Hockey Book Reviews.com

This is how Johnny Bower celebrated New Year's 1970. Just after Christmas 1969 he broke his leg, an injury that would ultimately lead to the end of his career. This image comes from Bower's autobiography, The China Wall: The Timeless Legend of Johnny Bower . It is an awesome collection of stories from one of the most popular hockey players ever. Happy New Year's everybody!

A couple of weeks ago I named Theo Fleury's book Playing With Fire as the Hockey Book Reviews.com 2009 Book Of The Year . It was a pretty easy choice this year, due to Theo's tragic story, the book's impact and bestselling status. But I was also full of praise for the book's authorship. It is Theo's story, but Kirstie McLellan Day is the book's unsung hero. She understood her subject probably more than she wanted to. By doing so, she kept the emotion and the anger in the text brilliantly. I recently had the chance to chat with Kirstie McLellan Day, seen below with Theo Fleury at a recent book signing. Here's the interview: From one author to another, what is it like to wake up in the morning, look at the bestselling books list in a variety of newspapers/media sources and see your book at the very top?! As you know Joe when you are a storyteller, your main goal is to have people listen to your stories. So it is really gratifying to hear that someone is tou...

So I've got a late inclusion here for the 2009 hockey book year. And I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's called Waiting to Score by J.E. MacLeod. It is of the Young Adult genre, which makes the sexually suggestive title complete with the cover boy dreamy model all the more horrifying. Then you read the inside jacket flap and alarm bells sound. "Quirky, smart and good looking, Zack Chase is a book-loving, talented hockey player. New in town, Zack's pitted against obnoxious Mac, the hockey team captain with something against Jane, the alluring Goth girl who's caught Zack's eye. As he copes with sore losers, other people's drinking problems and the consequences of making out with too many girls, Zack discovers other ways he wants to score in life, especially as a 15 year old guy with spiking hormones." Whoa! That was enough for me. I never read another word. What I did do, against any good judgment I mistakenly thought I possessed, I tossed t...

With the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens officially upon us, I thought I'd count down the top ten books about Les Glorieux: 10. Jacques Plante: Man Who Changed Face of Hockey by Todd Denault - Published just this autumn, it is one of the best hockey biographies I've ever read. On top of that, the book captures the essence of the 1950s dynasty nicely. 9. Rocket Richard: Reluctant Hero by Chrys Goyens and Frank Orr - A beautiful coffee table book with surprising written content, Goyens and Orr offer an honest look at Rocket Richard's impact. 8. Our Life With The Rocket by Roch Carrier - This book ranks higher on my list than many other people would rank on theirs, but I thoroughly enjoyed Carrier's book about growing up with the undeniable influence of Rocket Richard and the Montreal Canadiens. 7. Lions In Winter by Allan Turowetz and Chris Goyens - Perhaps the most thorough text covering the Habs history, the book was first published in 1986 with updated ...

Here's a visual look at some of the lesser known books on the Montreal Canadiens: