Steve Carlson (Photo provided)

LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid Film Festival organizers couldn’t get actor Paul Newman as a special guest to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the iconic film “Slap Shot.” He’s no longer with us. So they did the next best thing; they invited a Hanson Brother.

Steve Carlson — who plays Steve Hanson in the 1977 movie — will be the guest speaker when the film is initially screened at the Palace Theatre at 8 p.m. on Oct. 20, and during the second screening at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 22.

Carlson, 67, lives in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where many scenes from the movie were shot in 1976. A professional hockey player at the time, he began his career in the early 1970s in his home state of Minnesota, where many of the players on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team — and coach Herb Brooks — lived. Carlson has never been to Lake Placid before, but he’s looking forward to seeing the home of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey game between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

“A lot of these players I knew growing up,” Carlson said on Oct. 11. “Just to see where it happened, I’m looking forward to it because that’s one of the greatest sports events in the history of hockey.”

When the U.S. hockey team won the gold medal game against Finland during the 1980 Winter Olympics, Carlson was in a hospital bed in Los Angeles — in traction for his back — during his time playing for the LA Kings.

“So I watched the Games in my hospital bed,” he said. “I want to see where it all happened because I knew a lot of those players. John Harrington’s from Virginia, Minnesota. Buzzy Schneider I play high school (hockey) against. Mark Pavelich was from Eveleth, Minnesota. A lot of these players I knew growing up. … That’s one of the greatest sporting events in the history of hockey.”

In fact, Carlson played on the same Virginia High School hockey team as John Harrington, who is two years younger. He was good friends with Herb Brooks. And while playing for the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association during the 1976-77 season, he roomed with 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team assistant coach Craig Patrick.

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Goon hockey

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The minor league hockey team in “Slap Shot” — the Charlestown Chiefs — is based on one of Carlson’s team, the Johnstown Jets. He played on that team with his two brothers — Jack, a year younger, and Jeff, a year older. The Hanson Brothers were modeled after the Carlson Brothers for the movie. Jack was No. 16 on the Chiefs, Steve was 17 and Jeff was 18.

“They wanted to get actors to do our roles in the movie, but they couldn’t skate well enough, so they came to us,” Steve said. “A lot of people don’t realize that we all played professional hockey. I played 14 years pro, Jack played 11 and Jeff played 10. And I coached five years pro.”

In the movie, the Hanson Brothers were recruited for the Chiefs because of their rough style of play — as enforcers, or goons, as they’re called in professional hockey. But not all the Carlson Brothers were enforcers. A forward, Steve was known for his skills rather than his rough-housing.

“My two brothers were enforcers,” Steve said.

Jack and Steve played in the National Hockey League and WHA. Jeff never played in the major leagues.

“Jack was the enforcer with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, New England Whalers, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars,” Steve said. “I wasn’t that type of a player, and it changed my life because on the ice, people thought I was tough, so it gave me a little more extra room out there.”

In the movie, Steve Carlson played Steve Hanson, Jeff Carlson played Jeff Hanson and David Hanson played Jack Hanson because Jack Carlson wasn’t available. The trio were known for their long hair and thick, black glasses in the movie. But that wasn’t Hollywood magic; it was the real deal.

“Before the movie was even considered, we all had long hair and black safety glasses in real life. So they didn’t create these characters,” Steve said. “The characters were already there.”

Some of the scenes in the movie were based on real-life hockey games as well. When Steve Hanson sucker punched an opponent during pre-game warmup skate, for example, that actually happened in real life against the Buffalo Norsemen in the playoffs in March 1976.

“They refused to come back on the ice, and they forfeited the game, and we went on to win the championship,” Steve said. “Going into the stands and getting arrested in Utica, New York, actually happened. In the movie, when Jeff got hit in the face with keys … he actually did get hit in the face after he scored a goal, and we went in the stands in Utica, New York. We just reenacted all that stuff.”

