We recently had the opportunity to attend the Pittsburgh premiere party of the new film The Last Gladiators.  The emotional documentary, which was directed by Academy award winner Alex Gibney, details the euphoric rise, tumultuous fall and inspirational resurrection of former NHL enforcer Chris “Knuckles” Nilan.  Chris’ story is supplemented with additional commentary and stories of other prominent NHL tough guys such as Tony Twist, Donald Brashear, Marty McSorely and Bob Probert.

Taken together, The Last Gladiators is a gut-wrenching depiction of what the NHL enforcer role used to entail.  Stories of broken bones, torn shoulders, multiple surgeries, loss of sleep and drug and alcohol abuse are juxtaposed with images of jeering crowds roaring at the sight of a fight and tales of the respect and admiration enforcers earned from their teammates.

Chris’ story started in Boston, Massachusetts where he grew up and dreamt of playing in the NHL for the Boston Bruins.  As Chris’ mother mentioned, hockey was ingrained in her sons DNA.  He would often sneak into the local rink late at night to play hockey.

Chris went on to play NCAA Division 1 college hockey for the Northeastern University Huskies.  As he noted in the film, he and his Northeastern teammates were hard working “hard hat and lunch pail” type players.

After the “Broad Street Bully” Philadephia Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons with “tough guy” filled line ups including the likes of Dave “the Hammer” Schultz and Bobby Clarke, many NHL teams began to stock up on enforcers.

To the surprise of Chris and his parents (especially his mother) Chris was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 19th round (231 out of 235 players) of the 1978 NHL Draft.  Chris’ mother noted in the film that when she received the call from the Canadiens informing them that Chris had been drafted, she hung up on them because she thought it was a prank phone call.

Chris quickly gained notoriety in his first year of professional hockey in the American Hockey League as he fought every and any tough guy he could, amassing 304 penalty minutes in just 49 games.  The Canadiens took notice and called him up for the last 15 games of the 1979-80 NHL season.  Chris never looked back as he systematically and quite literally  fought for his job and the respect of his teammates.

Although Chris was happy and eager to defend his teammates and play the enforcer role, he also had visions of being a reliable player and offensive threat.  With that in mind, Chris often stayed hours after practice working on skill development with coach Jacques Lemaire and teammates Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey.  As a result, Chris continued to improve and began to receive more ice time in key situations throughout the game.

His development and value can be seen in his 1984-85 season where he scored 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points, while also tallying 358 penalty minutes.  Chris was a key player in the 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup victory, a moment Chris described as the greatest moment of his life.

After winning the Stanley Cup, Chris had stints with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins before going back to Montreal to finish out his career.  Over the course of 15 NHL seasons and 688 games played, “Knuckles” amassed 3,043 penalty minutes (1 of only 9 NHL players to have over 3,000 PIMs).  To this day, Nilan still holds the NHL record for most PIMs in one game – 42 minutes – back in 1991 when he was charged with 6 minor penalties, 2 fighting majors, one misconduct and one game misconduct.

After his NHL career, Chris struggled to find a job that he enjoyed and excelled at.  Alcohol, drug abuse and arrests ensued.  After a couple of stints in rehab, Chris was able to resurrect his life and is now on a quest  to educate today’s youth in an effort to prevent bullying.  As indicated on his personal website, www.knucklesnilan.com, Chris earned every second of ice time he was given and was fiercely loyal to his teammates and his club.  Throughout his NHL career Chris’ job was to protect and stand up for his teammates.  It makes complete sense then that Chris has taken a stand against bullies, something  “Knuckles” knows a thing or two about.

It was an honor to meet Mr. Nilan and to have the opportunity to share in his story.  The Last Gladiators is more than a hockey film, it’s a candid look into the human spirit, a cautionary tale of success, love, passion, failure and triumph.  Do yourself a favor and go check it out.  It’s showing at The Manor, in Pittsburgh, PA through the rest of February.