The Rocket stands alone when it comes to hockey movies.

The quality of the on-ice product resonates throughout the two-hour film, a biopic about legendary Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard.

And it stands to reason, given that modern-day NHL players are in the film, whose English-language release is set for Friday in theatres across the country.

Mike Ricci of the Phoenix Coyotes gets the most screen time, cast as Elmer Lach who played on the famous Punch Line with Richard and Toe Blake.

"I got a call out of the blue," said Ricci, who has no previous acting experience, but whose battered nose made him a good fit for Lach.

Ricci and 15 of his Coyotes teammates were treated to a private screening while in Columbus, Ohio, last month.

"When you're doing it, you really don't know how it's looking or what's going on," said Ricci. "When I saw the movie, I was impressed. They did a great job. It looked great.

"My teammates enjoyed it, too, they had fun," added Ricci.

Fittingly, NHL bad boy Sean Avery of the Los Angeles Kings plays the role of Bob Dill, a rugged player who lasted only two years in the NHL and was called up to the New York Rangers - at least according to the film - to rough up Richard.

Even Avery laughs at the irony. In pre-season, after the film was already done, Avery got into hot water when he said a hit by then-Phoenix defenceman Denis Gauthier on Kings centre Jeremy Roenick "was typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up."

"We filmed it in the summer so at that point I didn't know that I was going to make comments that would later throw Canada into an uproar," Avery said with a laugh. "I'm sure the people at Alliance were probably excited about it, good PR for them.

"And the fact I get beat up by a French guy in the movie, that's funny too. I take the brunt of the fight, for sure."

Now Avery has the acting bug.

"I think I would certainly like to do some other things. I'm not going out and hitting casting calls by any means. I think being in L.A., there's definitely more opportunities. I really enjoyed it. I don't know how good I am, but the only way is to keep trying and I'd like to do that down the road for sure."

Ricci doesn't share Avery's zest for future roles.

"I don't know if I would ever pursue it," he said. "But if someone ever came up to me and asked me to do something and they thought I could do it, I would consider it. But I'm definitely not going to acting school anytime soon."

Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning also appears in the film, playing the great Montreal star Jean Beliveau - and he looks shockingly like him. Lecavalier, whose dad was a huge Beliveau fan, wears the same No. 4 with Tampa.

Mathieu Dandenault of the Montreal Canadiens, Ian Laperriere of the Colorado Avalanche and retired NHLer Stephane Quintal also have roles in the film.

"Definitely that was important," said Charles Biname, who directed The Rocket. "For me, even though it's not really a movie on hockey, I wanted the hockey to be brilliant. My standard was Raging Bull. If I could bring Raging Bull to the ice, I would achieve something. Because you want to see the passion, the craziness, the brutality, the violence, the hurt.

"So bringing NHL players in would guarantee a level of playing."

Actor Roy Dupuis, who deftly portrays Richard, is a solid hockey player in his own right. His skill on skates helped sell the film.

"Yeah, he did everything, that's all him," said Ricci. "There was no double in there doing his skating. And that's what made the movie I think. When you looked at Roy playing the Rocket, he looked good, he looked like the Rocket. And in other sports movies, you can tell it's somebody else skating or it looks really phoney, but he made it look real because he did it himself."

Dupuis blushed when told the NHLers in the movie were impressed by his skating.

"I'm a guy from Abitibi, I skated from the age of three," he said. "But I kind of stopped when I went back to the big city (Montreal). I let my hair grow and started to play guitar. I still played midget AAA but guys wouldn't understand why I'd miss a game to go see a Jethro Tull concert. So I was switching worlds."

Dupuis said he was curious how he'd fit on the ice with the NHL players.

"I remember the first time we rehearsed a play with Dandenault and I deked him and went in on goal. He came to me afterwards and said: 'Man, you can skate.' I said, 'Yeah?' and he said 'Yeah, I have to skate full force just to catch you.' So I was like 'Wow.' But those guys were playing on old blades, which I grew up on. So it was probably an advantage for me."

All the hockey scenes were filmed in Quebec City during a seven-day span last summer, where Le Colisee subbed in as the old Montreal Forum.

"It was the first time I had ever done anything like that," said Avery. "It was exciting, and a little bit nerve-racking the first day. Because you're in a rink with a couple of other thousand extras as well. The attitude I had is that I might as well get it right as quickly as possible. The second day you get into it more and feel more comfortable.

"It was fun, and I had never been to Quebec City either, and that was cool. It's a beautiful city."