OLD-TIME hockey came to Basingstoke for one night only last Wednesday, as the Hanson brothers, from the cult ice hockey film Slapshot, were in town.

The trio of ice hockey bad boys, played by Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson, sporting their trademark thick-rimmed glasses, put on a very entertaining show for the sell-out crowd watching Team Canada Chiefs play a Bison side.

Their entrance, in a police car, was itself eye-catching, and their antics began from the opening face-off when they tripped net-minder Dan Green and put the puck into the empty net.

All three were dismissed to the sin bin by referee Dave Cloutman where they mingled with the fans by the penalty boxes.

Soon after, the trio performed the classic three-man check into the boards with Eric Braff on the receiving end. Despite their appeals, they were off to the sin bin again.

The middle session saw another of those unforgettable moments from the movie as Steve Carlson skated along the Bison bench, hitting all the players with his stick as they leaned over the ice.

The brothers then showed how to score a penalty, much to the crowd's delight.

The first Hanson brother picked up the puck and laid it back to the next who, in turn, did the same for the third. Just when he was ready to shoot, the other two brothers pushed the net sideways to leave an empty goal to fire into.

The brothers' last piece of action on the ice was when they all jumped on their net-minder, the unfortunate Dean Skinns, which led to them being thrown out of the game.

The trio then spent the next couple of hours posing for photographs and signing autographs for the scores of fans that stayed after the game, which, for the record, ended in an 11-all draw.

The brothers were amazed by the reception on their first visit to England.

Steve Carlson said: "It was a great night and the British fans certainly came out in their numbers to support us. We were not sure what the support would be like, but the whole experience has been fantastic."

From Basingstoke, the Hanson brothers were off to Germany. However, due to the success of their first visit to British soil, a return has not been ruled out.