''He Shoots, He Scores'' (french: Lance et compte) is a Canadian '' téléroman'', or television drama series, revolving around a fictional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

team based in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. The series aired from 1986 to 1989 on the

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

network, and revival series on TQS in 2001 and on TVA from 2004 to 2015. The first season was filmed in both French and English, the English version appearing on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

as ''He Shoots, He Scores''. It was the first television series to air simultaneously in English on CBC and in French on Radio-Canada. (An earlier series, '' La famille Plouffe'', had aired on both networks, but not simultaneously; the English version aired approximately a year behind the French series. Each episode of ''Lance et Compte'', however, aired in English as ''He Shoots, He Scores'' in the same ''week''.) The series was scripted by Réjean Tremblay and Louis Caron for the first season, and by Tremblay and Jacques Jacob after that. Following the end of the regular series, a number of television movies continued to air into the 1990s. A new generation of the series started to air in 2001 and a movie was made in 2010.

Synopsis

The series was written by Réjean Tremblay and novelist

Louis Caron Louis Caron (born July 21, 1942) is a Canadian journalist and writer from Quebec."Louis Caron"< ...

for the first season (later replaced by Jacques Jacob), and tells the story of the fictional

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

team Le National from Quebec City, and its players. The main protagonist is Pierre Lambert ( Carl Marotte), the young, handsome player drafted by Le National from the

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Dragons junior team. In the first series, Pierre Lambert is selected to play for Le National de Québec, his boyhood team, along with his best friend Denis Mercure (Jean Harvey). During that year, Pierre learns how to control himself at the pro level and how to deal with hockey and his love life. The second series is focused on the World Cup of Hockey. Pierre Lambert is selected to play for Team Canada but personal issues cause him to play poorly. Pierre has to deal with those issues in time to help Canada win the World Cup. The theme of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

hockey players wanting to flee their country and play in North America is also included in the series. In the third installment of the series, with Le National de Québec dealing with big financial difficulties and with an injury-plagued Pierre Lambert, the future in Quebec is in doubt. Pierre Lambert and his friends will have to start winning and find a way to keep Le National in Quebec.

Cast

* Carl Marotte : Pierre Lambert *

Macha Méril Macha Méril (; born Princess Maria-Magdalena Vladimirovna Gagarina on 3 September 1940) is a French actress and writer. Biography Méril is descended by her father from the Russian princely house Gagarin and by her mother from a Ukrainian nobl ...

: Maroussia Lambert *

Yvan Ponton Yvan Ponton (born 22 October 1945) is a Canadian actor, commentator and television host. Ponton has had a lengthy acting career which includes roles in a variety of major French-Canadian television shows and movies. He is most well known to En ...

: Jacques Mercier * Marc Messier : Marc Gagnon * Michel Forget : Gilles Guilbeault * Sylvie Bourque : Linda Hébert * Marina Orsini : Suzie Lambert * Jean Harvey : Denis Mercure * Marie-Chantal Labelle : Ginette Létourneau * Denis Bouchard : Lucien Boivin * Jean Deschênes : Paul Couture * Thomas Donohue : Phil Aubry * Eric Hoziel : Mac Templeton * Jean-Sébastien Lord : Hugo Lambert * Robert Marien : Robert Martin * David Nerman : Steve Bradshaw * Lise Thouin : Nicole Gagnon * August Schellenberg : Allan Goldman * Timothy Webber : Gary Bennett * Sophie Renoir : Marie-Lou * Daniela Akerblom : Geneviève *

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award no ...

: Anders Johansson

Background

''Lance et Compte'' is a common

Quebec French Quebec French (french: français québécois ), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in educ ...

hockey expression, equivalent to the English "He shoots, he scores" (the latter was originally one of the catchphrases of hockey commentator Foster Hewitt). The team Le National is a direct copy of the real-life Nordiques, up to the logo (the Nordiques have the

lower case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

letter "N" as symbol; the National has a

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

"N"). The Dragons are themselves a copy of the

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origi ...

from the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

. Copies of real organizations are common in Québécois téléromans. Examples: '' La Presse'' newspaper is ''L'Express'' in the episode "Scoop" and the ''

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. No official English name exists, but the agency's name is sometimes translated to 'Quebec Provincial Police' or QPP in English-language sources. The headquarter ...

'' police force is the ''Sûreté nationale'' in "Jasmine". However in the TV movies that aired immediately following the original series, the real junior team names are used including the

and the

Shawinigan Cataractes The Shawinigan Cataractes (french: Cataractes de Shawinigan) are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada. The Cataractes have been previously known as the Shawinigan Brui ...

. The show also became known was known for its occasional somewhat risqué love scenes.

Incarnations

In addition to its English airing in Canada, the show was adapted in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

as ''Cogne et gagne'', with France French dubbing. A well known incarnation of ''Lance et Compte'' is the series of parody sketches of Rock et Belles Oreilles dubbed ''Snappe pis Bourdonne''. Several TV movies have been made in the franchise and were shown on TVA from 1991 to 1992. # ''Tous pour un'' # ''Le Crime de Lulu'' # ''Le Moment de vérité'' # ''Le Choix'' # ''Envers et contre tous'' # ''Le Retour du chat'' A new generation of the original series started to air in 2001 with a new breed of players (and presence of the original characters) and aired on TQS. Since 2004, three more series have been aired on TVA and a fourth is currently under production also to be aired on TVA. ''Lance et Compte: La Nouvelle Génération'' focuses on a new star named Danny Bouchard. Pierre Lambert is now retired and the agent of Bouchard. Le National de Québec have been playing very poorly for years now and if the team continues losing they might yet again be threatened to move out of the city. With the help of the new coaches, Le National have to find a way to win and fast. ''La Reconquête'' focuses on the love life of Danny Bouchard and Marc Gagnon. Bouchard is rapidly turned into a man he is not by his new mistress Valérie Nantel and could result in a dramatic ending. Marc Gagnon also has to find a way to deal with his emotions as he still has feelings for his ex, Suzie Lambert. ''In Lance et Compte: La Revanche'', Pierre Lambert's son, Guy, is called up by Le National de Québec in the middle of the season. In his first game, he injures and kills a player from the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

with a body check into the boards. The series primarily focuses on his trial and his love life but also on the revenge of Annie Girard, Danny Bouchard's widow, towards his mistress Valerie Nantel. The theme of

steroids in sports In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports. The term ''doping'' is widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use of ...

has also been included in this installment. ''Le Grand Duel'', the show's seventh season aired on TVA in Fall 2009, it focuses on the rivalry between

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and

it also includes Suzie Lambert's battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

. The theme of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

in minor hockey is also included in the series. A movie called ''Lance et Compe: Le Film'' ("Lance et Compte: The Movie") hit the theaters on November 26, 2010. It focused on the crash of the team bus between Roberval and Quebec City. At least half the team and coaches died from the crash. The 8th season titled ''Lance et Compte: La Déchirure'' is a direct follow up to the movie. The 9th and final season titled ''Lance et Compte: La Finale'', starring

Jason Roy Léveillée Jason Roy-Léveillée (born October 1, 1983 in Saint-Quentin, New-Brunswick) is a Canadian actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in ''Virginie'' (1996) when he was 13 years old. Early life Son of Paul Léveillée and Kendall Roy was ...

and Sarah Dagenais-Hakim as part of a new generation, was broadcast in 2015."Le retour de Lance et compte : Go, go go !"
'' Métro, January 9, 2015.

References

External links