Unpublished NHL Books
I had a good chuckle when I saw this Twitter conversation: The best unpublished NHL hockey books.
Read more...November 13, 2009
November 10, 2009
2009 Hockey Books
I spend a lot of time reviewing hockey books here at HockeyBookReviews.com. Making your online purchases via my links offsets costs of running my free websites. Look at it this way: If you like my work, and you think it's worth buying me a cup of coffee, then shop Amazon or Chapters via my links. I'm going to keep doing my work for free because I love doing this, but I'd greatly appreciate your support!
Here's a look at the class of 2009 hockey books.
100 Rangers Greats
Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia
Blue Ice
Canada's Game: Hockey and Identity
Canada's Olympic Hockey History, 1920-2010
Coast to Coast: Hockey & WWII
From The Broadcast Booth: Brian McFarlane
Gabby: Bruce Boudreau
Goaltenders: The Expansion Years
Good, Bad, Ugly: Detroit Red Wings
Gretzky's Tears: Stephen Brunt
Hat Trick: Harley Hotchkiss
Hockey Dad: Bob McKenzie
I'd Trade Him Again: Pocklington
Jacques Plante: Man Who Changed Face of Hockey
Leafs Abomination
Le Québec mis en échec
Let's Talk Hockey
Let The Games Begin
NHL Guide & Record Book
Now Is The Winter
Pick Up Hockey
Playing With Fire: Theo Fleury
Puck Funnies
Reflections 2009
7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players
Squaw Valley Gold
Team Canada 2010: An Official Guide
The Hockey Goalie's Complete Guide
The Pursuit of Hockeyness
The Rangers, Bruins & End Of An Era
The Rocket: A Cultural History
TSN: 25 Years
The Year of the Penguins
Warriors of Winter
Women On Ice
World Class Hockey Trivia
Children/Young Adult
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2009-2010 Hockey Superstars
Big Train
Dino Hockey
Fever Season
Fighting For Gold: Sledge hockey
Hockey Hero
Hockey Night Tonight
I Love My Hockey Mom
Making It: Guide for Players, Parents, Coaches
On This Day In Hockey
Polar Bears On Ice
Rebel Power Play
Thanks To My Hockey Dad
The Sterling Seven
The Rocket: Mike Leonetti
Tough Guys
2009 Paperbacks and Re-Releases
Thanks To My Hockey Dad/I Love My Hockey Mom
There is a pretty charming pair of hockey books that will melt the heart of any parent. Especially hockey parents.
Jason Howell is the head coach of the Flyers Novice AE Team. With the help of teacher/hockey mom Jennifer Sutoski, he had his group of seven and eight year olds write down why they loved their hockey dad and hockey mom, complete with an accompanying crayon-drawn picture.
The results were compiled into two similar books - Thanks to My Hockey Dad and I Love My Hockey Mom. None other than Don Cherry even writes the book's foreword.
The reasons are varied, all touching and honest, some surprising and some down right hilarious. The drawings are equally telling and entertaining.
This would be an excellent book for one hockey parent to give to the other hockey parent under the Christmas tree on behalf of the child. Perhaps an idea for future editions would be to leave a couple of blank pages for our children to personalize the book with their own note and drawing.
November 7, 2009
Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed The Face Of Hockey by Todd Denault
Folks, I've finally found a true contender for the 2009 Hockey Book of the Year award.
Read An Jacques Plante Exclusive Excerpt
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
Todd Denault has penned an amazing biography of Jacques Plante, the man I have long considered to be the greatest goalie in hockey history. Moreover, I would easily rank him as the most important and influential goalie, perhaps player of any kind, in the game's long history.
Plante is obviously one of the greatest goalies of all time. The seven time all star won six Stanley Cups, seven Vezina trophies as top goalie and one Hart trophy, a true rarity for a goalie, as league MVP. He still ranks as the 6th winningest goalie in NHL history.
More importantly he was also incredibly influential. Of course you know he popularized the use of the mask. Did you know he also greatly influenced it's evolution. He was also the first goalie to wander the ice to play the puck. He developed communication symbols with his defensemen. Many of the duties goalies do nowadays that we take for granted were started by Plante. Simply put, he is one of the most innovating figures in the history of hockey.
