Like many, we recently rewatched the 1996 classic movie “Happy Gilmore” to prepare for Netflix’s release of “Happy Gilmore 2.”

For those unfamiliar with Happy’s saga, it’s a classic about a not-so-good hockey player turning his wicked slap shot into the longest golf drives ever. As revealed early in the sequel, it generates a glorious PGA Tour career.

Watching Adam Sandler’s 500-yard drives and seeing-eye putts (using a hockey stick), not to mention the humor associated with a hockey bruiser challenging golf’s traditional etiquette, made this a lovable film.

To be sure, most of the 1996 version is politically incorrect for contemporary sensibilities, but the 2025 version made fun of the original, putting most of it into an entertaining perspective.

So, why waste precious column space commenting on a feature film?

Well, you may have noticed a recent partnership between the National Hockey League and Italy’s Serie A in the run-up to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics (slated to include NHL players).

Much like Happy picking up his 9-iron, some of the NHL’s best put on soccer cleats in Milan last month to leverage Serie A’s huge popularity and rev up attention for the men’s Olympic hockey tournament six months later.

Say what?

Yep, numerous NHL players from Europe joined Serie A players training together in late August, just before the launch of the Italian soccer season. After fooling around........

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