As a hockey player, he was never much of a skater, but fast-forward 20 years, and —after a career as a police officer ensued — ‘Doug the Thug’ is back.

Part two of a cinematic tale based on the very brief hockey career of Halifax resident and Hanson Police Officer Doug Smith is once again highlighted on the big screen. The sequel “Goon: The Last of the Enforcers” was released last month and is playing locally.

Smith, taking the extra attention in stride is unassuming as he recently arrived at the Halifax HOPS playground to do an interview with the Express.

In dad mode with his two daughters; Vanessa, 9, and Victoria, 7, in tow, the six-foot-two Smith has a genuine smile and down-to-earth manner. Wearing golf attire and a Scally cap he stepped out of his dated mini-van. He is passionate but not boastful about his film career, which began after best friend Adam Frattasio also a Hanover native (Frattasio was inducted in the Hanover High School Hall of Fame) convinced him to learn to skate at age 20, combining his fighting skills to become an enforcer on ice. Smith was a graduate of Hanover High Class of 1982.

Frattasio and Smith co-wrote the book, “Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey.”

“I barely had any skating abilities but I practiced every day,” Smith recalled of his ice hockey career. “I was watching friends ice skate from the sidelines for years.”

In his early 20s, just three years later, he was playing professionally as an insurance policy — protecting his teammates and showing up to fight.

The first movie, based loosely on his book, is embellished but Smith recalled the 1988 game in the East Coast Hockey League when a reporter from the Erie, Pa. Times nicknamed him “Doug the Thug.”

Smith still has the article.

After a teammate sustained a cheap shot in the Pennsylvania, Smith incited a bench clearing brawl. The next morning at their hotel the team read the Times’ screaming headlines from the game and the nickname stuck.

Smith is in the motorcycle unit — an enforcer of a different kind — as a Hanson police officer for nearly two decades. He is finding a bit of Hollywood sparkle running through his small town roots.

“I love going to work,” he said. “I work in a small town where the people are great, and my fellow officers are supportive. This was something I was able to share with them.”

He recently held a red carpet event and private viewing at the Patriot Cinema in Hanover following a spread hosted by Greg Simeone of the Harmon Golf Club, a former hockey colleague.

Smith’s first semiprofessional camp was in Winston –Salem, N.C., however the fictitious team’s character Doug Glatt plays for are set in Canada, which is where most of the cast, crew, and directors are from. He and Frattasio traveled to Toronto to film a couple cameo scenes this past year.

Impressed with the nature of the Hollywood set and all the behind-the-scenes happenings that go into making a movie, Smith called the actors “regular Joes.”

“They wanted to talk about my life as a police officer,” he said. “They asked me about the show ‘Cops.’ They were down to earth. We talked about hockey. The whole experience was cool to be involved.”

Actor Seann William Scott most notably known as Stifler in the “American Pie” series takes the lovable, and sometimes dim-witted character of Doug Glatt on a less than triumphant career path, which deemed him “second best” for success in his family. Scott reprised his role and continues to fight and meet life’s challenges as a character with his heart in the right place.

In “Goon,” Glatt is portrayed as having shown up on the ice in white women’s figure skates to hockey tryouts. The Express had to know.

“Never happened,” said Smith laughing. “The only time I would have to deal with figure skates is if I am helping my daughters and at that I’d be tying them, not wearing them.”

Smith’s career spanned six teams in four different leagues and he was  cut from Cincinnati at the end of his single season, dressed for skating when needed only as a fighter on the ice. His stats were 60 games and he logged 442 minutes in the penalty box for fighting.

When he thinks back over his career he still sees the impossible odds against his success.

“I am the same. I played lousy in 60 games and all this came of it,” he said. “I like to remain low-key and humble. People will ask me about it (the movies) and I‘ll talk with them, but it was a tough job. It was mentally stressful to know you had to fight in that atmosphere (on skates) and not fall over… they show Glatt unstable on skates …I was.  I’m 6’’2 and I was fighting 6”6 guys. I wondered… could I hold my own. I survived. I did well,” he said.

