“ | Good luck finding the guy that can do that. | ” |
— Craig Marko |
While trying to save a stubborn hockey enforcer from sustaining permanent injury in the playoffs, the Leverage crew discovers that someone has nefarious designs on the team.
The Client[]
The son of Craig Marko, a hockey player for the Oregon Otters, a local semi-pro hockey team. Marko is the team's "enforcer", a player whose responsibility is to keep order on the ice. On the Otters, Marko's job is to bring in the fans by fighting, including picking fights if necessary. As a result, Marko has sustained numerous blows to the head that his son fears are affecting his memory and may have fatal consequences.
The Mark[]
Pete Rising, owner of the Oregon Otters. Rising is a former player himself with an undistinguished career. To build up fan loyalty and excitement on the ice, he offered enforcer Craig Marko, a $500,000 bonus if he fights at least once in every match. Rising secretly arranged for faked medical records to make it appear like Marko is fit to play when in actuality, the next blow could kill him. Rising is also embezzling from the team, and is attempting to avoid paying the bonus to Marko.
Locations[]
- Portland Memorial Coliseum, a sports arena in Portland, Oregon, and current home of the Portland WinterHawks, a major junior league ice hockey team.
The Con[]
Guest Cast[]
- Treat Williams (Pete Rising):
- Graham Shiels (Craig Marko):
- Thure Riefenstein (Vladimir Busiak):
Episode Notes[]
- Vladimir Busiak says another name for Sophie, "Rosa", and she apparently partnered with him on a previous (grift) job prior to the formation of Leverage Consulting & Associates.
Trivia[]
- Sophie Devereaux claims to have successfully stolen the Stanley Cup, and replaced it with a fake (though not a very good one). She also claims not to remember where the real one is currently located. This may be a reference to a humorous FedEx commercial from 1999, when two identical crates are switched, sending the Stanley Cup to Bolivia, and leaving a victory celebration of the Detroit Red Wings holding a crate full of feed.
- Player in the penalty box with black rim glasses refers to the movie "Slap Shot", starring Paul Newman.
- Treat Williams who plays Pete Rising is credited as a Special Guest Star.
- Parker asks Hardison how that movie ended because she fell asleep. He said, "Soylent Green is people". Is based on a 1973 American science fiction film movie called Soylent Green.