Tags
"Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story", Edmonton Oilers, Grant Fuhr, St. Louis Blues, Vezina Trophy
The Color of Hockey podcast is back!
Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Grant Fuhr is our guest. this episode. He discusses the new “Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story” documentary, what it was like winning five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers from 1984 to 1990, and who he thinks are the best goalies ever.
Hall of Fame goalie Grant Fuhr (Photo/Derek Heisler)
“We had a lot of fun over the years, good, bad, and otherwise,” Fuhr said of his NHL career. “Most people don’t want their life up on the big movie screen, it took a little sell job on that. It’s fun to live your life, but it’s definitely different seeing up on the big screen.”
Hall of Fame center Wayne Gretzky, Fuhr’s teammate on those Edmonton powerhouse teams, calls Fuhr “the greatest goalie that ever lived.”
Fuhr compiled a 403-295-114 (ties) record and posted 25 shutouts in 868 regular season games with Edmonton, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames from 1981-82 to 1999-2000. He had a 92-50 record in 150 Stanley Cup playoff games, including six shutouts.
In addition to the five Stanley Cups, Fuhr won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003, and was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
But his career wasn’t all amazing highlight reel saves and championships. The NHL suspended him for one year in 1990 after he admitted that he abused cocaine between 1983 and 1989. The league reinstated him after he served five months of the penalty. Still, it was a painful experience.
“The hardest part was living through it,” Fuhr says on the podcast. “The getting suspended, having what you love to do taken away from you, at that time, was hard.”
“Making Coco” will have its world premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival on Saturday, September 29, as part of the festival’s closing gala. It will be televised on Canada’s Sportsnet in December. The film’s producer is still working on when and where it will be shown in the United States.
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