can watch over and over and still smile throughout.

16. Once - Director John Carney's first of three brilliant films (also Begin Again and Sing Street) is about a Czech immigrant and an Irish street singer who meet by chance and make beautiful music together. Non-actors Glen Hansard and the gorgeous Marketa Irglova add authenticity to the story with outstanding performances. "Falling Slowly" won Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards.

15. Garden State (right) - Zach Braff wrote and directed this 2004 quirky cult classic about a heavily-medicated young actor who returns to his hometown after his paraplegic mother dies. Andrew Largeman (Braff) re-unites with his old townie friends and meets a cheeky young epileptic woman named Sam (Natalie Portman), who he falls in love with. It is smart, hilarious at times, wacky and heartwarming all in one fun film.

14. Lion - My pick for the best film of 2016 is an emotional true story that follows the journey of Saroo Brierley, who is trapped on a train that takes him hundreds of miles from his home in India when he is just 5-years-old. The amazing Sunny Pawar plays the young Saroo in the first hour of the film and Dev Patel takes over as the 25-year-old Saroo in the second half as he desperately tries to find his home. It is a movie about the power of family and I have never balled more during a final scene.

13. The Big Short - Some people quibble with the facts or say they are exaggerated (NOT ME), but director Adam McKay (Anchorman) does a strong job turning Michael Lewis' book about the horror of the 2007-2008 financial crisis into an entertaining film. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale earn high marks with their performances while telling the story of fund managers and an analyst who predicted the collapse of a still fraudulent system.

12. Nebraska - I'm still disappointed that Bruce Dern didn't win Best Actor (Matthew McConaughey did) for his work in this delightful, humorous slice of life that was directed by Alexander Payne. Dern plays a fading veteran who thinks he has won a million dollar sweepstakes and his son (Will Forte) decides to take him on a journey to Lincoln, Neb. despite knowing it is just a scam. The trip takes Woody through his old town before coming to a touching conclusion.

11. Silver Linings Playbook (left) - Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper star as two people going through different types of mental issues before forming a unique relationship. Robert DeNiro shows up as Cooper's gambling father, who is very superstitious about his beloved Philadelphia Eagles. Director David O. Russell (The Fighter, American Hustle, Joy) allows J-Law and Cooper to produce one of their career-best performances.

10. Promising Young Woman - Cassie (Carey Mulligan) carries out mental vengeance on manipulative men and others to avenge her best friend, who was sexually assaulted at a party when they were both in medical school. The best film of 2020 is gripping, humorous and smart. Mulligan will never be better in a role.

9. Ex Machina (right) - A creepy rich recluse (Oscar Isaac), who owns a search company, recruits a programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) to his secluded mountain home to give the Turing test for his new creation - a beautiful AI. Alicia Vikander should have won the Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the amazing Ava instead of  for "The Danish Girl." It is a fascinating, unique, science fiction film with one heck of a stunning ending.

8. American Fiction - A very sharp satire about a talented writer (Jeffrey Wright) frustrated by establishment profiting from minority entertainment sources with stereotypes. It's smart, funny, thought-provoking and has one heck of an apt and hilarious ending. The definition of a perfectly-made movie. The scene with Wright and Sterling K. Brown during the maid's wedding is so good.

7. High Fidelity - Had never seen a preview for this film before choosing it between the morning skate and a hockey game in New Jersey one day, then went to see it about four or five more times. John Cusack stars as a music store owner who can never settle down, but is driven to irrational behavior when his latest girlfriend (Iben Hjerjle) leaves him. It is based on a book by Nick Hornby, with the setting changed from London to Chicago where Lisa Bonet and Jack Black show up among others in the smart, hilarious movie.

6. The Social Network - David Fincher directed this film written by Aaron Sorkin based loosely on the making of facebook, with Jesse Eisenberg starring as Mark Zuckerberg. Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake add outstanding performances while Dakota Johnson and Rooney Mara steal their scenes. The film is more about entertainment than accuracy, but most are and it is fun to watch.

5. Inglourious Basterds - Director Quentin Tarantino tells the fantasy story of the triumphant attempt to assassinate Hitler by a group of Jewish American soldiers with wishful "alternative facts" and intense, intriguing dialogue. Brad Pitt plays the witty and deadly Lt. Aldo Raine while Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for his depiction of the devilish German Colonel Landa. Melanie Laurent (left) is also great as Shosanna/Emmanuelle, especially when she puts on her war paint to a David Bowie song.