But he was also a great misunderstood character. He was mysterious and complex, and often kept to himself. He was outspoken and defiant, often clashing with a dismissive and narrow-minded hockey establishment.
Denault does an amazing job with this biography, redefining the term exhaustive research in the process. With Plante dead for over 20 years of stomach cancer, Denault was forced to thoroughly investigate newspaper and other printed archives to piece together this jigsaw puzzle. Denault was every bit as meticulous with his craft as Plante was with his.
The result is an amazing biography, although it has a bit of an academic text book feel to it. Denault offers us his years of research, but does not quite take the next step and draws the reader in emotionally from cover to cover, a la Jack Falla.
That's alright, because in between the many facts there are some great stories in here, thanks to interviews with the likes of Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Dickie Moore and Scotty Bowman.
My favorite story comes in the book's prologue. Plante insisted that for quite some time the nets in three of NHL's six cities were 2 inches lower than the other three. When the NHL measured the nets, they were shocked to find out the nets in New York, Boston and Chicago were all smaller!
Then there was the many examples of Plante's eccentricities, from his frugalness to his passion for knitting.
As a goaltending coach later in life, how he predicted Patrick Roy would never make it to the NHL. Ironically it was Roy who would take goaltending to the next level of evolution. Plante, who had to fight the establishment to make his progressions, was now the dismissive establishment.
And then there was early death at the age of 57. He was living in Switzerland by that time, and had just been diagnosed with an untreatable and aggressive form of stomach cancer. When his coffin was carried from the church following the funeral mass, it passed under an arch of hockey sticks held high by a team of young hockey players from Quebec, visiting Switzerland for a tournament.
After just a few pages into this book it was obvious Todd Denault had written an instant classic. I can not recommend this book enough. Plante was one of the game's true great players. He is sadly unknown to many of today's generations of fans. He is truly worthy of such a fine commemoration. Read more...
Dino Hockey by Lisa Wheeler with Barry Gott
I was snooping around the book section in a local pharmacy this morning and I discovered a kid's hockey book I guarantee the young hockey fan on your Christmas list will enjoy.
What do all kids love? Dinosaurs! So what will your little puckster enjoy reading? Dino-Hockey!
Buy the book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
Written by veteran children's book author Lisa Wheeler
The premise of the book is of a a hockey game played between opposing dinosaur teams: the Meat-Eaters and the Veggiesaurs. The scowling T. Rex redefines intimidation on ice, while the slap stick humor of the pterodactyl twins keep things light. My favorite characters are the overlooked Dodo bird referee, and the concession stand operator selling various forms of prehistoric delicacies to the crowd - meat and plants, of course.
The book was originally published in 2007, and re-released in paperback in September. The paperback release coincides with the release of a new Dino title by Wheeler and Gott, Dino-Soccer. Since the soccer title is hinted at quite promisingly in the back of the hockey title, both books would go good together. By the way, Dino Baseball is tentatively scheduled for release April 2010.
Bottom line - I'm a huge proponent of getting kids into books early, and this fun and funny Dino series by Wheeler and Gott easily attracts kids. Kids will enjoy the books on their own, but it is also a great way to spend some time with mom, dad or an older sibling.
November 5, 2009
Big Train by Richard Brignall
This is Lionel Conacher. The man they called "The Big Train" is truly a Canadian sporting legend. Lionel Conacher is arguably "Canada's Greatest Athlete" and is often referred to as "Canada's Jim Thorpe."He is also the subject of Richard Brignall's new book Big Train: The Legendary Ironman of Sport, Lionel Conacher.
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
He was a charter inductee in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1951), and has been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1963), the Hockey Hall of Fame (1994), and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
In football, Conacher played for the Toronto Argonauts (1921-22) and won the Grey Cup in 1921. The previous year, he had won hockey's Memorial Cup as a member of the Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers. Conacher went on to a 12-year career in the NHL (1925-37), mostly with the Montreal Maroons, where he was a second-team all-star defenseman in 1932-33, and played on the Stanley Cup winning team of 1934-35. He first played on a Stanley Cup winner in his one season with the Chicago Blackhawks (1933-34), where Conacher was also a first-team all-star.
As a hockey player, not only was Conacher a solid defenseman, he was also known for his hard hitting and aggressive defense. He was always among the penalty-minutes leaders.
