Youngblood II

Potentially coming to a theatre near you: Youngblood II.

Yes, 23 years after the original cult hit about a young hockey player trying to impress the scouts and learning how to live on his own, and I, the CSJ have been asked to write a sequel. And I've made it my mission to put together a star-studded Canadian roster that could potentially turn Youngblood II into this country's signature cinematic masterpiece. (What, you really thought Passchendaele was that great?)

The cast I have in mind is obviously quite ambitious, but if Ryan Gosling can agree to be in 'Breaker High', I have to assume he'd be open to this project. Especially considering I've targeted Rachel McAdams to play his love interest. And as they did in the original, Youngblood II will utilize current NHL talent to fill out the rosters of all teams seen in the film. Expect to see the Staal brothers, Dion Phaneuf, and any current player cool enough to wear a moustache. Well, sorry, not you Ian White.

Anyway, I've been asked not to give away too many details, but I can pass along the following brief plot synopsis:

Clark Youngblood (played by Ryan Gosling) is a gifted offensive talent from rural Ontario looking to follow in the footsteps of his professional hockey-playing Dad (Cameo Alert! Yes, a certain former West Wing star and the original Youngblood has a role in the sequel). After some brief internal debate, Clark leaves his hometown and joins the junior Hamilton Mustangs where he is quickly taken under the wing of team captain and stay at home defenceman Rick Thompson (played by Ryan Reynolds). Thompson shows the rookie which bars to drink at, which restaurants to eat at, and which girls to stay away from. (I'm considering Elisha Cuthbert for that role, but I'm not sure she'll be able to understand the character.)

The Mustangs get off to a quick start thanks in large part to their dynamic rookie center, but last year's scoring leader and current assistant captain Dwayne Stock (played by Hayden Christensen) is threatened by the emergence of Youngblood and does all he can to sabotage his performance, including tainting his food, humiliating him with vulgar hazing tactics, and purposefully making him miss the team bus.

This eventually leads to Coach Parker (played by Kiefer Sutherland...in platform shoes) benching Youngblood which causes the rookie to question his ability and his decision to leave his family. Picture a montage set to Sam Roberts' Brother Down.

Meanwhile, Youngblood and Tracy Parker (played by Rachel McAdams), who happens to be the coach's daughter, take their passionate relationship to the next level and that again lands the rookie in hot water with his Coach. After Thompson negotiates a truce between the Coach and Youngblood and inspires the entire team (think Al Pacino's two inches speech from Any Given Sunday), the Mustangs again face the Blades, their chief rival, who feature the meanest, toughest, dirtiest player in the league, Sam Crampton (played by Taylor Kitsch, who is Tim Riggins in FNL).

Will Youngblood be able to mend his relationship and co-exist with teammate Stock? Can Coach Parker get past his personal feelings and put the Mustangs in the best position to win? And can the Mustangs man-up and out-duel their nemesis, the Blades, and advance to the league championship?

I'm trying to decide between Jason Reitman, David Cronenberg or Paul Haggis to direct. This thing has 'blockbuster' written all over it. No really, it does.