The events surrounding the ill-treatment of an American hockey team in Canada is the subject of the MOW Sticks and Stones, now shooting for CTV through Cirrus Communications and Dream Street Pictures.

Directed by George Mihalka (Race to Mars) from a script by Sharon Buckingham (To Walk with Lions), John McBrearty and Andrew Wreggitt (Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story), Sticks and Stones stars Saskatoon-born David Sutcliffe (Gilmore Girls) as the New Brunswick father and coach who helped organize a friendship hockey series in 2004 to make up for the harassment suffered by a Massachusetts peewee team at the hands of Montreal anti-war protesters. The film also stars John Robinson (Head in the Clouds) and newcomer Alexander De Jordy.

The two-hour MOW is shooting in Fredericton, Saint John, the greater Halifax area and Montreal until June 2.

‘Sticks and Stones offers a compelling script backed by a strong cast that brings this controversial yet heart-warming story to life,’ said CTV programming boss Susanne Boyce in a release.

‘This movie is inspired by a story of north-south reconciliation that happened right in our own backyard,’ says Rick LeGuerrier of New Brunswick-based Dream Street Pictures (Canada Russia ’72), who produces along with Tim Hogan. André Béraud and Josée Vallée produce for Montreal’s Cirrus Communications (C.R.A.Z.Y.). Funders include the CTF, Shaw Rocket Fund and New Brunswick Film.

Though no airdate has been set, a CTV spokesperson says the network is planning to air Sticks and Stones in the 2007/08 season.