Conacher was a member of the Toronto Maple Leaf baseball team that won the Triple-A championship in 1926. And, in addition to being one of the greatest lacrosse players in the country, he was also an undefeated light-heavyweight boxer (and fought an exhibition bout against Jack Dempsey in 1922).As an amateur wrestler, Conacher won the Ontario championship in the 125 pound weight class as a 16 year old in 1916. According to The Ring Magazine, he became a pro wrestler in Toronto in 1932, and toured Canada and USA and never lost a match. Lionel even boxed a 4 round exhibition fight with the legendary Jack Dempsey
After retiring from sports, Conacher was elected as a member of the Liberal party to the Ontario legislature in 1937 and to the Canadian House of Commons in 1949. He died in 1954, suffering a heart attack while playing in a softball game.
Conacher was voted Canada's Athlete of the Half Century by the Canadian Press in 1950 and is a top candidate for Canada's athlete of the 20th century when that poll is taken.
All in all, it makes for an amazing story, nicely written for the intended audience by Richard Brignall. The 112 book is put out by James Lorimer & Company as part of their RecordBooks series. The intended audience is young Canadians, with a recommended reading level of 4.8.
Sometimes I wonder how these books about long ago heroes connect with today's young readers, but I have no doubts that this book will inspire all of it's readers. The Lionel Conacher story is of a Canadian sports super-hero, something everyone can be proud of.
Brignall has previously released similar titles with Small Town Glory: The story of the Kenora Thistles' remarkable quest for the Stanley Cup and Forever Champions: The Enduring Legacy of the Edmonton Grads Women's Basketball Team. Also in 2009 he is releasing Fearless: The Story of George Chuvalo, Canada's Greatest Boxer
Minor Hockey To NHL: Parents Survival Guide by Paul Valliant
I really enjoyed Bob McKenzie's book Hockey Dad. He talks of his own life as a hockey parent and youth coach, sharing what he's learned and how he grew as a parent and a person. As I read the book parts of the book I kept seeing myself or other sporting parents in the story. It was a real through provoking read on how parents are impacting their kids, and not always positively.
That got me thinking. The coaches of youth sports teams get to go clinics and seminars on how improve their coaching skills. The referees get to go to their own clinics and of course the players do, too. But there is no such education program on how to be a hockey parent. (Actually, just as I write this comes news of an education program for parents now existing for hockey parents in Calgary.) Maybe that is why we are doomed to repeat the "crazy" parent trend that can sometimes hurt our kids.
Enter Dr. Paul Valliant. He has a new book out called Minor Hockey To NHL: Parents Survival Guide. Through his own experiences, and through his insights as a psychologist, he informs hockey parents how to best assist their kids in the minor hockey system.
He gives parents an honest evaluation of many aspects of minor hockey. By doing so he gives parents an understanding of the rules, both written and unwritten, of minor hockey. With that understood, the parents can help their kids enjoy the game and take so much from it, both on and off the ice.
The book teaches parents to evaluate personality traits of players and coaches so you can best maximize the child's progression. With this knowledge you understand your impact and your coach's impact on young hockey players, and how to best motivate your child. Parents will know how to create a positive, rewarding environment for their children.
By reading Valliant's insights into the world of minor hockey, parents will also be able to maximize the highly rewarding experience of being a hockey parent. It is a great way to spend time with the kids and watch them grow, but also as a way for you to grow as a person and as a member of the community. By being proactive enough to identify the pitfalls Valliant identifies you will be prepared to be the best hockey parent you can be.
November 4, 2009
Amazon's New Kindle and Hockey e-Books
The new Kindle Wireless Reading Device has been released by Amazon. The e-book reader remains available in the United States, but not Canada, but for American hockey fans there are lots of hockey titles available for the Kindle.
