Stanko's Stance

For those who know me, I live my life thinking about what this would be like in a movie. I imagine stories, angles, pitches, characters, ect. I have all this random stuff in my head, and now I’m putting these half-baked ideas in writing.

Out of fear for my life, I must credit my sister Wendy Stanko (who sent the meanest death stare of all-time on Snapchat) who helped create the nugget of this idea. BUT IT IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

The Zamboni Man.

Centered around a young boy who loves the sport of hockey, the adolescent spends his life at the rink. Through his early years learning the sport, he befriends a man who works at the rink. In this young boy’s life, the only thing he refers to him as, is the Zamboni man.

As the years so onward and the boy grows up, things around him are changing. His love for the sport is waning as the competition is heating up on the ice. His family, which had been with him every day at the open ice skates, is blistering due to a variety of self-imposed reasons. His old hockey friends have branched out, taking new challenges and moving onto different schools and teams.

Through all of these chances, the one thing that has stayed constant are his favorite ice rink, and the Zamboni man.

At this young man’s lowest moment, this individual returns to his roots and sees the ice being tended too. He and the Zamboni man talk, establish a repartee, and come to an agreement. The Zamboni man will teach the kid everything he knows about hockey as long as the young man doesn’t agree to commit the same mistakes he has previously.

The Zamboni man becomes a new father-figure to his younger counterpart. The at-home problems and social magnifications of misconduct are put off to the wayside when the young man is with the Zamboni man.

It’s known that the Zamboni man is training the young male for a tryout with a travel team. But under the veil and unknowingly, the Zamboni man is being tutored by his younger counterpart to regain the courage to lace up the skates.

Unknown to the young man in training, the Zamboni man was a well-renowned hockey player in his own right before a tragic accident pushed him away from the game. The Zamboni man failed to live up to some hype, and is scared to start over and re-lace his skates. He is trying to coach the energy and passion he misses into his new young friend.

The history of the Zamboni man is not overly present; keep the idea that we all have pasts we keep hidden but would like to bring back. Just a sense of longing for what was that everyone can relate to.

My idea for the ending involves the young man, after having had the try out, packing his locker up in the ice rink and boarding on a bus with the team to embark on the upcoming season. The presence would be about the idea of immense pride achieving a regained confidence; more so than making the team and embarking on a new journey.

The tryout climax would not be a goal or anything. It’s simply a matter of endurance. Lasting long and enduring all the pain to stand pat at the end while others are hunched over and ready to give up. Maybe its sprints, a race to the corner, or another test of cardio, the growing young man stands tall through all the pain. Obvious symbiotic connection to the problems in his life that he has managed to endure through.

Another component of the ending would be the Zamboni Man pulling into the parking lot and walking into the rink while the young man is leaving. However, rather than going into work, he has a hockey bag, a hockey stick, and he is going to play in an adult league he’s been avoiding for years (as explained throughout the movie through exposition, ect.). One man is leaving onto to something knew with a chance to live up to expectations, the other is returning to his place, ready to try and rediscover the love for playing he reinvigorated while training.