Greenwich Entertainment, a leading distributor of independent films, has acquired North American distribution rights to the critically-acclaimed documentary feature Hockeyland about rival high school hockey teams in Minnesota’s North Country, one of the breeding grounds for hockey greats who go onto to collegiate and professional play, including the National Hockey League (NHL).

Greenwich Entertainment has set a September 9 theatrical release for the film, starting in Minneapolis and other Midwest cities, before expanding in the U.S. and Canada. A digital release will follow in October.

Hockeyland is directed by Tommy Haines, produced by Tommy Haines, Andrew Sherburne, and JT Haines, and executive produced by Carson Kipfer. The film has played leading documentary film festivals including DOC NYC, Big Sky, Seattle, Milwaukee, RiverRun and more.

Here’s the official description of the film:
Northern Minnesota is felt in the bones. The deep chill of a long winter, the toll of a day in the mine, bruises from the hockey rink. But times they are a changin’, and toughness is no longer the only measure of a man. In this unforgiving country, senior boys in rival communities—one emerging dynasty, one with a fabled past—skate for a last chance to etch their names into local lore. Lightning fast on-ice action is paired with a patient observational approach to examine these two communities and their teen heroes through debilitating injuries, off-ice troubles, family health concerns, and the expectations of being a future star in the NHL. These boys must keep small-town pressures, adolescent distractions, and rising testosterone under control to pursue glory with the help of their coaches’ traditional fiery speeches and new mindfulness techniques. In America’s far reaches, this is a portrait of young men on the brink. This is Hockeyland.