Net Worth (1995)

Standing up for what's right can cost you dearly, but some fights are worth it - especially when you're fighting for the people beside you. Jerry Ciccoritti's "Net Worth," based on the book by David Cruise and Alison Griffiths, tells the true story behind the so-called "golden era" of the National Hockey League, revealing the bruising battles players faced off the ice. In the 1950s, the NHL's six team owners hold near-total control over their players, paying modest salaries, dictating their careers and keeping the league's growing profits to themselves. Aidan Devine stars as Ted Lindsay, the fiery captain of the Detroit Red Wings and a perennial All-Star. When his request for a modest raise is refused and he sees a former teammate reduced to living in his car, Lindsay decides enough is enough. Along with a small band of fellow players, including Montreal's Doug Harvey, he risks everything to organize hockey's first players' association. The response from the league's powerbrokers is swift and ruthless: Red Wings general manager Jack Adams (Kevin Conway), Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe (Al Waxman), league president Clarence Campbell and Chicago Black Hawks owner James Norris, the man who effectively controls the league, will do whatever it takes to crush the movement, from threats and intimidation to trading players away as punishment. Facing pressure from all sides, Lindsay struggles to keep his teammates united and his own spirits up. It's a true David-versus-Goliath story of courage and solidarity that changed Canada's national sport. Any hockey fan will find it eye-opening.