4. JoJo Rabbit - A cheeky comedy-drama which both loudly and in subtle ways shows the lunacy of hate and fascism. Taika Waititi writes, directs and stars in the film while amazing 12-year-old Roman Griffin Davis plays the Hitler Youth "JoJo" Betzler, who must deal with finding out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is a member of the resistance and is hiding a young Jewish woman (Thomasin McKenzie) in the wall at the end of World War II. It is funny and beautiful.

3. Lost in Translation (right) - Sofia Coppola may have ruined The Godfather 3 as an actress, but she wrote and directed a masterpiece with this 2003 film. A washed up, lonely famous actor (Bill Murray) has a chance meeting with a confused, curious and beautiful young woman (Scarlett Johansson) in Tokyo and they develop a unique friendship far from home. It is subtle, simple, funny, bittersweet and smart.

2. Spotlight - An impeccably directed (Tom McCarthy) and acted drama about the Boston Globe's investigation of child abuse by Catholic priests, which was covered up for decades in the area. It brings back memories of the reasons why I got into the journalism business, what it was like in the newsroom and what the profession can mean to a community. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and Rachel McAdams produce perfect performances in the Best Picture of 2015.

1. Almost Famous - Cameron Crowe directed and won best original screenplay for what he termed was his "love letter to music" in 2000. The film was semi-autobiographical as William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is based on Crowe, who was a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone - covering the Eagles, Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers among others on the road. Kate Hudson (left) brings the story together with her portrayal of "Band Aid" Penny Lane while Jason Lee, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman shine. It pulls at the heart strings and makes you laugh throughout with wonderful dialogue and music. It is my favorite film of all time, not just the first quarter of the 21st century.

My 40 Years in Journalism: Chapter 8 - Goodbye Newspapers, Hello Bolts

 

By Mark Pukalo

This is not the end. .. However. ...

Those last few years at the Courant wore on me. Newspapers were not the same. Parents of high school players were way worse. A change was needed.

There were a few new things to cover the final few years, though. Like town council meetings.

Yes. Twice in a few years, I was assigned to fill in as bureau news reporter in New Britain for three months covering the town of Southington. I certainly didn't volunteer and was not particularly thrilled to be there, but I had no choice and it was certainly a learning experience.

They treated me well in the bureau, especially co-editor Bill Leukhardt and writer Doan Le. I did the best I could. I went to meetings, tried to find some simple stories around town and counted the days down. The Town Manager was a crotchety old Republican named John Weichsel. But we got along surprisingly well. I learned a little about politics. Maybe they all just felt sorry for me.

Probably the highlight was interviewing Chris Murphy (right), who was a state senator in the area at the time. You could see he had a future. He was intelligent, sharp and friendly, but not in a fake politician way.

Who knows? I might have been sent there again, but in the Spring of 2007 I put in my papers for a buyout.  

It wasn't just one thing. There were many reasons. I think I just needed a new course to take.

I did some work for AP (Little League, women's futures golf) and started the process of interviewing at ESPN (below). I was involved in several pre-interview calls where they judged my knowledge. Finally, I was set up for a day of meetings with department heads.

It was a nerve-wracking day and, to be honest, I was quite unimpressed with most of managers who interviewed me. There was only one department (Bottom lines) where I really liked the manager. He asked good questions and put me at ease. Unlike the others, I think he understood me and my qualifications.

I was a finalist for that job, but of course I was passed over. If I did get the job, I probably would have been among the 100s of layoffs years later. Just as well.

I had one more interview in Connecticut with Sports Ticker in Cheshire. Think I did well with future colleague Tom Torrisi, but I believe they just elevated a part-timer or something. I got the call as I was driving home from the Jersey Shore after hearing my father died.

I hated watching my father suffer from Cancer. It was a rough time and I was doing a lot of soul searching. I needed a fresh start somewhere.

Soon after, I decided to go to Tampa and make a final decision whether it was the place for me. I stopped at one apartment complex in Brandon and it felt like home. The pretty young woman who showed me a model apartment had once played tennis for Haddam-Killingworth. A sign?

Months before I made the final move I sent out about 15 letters and resumes to general managers around the NHL.to see if there was a wild chance I could get some type of job in scouting.

