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Showing posts from September, 2008

Hockey Player For Life by Howard Shapiro

Howard Shapiro returns with the new book Hockey Player For Life Buy The Book - | Author's Website - Amazon.ca - chapters.indigo.ca - Amazon.com | Shapiro, who wrote Hockey Days in 2007, continues the story of 13 year old Tom Leonard. This book is a full juvenile novel, offering 127 pages of Tom's youthful dreams of big league hockey. In this story Tom gets invited to try out with an all star junior team in Toronto. That can only mean the NHL is not far away, right? Well, not exactly. While his dream may not have played out like he wanted to, Tom learns more several important lessons of life from his mom and dad and best friend Terry. Through these lessons he learns what it truly means to be a hockey player for life. It is these lessons of life that are the true value of Shapiro's offering. The message and morals passed on in this book will be eagerly welcomed by any parent looking to give their kids a Christmas gift of quality reading. The book is aimed at the 11-15 ye

Patrick Roy Book Now On Store Shelves

It's here folks! Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else , written by Patrick's father Michel Roy, may be the most anticipated title of season. I haven't had a chance to get my hands and eyes on a review copy on this title yet, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew it was out. The book: Amazon.ca , Hardcover, 416 pages The Author: Michel Roy The Publisher: Wiley Release Date: September 25, 2008 Order: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com Book Description The bestselling bio of NHL Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy--now in a new English-language edition Published in Canada in November 2007, the French-language version of this book, Le Guerrier, became an instant hit, quickly selling out its first print run. For fans of Patrick Roy, the legendary NHL goalie, the book provided the first truly intimate, no-holds-barred look at the early life and meteoric rise of their hero, told from a unique perspective: his father's. Written by Michel Roy, himself an impassioned hockey fan, Patrick R

Sad news about Raincoast Books

It took me several months of unreturned emails to the publicity contacts, but I finally have figured out why Raincoast Books have been so quiet on the hockey book front this fall. Raincoast has always been one of my favorite publishers because of the incredible quality of design and structure they invest into their projects. I would have paid them to have had Legends of Team Canada published under their banner. In conversation with Chris Mizzoni, author of Clancy With The Puck , I learned it was announced way back in January that Raincoast will stop publishing books after 2008 . The company cites rising costs associated with the high Canadian dollar as the reason. The truth is probably now that the Harry Potter books are finished, they do not want any part of the seemingly always perilous condition of the Canadian publishing industry. The company will return to it's core business of wholesale distribution. It's really a loss for hockey book fans. Like I said, Raincoast has put

Zamboni History A Bargain At Chapters

I was in a Coles bookstore (Chapters affiliate) today and noticed a new hockey title on the 80% off bargain tables. Sure enough, chapters.indigo.ca has it listed now too. Zamboni by Eric Dregni is 128 page hardcover book covering the entire history of hockey's most famous machine. The book honours inventor Frank J. Zamboni, offering a fun-filled history of "machine-age ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that forever changed the nature of sports on ice." The book is officially licensed by Zamboni which allows for a wealth of material from the Zamboni archives. There's a complete history of the machine's evolution to entertaining sidebars and dozens of amazing photographs. It's only $4.99 now at chapters.indigo.ca folks. A great pick up.

Interview With The Author: Jim Hynes of Saving Face: The Art and History Of The Goalie Mask

I'm lucky enough to have had a chat with Jim Hynes, one of the authors behind Saving Face: The Art and History of the Goalie Mask . Jim was kind enough to answer my questions about the book, the masks and the goalies. Buy at | Amazon.ca - chapters.indigo.ca - Amazon.com | HBR - You give a thorough chronological history of the great innovators of the goalie mask - Clint Benedict, Jacques Plante, Delbert Louch, Bill Burchmore, Lefty Wilson, Ernie Higgins, Jim Homouth, Greg Harrison, Michel Lefebvre, Dave Dryden, Ed Cubberly, Jerry Wright, and then painters like Gerry Cheevers, Frank Cipra, Ray Bishop, and Todd Miska. Was there one man who was more instrumental in the development of the goalie mask than the others? Jim Hynes: I have to give the tip of my CCM helmet there to Bill Burchmore. He came up with the idea of using fibreglass...and everyone else followed for the next 25 years. His masks were a little crude, Higgin's designs worked better, but Burchmore started T