Amazon.com
has recently opened up the Kindle Store, including a number of hockey books. Here's a look at what is available:
has recently opened up the Kindle Store, including a number of hockey books. Here's a look at what is available:
Notable Titles:The Game by Ken Dryden
The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne Coffey
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein
Brodeur: Beyond the Crease by Martin Brodeur with Damien Cox
Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales From Ray Scapinello by Ray Scapinello
Splendid Is The Sun: The 5,000 Year History of Hockey by George and Darill Fosty
Hockey Stories On And Off The Ice by Dan Diamond and James Duplacey
Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy, Courage & Triumph by Travis Roy with E.M. Swift
Here are the other titles available:
Pucks and Sticks and Dirty Tricks by Robert Fennell
Seahawk: Confessions of an Old Goalie by Bruce Valley
The Official Book of Team Canada from Eh to Zed: The World Junior Championships by Kevin Gibson
The Canada Cup of Hockey Fact and Stat Book by H.J. Anderson
The Hockey Drill Book by Dave Chambers
Hockey Tough by Saul Miller
Hockey's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book by Floyd Connor
Hard Core Hockey by Rand Pecknold and Aaron Froeste
Hockey Legend Myth & Verse by Artica Burr
Hockey - A Game of Passion by Martin Lambert
The Chums of Scranton High at Ice Hockey by Donald Ferguson
Gross Misconduct by Erik Cagle
Open Ice by Pat Hughes
Heart and Spirit - The Toronto Maple Leafs of 2001-2002 - A Fan's Journal by Doug Magwood
50 Mission Cap by Adrian Brijbassi
Wayne Gretzky by Matt Doeden Read more...
November 3, 2009
I'd Trade Him Again by Peter Pocklington, Foreword by Wayne Gretzky
One of the biggest hockey books of 2009 is without doubt Stephen Brunt's Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, Canada, and the Day Everything Changed.
Canada's leading sports journalist digs deep to recreate the events of the day Wayne Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988. He leaves almost no stone unturned as he expertly looks at what may be the most important event in the past 20 years of hockey history.
I say almost no stone unturned because there were two people Brunt was not able talk to about that infamous day - the Edmonton Oilers owner - the man who traded Wayne Gretzky - Peter Pocklington, and Wayne Gretzky himself.
Why is that? Pocklington would not talk, to no surprise, because he has his own book out now about his life and specifically about hockey, the Oilers and Gretzky. It's confrontationally called I'd Trade Him Again: Peter Pocklington on Gretzky, Politics and the Pursuit of the Perfect Deal.
Gretzky would not talk to Brunt claiming after 2 decades he had nothing left to say. Well it turns out Gretzky does have something more to say, because he curiously writes the foreword for Pocklington's book!
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
It turns out Gretzky and Pocklington are still friends, having patched things up over the years. This in itself probably shouldn't be a big surprise, as Gretzky has always been unfailingly loyal to his friends in the past. When Bruce McNall, the other important figure in the Gretzky trade, was in jail, Gretzky remained his friend, even visiting him in the slammer. And for a good portion of Wayne's life Pocklington was a very big part of his success, and vice versa.
But why Gretzky would choose to publicly re-align himself with the most hated hockey man in Alberta if not all of Canada is downright strange. Gretz has always been fiercely protective of his own squeaky clean image, although that sure has taken a beating with this whole Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy case, hasn't it? Chumming it up with Peter Puck won't do his image any favors.
It's just odd, almost as odd as the foreword itself.
Gretz has written a number of forewords and afterwords for various books, including books by Jean Beliveau, Cassie Campbell, Roy MacGregor, Ron Finn, Bob Costas and even Theo Fleury's new book Playing With Fire. Now Gretzky likely has someone actually write it for him and he just approves it and puts his name to it. After all, when does he have time to write forewords, until recently that is. But they all have a certain genuine sincerity to them. For this book, either Gretzky has a new writer or Pocklington has a strange control over him. Maybe it is just my own prejudices, but it reads more like something Pocklington wants Gretzky to be saying.
After all it is Gretzky's comments that in many ways sell this book. Only his words adorn the back of the book. It seems all preordained to benefit book sales.
Enough about Gretzky and the book's foreword. Let's get down to the author/subject of this book - Peter "Puck" Pocklington.
Pocklington does not so much write this book, as he contributes to it. It is actually written by Terry McConnell of the Edmonton Journal and J'Lyn Nye of Global Television. You get the feeling though that Pocklington has strong editorial control.
The authors present the story, but certainly not in the same hard-hitting fashion Stephen Brunt would have. They mostly set the scene as Pocklington sees it. They then let him fill in the blanks with his own commentary. The book is careful to tell only the story that Pocklington wants told, which is fine but disappointing. When forced to cover controversial material such as bankruptcy fraud charges or the Gainer's strike, he seems to conveniently leave issues aside, or at least discuss them with a revisionist twist.