I received nine responses. Let's just say my resumes were said to be put on file with the Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals. I also received a wonderful letter from Lightning GM Jay Feaster and later was put in touch with Bill Wickett, the team's Communications Director. I was offered a chance to be a free lancer for the team's website when I arrived in Tampa during the Fall of 2008.

On November 16, I officially became a Floridian.

Seen Stamkos?

On my final trip down to Tampa, the news that coach Barry Melrose was fired came across the radio. Rick Tocchet was the Lightning head coach when I got there and my first feature was on goalie Mike Smith. Tocc was good to work with. He has gotten a lot better as a coach.

The end of that first year - the rookie season for Steven Stamkos - the Lightning had the second pick in the draft. They brought in the top three ranked players, who all met the media. That sounds kind of unique these days, but I was asked to profile all of them for the website.

It was John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene. Tavares was very serious, smart and cordial, but did not have much personality. Duchene seemed a bit less mature than the other two, but fun to talk to. Hedman was a gem. The big Swede was friendly, smart, confident and a good interview. Sheesh, I noticed on a questionnaire "One Tree Hill" was listed as one of his favorite shows. Never asked him if he liked Peyton or Brooke better.

There's no doubt I wanted the Bolts to pick Hedman. The New York Islanders chose Tavares first and the Lightning nabbed Hedman while Duchene went to Colorado. The rest is history Lightning fans.

77-91. Hedman-Stamkos. Two of the best athletes on and off the ice I ever covered consistently. Good people. Great hockey players.

Hedman took his lumps from the fans. You could see the high ceiling the defenseman had, but he was young and made enough mistakes to annoy the impatient fans. He never changed though. Heddy just kept getting better and he will join Stamkos in the Hall of Fame some day. It's awesome that I was with those two from the start.

Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov, too. Did a story on Kuch at his first training camp, interviewing him through an interpreter. He was great. 

The first few years were strange. The cowboys - Oren Koules and Len Barrie - who I actually never met, owned the team and installed know-it-all GM Brian Lawton. They all set the franchise back together. However, their poor management led to Stamkos and Hedman. 

Net win.

During those early years, I did a Lightning /NHL podcast with press box friends Jon Jordan and Mike Corcoran that we taped at a broadcasting school in Brandon. We had a ball with that and I really wished it went on a lot longer.

There would have been way better Lightning teams to talk about.

Rubbing Shoulders With Legends

I enjoyed those years in the press box and the meal room. Jim Devellano, a former NHL GM and current Red Wings senior vice president, used to hold court while we enjoyed pasta or chicken. It was there I also met the great Scotty Bowman. 

Although a former colleague said he was not pleasant for reporters in Detroit, Bowman was always fun to talk to at Amalie Arena. He has over 1,200 coaching wins and nine Stanley Cups, but gave time to anyone who wanted to gab and ask questions here. I had several conversations with him while enjoying popcorn and sat by the all-time coaching victories leader a few times. He had his stories. 

I always wonder if I could have gotten Bowman and Paul Maurice together and stood between them for a picture. The caption would be, "These three have over 2,100 NHL coaching victories combined."

Then, there was Bobby Taylor. I have always liked chatting with "The Chief," a TV analyst for the Lightning and a former backup to Bernie Parent with the Philadelphia Flyers. He is not a company man. Chief will tell you what he is thinking about the team. I often agreed.

TV legend Rick Peckham and radio play-by-play man Dave Mishkin were always great to me as well while I also enjoyed many Phil Esposito stories over the years. Others that wandered around the press box at different times included Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Marty Brodeur, Mike Emrick, Cam Neely (wanted to cheap shot him, but I controlled myself), Jim Rutherford, Brad May, Stu Grimson, Don Koharski and Ron Francis to name just a few. Always enjoyed seeing Walt, Jan, Erik, Lonnie, Matt and Igor as well.

When Jeff Vinik bought the team, everything changed. Steve Yzerman took over as GM and installed a young, brash coach named Guy Boucher. The two built and coached the Lightning to the conference finals the first season, where they lost 1-0 to the hated Boston Bruins in Game 7.

Boucher was a quote machine. I remember one time after practice when he came into the small press room and the podium was higher than normal. Someone asked him jokingly whether he felt more power being that far above us.

"No. You have the power. You have the power of the pen," he quipped.

After a tough loss, he used a line that I always remember Penelope Cruz saying in the movie Vanilla Sky. "Every passing moment is a chance to turn it all around."

