Stanley's Cup
Stan coaches a pee-wee hockey team to save his bike.
"Stanley's Cup" is the fourteenth and final episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central on November 15, 2006, and was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode parodies the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks and BASEketball.
Quick Facts
- Series
- South Park
- Airdate
- 15 November 2006
- Director
- Trey Parker
- Guests
- Dante Alexander as Nelson Brown
- Season article
- South Park season 10
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Stan's bicycle is towed and impounded for parking violations. To get it back, he must coach a pee-wee hockey team. He faces many problems with the small boys, one of whom, Nelson, has cancer that has spread to his bone marrow. Neither team scores, and the game ends in a tie, leaving Nelson's health in limbo. Stan persuades Kyle to let his adopted brother Ike play as a ringer because Ike is Canadian; Kyle reluctantly agrees despite his mother's disapproval of hockey's danger. Meanwhile, Stan's father Randy is tormented that his son returned to hockey after Randy himself failed to win a pee-wee game. The team is invited to play at the Pepsi Center during an NHL intermission between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, with the same premise: a win gives Nelson hope. The other team does not show up, so the Avalanche let the pee-wee team play the final period against the Red Wings. The Red Wings viciously assault the boys and win 32–2. Nelson dies in the hospital, and the Red Wings celebrate to "We Are the Champions" as Stan looks on dumbfounded.
Production
Trey Parker and Matt Stone said "Stanley's Cup" began as a "bank episode," partially produced in advance at the start of the season for use later to allow rest. However, they found it increasingly difficult to finish whenever they tried. The episode was not completed until they were forced to work on it at the end of the production run, with one episode left. Because the second half of season ten lacked a true bank episode and thus no extra time off, Parker and Stone described the run as extremely difficult. Stone compared it to childbirth, while Parker thought their struggles could have led to the show's cancellation. For the commentary, both found the ending very comical after weeks of production struggle and described it as "a really happy ending for the other person's story," but noted it is polarizing among fans.
Reception
Critics generally liked "Stanley's Cup," but the episode ranks low among the show's fanbase. The creators were drained after finishing the six episodes before it and had no clear direction for this one. They came up with the ending at the last moment; while they thought it was amusing, they could see why it didn't land with many viewers. Trey Parker and Matt Stone noted that a lot of people missed the point, describing the ending as sweet and weird but misunderstood. Matt Stone added that the episode feels like three-quarters of a complete show, though the ending is "fucking sweet." Dan Iverson of IGN gave the episode a 9.1 out of 10, praising its hilarious satire and parody of a familiar movie genre, and noted it could be enjoyed even by those who never played hockey as a kid. However, he criticized the episode's jokes about Steve Irwin's death, feeling the comments came too soon.
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