Hockey Book Reviews.com

In 2010 I was very pleased with the autobiography/coffee table style Bobby Hull book The Golden Jet . In similar format author Bob Verdi and publisher Triumph Books are back with Stan Mikita in 2011 with Forever a Blackhawk . It is every bit as good, and, unfortunately, equally under the radar. This is a fantastic book worthy of your consideration. The as-told-to autobiography reads a little-too simply, but Mikita`s story carries the book. Like how as a kid in the former Czechoslovakia German troops occupied his home during World War II. Or once he moved to Canada, he loved to play the game but had no early connection with the NHL. When Rocket Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion and Doug Harvey showed up at his school to sign autographs, he had never heard of them! Then of course there is all the stories of Bobby Hull and the Scooter Line and the Chicago Blackhawks. It is a fascinating read for any fan of Stan Mikita and the Chicago Blackhawks. Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters -...

Most of you are very familiar with the annual National Hockey League Guide and Record Book. Well now us international hockey fans will have to make more room on their bookshelf as the IIHF has gotten into the same game. Out in late 2011 is IIHF 2012 Guide and Record Book Buy the Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com At 640 pages this colossal Guide includes information on every top level event, every IIHF member nation, and, indeed, every player to appear in even a single game since international hockey first took hold in 1920. In all, more than 12,000 players are included, as well as every coach, every referee, every linesman and every stat imaginable. The 2012 IIHF Guide and Record Book is the official and only complete source of information for international hockey. It covers all top-level events from the Olympics to World Championships to junior events, from men's hockey to women's hockey, from 1920 to the past and present seasons. At 640 pages, it contains the...

Georges Laraque, noted hockey tough guy but also noted for his variety of interests outside of the hockey rink, has made the biggest splash in terms of making headlines with his new autobiography. In  Georges Laraque: The Story of the NHL's Unlikeliest Tough Guy , Big Georges rocked the hockey world with allegations of rampant drug use . He also took a few jabs at some coaches, most notably Wayne Gretzky .  He also goes on to talk about all sorts of subjects - from racism to politics, from humanitarian efforts to vegan diets. "The goal of the book is not even to talk about hockey, it's to talk about other stuff," Laraque has been on record saying. “I didn’t even want to talk about hockey in the book, but the publisher said I should because that’s what I did for a living. I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to help people to become more open-minded. That’s why I talk about politics, about religion, about gay rights, about animal rights, all that stuff.” A...

Canada's great hockey hero Paul Henderson (with the help of Jim Prime and, supplying the foreword, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper) have come out with the new book  How Hockey Explains Canada Henderson and Prime set out to find out what exactly it is about Canada and Canadians that inspires such unbridled passion for this simple game of ice, puck and stick. They attempt to answer that and many other questions by inquiring with players, announcers, writers, coaches, and fans from coast-to-coast-to-coast. They take their findings and interweave it throughout all of Canadian history, tackling topics such as confederation, Quebec, Western Alienation, even the Feminist movement and Don Cherry! Now that sounds like some pretty heavy reading, but this book is far from some university level text book for a Canadian Studies course. It is a fun read, often poking fun at either hockey or it's associated topic. While it is good that this book is far from some dry academ...

One of the newest additions to the popular James Lorimer and Company Amazing Stories series is Maurice Richard: The Most Amazing Hockey Player Ever . It is written by Chris Robinson, who, among many projects, previously wrote Stole This From A Hockey Card about Doug Harvey. Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com The Amazing Stories series, attractively priced at $9.95, is a set of true and Canadian stories from the past. These mass market paperbacks are aimed at younger readers, yet I do not find the writing to be too young to insult an older reader by any means. In fact, this is a solid introduction to the great story of one of hockey's all time greats, regardless of age.  While there are no shortage of literary offerings on Rocket Richard. And this one offers nothing new. But this book nicely covers the basics, and very possibly will encourage the reader to dig deeper and look at other books on the subject. All in all, this is a solid stocking stuffer...

Christmas came early for me today as I received a true rarity in my mail box - a hockey book that I had no idea about previously. I'm talking The Legendary Whitby Dunlops. Written and illustrated by Kenneth McKenzie Lehman and published by Quarry Heritage Books, the book is available nationally at Chapters . Bob Attersley This book's title is apt. The Legendary Whitby Dunlops rank high in Canadian hockey folklore as this unlikely group of amateur hockey stars won the Allan Cup and the 1958 world hockey championship in Oslo. By the late 1950s the Soviets were on the verge of taking over the international hockey scene. For one all too brief moment, the Whitby Dunlops - senior hockey champions - caught the imagination of hockey fans across the country. As Canada's team they were dispatched to Oslo to restore our pride in our own game and to defeat those dastardly Russians. Harry Sinden, future coach of the Boston Bruins and Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series, Si...