However, Boucher is the type of coach that might wear on players and GMs after a few years. His system in the defensive zone seemed to have a short shelf life. I remember seeing him and Martin St. Louis battling verbally after practice and morning skates on the ice several times.

Still, Peter Laviolette was so befuddled by the 1-3-1 trap one game that he told his Flyers to hold the puck behind the net. Why coaches didn't run that system against him all the time, I'll never know. LOL.

Boucher missed the playoffs the next year and was fired during the 2012-13 season. In stepped another coach with personality - Jon Cooper.

Cooper was confident and, because I liked Boucher, I was a little unsure about him at first. He turned the Bolts into a playoff team in 2013-14 and took them to the Cup finals the following season. I was not pleased that season with how he handled top draft pick Jonathan Drouin, though.

I compare Drouin to Hedman in a way. The left wing was an incredible talent, but he was young and imperfect with and without the puck. Instead of bringing him along like Tocchet with Stammer and Heddy, Cooper benched him and did not allow him to spread his wings on the power play much. Drouin still almost led the league in assists per minute played during his rookie season.

Drouin (27 left with Nikita Kucherov) made a mistake by leaving the team because of his treatment from Cooper. Bad advice, poor decision. But he came back that season and had a great playoff run in 2015-16 before scoring 21 goals in 2016-17. However, the wounds he created led to him being traded to Montreal for Mikhail Sergachev after the Bolts missed the playoffs.

Tampa Bay made it back to the conference finals in 2018, but lost to Washington at home in Game 7. My press seat was in the crowd for that series and I remember meeting Yzerman on the steep steps to the main press box after the second period. The look on his face said it all. Is this ever going to happen for us?

The Lightning went 62-16-4 the next season, but lost to John Tortorella, Sergei Bobrovsky and Columbus is the first round. The Bolts led 3-0 in Game 1 at home (and I was making fun of Bob). Blew it. The rest was a mess. Injuries played a big part, but it was a major failure.

Thankfully, all the failures became learning experiences for the Lightning. New GM Julien Brisebois built a slightly more stable team after Yzerman left for Detroit. Cooper stopped playing favorites for the most part and became a future Hall of Fame coach.

The pandemic took me away from the team unfortunately. Two Cups were won. All was good.

While I was working with the Lightning, I also did stories for the Berlin Citizen from afar, writing wrap ups on the area's high school teams. It gave me a chance to write a feature on Niko Koutouvides from Plainville (below, 53), who was going to camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I recently found a printed copy of the Koutouvides story. Had a great time talking to Niko and special teams coach Rich Bisaccia that day at camp and it apparently made the front page of the Citizen.

When the Lightning decided to hire a beat writer after Vinik took over the team and changed the website, it was not for me anymore. I began working for Sportdirectinc, writing deadline game stories and previews with old friend Don Thompson, among others. 

Sportsdirect became Gracenote and Gracenote was bought by Nielsen. Checks came, but sometimes they were delayed. I did it for nine years until the pandemic hit. The staff came back for one week to cover baseball in the summer of 2020 before being terminated.

During my early years in Florida, I was also a stringer for the Tampa Tribune. I did a little softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball, but mostly Friday night football. I covered games at Bloomingdale, Strawberry Crest, Lennard, East Bay, Riverview, Newsome, Spoto, Durant and Brandon. 

Best press box food - Lennard (grinders) and Bloomingdale (wings). Best mascots - Riverview Sharks. Sharkie and Sharkette (below). Best player - Ray-Ray McCloud.

Saw Ray-Ray with Sickles when they played at Brandon one night. He was a running back and I could not believe how quick and elusive he was. It's strange that he became a receiver at Clemson and for the most part in the NFL. His performance that day wowed me like Jiggy Williamson and Nadine Domond did on the basketball court early in my career.

It was sad the Tribune got swallowed up by the St. Pete Times. I enjoyed those Friday nights, except for the Thunderstorms.

I took a few years off, except for my blogs, but finally joined BetUS.com for a different form of writing in January of 2022. I can thank Don Thompson for that gig as well.

I've learned much more about sports betting since (maybe that's not a good thing?). I had no idea what +1100 or -120 odds meant before then. Started playing some parlays at Hard Rock this fall and had some success with football and hockey. If Utah State and UCLA had only scored more points in their NCAA tournament game and Maryland not lost at Northwestern in OT. ... sigh.

It's 40 years since that first professional story. Hard to believe. There are so many people to thank. Honestly, there's not enough space on the internet to give everybody their due. I don't want to leave anyone out. You know who you are.