Of course Pocklington's reputation in Canada is pretty much ruined. He insists the press and politics did a great smear job on him, but I'm sure he'd admit he didn't always do himself any favors. And again reader prejudices come into play here. Regardless, he is regarded in this country as a ruthless, greedy, scheming businessman always after the next big pay day. I think he has more of a heart than his reputation suggests, but he is far from trustworthy in Canadian eyes. Certainly not after all the controversies and now legal charges against him regarding bankrupty frauds.
So when in the book he says he almost traded franchises with Harold Ballard's Maple Leafs, or that he could have had a NBA team in Edmonton for just $6 million, I do not believe him. I believe there was probably something to it, but certainly nothing imminent as he lets us believe. Pocklington is a great story teller that way.
As for Pocklington's commentary on the Gretzky trade itself, the reason most people would be picking up this book, he comes across as quite believeable. He and the authors do a good job of recounting his lifelong business acumen to the point that he is actually quite admirable. He simply sums up the Gretzky trade as a necessary business transaction to keep the Oilers alive in Edmonton.
Now there is going to be a lot of belly-aching on that point, as a lot of Edmonton fans hate Pocklington to no end. But if you read the book with an open mind, especially with a mind shaped in the past 20 years where the Gretzky trade changed hockey for everyone - including fans - from a sport to a business, you will see Pocklington's point. It was necessary to trade Wayne Gretzky. Grabbing all that cash certainly didn't look good, but Pocklington was a smart enough visionary to see the coming hockey landscape. He knew salaries were about to explode, and that the Oilers dynasty could not survive.
Of course, Pocklington probably could have eased his problems over the years in Edmonton had he been able to swallow his pride and bring in business partners with the necessary cash infusion. But he was vain to do that. He wanted to be the star of the show, and though he brought the Oilers to the NHL and did his best to keep them there, he was unable to bring himself to do what he ultimately had to do.
It's funny. After putting this book down I do have more respect for Peter Pocklington as a businessman and as a hockey man. And I think that is all Pocklington was after in doing this project, you know, plus the money grab. Some things never change.
I also have a slightly different vision of Wayne Gretzky. I don't think it is this book that changed my impression so much as the recent tarnishing of Gretzky's reputation in Phoenix as well as Stephen Brunt's painting him with a shade of greed.
I guess ultimately that is why Gretzky and Pocklington are still good friends - they both love hockey, and they both love the pursuit of the perfect deal.
Tough Guys by Eric Zweig
Last week I looked at Eric Zweig's new book Fever Season. In a very timely release, Zweig offered a novel based loosely upon actual events of 1919, specifically a deadly flu epidemic that cancelled the Stanley Cup finals and claimed the life of Bad Joe Hall.
Well it turns out Zweig has a second young adult release based upon that flu season. Through Lorimer Publishers Zweig has also released Tough Guys: Hockey Rivals in Times of War and Disaster.
Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
Unlike Fever Season, Tough Guys is not a fictional piece. It is the actual story of Bad Joe Hall and Newsy Lalonde, two of the game's earliest superstars. The two had a fierce rivalry, drawing fans to their epic matches. World War I would force the bitter enemies to become teammates. Yet just when the fighting overseas comes to an end, the world is devastated by the Spanish Flu. The virus even effects the Stanley Cup and ultimately claims Hall's life.
It is a compelling story, but told with a young audience in mind.
"I can barely remember a time when I wasn't intrigued by this hardly known fact," says the author. "It was about 1973 when I first learned that the 1919 Stanley Cup final had been cancelled. I decided to write about the story behind the cancellation because I know my ten-year-old self would have loved this book."
Zweig adds "We like to think of our sports heroes as invincible, but Lalonde and Hall could not escape the suffering caused by Spanish Influenza which actually killed more people than the war. The book shows how strong the human spirit is and how rivalries, and even the cancellation of the Stanley Cup playoffs, become trivial in the face of human suffering.
Zweig is an experienced youth writer. He now has 10 kids or young adult titles published.
October 30, 2009
Exclusive Excerpt From Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed The Face Of Hockey
The following is an excerpt from Todd Denault's new book Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed The Face Of Hockey. Thanks to Jessica from McClelland & Stewart for granting permission to run this special.
