Canadians in search for their hockey fix in the wake of this season’s NHL dispute may find some solace in CBC’s “Making the Cut,” a new hockey “reality show” sponsored by Bell, which premiered on Tuesday night. Over the course of the season, 68 players will compete for the chance to be awarded one of six NHL contracts-their ticket into big league hockey.
Scott Oake, CBC sportscaster and “Making the Cut” presenter, describes the search for the next hockey sensation as “the story of one player, thousands of times over, one player at a time.” However, before they could even begin to put the players through their paces, the show’s producers had to figure out who the lucky 68 would be.
The two-hour series premiere essentially follows the team of coaches, scouts and judges on their lightning, coast-to-coast tour of Canada in search of talent for the show.
And there certainly was no shortage of prospects. During their tour of seven cities across six provinces, more than 4500 hopefuls tried out for the 68 spots. In Toronto alone, the organisers tried out 1200 people in three days.
The prospects range from a 23 year-old Halifax fisherwoman, to a 40 year old amateur goalie from Winnepeg. In terms of experience, the selection is equally varied, ranging from neophytes with only three years experience on the ice, to former NHL players. La Belle Provence finds itself adequately represented, and one could even glimpse a gentleman from Nunavut announcing, in presumably flawless Inuit, that he would “Make the cut.” For many, the show conveyed the sense that this was their last shot at a dream.
The selection process seemed straightforward enough. Each of the hopefuls were given a chance to strut their stuff in a “skills and drills” session, with coaches Scotty Bowman and Mike Keenan, as well as professional NHL scout Jack Birch—to name a few from the team of judges in charge of the selection process.
Those who were lucky enough to catch the scouts’ eyes went on to a three-on-three challenge, with the organisers taking extra-special care to pit brother against sister, roommate against roommate, friend against friend. From these, the 68 would be selected, and both they and the thousands who didn’t make it were given the news, with the calculated cruelty characteristic of “Reality TV”, on Canada Day.
Then, it was off to hockey camp in Vernon, BC for 12 weeks.
“That’s not real hockey,” my roommate said dismissively.
It’s an interesting enough premise, but there’s something a little distasteful about having the great Canadian sport of hockey reduced to 68 guys duking it out on a national television show sponsored by a major corporation. And, of course, there’s the risk that the usual staples of “reality TV” – like artificial, exaggerated conflict and excessive focus on backstabbing team politics – may rear their ugly heads.
As interesting as it all seemed, I doubt that “Making the Cut” will satisfy hockey fans. But “Making the Cut” is guaranteed to draw an audience for in this dark world of NHL lockouts and player/owner finger pointing, it may be the only hockey we have for a while.