I have been lucky. I've met great people, experienced wonderful places, amazing athletes and witnessed jaw-dropping moments in front of the computer.

As Jack Evans said so well. ... Memories.

But, with all of this, my career is not close to over. I'm still writing. I'm not going to stop. Movies have become a major focus for me. I have written Best of the Year blogs for a decade now. Perhaps at some point I will start a website where I write about sports, music, movies, politics and do a podcast.

Stay tuned. It never ends when you are a writer. Chapters 9 and 10 are coming.

Some day.

 

My 40 Years in Journalism: Chapter 7: A Year With The Whale, NHL Memories

 

 

By Mark Pukalo

Robert Petrovicky scored against the Whalers and Keith Primeau had the only tally for Hartford on March 20, 1997 in St. Louis. My trip up the Gateway Arch earlier in the day was way more exciting.

A 4-1 loss was the fourth of six straight defeats for the Whale. While the team went to the airport to leave for Dallas, I finished my late story in the press room, mentally and physically drained, with a late winter cold about to hit me hard.

I decided to walk back to my hotel. It wasn't particularly far. Just go out the front, take a left down the main street a few blocks and another left to my hotel. Simple.

One problem. For some reason, they would not let me out the front of the then-Kiel Center for some reason. I was directed to go out the back door, but I failed to ask what was my best plan to get to my destination. Or, at least I don't remember. No biggie. I know what direction my hotel is in. Just walk and I'll get there. 

Bad decision.

I could not get back to the main street and I could not go straight toward my hotel. I kept going left and left and left. Soon, I was lost. I was walking in a big winter jacket, carrying my laptop in a bag and cursing loudly. Eventually, I was able to start going back to the right. But I was not in a safe area. I could have easily been robbed or worse. I was lucky. 

It's kind of embarrassing, but I flagged down a cop car. He probably thought I was looking to buy drugs when he first saw me walking. I told him what happened. It looked like he thought it was funny.

"So, you want me to drive you back to your hotel?" he said.

He did. Thanks Blue. Not the Blues.

You are free to laugh. It was a weird night, but an amazing season with plenty better days. I had done some work with the team the year before, made some trips, but the final season of the Whale was a wild ride. I worked my ass off, had some good moments at the computer, but mostly learned so much about hockey, being a beat writer and dealing with people.

I just wish I had another year to use what I learned.

My 5-6 years as a season-ticket holder were a lot of fun, from the highs of the 1992 first-round playoff series with Montreal (when I became a true hockey fan) to the lows of the third-period collapse against the Bruins in 1990 - turning a 5-2 lead into a 6-5 loss and a 2-2 series. Bob Beers scored. Sigh.

Anyways, I was thrilled to get some chances to cover the team in 95-96, including the trip to Toronto. I still have the picture of me with the Cup at the Hall of Fame (left). No, I didn't touch it. I am not worthy. I had lunch and beers at Gretzky's as well.

However, I was full-time backup beat guy behind Michael Arace for what would be the final season of NHL hockey in Hartford. It will be 30 years in September of 2026.

With Michael's wonderful wife Brigid pregnant, I was able to make more trips with the team than I normally would have as the B guy. Training camp moved to Barrie, Ontario for a week and I made the trek of more than an hour from Toronto on a bus.

The Whalers played a few games at the Barrie Molson Centre and I rented a car to make the trip to Kitchener for another game. I really enjoyed Barrie, the arena and would have loved to join the Curling Club down the road. Yes, there was a Tim Horton's very close by the hotel and a heck of a sports bar, but I can't remember the name. Would like to go back there some day.

The Live 8 concert was held in the park next to the arena in July of 2005. Bryan Adams, Gordon Lightfoot, Motley Crue, Deep Purple, The Tragically Hip, The Barenaked Ladies, Neil Young and others performed. 

That was one heck of a trip in September of 1996. I was so tired that I slept through the whole plane ride home. I had to be woken up when we were o the ground..

Oh Shanny Boy

The end of the 95-96 season, you could see Brendan Shanahan was frustrated. 

His quotes after the final game in Buffalo were telling. He didn't feel the Whalers could get a fair shake in the league. The officiating in that game - the finale at The Aud - was one-sided. Shanny earned a game misconduct, goalie Jason Muzzatti fought and there were 156 penalty minutes.