After the Buffalo game, the Norsemen’s general manager complained about the “goon hockey” tactics from the Johnstown players. But that’s the way hockey was played in the minor leagues in the 1970s, according to Steve.

“Every time someone drops their gloves, everyone drops their gloves, and we had a bench-clearing brawl,” Steve said.

The phrase “putting on the foil” was a reference from the movie when Paul Newman’s character — Reggie Dunlop — asked the Hanson Brothers what they were doing — wrapping foil around their hands before a game.

“Putting on the foil,” Steve Hanson said.

“Every game,” Jeff Hanson added.

“Yeah, you want some?” Jack Hanson added.

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A changed man

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Steve Carlson is a changed man. A year ago, he began a fight with cancer after being diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.

“They said, ‘You’re way ahead of the game.’ I don’t have to go back for six months, so I’m doing really well,” he said. Although he still has trouble swallowing, “(I’m) gaining my weight, gaining my strength.”

Steve and his wife Vicki have both changed their lives a lot.

“Last week, we surpassed over 700 days of alcohol free,” he said. “We’ve cured that one. Vicki got me through cancer, so we’ve got through that one. And we’re getting our energy back.”

Before cancer, Steve and Vicki would drink after publicity tours for “Slap Shot” or fundraising events. But that all changed a couple of years ago.

“It was my birthday, Nov. 6, and we both looked at each other and said, ‘Can we do it?’ And we did it. COVID kind of showed us a lot about it,” Vicki said.

Going through the cancer scare has been a humbling experience, Steve said, and he was overwhelmed by the support of “Slap Shot” fans around the country.

“Of all the years I’ve done the Hanson Brothers, you’re going to a city to help promote and help raise money for cancer, Wounded Warriors, whatever,” he said. “And we come back and you don’t realize what the heck you just did. The people who supported me — the thousands of people who sent get-well wishes and cards and emails and Zoom — it’s very humbling on what I did for them. They always came back and said, ‘You put a smile on my face. You got me through this time. You got me through that time.’ I didn’t realize what I was doing, and now I do. … They’re coming back and saying, ‘We’re going to try to put a smile on your face for what you’re going through.’ It opened up my eyes a lot.”

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Advice for kids

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Steve Carlson has some advice for young players, based on his years of experience as a player and a coach and wisdom he’s learned after he was baptized and became a born-again Christian on June 23 last year. He’s change his life around.

“I always tell the kids there are five things that you have to do to play in the National Hockey League or turn pro,” he said. “First of all, believe in God. Second of all, do very well in school. Third is hockey. Fourth is eating. Fifth is sleeping. If you want to play in a pro hockey league, that’s what you do.”

The chances of kids playing professional hockey are slim, “But if you want to, you can,” he added. “You have to have the dedication to play. You have to want to play.”

He advises kids to get all straight As in school and get a higher education because the average lifespan of an NHL player, he said, is five years.

“So when you go to college at 20, you’re done at 26, 27. Now what do you do? At least you have a diploma in your back pocket,” he said. “And that helps you get into the business world. … You can’t be a hockey player forever.”

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Lake Placid appearances

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Other than the two guest appearances for the Lake Placid Film Festival at the Palace Theatre during the “Slap Shot” screenings — one Thursday night and one Saturday afternoon — Steve will be dropping the puck at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Olympic Center for the championship game of the Women’s Icebreaker Hockey Tournament.

“I’m looking forward to the question and answers because I love giving the inside scoops on what we did with ‘Slap Shot’ and how we did it and when we did it,” Steve said.

A lot of people, he said, don’t realize that the Hanson Brothers did three films — “Slap Shot” in 1977, “Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice” in 2002 and “Slap Shot 3: The Junior League” in 2008.

“‘Slap Shot 1’ took three months to do,” he said. “‘Slap Shot 2’ took six weeks and ‘Slap Shot 3’ took 28 days. … I was fortunate to be in the movie ‘Slap Shot.’ I rode that movie for a long time, and I’m still riding it, and I’m 67. Not everyone is as fortunate as I was.”