As he looks ahead in life and his career, Smith who is celebrating 11 years together with his wife Sharon, holds a passion for the Hanover Boys Club where he learned to box. He took his career in his mid-teens to amateur level fighting in the Golden Glove competitions. He remains involved as the manager and a member of the board. The Boys Club celebrates its 40th year in Hanover this year. He continues to fundraise for them.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen believes it has narrowed its search for a Fire/EMS consulting firm to two candidates, both which interviewed at the Selectmen meeting on Monday, August 28, 2017.

Selectmen spent their last two meetings interviewing candidates to study and make recommendations to improve emergency services. The funding for this study was approved last May at Annual Town Meeting.

Both Municipal Resources Inc. (MRI) and Attorney Ernest Horn are considered the likely finalists after interviewing with Selectmen and Fire Chief Warren Borsari.  Robert Loomer, Brian Duggan, and Robert Craig represented MRI in the consulting firm’s meeting with the Board and Fire Chief.

Fire Chief Borsari was impressed that Loomer, Duggan, and Craig are all retired fire chiefs. Borsari reiterated that this will help because the three of them truly understand the multitude of issues a fire department has to deal with.

Borsari said, “It’s nice to see three fire chiefs in the same room with me.”

Selectmen John Traynor asked MRI for guidance on how emergency services can be improved. He said the town is pondering all options including improving on the existing in-house advanced life support services, regionalization, shared services, and privatization. However, Traynor did say that privatization seems to be a very expensive option.

Citing past experience with towns similar in size to Plympton, MRI cautioned Selectmen about common issues with privatizing emergency services. According to MRI, the biggest issue with privatization isn’t cost, but rather the lack of control over the level of service.

Duggan said, “In years one and two it’s often cost effective.” However, he said without the revenue from having your own service, it can become “cost prohibitive” in smaller communities over the long run.

MRI spoke positively about the benefits of shared services. They said that unlike regionalized services, there’s more control with a shared service contract with another town. The consulting firm said they’ve completed 15 regionalization studies. In the end, only two of those communities ended up implementing regionalized services.

The firm said that it would also be more than willing to talk to other towns about a shared service. This includes asking towns what their concerns might be and giving a broad structure of what an agreement might look like. However, MRI’s services do not include negotiating a contract with another town.

In total, MRI said they can complete the study with a four to six month turnaround.

Attorney Ernest Horn

Attorney Ernest Horn also interviewed for the Fire/EMS study and is considered a finalist for the position. Horn has 31 years of experience working in public safety.

This experience includes time as a fire chief and also as a police chief. Horn also teaches criminal justice classes as an adjunct professor at Becker College in Worcester, Mass.

Horn described his approach as a thorough one. He said, “The preferable way to do it (studies) is from top to bottom.”

According to Horn, every employee at the fire department will be interviewed, and all equipment and records will be examined thoroughly. He said he even has a certified mechanic who will inspect every vehicle the fire department has.

Besides the mechanic, Horn said he has a team he’s selected to help with his department examination. Horn said, “I have a team of retired and current public officials with over 100 combined years of experience.”

The Board of Selectmen asked Horn about his opinions on privatization, in-house, and all the other types of service options the town could explore. Like MRI, Horn was not optimistic about privatized emergency services. Horn preferred a shared service rather than a regionalized service as well.

Horn said, “The problem with regionalization is you add another authority.” Instead, he spoke about a potential employee-sharing contract with another town since it helps with the problem of hiring and keeping employees while also sharing costs such as putting trainees through the fire academy.

Horn said it’s important the town does not become the subservient in this type of arrangement. He said Plympton would have to be on equal footing with a shared contract.

Selectmen Chair Christine Joy asked Horn if he’d be willing to negotiate with another town on Plympton’s behalf. Horn said he would be willing to do this. As a licensed attorney, Horn considers this legal advice that’s included in his $18,000 service cost.

Horn said his usual turn around for a study is 30-45 days with a report presented in 60 days. He said that he can however accommodate earlier if needed.

Selectmen plan to choose a consulting firm sometime in the middle of September.

Other News

Robert Law resigned his position as Plympton Fire Captain. The Board of Selectmen regretfully accepted his resignation and thanked him for his service.

Selectmen will be completing a survey from the Old Colony Planning Council. According to Joy, the town is in the running for a rural community grant.  If awarded, the grant will be used for road upgrades on parts of Route 106.

The next Board of Selectmen’s meeting is Monday, September 11. Open session starts at 6 p.m.