Hanson Brothers

The Hanson Brothers are fictional characters in the 1977 movie Slap Shot. The characters are based on the Carlson brothers, who were actual hockey players. Two of them starred in the film.

The movie, which stars Paul Newman, was written by Nancy Dowd. The story was based in part upon the experiences of her brother, Ned Dowd (who appears in the film as notorious hockey player Ogie Ogelthorpe), when he played for the North American Hockey League club in Pennsylvania called the Johnstown Jets.

The Hanson Brothers provide several humorous moments in the film and are best remembered for:

In the film, The Hansons are brought in by the front office as part of an inexpensive deal, also as enforcers for the fledgling Charlestown Chiefs during their 1976 (and final) season in the Federal League. They are in order of their numbers:

Jack Carlson was unable to act in the film as the Edmonton Oilers called him up for the WHA playoffs. In his place, Dave Hanson (born April 12, 1954 in Cumberland, Wisconsin) filled the role.

While the film's 'Hanson Brothers' were based on the real Carlson Brothers, the character of "Killer Carlson" is based on Dave Hanson-whose real hockey nickname was "Killer" Hanson. Thus, Dave Hanson filled in for Jack Carlson as one of the fictional Hanson Brothers - while another actor played a character modeled after Dave Hanson. Jack Carlson, the man Dave "played" in the movie, was also very well known throughout his career as an enforcer, and did pick up the real hockey nickname "Killer" Carlson.

In the movie, the Hanson Brothers speak with a typical North Central American accent, owing to their hometowns, in areas where hockey is prevalent. The United States Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Eveleth, Minnesota, only a few miles from the city of Virginia, home of the Carlsons. The Iron League, from which the Hansons are supposedly bought, may be a reference to the Marquette Iron Rangers or the Iron Range, a hockey hotbed in Northern Minnesota. The Marquette Iron Rangers, however, were in Marquette, Michigan, and not Minnesota.

...
Wikipedia