Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, an aging hockey player and coach of the Charlestown Chiefs. The Chiefs have a hard time winning and are up for sale. Dunlop decides to toughen up his team, turning them into anything but a circus side show! The Hanson brothers are introduced as dirty "grinders" who will do anything to hurt the opponent! In the end Dunlop and the Chiefs beat the rival Tim McCraken and the Syracuse Bulldogs for the championship and stay in Charlestown.