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
THE SEEDS OF THE MAN
By Todd Denault
Located on the Saint-Maurice River, almost halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, at the turn of the century Shawinigan Falls (as it was known then; in 1958, the city dropped the Falls from its name) was a thriving town that was the first in the country to produce aluminum and employed thousands in the pulp and paper, chemical, and textile industries.
In the 1930s, with the onset of the Depression, many of those factory jobs disappeared under the weight of the economic downturn. In an effort to help families hit by the loss of employment, the city council enacted a variety of public works programs that included building a hockey arena.
Bolstered by their new arena, Shawinigan was granted a franchise in the nascent Quebec Senior Hockey League in the fall of 1945. A semi-professional league that operated in the area between the junior league and the National Hockey League, the QSHL, then made up of seven franchises, produced a high quality of hockey that gave many players overlooked by the professionals a chance to continue playing for money while keeping their NHL dreams alive. Overnight, the Cataractes became the toast of the town, a source of civic pride, and gave the youngsters a team of players to idolize.
That same fall, a teenage boy, full of dreams and self-assurance, stood in front of the newly built arena and asked if the Cataractes needed any help.
"I was standing outside the door of the rink in the Shawinigan Arena where the Shawinigan team in the Quebec Senior Hockey League played its home games," remembered Jacques Plante many years later. "I noticed that they had only one practice goalie and asked the trainer whether I could help out. Although I was fifteen years old by this time, he told me to 'go away. You're still wearing a diaper.'"
The name of that condescending trainer has been lost to history. What this trainer had no way of knowing was that in fifty years this young man's name would be emblazoned over the door when the arena was named in his honour.
Jacques, the oldest child of Xavier and Palma Plante, was born in a wooden farmhouse near Mont Carmel in Mauricie, Quebec, on January 17, 1929. Soon afterwards, Xavier moved with his wife and baby to Shawinigan Falls, where he had secured employment with the Aluminum Company of Canada Limited.
"Dad was a machinist who had to work hard – harder than any man I have ever known," Jacques later said. "He even got a temporary job during his holidays while working for the aluminum company – just to raise a bit more money. He had a bicycle to get him to and from work, two miles each way. I can't recall him taking a single day off. Whenever I won an award in the NHL, I thought of my father and the pride he would get in reading about it and having people mention it to him."
Jacques was not an only child for long. Over the next thirteen years, he would be joined by five brothers and five sisters. With a burgeoning family, Palma Plante found her time at a premium, so as they got older each of the children was expected to help with the household chores. Being the oldest in such a large family meant that Jacques was given responsibilities rare for many his age. His chores included scrubbing floors, cooking, and changing diapers. With not much in the way of extra money, most of the children's clothing was handmade, and Jacques became proficient with a needle, some thread, and yarn. These were skills he carried into his adulthood and contributed to his legend.
With such a big brood and only one income, everyone in the Plante house was required to sacrifice some of the things that others better off were able to enjoy. This was most apparent to little Jacques in the hot summer months, when he was allowed to wear shoes only for Sunday Mass or the odd special event. Most times he went barefoot.
"The shoes proved everything is relative," Plante wrote later. "All of us kids in the neighbourhood had to go shoeless for the same reason – all except the landlord's son, because his father had more income."
Years later, when his hockey career had taken him away from his impoverished beginnings, many teammates as well as members of the press were taken aback by Plante's habit of knitting his own undershirts, socks, toques, and scarves. But he would always speak with pride of his ability to knit a pair of socks in a day and a toque in a mere three and a half hours. Throughout his life, Plante used knitting as a form of relaxation, oblivious to the reaction of those around him; this was his way to unwind after being the target of onrushing pucks. However, typical of the man, there was also a practical side to his needlework.
"I can't get what I want in the stores," Plante explained of his choice in undergarments, "so I knit [them]. I use four-ply wool. They must not be too warm. I use larger needles because small ones produce a thicker weaving and the holes are too small."
As an adult, Jacques Plante was misunderstood by many around him. They questioned why he continued to knit, why he was so frugal with his money, and why he kept his distance from those closest to him. The answers to many of these questions lay in his childhood.
