WATCH: Trailer for 'Goalie' movie about Red Wings icon Terry Sawchuk's life, career

"Goalie" is a biopic of Terry Sawchuk's life and career.

Terry Sawchuk is a hockey icon.

He played two stints with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1950s and 1960s when goaltending was an entirely different type of position than it is today. There were no facemasks and padding was sparse, to say the least. To be a goalie was to be a different type of person altogether. As his contemporary Gump Worsley put it, "My face is my mask."

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Sawchuk is still regarded as one of the best -- if not the best -- goaltenders ever to play the game. He busted into the NHL in 1950 and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. He won the Vezina Trophy four times as the league's best goaltender. He won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and a fourth one with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1967. He held the record for shutouts (103) for 46 years until Martin Brodeur broke it in 2009.

His life off the ice was checkered with a documented battle with untreated depression, alcoholism and weight loss issues. He also apparently had a strenuous relationship with Red Wings general manager Jack Adams.

Sawchuk died in 1970 after suffering internal injuries from a fight with one of his New York Rangers teammates. The death was ruled accidental.

"Goalie" is a new movie set to be released this year that's expected to tell part of this story.

Watch the trailer here:

Canadian actor Mark O'Brien plays Sawchuk while Adams is portrayed by actor Kevin Pollak. It is set to be released sometime this year.

It will be shown in select Canadian cities at first.

1929: Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk, who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers, is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Sawchuk saw his best years come at the beginning of his career for the Red Wings, leading the team to three Stanley Cups in five years, winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie and three Vezina Trophies for the fewest goals allowed. Sawchuk finished his hockey career with 447 regular season wins, a record that stood for 30 years, and his career record of 103 shutouts remained unsurpassed among NHL goaltenders until Martin Brodeur bested the mark on Dec. 21, 2009. He died from a pulmonary embolism at age 40 on May 31, 1970. He had earlier suffered internal injuries in a drunken fight with Rangers teammate Ron Stewart and had his gallbladder removed and underwent two operations on his damaged and bleeding liver before he died.
Terry Sawchuk of the Toronto Maple Leafs kicks the puck away from the net during a game against the Montreal Canadiens Circa 1966 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)