By Tom Kennedy
Brantford.com

Since releasing his first movie in 1994 (Clerks ), Kevin Smith has been entertaining
people with his offbeat, somewhat lewd, and far from mainstream, comedies.

He has tackled comedy, drama, religious controversy and, more recently, explored alternative methods to paying off debt in Zack and Miri Make a Porno , a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

In June, Smith will take a three-day break from his busy life in Los Angeles to goaltend in the third annual Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament in Brantford.

The tournament, which is a fundraiser event for the Sports Facilities Infrastructure Legacy fund, runs June 5-7, with each ball hockey team guaranteed at least three games at Lions Park Arena.

In a phone interview earlier from L.A. earlier today, the 38-year-old filmmaker told brantford.com he had recently been reading more and more about Wayne and Walter Gretzky and became inspired by their story.

“I have really gotten into Wayne and Walter in the last six months, I’ve been reading a lot about them and found it really inspiring,” he said.

He went as far as to say he “kind of fell in love in a big, bad way” but not in a romantic sense – like so many people, he found Walter and Wayne to be very inspiring individuals.

Smith said he then felt he may be going through a mid-life crisis because “at 38 I found Gretzky to be an ideal role model” but that his admirations were solidified when he was speaking at Roy Thomson Hall and Bloor Cinema in Toronto and found those present understood his idolization.

As he continued to research and learn more about Canada’s most famous hockey Dad, he stumbled upon an online flyer for this year’s ball hockey tournament and decided he was going to do everything he could to be a part of it.

Smith is a big hockey fan and is known to reference the sport in his films. He said when he realized he could actually participate in the tournament he was stunned.

“I got in touch with Pat Shewchuk and asked how I could help,” he said “I was blown away. I used to play it as a kid … I haven’t played in about 15 years.”

Smith gathered together a group of people he has worked with on past projects to put together a team- Puck University or Puck U. for short.

He then used his production company View Askew’s website to promote the event and encourage others to form teams adding that his company would sponsor any teams participating on his behalf.

So far there has been enough fan response on the View Askew message board to form three teams. The teams have been named after hockey jerseys featured in Smith’s films – The Vulgarians, The Leonardo Reapers and the Monroeville Zombies.

The roster for Puck U. is one that should draw some crowds to the Lions Park Arena.

The team list on the View Askew website currently reads Smith in goal, actors Jason Mewes, Bryan Johnson and Jim Jackman; producer Scott Mosier; filmmakers Jon Gordon and Malcolm Ingram; comic book artist Walt Flanagan; View Askew web designer Ming Chen; and Smith’s wife Jennifer Schwalbach.

Puck U. is a registered team in the tournament and will compete in pool play before playing an exhibition game on the final day of competition against the winning team of the teenage division.

Smith said he hopes his promotion of the event and his presence during the tournament will draw bigger crowds and raise further money for local sports facilities.

It may seem strange that a filmmaker originally from New Jersey would be interested in a tournament in Ontario but the fact of the matter is that Smith does have some motivation of his own.

“Well, what a great way to meet Walter but also to give back to the community that produced Wayne.” Smith considers this to be his way of thanking Brantford for Wayne Gretzky.

“Brantford produced Wayne Gretzky, perhaps one of the only viable role models of the last 50 years … the world needs more Wayne Gretzkys and I figure – why wouldn’t another come out of Brantford? So I thought, why not put money into Brantford athletics.”