"He grew up poor and was very proud of it," explains sportswriter Frank Orr. "He learned a lot of good lessons from it. He was deprived because there was no money around, but it taught Jacques the value of a dollar."
"He was very careful with money," confirms his former teammate Dickie Moore. "He came up poor and he grew up the right way. He didn't spend what he didn't have and he saved what he had. I admired him for that – he was an individual. There's a reason he kept his money. He wanted to end up with something, and that's what he did."
Plante never forgot his impoverished roots. It's what drove him, what motivated him to always reach higher. It instilled in him selfconfidence, and a belief that he alone could shape his destiny. And despite the poverty, Plante always retained a certain fondness for his childhood.
In the early 1970s, when Plante was plying his trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Frank Orr, a writer with the Toronto Star, was commissioned by his editor to write a special Christmas column. Orr was given the assignment of asking each player to share a remembrance of their most cherished Christmas memories.
Plante told Orr how his father would buy two bottles of ginger ale on his way home from work every Christmas Eve. This was the only day when the Plante children would taste a carbonated beverage.
"We'd have soft drinks then and I can still taste them," Plante told Orr. "Would you believe that the champagne I have drank on six occasions out of the Stanley Cup didn't have the same tang? Being poor doesn't necessarily mean no enjoyment from life."
Another source of enjoyment for young Jacques was the outdoors. He and his friends played games at every spare moment, whether during recess at school or on the weekends. Sports provided an escape from hard reality.
Baseball was extremely popular with many, and Plante always felt that this may have been the sport he was best at. But for any child growing up in Quebec at that time, all other sports took a back seat to one overriding passion: hockey.
Jacques Plante couldn't tell you when he began playing hockey. He was told by others that he started playing a form of the game, with a ball and without skates, at the age of three, the same age he learned to skate. "Growing up, Shawinigan was a big hockey town," recalls Marcel Pronovost, a childhood friend of Plante's. "We organized and managed a lot of the games ourselves. In all the schools we had an hour and a half for lunch and every class had a team and we played at noon. Every school had an outdoor ice rink then."
Like most children, Jacques was naturally curious about goaltending, but he quickly discovered that a frozen tennis ball hurt, and that a puck hurt even more. Besides, he found that he had an affinity for skating.
And then at the tender age of five, something happened that would forever alter Jacques' path in life. He was climbing up the ladder of the playground slide when suddenly he lost his balance and fell hard to the ground, breaking his left wrist. However, the real damage took place in the ensuing weeks and months when the wrist didn't heal properly, leaving Jacques unable to turn his left palm outward, which made it especially difficult to catch pucks.
Jacques had quickly fallen in love with the game of hockey. He enjoyed skating, but when he skated hard, he had trouble getting his breath. He was soon diagnosed as being asthmatic. Unlike his wrist, which was surgically healed decades later, asthma was a constant companion throughout his life.
"If it wasn't for my asthma," Jacques said later, "I would certainly have remained on defence and possibly never gotten beyond school hockey."
When it became clear that Jacques had no choice but to play in net – where no fast skating was required – his supportive father presented his five-year-old son with his first goal stick, carved from a big tree root. When he was seven, his father bought him a proper goalie stick for Christmas. That same year, Xavier stuffed potato sacks into wooden panels to give Jacques his first set of goalie pads.
It was during these early days spent outdoors that Jacques developed one of his most enduring trademarks. Standing alone in the net in those bitterly cold winters, bare-faced and bare-headed, Jacques soon found himself frantically knitting toques to cover his frostbitten ears. The toque would become a staple and would be worn indoors and outdoors right up until his professional debut.
During this time Plante also discovered that he didn't always fit in with the other children. "Looking back I know it began when my father gave me my first real goaler stick for Christmas," Plante told reporter Andy O'Brien years later. "Although I was only 7 years old that stick got me invited to play with kids 11 and 12 years old. But after we played they didn't want me around. I was left alone off the ice. I didn't resent it because I didn't know any better."
When it came to goaltending and the game of hockey, Plante demonstrated a seriousness about the game not found in many others his age. "For me to be the best possible goalie, I had to learn as much about the game as I could," Plante later explained. "Nobody ever taught me the way to play goal. I was never coached at the position. The skills I developed were learned from personal experience and from studying the mistakes made by other goalies. Of course, hockey is a physical game, and maintaining the best conditioning is important. But playing goal is really a very scientific thing, and that's the approach I tried to take."
