The man behind Slap Shot’s Ogie had his share of battles off-screen

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Never has a hockey player who never made it to the NHL become so legendary that people know him by two names – his real one, Bill (Goldie) Goldthorpe, and his nom de cinema, Ogie Ogilthorpe. As the afro-haired goon in Slap Shot, Ogie's story was torn from the life and hard times of Goldthorpe. It wasn't until a 2002 Globe and Mail article that Goldie revealed he was considered too dangerous to play Ogie in the movie – the role going to Ned Dowd. As the NHL Network celebrates the 40th anniversary of Slap Shot, Allan Maki caught up with Goldthorpe, who lives in Vancouver and has not been interviewed by the NHL for any of its movie recollections. Is he still too dangerous after all these years?

So the NHL has lost your phone number. Why do you think that is?

It's because of my criminal record. I couldn't cross the border once because of something that happened when I was drinking. I was stopped in Buffalo and I was trying to get to a Make-A-Wish foundation event. [U.S. Customs] let me in because it was for a charity. They told me I should get my record cleaned up. I said, 'You know how many times I've been drunk?'

When did your life go off the rails?

I played the angel Gabriel in a Christmas pageant. It starts there.

Rumour had it you needed a police escort for your junior games in Thunder Bay and that you were once busted for grave robbing?

I was in the Thunder Bay jail, and [teammate] George Gwozdecky would sign me out for games, then he'd take me back after the game. I never robbed any graves. I had a job digging them. I got $52 a grave. It was the best job I ever had.

In Slap Shot, several of the game's wildest players got prime roles, such as Jeff and Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson. You didn't. Does it bother you?

I've met all the actors from the movie. The biggest thing for me was at a charity golf tournament in Southern Ontario. Nancy Dowd was there. [Dowd wrote the Slap Shot script.] I didn't know she was going to be there, and she got up and said I was the inspiration for Ogie Ogilthorpe. That was a big moment. People got to realize Ogie Ogilthorpe was a true Canadian hockey player.

You first battled the Carlson brothers in junior. What was that like?

I only played against them once in junior. [Teammate] Willie Trognitz had [third brother] Jack Carlson in a fight. I had Jeff. He buried his head in my chest and never threw a punch. Then he comes out in a book saying Trog and I were jokes. You know, I went and saw the Hanson brothers [do their act] in Vernon, B.C. They're on the ice, and the fans start chanting, 'We want Ogilthorpe.' They wouldn't even say, 'Look, he's in the stands.'

You've become a regular at speaking gigs across the country. Anything to share?

I was at one where we roasted Bobby Hull. Dave (the Hammer) Schultz was there and he told me, 'Don't take the jokes personally.' I think people still feel that I'm a nutbar. I remember playing against Bobby. I was in Denver with the WHA and I'm at our goal line and I've got the puck – how that happened, I don't know. Bobby's at our red line. I look away for a second and now he's right in front of me. So I shot the puck at him. He asked me, 'Why did you do that?' I said, 'You skate too fast.'

Any more?

I also spoke at a Lakehead University dinner. I said, 'Who said I'd never make it to university?'

Did you ever have any concussions when you played?

I had concussions. I woke up one day three days later. I got into a fight in junior in Thunder Bay. I got punched in the temple. I got offered smelling salts because that's all they knew back then. In the WHA, Gordie Gallant got a concussion running into one of his teammates. They took him to the dressing room, turned off the lights and left him there for the rest of the game. They didn't do a thing.

Do you have any regrets?

I look back at my career and I wish I had never got in trouble off the ice. I got that close to making it as a pro in the NHL. But I'm not going to whine about it. They were my mistakes. I was asked by the [Toronto Maple] Leafs to stick around after I'd gone to training camp with them. They didn't offer me a contract, so I left.

Why do you think so many hockey fans like you as Ogie/Goldie Goldthorpe?

I'm always honest. A lot of people don't believe I'm Ogie Ogilthorpe. They think I should be 15 feet tall and have lightning bolts shooting out my ass. People have said to me I look serious all the time. But I'm not angry. I don't want to be angry any more.