Chicks with Sticks
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Chicks with Sticks

Chicks with Sticks (also released as Hockey Mom and Anyone's Game) is a 2004 Canadian independent hockey comedy-drama television movie. It was written by Don Truckey and directed by Kari Skogland, and stars Jessalyn Gilsig, Margot Kidder, Jason Priestley, Juliette Marquis, Michie Mee and Peter Outerbridge.

Set in a small town in Alberta, the plot follows former ice hockey Olympic-hopeful Paula Taymore (Gilsig) who bets the local men's recreational-league champions that she can assemble a women's team and beat them. The film premiered on 24 May 2004 on The Movie Network and Movie Central, and was screened at the Calgary International Film Festival later that year. The film won three Rosie Awards.

Paula dodges bill collectors while working and raising her young son Stewie in Red Deer, Alberta. Her brother Ross enlists her to play as a substitute in a local hockey match, helping his team to beat the league champions, the Chiefs. Afterwards, sexist comments lead Paula to wager that she can assemble an all-female team and beat the Chiefs by women's hockey rules. She and Chiefs' captain Curt soon regret this and try to cancel the match, but it has already been announced on local radio and become the talk of the town.

With the help of her mother Edith and local DJ Heather, Paula assembles a team from the area, including destitute goalie Felicity, doctoral student Kate, soldier Brigitte, mechanic Charlene, and Calgarian Marcie. Training arguments cause Paula's commitment issues to resurface; Edith rallies the team and uses bake sale fundraising for team uniforms as the Black Widows. The Chiefs face hardships so Paula excuses them from raising matching funds. Curt bribes Ross to overlook the addition of a talented player to the Chiefs' roster, but the outsider is beaten by Felicity's friends and left unable to play. However, Marcie disappears before the match along with the prize money.

In the big match, the Chiefs take an early 3–0 lead before their momentum is broken when Kate draws a penalty against Curt and the Widows score on the power play. The Chiefs score again, which is answered by the Widows who pull their goalie to close the first period 4–2. The radio coverage draws a crowd to the arena during the intermission.

After confirming that there is betting on the match, Paula confronts Felicity in the changing room about throwing the game but refuses to pull her from the roster, insisting that the team is a family. Paula takes a heavy bodycheck to score in the second period. While recovering, she explains to Stewie that years earlier she had left the women's Olympic ice hockey team training camp because she was afraid of not making the team, and not because of him. She promises to try her hardest for what is important to her.

Both teams adopt a man-on-man defensive strategy for the third period. The Widows score on a breakaway, take the lead in the last minute, and then score an empty net goal. An executive from a national television network approaches Paula, offering the Widows a place as a founding team in a new professional women's hockey league. Following the post-game handshake, the Widows pose with a custom trophy dubbed the Family Cup.

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