The first shot of the Rust Belt in Slap Shot (1977) surveys a local steel mill which is shutting down and throwing ten thousand workers out of a job. Observing the scene, aging minor league hockey player-coach Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) asks his younger teammate Ned Braeden (Michael Ontkean), “What are they gonna do with them?” Ned replies: “It’s every sucker for himself.”
Slap Shot goes on to examine how these men respond. At first everything appears to be holding together — downtown “Charlestown” still sports boutique stores and pedestrians — but the childish behavior of the team, itself facing collapse, heralds the coming social disintegration. Players get drunk, piss on the ice and start fights during the National Anthem. As the team travels from one Rust Belt city to another, the common refrain is that the party is over, but nobody’s facing it. Ned shuts down and his girlfriend tries to flee. Reggie feeds his players and fans false hope, spectacle, and distraction. Finally, he tracks down team owner Anita McCambridge, who coldly explains that, although pleased with the team’s resurgence, she’s chosen to take a tax loss and fold. Besides, she won’t let her kids watch hockey, so what’s the point?
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