(Why oh why did I not take one of the old wooden folding chairs with "Aud' written on the back as I was leaving. I could have given it to Journal Inquirer writer Phil Sweetland, who drove to Buffalo. Damn!)

Rumors started circulating that Shanahan wanted out. Unfortunately, I was tasked with trying to get in touch with him, find someone to talk. I tried, but no one called me back. The only person I spoke with was Rangers broadcaster John Davidson, who didn't know much more than me.. 

When the season began, a trade was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. But Shanahan played two games before being dealt to Detroit. He scored a goal in the 7-3 win over Pittsburgh. Alexander Godynyuk netted the winner in the opener.

Keith Primeau (below) came to Hartford in the trade and was a breath of fresh air. While Shanny was always cordial, except the day after the opener when he snapped at my simple question, Primeau was tremendous and quickly became a fan favorite.

That's what I will remember about Keith. He was always pleasant. However, no Whaler fan can forget when he fought his brother Wayne at the Civic Center one night.

"Nuggies," Arace joked.

There were a whole bunch of characters on that team. Sean Burke, Geoff Sanderson, Adam Burt, Primeau and captain Kevin Dineen were always great to talk to, Jeff O'Neill was a jokester and so was Glen Featherstone. Stu Grimson joined the group as well and contributed great quotes. I'm not surprised he's on TV now.

Hall of Famer Paul Coffey also spent 20 games with the Whalers that year before requesting a trade. I remember talking to Dineen outside the visitor's locker room in Tampa and asked him about Coffey.

"I don't want to talk about anyone who doesn't want to be on this team," Kevin told me.

Coffey went to Philadelphia and faced off against Shanny in the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course he did.

It's Just Another Town Along The Road

I wish I had documented every trip I made that season, but a few stand out.

My visits to Ottawa were great. I really liked that city and the then-Corel Center in Kanata. The route to the city from the airport went along a river for a period, with people skating the whole way. I always think of it when I hear Joni Mitchell sing "I wish I had a river I could skate away on."

My partner in crime often on road trips, Jerry Higgins of the New Haven Register, and I had a few fun days in Ottawa. The Westin Hotel seemed a short walk from everything. I also remember some pretty amazing ice sculptures. 

It had to be the mid February trip when the Whalers dropped a 4-2 decision in Kanata during the playoff chase. I flew home the next day, with a connecting flight in Baltimore, and my plane had to be de-iced twice on the runway. Finally, it took off slowly - I mean slowly - rising up.

The Senators were on that commercial flight with me. They had a game in Washington the next day. Ottawa coach Jacques Martin (below) sat across from me in the front row. A mother, who was sitting in the isle seat next to me, asked if he could switch sides to let her sit next to her son. Jacques kindly obliged.

I did not bother Jacques on the flight. He was working up a plan to beat the Capitals 6-1. But when I missed my connecting flight in Baltimore, Jacques came over to me near the luggage carousel and asked if I would like to hop on their bus to the hotel in Greenbelt with them.

I thought that was quite nice of him, even though it was better for me to stay at the airport. And, who the heck wants to go to Greenbelt? LOL. I stayed in Greenbelt, Md. once for a Whalers game at the old Cap Centre in Landover. and (name drop), future ESPN TV personality Rachel Nichols drove me back after the game. Nice of her.

I boarded the Whalers charter on Thanksgiving for a game the next day against the Panthers in Miami at the old arena - a 1-1 tie. I didn't really have time to explore Miami. The next day might have been my first game at the future Amalie Arena - a 6-3 Whalers triumph.

After surviving St. Louis, I flew to Dallas for a loss against the Stars. I was tired and sick. After finishing my early notebook, I took a nap during the afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not set any kind of alarm or ask for a wake-up call. I woke up maybe a half hour before the opening faceoff.

Luckily, Reunion Arena was a short walk from my hotel.

I wish I had time to visit the Grassy Knoll. But I went out after the game to some really weird places (a go-go bar with women dancing in cages) in the "fun" district. Would like to go there again some day.

My Buffalo trips were kind of interesting. One of the best bar/restaurants I ever visited was Jim Kelly's place at the time, "Sport City Grill."

My favorite trips were all to Canada, except for Tampa. Ottawa, Barrie and Montreal were all wonderful. Walking down Sainte Catherine Street is quite an experience. I played video poker in a grocery store in Montreal. Really. Another place to revisit. I flew Air Canada on a small jet with just one or two other passengers. You could see out the front as we coming in to land.

