Austin Powers, Eric Murphy Embrace the Puck

This is the teaser poster for the new Mike Myers comedy "The Love Guru," which is due out this summer. We've been covering its journey to a sticky-floored theater near you here on FanHouse for four reasons:

• 1. There's always the chance that this film will produce an iconic comedic figure like Austin Powers or Wayne Campbell rather than an annoying and then completely forgettable creation like "The Cat in the Hat."
• 2. Jessica Alba is in the film.
• 3. The NHL, and hockey in general, play a central role in the plot.
• 4. Jessica Alba is in the film.

The great Jeremy Smith of CHUD.com provides the details:

The Love Guru is about an American child named Pitka whose upbringing in an Indian ashram prepares him for life as one of those self-help kooks. Pitka's expertise is called upon to help resolve marital discord between Darren Roanoke, the star center of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Romany Malco), and his wife. When Roanoke's wife takes up with Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake), a rival player from the Los Angeles Kings, the Maple Leafs' star falls into a slump. The only way for the Leafs to salvage their season is for Pitka to reunite Roanoke with his wife. I'm already in stitches.

Aw, c'mon. To be fair, Romany Malco was comedy gold as Jay in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." And if Timberlake has an extended music video about giving his lady a phallic gift "In a Penalty Box," we're in business. But more than anything, this film could be the tip of the iceberg for the NHL's takeover of Hollywood. More on that, and a larger "Guru" poster image, after the jump.

Rick Westhead of The Toronto Star explained recently how the NHL plans to capitalize on the buzz for a new Mike Myers comedy this summer. But Westhead hinted that there might be another interesting project on the horizon, courtesy of one Mr. Eric Murphy (you know, Vinnie Chase's friend/manager):

In the days before the Hollywood writers' strike, Kevin Connolly, who stars in the HBO series Entourage, was discussing the idea of producing a show about the life of a hockey minor-leaguer with an agent and NHL players Mathieu Schneider and Anson Carter. With the strike settled, it's possible they may revisit that idea in coming weeks.

The concept for what could be a character-driven show came from a night in Toronto when the Maple Leafs honoured goalie Ed Belfour, says a person familiar with the matter.

"Hockey wouldn't be the focus of the show; it'd be about the characters in the sport," the person says. "You looked at (Belfour's) wife's face that night of the ceremony, and it was like it had just hit her and she was thinking, `Oh my god, this means he's going to be around the house now all the time.'"

"Hockey wouldn't be the focus of the show" might not inspire much confidence from the die-hards, but that's exactly how you sell fictional hockey to the non-believers. "Slap Shot" was a sex comedy with heavy doses of knowing hockey satire. "Mystery, Alaska" was a character study with hockey as the connective thread (and Myers was absolutely brilliant as the Don Cherry-esque announcer Donnie Shulzhoffer). Even a show like "Entourage" is as much a buddy comedy as it is about the Hollywood system. (There has to be a place in that Connolly hockey show for Kevin Dillon, right?)

The bottom line with "The Love Guru" and whatever Connolly cooks up is that there's talent behind both projects with a passion for hockey: Myers's puck credentials can't be questioned -- he had characters named Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky in "Austin Powers" -- and Connolly is a die-hard Islanders fan. The Game can use that kind of advocacy -- as long as the end result is better than "Shrek the Third," that is.

Another look at "The Love Guru":