EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 4

The finale episode captures the last days of the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens journey and the much anticipated New Year's Day game. With trips to a Florida softball diamond, shaking a December losing streak, and brushes with the New England Patriots, this episode also brings us close to years gone as the traditions of one of sports most storied rivalries comes full circle.

Montreal Canadiens - 100 Years & 100 Stars

The Montreal Canadiens (French: Les Canadiens de Montréal) are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The club is officially known as le Club de hockey Canadien. French nicknames for the team include Les Canadiens (or Le Canadien), Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux (or Nos Glorieux), Les Habitants, Le CH and Le Grand Club. In English, the team's main nickname is the Habs, an abbreviation of "Les Habitants".

Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL, as well as one of the oldest North American sports franchises. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. Following the departure of the rival Quebec Nordiques in 1995, and the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the Canadiens remain the sole team of the four major sports leagues of Canada and the United States that is based in the province of Quebec. The team's championship season in 1992--93 was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.

The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise. They have won 24 championships, 22 of them since 1927, when NHL teams became the only ones to compete for the Stanley Cup. On a percentage basis, as of 2010, the franchise has won 25% of all Stanley Cup championships contested after the Challenge Cup era, making it one of the most successful professional sports teams of the traditional four major sports of Canada and the United States.
Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at the Bell Centre, which was named the Molson Centre until 2003. Former homes of the team include Jubilee Rink, Montreal Westmount Arena, Mount Royal Arena and the Montreal Forum. The Forum was considered a veritable shrine to hockey fans everywhere, and housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships.

The Last Gladiators

In this documentary, Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney takes an extraordinary look at The National Hockey League’s Chris “Knuckles” Nilan. Born and raised in Boston, this aggressive enforcer had a simple task: to protect his teammates no matter the cost. In other words, his teammates knew that he had their backs.

The role of the enforcer is unofficial in ice hockey. The term is sometimes used synonymously with “fighter”, “tough guy”, or “goon”. An enforcer’s job is basically to deter and respond to violent play by the opposing team. When this occurs, the enforcer is expected to act aggressively by fighting or attacking the offender. Enforcers are expected to react particularly harshly to violence targeting their team’s star players or goalies.

For Chris, the role of enforcer often meant a shattered body: he bears the scars of broken knuckles, lost teeth, bites, torn ligaments, and multiple finger surgeries. Throughout his career, Chris struggled with addiction to drugs and the guilt that comes from harming the people closest to him. But he did what he felt he had to do. Described as one of the toughest NHL players in the 80s Chris states that in his opinion most of the people sitting in the stands would like to punch somebody in the mouth, but they can’t. That’s why they enjoy watching somebody else do it.

Chris was a fighter from the time he was a child. He was fiercely loyal and got into many fights defending his friends. When he got drafted to play in the NHL, it was like a dream come true. During his career, Chris won the love of hockey’s holy city, Montreal, and helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 1986. He loved the game so much that his retirement was unbearable to him. To think that the role of importance he played in the lives of his teammates had ended abruptly, felt like rejection to Nilan, and this perception snowballed into a series of really bad decisions.

A fight during a hockey game is a lot about respect. Players know that they’re expected to be tough and they comply willingly. Sometimes the consequences are difficult and painful because of the stress caused by the responsibility placed on them. Through interviews with dozens of hockey’s toughest guys, the film explores what it means to enforce the unspoken code of the NHL.

EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 3

As they ready for this year's extravaganza at Gillette Stadium, "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Winter Classic" goes behind the scenes with the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. Find out about their age-old rivalry as two of the "original six" hockey teams, and learn more about key players like Max Pacioretty, Patrice Bergeron, P.K. Subban, Zdeno Chara, and legendary hall of famer Milt Schmidt. 

In Episode 3, the Bruins and Canadiens find themselves both home and abroad this holiday season. In Nashville, the Canadiens look for some top-notch Western gear for teammate Andrei Markov, while Torey Krug and David Krejci of the Bruins opt to shop for their pets. At home, we visit with PK Subban and his brother (a Bruin-prospect) Malcolm in Ontario, while local Bruin Jimmy Hayes gives a tour of his native Boston.

EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 2

As they ready for this year's extravaganza at Gillette Stadium, "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Winter Classic" goes behind the scenes with the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. Find out about their age-old rivalry as two of the "original six" hockey teams, and learn more about key players like Max Pacioretty, Patrice Bergeron, P.K. Subban, Zdeno Chara, and legendary hall of famer Milt Schmidt. 

In Episode 2 of this EPIX Original, follow the Montreal Canadiens as they try to maintain first place, and the Boston Bruins as they prepare for a home and home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 1

As they ready for this year's extravaganza at Gillette Stadium, "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Winter Classic" goes behind the scenes with the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. Find out about their age-old rivalry as two of the "original six" hockey teams, and learn more about key players like Max Pacioretty, Patrice Bergeron, P.K. Subban, Zdeno Chara, and legendary hall of famer Milt Schmidt.