Cattle Thief & Maple Leaf

1992-93 Pinnacle card #233 – Sidelines Doug Gilmour

1992-93 Pinnacle #233 - Doug Gilmour / SidelinesWhy is Doug Gilmour dressed as a metrosexual cowboy?

Anyone who collected hockey cards in 1992 might have asked themselves that question. Of course, this was a good decade before the term metrosexual was even coined.

This card is part of the 9-card  “Sidelines” subset in the 1992-93 Pinnacle Hockey set, which showed NHL players pursing non-hockey endeavors.

1992-93 Pinnacle #233 - Doug Gilmour / Sidelines (back)According to this card, Gilmour wants to be an actor.Either the photo on the front is his actor’s headshot, or he just likes to play dress up.

Doug has already become a leading man in Toronto. It shouldn’t be long, though, before he receives top billing on the silver screen. Like a lot of pro athletes, Doug has his eye on an acting career.

Twenty years have passed since this card was made. Let’s see how Gilmour’s desired acting career panned out.  Not counting any hockey documentaries or year-end team videos, below is Gilmour’s filmography:

Doug Gilmour on RCAF1993 – Royal Canadian Air Farce
In the sketch comedy show, Gilmour makes a cameo appearance and shoots spaghetti at a Detroit Red Wings team photo (video here – scroll down to video entitled “Chicken Cannon: Doug Gilmour”).

1996 – Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
In the episode entitled “Shaolin Shot,” protagonist Peter Caine tries to earn a spot on a hockey team for some convoluted plot reasons. So his kung fu teacher enlists the help of Maple Leafs’ captain Doug Gilmour to train him for the tryout.
Skip to the 5:00 mark to see Gilmour:

1996 – Bogus
Bogus was a film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Gerard Depardieu and Haley Joel Osment before he could see dead people. According to IMDB, Gilmour plays “Doug the Birthday Party Guest.” I’m not sure if he was in this film longer than the 18-second clip below.

2006 – George Canyon’s Christmas
In this TV special, Gilmour makes a cameo appearance, and is credited as playing the “Hockey Star.” I can’t find a picture or video, but I imagine Gilmour skates by or performs some sort of hockey action.

2008 – Slap Shot 3: The Junior League

In this straight-to-DVD release, Gilmour once again plays himself. He shows up to give the new Charlestown Chiefs–a rag-tag group of orphans–a pep talk, coaches them in a game and then leaves in disgust while the Chiefs get pounded. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this film, so I’m not sure if he’s in another scene.

Doug Gilmour in Slap Shot 3

Doug Gilmour in Battle of the Blades2009 – Battle of the Blades
Man, I wish I could watch this show in the United States. Battle of the Blades pairs figure skaters with ex-NHLers in an ongoing competition. In the first season, Gilmour was a guest judge. I guess this really doesn’t count as acting–unless, of course, Gilmour was actually unhappy in the picture but using his mad acting skills to appear like he’s really OK with 3 beautiful figure skaters putting their hands on him.

So, in 6 roles, Gilmour played himself 4 times, a “hockey star” once and a birthday party guest with one line of dialog.

But Gilmour’s largest contribution to cinema goes uncredited.

Doug Gilmour vs. WoodyGilmour’s hat, scarf and wooden expression were obviously inspirations for the Toy Story character of Woody the Cowboy. Someone at Pixar must like hockey cards.

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Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

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