Rent-a-Goalie: the whack jobs of hockey
By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
March 26, 2008
 Hockey, coffee, swearing, and cheap laughs—what more could you ask for in a Canadian sitcom? Rent-a-Goalie, a Showcase Original comedy series currently in its second season, takes place at a family-owned coffee shop, Café Primo, in Toronto’s Little Italy. The show follows Cake (series creator, writer, producer, and lead actor Christopher Bolton) and his hockey goalie rental service he runs out of the café.
Goalies are “notoriously the whack jobs of the hockey team, kind of like what drummers are to rock bands, they’re like to hockey teams. And they’re the most necessary,” explains Bolton, who says that the cast also plays a lot of hockey off-screen as well.
The show emphasises family and the escape of one’s past. The opening credits feature Cake’s recorded voice mail message stating, “If you’re from my past, go away.”
After meeting Johnny, the owner of Café Primo, in rehab, the two bond and Cake is adopted into his family. Cake tries to make a fresh start at Café Primo by renting goalies and thwarting his past. He continually tries to live by The Code, a set of rules he adds to throughout the series, to keep him on the right track in his life.
Bolton says that almost nothing about himself is reflected in his on-screen persona, but, like Cake, Bolton does live by his own Code. “It’s something I started working on a number of years ago. And actually, writing Cake came as a way of sort of making that more solid,” he explains.
Cake is responsible for a misfit gang of goalies including big talker Looch; Puker, who gets sick before every game; Short Bus, an eccentric but talented player; Shit Pants, the gaseous player who earned his nickname after an unfortunate espresso-related accident; and Goth Girl/Gothy/Stewart, who is Cake’s best friend. For backup, Cake keeps Doc, a drug-addled in-house physician, on staff. Sexual tension is provided by Francesca, the coffee shop owner’s daughter and sometimes romantic interest for Cake.
While some may be discouraged from the seemingly large emphasis placed on hockey in this show, that won’t stop anyone from enjoying it. “I don’t think this show is about hockey. Hockey is definitely the hook that everything is hung on, but the show is a character–based comedy, so it’s pretty easy to get into even if you’re not a fan of the game,” Bolton explains.
Fans have a lot of surprises and guest appearances to look forward to this season. “We don't have squirrels this year, which is upsetting. We’ve got broken jaws, a visitor from Cake’s past who stays, more fantastic Phil Esposito, Mike Palmateer, Darryl Sittler, and Paul Coffey. We’ve got ziplining, wrestling, it’s non-stop,” he says.
Bolton is currently on set filming the third season of Rent-a-Goalie, as well as working on getting the show picked up in the United States. “We’re working on our international deal right now. Our DVDs come out at the end of this month, and so that’s part of our international deal,” he says.
Bolton and his crew always have a fun time on set. His favourite moment was “probably spending the first day of production of the first season completely naked in front of 80 people who were coming to work with us for the next—well, really, there’s countless, countless memorable moments. It’s a really familial environment and people are extremely funny and there’s lots of laughing and lots of shenanigans,” laughs Bolton.
So far, Rent-a-Goalie was nominated for three Gemini Awards after just one season on the air and won the Canadian Comedy Awards for T.W. Peacocke for Best Direction in a Comedy Series, and Best Female Performance for Inga Cadranell. The series was also nominated for three Gemini Awards for Best Comedy Series, Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Series, and Best Achievement in Casting.
As for Bolton’s future plans, he is keeping himself busy. “We, as a company, have a few other projects in development that we’re having a lot of fun with. We’re going to do a movie in India next month. I have a four-year-old son and we’re going on a three week road trip this summer, him and I. I got lots planned,” he promises.
Season one of Rent-a-Goalie comes to DVD March 25. For more information about Rent-a-Goalie, including air times, visit http://www.showcase.ca/rentagoalie.
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