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“I was attracted to the work because it’s rife with incredible powerful imagery right from the first page,” states JUSTIN SIMMS, St. John’s-based Director of NIGHT WORK: A SAWCHUK POEM by long-time Corner Brook resident and poet RANDALL MAGGS. “For ten years, Randy immersed himself in the cult and culture of hockey in the early days of the sport, before they wore much equipment, before a goalie wore a mask. What kind of man puts himself in the path of a rubber missile travelling straight to his head at the velocity of a Bobby Hull shot? That’s what we explore in the film.”

Director Justin Simms called on his colleague, award-winning talent GREG SPOTTISWOOD to adapt the screenplay from the book. For the BookShort film, they delve into the mythology of the man as sports legend, but also touch upon the very human side of Sawchuk, who suffered from untreated depression and died at the age of 40 after a scuffle with a teammate.

Featuring DES WALSH as Gerald; PHIL CHURCHILL as young Randall; LOIS BROWN as the voice of reason.

Shot entirely on location in Beachy Cove, NL - close to one of the towns that the real Terry Sawchuk visited during the 1956 exhibition tour arranged for the Boston Bruins that year. With thanks to Beachy Cove Cafe.

DAVID GRAY, original music; CHRIS DARLINGTON, Editor / Graphics; NIGEL MARKHAM, Director of Photography.

Brick Books

Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems
by Randall Maggs

In compact, conversational poems that build into a narrative long poem, Night Work: the Sawchuk Poems follows the tragic trajectory of the life and work of Terry Sawchuk, dark driven genius of a goalie who survived twenty tough seasons in an era of inadequate upper-body equipment and no player representation. But no summary touches the searching intensity of Maggs's poems.

For more event updates and info on the book visit

Randy and the film appeared at these events:

19 Feb Tues Launch event with special guests Stephen Brunt, Paul Quarrington, and BookShorts' NIGHT WORK Screenwriter Greg Spottiswood who will introduce the film's premiere

The Great Hall, Hockey Hall of Fame
Brookfield Place, 30 Yonge Street, Toronto
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:00 p.m.

21 Feb Thurs
Winnipeg, McNally Robinson Booksellers, 8pm
Book Launch Event & Film Screening w/ Author Randall Maggs
(NOTE Author arrives in Winnipeg Feb 20 and will be available for press)
Contact Kitty Lewis Brick.Books@Sympatico.Ca or (519) 657-8579

26 Feb Tues
Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame, 7:30pm
Book Launch Event & Film Screening w/ Author Randall Maggs
(NOTE Author arrives in Corner Brook Feb 22 and will be available for press)
Contact Kitty Lewis Brick.Books@Sympatico.Ca or (519) 657-8579

The press coverage is rolling in!

Winnpeg Free Press - March 23

Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems (Brick, 224 pages, $20) is his (Maggs) second book. Lovingly and obsessively researched, it reads like a combination sports bio and Greek tragedy. ... with its extended prose passages and long-lined, pulsing free verse, is as riveting as a novel can be. It's a tour de force that uses the techniques of lyric poetry to go beyond the genre's limitations. - Maurice Mierau, Winnipeg Free Press

The Globe and Mail - March 8

The (Montreal) Gazette - March 10

Toronto Star - March 9

What's On Winnipeg (video report from Canadian Press) - February 20

Canoe.ca (CP) - February 19

National Post - February 20

The Western Star - January 31

The Winnipeg Sun - February 20

UkraniaTV On the Net - January 2008