If you were to walk into the University of Alberta’s Clare Drake Arena last Thursday night, you would be forgiven for thinking there was a hockey game happening. To the untrained eye it would appear so, but this hockey game was entirely fictional. The arena was hosting the live set for one of the last days of filming on Smudge the Blades, a new movie that sprung from the memories of Cody Lightning. “It’s loosely based off of... rez life,” says Lightning. “Rez experiences with hockey and tournaments and relationships, ups and downs and everything in between.” Lightning grew up on Samson Cree First Nation, spending time as a referee for his nation’s hockey team during his formative years while also building an acting career. The Marvel’s Echo actor wrote the dramedy screenplay with Samuel Miller, drawing on memories and aiming to create an authentic portrait of life on reserve. “Each one of these characters, you’re going to laugh with... and each one you’re going to cry with,” says Lightning. “That’s who we are as Indigenous people. We have a hilariousness to us and a very, very sad darkness to us. This film’s going to showcase all of that.” Smudge the Blades tells the coming-of-age story of a Triple-A Treaty Six hockey team during their last turbulent year of eligibility in a Northern Alberta hockey league. The film stars Lightning, Paulina Alexis and Ed Helms - who is also a producer on the project - alongside a cast of young hockey players. The filmmakers wanted to accurately portray the experiences of young Indigenous people as they play on a team that represents their home. “It’s a really community driven thing, Indigenous hockey. It’s incredibly popular,” says Blades producer Joshua Jackson. “It’s one of the...unifying things that brings the entire community together. And these young people carry the pride of their nation on their backs. They try to represent their tribe and their nation the best way they can. So they put everything into it. And sometimes to a fault. And the story will... explore some of those things too, when you... get a little too high of expectations, and life serves you a little bit of reality. For the audience, we want to show that authenticity of Indigenous hockey.”' Part of the search for authenticity was the decision to cast real hockey players from nearby reserves as the team’s players. Lightning wanted to make sure the hockey in his hockey movie delivered. “We cast hockey players that can act,” says Lightning. “The hockey was the number one thing for me, to make it look authentic. I didn’t want it to be cheesy. I didn’t want to teach actors how to play hockey. I wanted to coach hockey players to act and express themselves in a proper way to create a beautiful story. And that’s exactly what we got. Every single player on this team embodies everything that we wrote for this.” The experience of working with the young cast has been rewarding for other actors on set, like Jana Schmieding, who plays the mother of one of Blades’ players. “It’s so awesome to see these young guys come from reserves all over the region, just coming in and doing a film for the first time,” says Schmieding. “They’re absolutely loving it and they’re great at it.” “These stories are so real,” says Jackson. “These characters are so real. It’s going to be a very heart-gripping kind of rollercoaster story of the Indigenous young people.” Smudge the Blades is expected to be ready in time to hit the festival circuit in 2026.