The Molson Centre was amazing in 1997. I have never felt like I was higher in a building than that one. The Whalers won that contest 4-1. It was Chris Murray's greatest game with the Whale.

The Montreal Gazette headline the next day read "Un Joli Fiasco."

Wild Trip To The Hotel California

The last two days of January, I got a special treat.

I boarded the Whalers charter and headed out for a two-game, two-day trip to California with games against the Kings and the Ducks. Well, it ended up being a four-day trip for me.

The plane stopped in Kansas to refuel and then weaved through the Rockies and down into Long Beach. What an amazing view that was.

It was neat to view a game at the Forum. We sat amongst the fans on press row. I can always say I was there. The game was forgettable.  I spoke with former Whaler Ray Ferraro about California hockey at the pre-game skate for my Sunday column.

With the games ending so late, you sent your story right after the final horn, grabbed a few quotes and phoned them in before the final deadline. The copy editors inserted the quotes into the story. Everything went well that night. I finished up and hopped on the bus for Anaheim. We got there early enough to go to the hotel bar and play some pool. It was a very unique circular hotel where you could peer over the rail to the bottom.

The Anaheim arena is still one of my favorites. I'm sure The Pond (now Honda Center) has lost some charm over the past 28 years, but it was quite a venue in 1997. That was the good thing about that night. However, after a 6-3 loss, all hell broke loose.

I don't feel I took any longer than the night before. I called in the quotes, packed up and left the press room, which was not far from the loading bay where the Whalers' bus parked.

But. ... they were gone.

The bus had left minutes before. They had to make the window for the flight to get out of Long Beach. Whalers PR guy Chris Brown said later he went up to the press box to try and find me. Why the fuck didn't he look in the PRESS ROOM? 

Sigh.

The Ducks PR staff quickly got me a cab and unfortunately the guy was in no hurry. I think he was driving under the speed limit on the highway. We made it to the airport, I got out and the charter was taking off - with my luggage.

What to do? I had the cabbie take me to a local hotel, which was really nice. After a tasty breakfast, I took a shuttle to the hotel at LAX that I had stayed at for the Kings game. I actually talked the front desk into giving me the NHL rate. The Courant should thank me.

I noticed that night the Kings were hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. I called the Kings PR and got a press pass for the game. Why not? Don't recall much about the game (3-2 Chicago win), but I do remember the Hawks' locker room afterward.

Jim Belushi was in there, trading fake jabs with Bob Probert. Chris Chelios, Denis Savard and Tony Amonte were on that team as well.

I walked out of the locker room and toward the VIP entrance where the cabs were and who walked right by me? 

Robert Shapiro. 

I caught a flight back the next day. I think it went through Chicago. Of course, it did.

The Birth of Doogie Howzer

Paul Maurice took over as coach early in the 1995-96 season for Paul Holmgren and was nicknamed "Doogie Howzer" for his coaching chops at a young age.

Maurice (below) knew how to coach and he knew how to treat people, even the media. I can't ever say I had a bad day with Mo. He wasn't always in the greatest mood. No one can be when you're losing. But going into his office at the Civic Center or at Avon Old Farms was never dull.

He was blunt, but he trusted us. He told us stories, gave us good quotes. 

I was learning early in the season. I realized it wasn't the thing to do later on. But sometimes I called him at home on a Sunday after a Saturday night game. He always answered and gave me a few minutes, even though you could hear the fatigue in his voice.

I remember one story he told about a young Eric Lindros. Maurice recalled seeing Eric hop over the boards for one shift in juniors and knocking down all five players on the ice.

It's amazing what Paul has done since. When he was with Winnipeg, I was sitting in the stands for the morning skate at Amalie and somehow he recognized me after all those years. He gave me a quizzical look like "what are you doing here?' smiled and point his hockey stick. I went down to see him after, but he was in a meeting and I didn't have the time to wait.

I hate the stinking Panthers. But I was very happy Paul won his Cup. No one deserved it more. Two is enough, though.

The Sad Ending

Michael was covering the potential move of the team down the stretch, so I did most of the day-to-day coverage during the playoff run.

The day the move was announced, I boarded the charter to Tampa. Apparently, that's where my heart went afterward. The next day I sat with GM Jim Rutherford at the morning skate. Even though I was pissed, I told him North Carolina was probably the best spot for the team if it wasn't going to be in Hartford. Seriously.

