Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1998 to 2000
Broadcast Medium: Television
The first attempt at a Canadian drama series about hockey in some years, Power Play centred on a fictitious hockey team, the Hamilton Steelheads. Dubbed a ‘quirky comedy-drama’ by the press, Power Play offered some nifty moves both in the on-ice hockey and with the off-ice sexual proclivities of its cast. Several major Canadian names were featured in this series, including Gordon Pinsent as team owner Duff McArdle, Al Waxman as coach Lloyd Gorman, Michael Riley as hotshot New York hockey agent Brett Parker, Kari Matchett as team president Colleen Blessed and Sean McCann as junior league coach Ray Malone. Don Cherry showed up as manager of a rival team, and Sheila Copps did a guest shot in one episode.
All these names weren’t enough to save the one-hour series, which lasted on CTV for only two seasons. It premiered in October 1998 at 8:00pm on Thursdays, moving to Fridays in the fall of 1999, where it stayed until cancelled at the end of the 2000 season. Power Play was bought in the US by UPN, who cancelled it after airing only two episodes. Creators and Executive Producers of the series were William Laurin and Glenn Davis.
Written by Pip Wedge – April, 2002