Top 10 Travel Movies: A Hockey Player’s Guide to Watching on the Road

From VHS to Streaming: The Evolution of Travel Movie Watching

Growing up in the ’80s, watching movies was a tactile experience. We had to physically go to the video store, scan the aisles, and hope that someone had rewound the Die Hard VHS before we got home. Fast forward to the DVD era, and things got a little easier—no rewinding, better picture, and a collection that could fill a bookshelf instead of an entire cabinet. Then came the digital revolution, and suddenly, my entire library fit in my pocket.

Just like home entertainment evolved, so did my way of watching movies on the road. Early in my career, bus trips meant watching films on tiny 12-inch screens bolted to the ceiling. If you were lucky, you got first pick of the VHS tapes, and if you weren’t, you were stuck watching The Notebook because the older guys called the shots. Then came airline seat-back screens, followed by laptops, then tablets, and now, in 2025, I can fire up a movie on my phone in the middle of an airport and pretend I don’t hear the gate agent calling my boarding group.

Through all these years, some movies have stood the test of time. There are the ones I quote start to finish, the ones that bond hockey players across generations, and the ones that are so often quoted, they become the locker room soundtrack. So, without further ado, here’s my Top 10 Travel Movies—films that have been played, replayed, and will continue to be played on bus rides, long flights, and late-night hotel stays.

Top 10 Travel Movies for the Road

1. Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Every hockey player has a Dumb and Dumber quote in their arsenal, and if you don’t, I assume you’re either lying or a goalie. This absolute classic has timeless one-liners that have been repeated in locker rooms since the mid-'90s.

🔹 “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” — every player riding the pine hoping coach calls their number.
🔹 "Big Gulps, huh? Alright, well, see ya later." — said 15 times a day in every junior hockey locker room.
🔹 “Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?” — every d-man to their goalie before a road trip nap.

2. Youngblood (1986)

Hockey’s version of Rocky, except with Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and mullets. This movie is a rite of passage, and if you haven’t seen it, I don’t trust your taste in movies or your ability to throw a proper body check.

🔹 "Want some tea? It's very good. I've had it many times." — Dean Youngblood getting chirped before getting absolutely fed.
🔹 "You just gotta get mean, that’s all. You gotta get that killer instinct." — said by every coach trying to fire up a soft player before playoffs.
🔹 "Racki is back." — the most ominous words in any junior hockey movie ever.

3. Slap Shot (1977)

The original hockey movie. Reggie Dunlop was an absolute legend, and the Hanson Brothers set the standard for every hockey movie enforcer to follow. If this isn’t in your top 3, I have questions.

🔹 "I’m listening to the f**ing song!" — every guy on the bus when the rookie tries to talk over the pregame playlist.
🔹 "You do that, you go to the box, you feel shame." — the unwritten rule of every bad penalty.
🔹 "Hey Hanrahan! Suzanne sucks pucks!" — The art of the chirp, perfected.

4. Shawshank Redemption (1994)

One of the greatest movies ever made. If you stumble upon it on cable at 11 p.m., you’re sticking around until Andy Dufresne gets to Zihuatanejo.

🔹 "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." — also applies to every team trying to mount a comeback down 3-0.
🔹 "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying." — spoken like a true hockey grinder.

5. Old School (2003)

Will Ferrell was undefeated in the early 2000s, and Old School is his gold standard.

🔹 "We’re going streaking!" — the energy every team has after an OT win.
🔹 "You're my boy, Blue!" — mandatory to yell when a veteran on your team scores.
🔹 "True love is hard to find, sometimes you think you have true love and then you take the early flight home..." — every rookie who gets sent back to juniors.

6. Happy Gilmore (1996)

A golf movie made for hockey players.

🔹 "Somebody’s closer!" — said every time a d-man misses the net in warmups.
🔹 "You could trouble me for a warm glass of shut the hell up!" — chirp perfection.
🔹 "Just tap it in. Just taaap it in." — every time you’re setting up a backdoor one-timer.

7. The Hangover (2009)

A must-watch on road trips.

🔹 "It's not a purse, it's a satchel!" — the excuse every guy makes for carrying their toiletries.
🔹 "Tigers love pepper, they hate cinnamon." — truly valuable life advice.

8. The Dark Knight (2008)

🔹 "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." — applies to every captain who has to bag skate the boys.

9. Top Gun (1986)

🔹 "I feel the need… the need for speed!" — applicable to hockey and life.

10. Superbad (2007)

🔹 "You know how many foods are shaped like d***s? The best kinds!” — every time one of the boys rolled out of 7-11 chomping on a pre game hot dog.

At the end of the day, great travel movies aren’t just about passing the time—they’re about comfort, nostalgia, and sometimes a little pre-game motivation. Whether it's Slap Shot reminding us to “put on the foil,” Youngblood serving up some “tea with Miss McGill,” or Top Gun making sure we all “feel the need... the need for speed,” these films aren’t just entertainment—they’re part of the language of the locker room. They’re the movies we’ve watched on scratched-up DVDs, glitchy airplane screens, and now on phones the size of a credit card. They’re the ones we can quote start to finish, the ones that still hit just as hard whether you’re a teenager on a bus to your first road game or a washed-up vet still chasing the dragon of game day adrenaline. The technology may have changed, but the classics never go out of style.🏒

About the Author

Darrell Hay believes that hockey and movies have one major thing in common—both require great timing, a little grit, and a willingness to quote them endlessly in the locker room. A lifelong rink rat with a deep appreciation for a well-executed chirp, Darrell has spent his career playing, coaching, and watching way too many movies on the road. His Hall of Fame lineup of late '80s and early '90s Tom Cruise classics—Risky Business, All the Right Moves, Top Gun, Cocktail, Young Guns, Rain Man, Days of Thunder, and A Few Good Men—remains a staple in his rotation, proving that while the man might run funny, he still might be the GOAT. As Harry Hogge famously told Cole Trickle in Days of Thunder—“Rubbin’ is racin’.” And when it comes to movies, rewatchin’ is mandatory.