Photo by Chris Bolin for Macleans Magazine MacLean's magazine has an excellent interview with hockey's best selling author Kirstie McLellan Day. Kirstie Day has written Bob Proert's autobiogr aphy  Tough Guy . Theo Fleury's autobiography   Playing With Fire  and, new in 2011, Ron MacLean's autobiography, Cornered  - all bestsellers in Canada. She also wrote the foreword for Joe Pelletier's new ebook Pucks On The 'Net . In the MacLean's interview Kirstie talks about her relationship with Fleury and Probert, surviving an angry Bret Hart, and future plans including a Fleury movie and possible Wayne  Gretzky book. 

Kelly McParland, writer, editor and columnist at the National Post, has penned just a fantastic biography of Toronto Maple Leafs builder and Canadian hero Conn Smythe in his new book,  The Lives of Conn Smythe: From the Battlefield to Maple Leaf Gardens: A Hockey Icon's Story . Buy The Book - Amazon.ca  - Chapters - Amazon.com - Kindle Paperback - Amazon.ca -  Chapters  - Amazon.com Smythe is of course known as the patriarch of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He led them to 11 Stanley Cups, and with a little better luck in the 1930s it would have been a lot more. Maybe Smythe used up his luck in that time period by, as legend tells it, using gambling money to build iconic Maple Leaf Gardens in the depths of the Great Depression. Those stories have been well told. But McParland digs deeper, and looks at decorated war hero (he fought in both World Wars, including in WWII when he was in his 40s) and savvy businessman who did more for nation building than most of ...

Triumph Books have included a few hockey teams in their "100 Things . . ." series. In the past I've recommended them as stocking stuffers for fans of the team, but otherwise was kind of indifferent to the series. So when they announced the Pittsburgh Penguins were included for 2011, I did not get too excited. But that all changed quickly as I realized they selected Rick Buker to write 100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know And Do Before They Die . Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com Buker previously wrote the 700-page encyclopedic Total Penguins , an absolute must have for Penguins fans. There may be no one who better knows the Penguins history than Mr. Buker. So who better to fill up a book of 100 entertaining and educational stories? Heck, he could probably write a second volume! Penguins history is relived one story at a time. Mario, Sid, Jagr, Ronnie Franchise, Badger Bob, and Sly Syl are all here. So are Demolition Durby, Frank Pietrangelo's ...

Ron MacLean, the long time host of Hockey Night in Canada and Don Cherry's punny straight man, is finally coming out with an autobiography. Available in early October 2011, Cornered will undoubtedly share great stories, insight and hilarity. Buy the Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com - Kindle Paperback - Amazon.ca -  Chapters  - Amazon.com Despite what Cherry has said a few times about him during Coach's Corner, Ron MacLean is no dummy. To help him write this book he enlisted the help of Kirstie McLellan Day - the best selling hockey author in the past few years. She has previously penned the blockbuster autobiographies of Theoren Fleury and Bob Probert. The best part of this book will be how much of the real Ron MacLean is revealed. Not the on-camera persona but rather the human side, including his interests outside of hockey, the family man, and his insecurities and weaknesses. McLellan Day was the perfect choice as presenter. Of course, MacLean has...

Looking for a short, fun book that has more sports than just hockey in it? Brothers Brett and Jesse Matlock offer a general sports book with plenty of hockey content in it called The Salt Lake Loonie: And Other Stories Every Sports Fan Should Know . Dwight Allot makes the book even more fun with his wonderful line drawing illustrations, while Team Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser writes the foreword. Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com The stories are short and simple, making for a quick fun read. Hockey stories include: The Good Old Hockey Game The Life And Times of the Stanley Cup Oh Canada! (1972 Summit Series) "Howe" Fitting The Rocket Richard Riot The Montreal Forum The Salt Lake Loonie. As mentioned, there are many other sports covered in this book too. Here's a look at the table of contents: (click on the photos to enlarge)   Along side stories of Terry Fox and Wilt Chamberlain and the Boston Marathon is a history of streaking in ...