Not too long ago, I started a little niche website dubbed Encyclopedia of the North American Hockey League 1973-1977. The NAHL was the minor professional hockey league that the cult movie Slap Shot was based on and a farm league to the World Hockey Association.
Considering I was advertising the movie Slap Shot on the website, I thought I’d better get reacquainted with the classic. I ordered it off Amazon but in order to get free shipping I still needed another purchase. Amazon suggested ‘The Chiefs’. I bought it.
Get ‘The Chiefs’ Now for just $7.99!
The Chiefs is a small budget documentary that came out in 2004. producer David Bajurny follows his brother to Laval, Quebec and documents Mike Bajurny’s adventures as a member of the Laval Chiefs in the Quebec Senior Professional Hockey League.
The flick is 75 minutes long and reportedly produced for just $250,000. It is based on Laval’s 2001-02 championship season in the QSPHL. Sure, there is plenty of fighting. The Quebec senior leagues, no matter the latest acronym, have always been and still are known for the rough stuff. However, there is something deeper to found in The Chiefs.
Brought to light is the ultimate desire to not just play the game but to win. This league is semi-pro at best. There are no million dollar contracts and absolutely no no-trade clauses. This is the story of hockey players that will go to any length to play the game they love. Hell, they’ll even live in deplorable apartments right at the home arena.
It also brought to light the raging hockey culture that exists in the province of Quebec. Most of the rest of Canada doesn’t realize that there is such a huge culture contained within the borders of Quebec. There are musicians, movie stars and great athletes that the rest of the country has never heard of.
A little background on the featured players in the documentary:
Brady Austin – Defence
Austin played just 14 of Laval’s 44 regular season games in 2001-02 and also appeared in eleven playoff games. This would prove to be his only hockey in a Laval Chiefs jersey. In his combined 25 games, Brady totalled zero points and 57 PIM.
In 2001-02, Austin also played six games with the Fort Worth Brahmas in the Central Hockey League. He failed to get a point in that league, as well, while sitting 34 minutes in the box.
Brady played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99 with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans. He played 207 regular season games in the WHL, scoring one goal and assisting on eleven while sitting 481 minutes.
2001-02 was Austin’s last year of pro hockey.
Mike Bajurny – Left Wing
Bajurny played parts of four years with the Chiefs and called it quits from hockey after the 2005-06 season. In 2001-02, he played in 37 regular season games, scored three goals and assisted on nine while sitting a whopping 280 minutes. In the playoffs, he played 19 more, adding an assist and 41 PIM.
Mike started his pro career in 1994-95 and played in the ECHL, CoHL, CHL, UHL and WPHL before ending up in Quebec. His Quebec League totals (QSPHL, QSMHL, LNAH): 212 regular season games, 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points and 1,367 PIM.
Mike Henderson – Left Wing
Henderson played one year of NCAA hockey back in 1994-95 at UMass in Lowell. He played Quebec semi-pro from 1999-00 to 2005-06 and with the Chiefs from 1999-00 to 2002-03. Mike spent plenty of time in the box during the 2001-02 season but could also bulge the twine. In 36 regular season games, Henderson scored 21 and assisted on 43 for 64 points. He also sat 185 PIM. In the post season run, he played in 17 games and amassed 26 points.
Mike was a pro player starting in 1996-97. Before he found his way to Quebec, Henderson played in the WPHL, WCHL, UHL and CHL.
Cory Holland – Right Wing
Holland played for the Chiefs in 2000-01 and 2001-02. He played pro from 1997-98 to 2006-07, also appearing in the UHL, WCHL and CHL. In 2001-02, he played in 32 games, assisted on two goals and sat 206 minutes. Cory played just four playoff games and received just one minor penalty. His combined stats in Quebec: 164 games, eleven goals, ten assists, 21 points and 1,157 PIM.
Tim Leveque – Left Wing
Almost too crazy to be real. Leveque was a nut job that provided his teammates and the viewers of this movie pure entertainment. He played eight games with the Chiefs in 2001-02, recorded zero points and sat 54 minutes in penalties. The only other documented stats for Tim come in the form of two games played for the Thunder Bay Senators of the Colonial Hockey League in 1993-94. In those two games, he sat 23 minutes.
The 2001-02 Laval Chiefs
The Chiefs could do much more than fight. The finished second in the West Division and fourth overall in the fifteen team league. Laval then reached the playoff finals and won the Coupe Futura after beating Prolab de Thetford in five games.
The team was led offensively by Michel Mongeau. Michel played all 44 of the team’s regular season games, scoring 35 goals and assisting on 50 for 85 points. Mongeau sat just 20 minutes in the box. In the playoffs, he played an additional 18 games and contributed 31 points. His playoff PIM total eclipsed his regular season total by four minutes.
It was Mongeau’s first of three years with Laval, the final three years of his hockey career. He had played pro since 1986-87, mostly in the IHL. Michel played 54 games in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning while also spending time in the AHL and in Italy.
Mongeau was awarded the Garry F. Longman Trophy in 1986-87 as the IHL’s rookie of the year while playing for the Saginaw Generals. In 1989-90, Michel had a career year in the IHL, winning the scoring title with 117 points and being awarded the Leo Lamoureaux Trophy as a member of the Peoria Rivermen. He was also the recipient of the James Gatschene Trophy as league MVP.
By far the most distinguished of The Chiefs
Dollas appeared in 12 regular season games with the Chiefs in 2001-02 and another 16 games in the playoffs.