Paul was more of a movie star to my parents’ generation. To people my age, he’s the guy on a salad-dressing bottle. To my nephews, he’s the wise vehicle in Cars. As a hockey fan, he gave us the greatest movie about the sport ever made and probably one of the three films with sports as its focal point, Slapshot. Even if you know very little on how the game is played, it remains hilarious and has withstood the years despite the changes in fashion, attitudes on health or the decline of violence in the leagues. Paul genuinely got into the role as the aging, has-been player-coach Reggie by practicing his skating and stick handling; something only “weird” actors did in the Seventies.
Next Saturday, the NHL’s latest season opens, I definitely need to break out my DVD to get in the mood and raise a beer to Paul’s memory…Reggie would’ve wanted it that way.