2008 Hockey Book Preview: The Meaning Of Puck

The Meaning of Puck: How Hockey Explains Modern Canada Hardcover: 232 pages Publisher: Key Porter Books; 1 edition (Oct 8 2008) ISBN-10: 1554700418 ISBN-13: 978-1554700417 Pre-Order at | Amazon.ca - chapters.indigo.ca - Amazon.com | Book Description Hockey is more than a game or even a way of life in Canada. Its a perfect window into the issues that confront the nation as it nears its 150th birthday with all its achievements and its challenges. Canada is a land of contradiction and curiosity that is best summed up in the national sport. In The Meaning of Puck: How Hockey Explains Modern Canada , bestselling author Bruce Dowbiggin takes a tour of the country using hockey as his itinerary. In a series of essays, he shows how the national passion of hockey reflects the issues of globalization, regionalism, anti-Americanism and militarism in the new century. Using the dominant themes of the sport, The Meaning of Puck shows the challenges before the nation. More than just a sports bo

Canada On Ice - The World Hockey Championships, 1920-2008 by Dave Holland

Every year a hockey book seemingly comes out of the blue and surprises me. In 2008 that hockey book is Dave Holland's Canada On Ice - The World Hockey Championships, 1920-2008 . Even though the book has been out since March, somehow I didn't even know about the book until Holland himself contacted me in September. There's a pretty good chance you don't know about it either. It is a wonderfully produced self-published effort, though the big book chains don't care or carry it. It is not available at Chapters or Amazon Canada's website. It is available at Amazon.com for $30, or through the book's companion website - Canada On Ice . You will need PayPal to purchase the book there. When Holland contacted me about his book I was downright giddy. I'm a huge international hockey/Team Canada fan, as you all know. While Canadians seemingly have an unquenchable thirst for hockey, the World Hockey Championships have never really be Canadian fans' cup of tea. Th

Wiley Hockey Book Giveaway

Publishing giant Wiley is giving away hockey books, exclusively through HockeyBookReviews.com . Wiley is giving away a prize pack of three new hockey books. The titles included are Saving Face , Black and Gold , and Open Ice . How do you win? You have to answer three trivia questions correctly, one about each book. If you get all three correct, you're entered into the draw for the grand prize! It's as simple as keeping your stick on the ice! Here's the questions: 1. Saving Face - What goalie famously painted stitches on his mask every time it got hit by a puck? 2. Black and Gold - What two Boston Bruins players are on the cover of Black and Gold? 3. Open Ice - What university did the late Jack Falla teach sports journalism at? All the answers can be found on HockeyBookReviews.com . When you think you know the answers to these trivia questions, email your entry to hockeybookcontest@hotmail.com Contest closes October 24th, 2008. One entry per person. Contest is open to No

Bargain Books At Chapters

There's a number of bargain hockey books available in the 80% off bins at Chapters , Canada's largest bookseller. Now available at Chapters.ca bargain books section is 2006's smash hit Searching For Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt. Brunt provides the definitive if unauthorized biography on one of the sport's biggest names. This book was the hit of the 2006. Now you can get it for just 10 bucks ! Going To The Net by Al Strachan is now available for just 7 bucks . Players and coaches of genius come along; rules and tactics and strategies evolve; careers ebb and flow. And the best way to see how the game changes is to look at the goals, the events that led up to them, and the way they change hockey history. From Canada’s ultimate hockey insider comes the lowdown on the personalities, the dressing-room banter, the chalk-talk, the sweat-stained passion behind eight of the goals that changed the game. There are moments in hockey history that matter even more than the question o
Pre-order: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

New Hockey Books To Paperback

Did you hold out on a hockey book last year, hoping 2008 would bring the paperback release at significant price reduction? Been there, done that! Here's a look at 2008's new paperback releases: Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup - Buy at | Amazon.ca - chapters.indigo.ca - Amazon.com | Gretzky to Lemieux captures the on-ice drama that led to the historic three-game final, and the stories behind it. Ed Willes adds depth and weight to the games by revealing the rebellion among Soviet hockey stars in the early days of Glasnost and a crumbling Soviet Union; the trouble brewing for Alan Eagleson; the ascendancy of Mario Lemieux; and the end of the glorious Gretzky era in Edmonton. Packed with interviews of players and coaches, Gretzky to Lemieux tells the full story of the greatest hockey ever played. Full 2007 Hardcover Book Review King of Russia: A Year in the Russian Super League - A revealing look inside the Russian Super League by its first Canadian coach.

Jack Falla Dies At Age 62

Just days after the release of the much acclaimed book Open Ice , writer/educator Jack Falla died suddenly. He was just 62. The Boston Globe has a touching remembrance , including the above photo. The Hockey News says it was heart failure . Mark Feinsand, a former student of Falla's who know covers the New York Yankees for the New York Daily News, remembers his mentor at Blogging The Bombers . This is a surreal moment for me. Just the other day I completed an interview with Falla (yet to be published). I remember thinking to myself that I'm a complete amateur interviewing the best in the business and the mentor for so many other sports journalists. He treated with me great class and respect, regardless of who I was.