''MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives'' (known as ''Trophy Wives'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2008

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that debuted January 11, 2008 on CBC Television. The program was cancelled by the CBC on March 7, 2008. Poor ratings and high production costs were cited as reasons for the cancellation.

Summary

The show portrays the lives of

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

players and their wives when they are off the

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

. The show is set in Canada, where hockey is a favourite sport. The show centres on the Mustangs, a professional hockey team. After the death of veteran captain Adam McBride, there are many changes in store for the team and others connected: Gabe McCall, the coach's son, becomes the team captain; a rookie named Trevor Lemonde is controversially added to the team; McBride's wife, Evelyn, and their daughter Molly, must adjust to a new lifestyle after there is no money left to them. According to producer Mary Young Leckie, the show is inspired by, although not a direct adaptation of, the British series ''

Footballers' Wives ''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives, broadcast on ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focuses on three very different couples, but ...

''.

Cast

* Lucas Bryant as Gabe McCall * Dillon Casey as Trevor Lemonde *

Matthew Bennett Matthew Ray Bennett (born April 9, 1968) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. He is best known for portraying Detective Len Harper on ''Cold Squad'' and his recurring roles as Aaron Doral cylon model number five in the reimagined '' Battle ...

as Malcolm LeBlanc * Peter Miller as Damon Trebuche *

Kristin Booth Kristin Booth (born August 28, 1974) is a Canadian actress, born in Kitchener, Ontario. She graduated with Honours BFA from Ryerson Theatre School at Ryerson Polytechnic University in 1997. Career Kristin Booth grew up in Kinkora, near the S ...

as Connie * Anastasia Phillips as Tabbi *

Deborah Odell Deborah Lee O'Dell (born October 5, 1973) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has appeared in various films and TV series. Early life Deborah O'Dell was born in St. John's, Newfoundland on October 5, 1973. Career Deborah made her acting deb ...

as Evelyn McBride * Natalie Krill as Molly *

Olivia Waldriff Olivia may refer to: People * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer) (Olivia Longott, born 1981), American singer * Olívia (basketball) (Carlos Henrique Rodrigues do Nascimento, born 19 ...

as Grace Morris *

Amanda Brugel Amanda Brugel (born March 24, 1978) is a Canadian actress. Born and raised in Pointe-Claire (a suburb of Montreal), Quebec, she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Vendetta'' (1999). This was followed by roles in the comedy film ''A Diva's C ...

as Megan Chandler * Alec McClure as Owen Chandler *

Deanna Dezmari Deanna or DeAnna is a feminine given name. People with the given name * DeAnna Bennett (born 1984), American mixed martial artist * Deanna Bogart (born 1959), American blues singer, pianist, and saxophone player * Deanna Brooks (born 1974), Americ ...

as Katrina

Production

The Screen Door production began filming in 2006 in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

areas and generated wide interest including from the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

itself. The budget for the first ten episodes was approximately $14 million. It was distributed by Screendoor International.

Episodes

United States

MVP premiered Thursday, June 19, 2008 on SOAPnet, and had a special promotional airing Friday, June 20, 2008 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

after the

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

, where it was the lowest-rated Big Four network program of the week.Lisa de Moraes - Disney's 'Camp Rock': Lodged at the Summit - washingtonpost.com
/ref> The promotional subtitle in the United States was changed to ''He Shoots, She Scores''.

United Kingdom

Digital broadcaster

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named S ...

has secured the rights to MVP in the UK, but only showed four episodes since airing it on May 4, 2009. The series has been re-titled ''Trophy Wives'' for the British market. After re-branding itself from Living Loves to

Sky Living Loves Sky Living Loves (formerly Living Loves) was a British television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting. It launched on 5 July 2010 and closed on 21 February 2012. It was the sister channel of Sky Living and Sky Livingit. History On 1 July 2 ...

starting January 2011, episodes have been re-shown (including those not previously broadcast on Living TV) every Thursday and Saturday.

References

External links

Behind the MVP door

Inside the CBC - MVP

Hot enough to melt the ice: CBC's MVP
* {{IMDb title, 0808358, MVP 2008 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian drama television series CBC Television original programming Canadian television soap operas Ice hockey television series Television shows filmed in London, Ontario Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows filmed in Hamilton, Ontario