The Whalers won that game and the next at home against the Rangers. They went 2-1-1 after that, including the "fiasco" in Montreal.

But in true Whalers fashion, they lost 5-4 at Ottawa and coughed up a 6-4 decision in Long Island against the Islanders. Win one of those games and they reach the playoffs.

It's fitting that the Whalers played the Lightning in that last game on April 13, 1997. Dineen (right) and Glen Wesley scored for Hartford. Burke had 38 saves in a 2-1 win. Brass Bonanza was heard all day. 

It was a strange afternoon. Anger, tears, memories.

Thanks Kevin, Paul, Adam, Geoff, Jeff, Stu, Sami, Glen and all the others for a great season. 

NHL Playoff Magic

I was able to cover the playoffs in 1997 and 2000 before the Courant started cutting back.

The Rangers beat the Devils in the second round, but ran into Lindros and the Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals. I covered the games at MSG during that 1997 series and it was quite an atmosphere.

I was able to stay at the Courant's apartment, which was a short walk from Grand Central Station. Have to say, that was pretty cool. Wish the Rangers made the finals.

I took the train a lot in those days, including to Philadelphia for the finals against Detroit. The Red Wings made short work of the finals, winning the first two in the City of Brotherly Love and finishing it in Detroit.

Darren McCarty scored a rare goal in Game 4 with a nifty move and afterward said "Every blind squirrel finds a nut." Steve Yzerman won his Cup and, yes, so did Shanny.

Three years later, I did some work on the playoffs as well. I went to New Jersey for a story on the Devils-Leafs series. One afternoon, I remember finding a movie theater to pass the time and saw a film named "High Fidelity," which I had not heard anything about. It's one of my favorites of all time.

The Devils won that series and faced the Flyers next. It went seven games and I took the train to Philly for the memorable finale on and off the ice.

It was quite a night. Lauren Hart, the Flyers anthem singer belted out "God Bless America" with a bald head and a hat on after going through chemo. Nothing against Whitney, Marvin, Jose Feliciano and others. But that was the best anthem of any kind I ever saw. Tears were streaming down everyone's face.

It was the game that changed Eric Lindros' career. Scott Stevens laid him out with a neutral ice hit (left). The aftermath of the game was strange. Patrik Elias got the winner with 2:32 left for the Devils. No one could get much info on how Lindros was doing.

There were some pretty surprising stories floating around about how the Flyers treated Lindros after that game. Who knows which ones were true, but it was ugly.

Didn't do much with the NHL after that, but I continued writing draft stories. Chris Higgins, Dan Lacouture, Doug Janik, Ron Hainsey and others were profiled. It gave me a chance to speak often with Gary Dineen, who ran the Springfield Pics junior program.

Dineen was one of my favorite people. I did a feature on him that I think was one of my best pieces of all time. Gary passed away in 2006.

(Check out this link for the story https://www.courant.com/2001/06/22/hockeys-true-believer/)

He always talked about Bill Guerin. Gary told me that Bill was the kind of guy who would knock his mother down in the backyard hockey game, but then make her dinner.

I saw Guerin in the Lightning press box when he was GM of the Minnesota Wild one night and mentioned that story to him. He laughed. Janik was also in the press box last year as a scout. It all kind of comes full circle with hockey.

The 1999 NHL Draft in Boston was very memorable. I was there when Brian Burke made the big move to draft Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Atlanta picked Patrik Stefan first and Pavel Brendl went to the New York Rangers fourth, sandwiching the two Swede brothers. The Sedins were the only players selected in the first round that made a major impact. That was also the year Janik went to Buffalo in the second round.

In 2002-2003, I became a Lightning fan. The next season I flew down for Game 7 of the Finals, but could not get a ticket. I watched it in the bar and on the big screen outside the arena.

In 2007, the Lightning drafted a young man from the Montreal area named Alex Killorn. He was playing for Deerfield Academy and I had a chance to go see him play a couple times against state prep schools. The first time was at Avon Old Farms.

I stood near the glass on one side and the two people next to me were rooting for Deerfield. When I had a chance, I asked if Alex was a good kid or something like that.

"I hope so," the mom said. "He's our son."

Told Alex (left) that story years later at Prospect camp. Little did we know that he would win two Cups with the Lightning many years later.

Hockey took me to some amazing places where I met some great people. College life brought me to soccer and my move to the Hartford area brought me to hockey.

Both have given me so much since.