Such was Jacques' talent and confidence that at the age of 12, while attending Ecole St. Maurice, he managed to land the goaltending position on the high-school team, which consisted of boys 17 and 18 years of age.
"I still remember the day as if it were yesterday," reflected Plante. "Cold? It was really cruel and the team was practicing on the outdoor rink. What happened between the coach and the goalie wasn't quite clear but the only thing that interested me was the empty net. The goalie had been bawled out, didn't like it and left. I offered to take his place. There was nobody else available. The coach looked around before agreeing with some reluctance to allow a 12-year-old between the posts. But I skated into the net and stayed there – not only that day but for the rest of the season."
Being the goalie on the school team was the first step towards Jacques' ultimate goal: manning the nets for the Montreal Canadiens. Hockey had always been a passion; now he dreamed of making it his livelihood.
"It was the dream of every boy growing up in Quebec in the thirties and forties to one day put on the uniform of the Montreal Canadiens," Plante's future teammate Jean Béliveau wrote later. "I was no different from anyone else who loved playing hockey during that era. We would practice for hours after school in the rink we had in our backyard. By playing outdoors we learned to stickhandle and develop other skills that might one day allow us to play for the Canadiens."
"We couldn't afford a radio," Plante recalled, "but, luckily the man upstairs used to turn up the hockey broadcasts real loud. By standing on the bureau in the girls' room I could hear the broadcasts through the ceiling. In the spring of 1944, when the Canadiens beat the Black Hawks for the Stanley Cup, I listened to those exciting Canadien names coming down through the ceiling – Rocket Richard – Toe Blake – Elmer Lach – Butch Bouchard. When Bill Durnan made a big save in goal, I would try to 'help' him by sticking out a leg or a hand. Believe me, all of those Canadiens seemed to be 10 feet tall!"
Soon afterwards Jacques Plante was so rudely dismissed by a trainer at the entrance of the Shawinigan Arena. This rejection would have shattered a less self-assured 15-year-old, but Jacques, even at this young age, was bursting with confidence. He disregarded the trainer and went straight to the coach of the Cataractes and boldly asked if the team required a practice goalie. Expecting Jacques to fall flat on his face, the coach inserted the boy into a practice of semi-professional players, but was stunned when Jacques not only held his own but shone. Jacques, who had never skated in the Shawinigan Arena before, now found himself the centre of attention. The manager of the arena, in awe of Plante's play, told him that from this point forward he was always welcome at the arena.
Suddenly, at the age of 15, Jacques Plante was in demand. In addition to being the practice goalie for the Senior League Cataractes, he was playing goal in three other age levels simultaneously: midget, juvenile, and junior. "We played together in midget category for Quebec schools," Marcel Pronovost remembers. Plante "was in the nets when we won the Quebec provincial championship."
Unlike many of his classmates, who dropped out of school to chase their hockey dreams, Jacques stayed in school to get the high-school diploma that his parents desperately wanted him to receive. Not that the offers weren't tempting.
The word on Jacques Plante started to spread beyond the local rink and the boundaries of Shawinigan. The wooden benches at the Shawinigan Arena were now filling up with people eager to see the local prodigy, who almost always seemed to be patrolling the goal no matter who was playing. He received an offer to play in England with the pay starting at $80 a week. He was offered a tryout with the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League. His parents stood firm and refused the offers; Jacques Plante had to finish high school first. However, there was one offer he did accept. The local factory team, which played once a week, asked the 15-year-old to join them.
Soon after Jacques started with the factory team, his father pointed out to him that he was in a unique position. All the other players worked at the factory and were paid accordingly. Having watched a few games, Xavier Plante knew that his son was the factor in the team's newfound success, and since he didn't work at the factory, he also was aware that his son was playing for free. Perhaps there was some way that Jacques could be financially compensated? It didn't take long for Jacques to approach the coach, who quickly accepted the weakness of his own bargaining position and capitulated.
"It wasn't my best contract," Plante laughed years later, "but it looked big at the time. I would receive fifty cents a game on the condition that I didn't tell the other players. Fifty cents a week is important money when you're part of a family where soft drinks were only served at Christmas."
Plante may have missed out on his best offer, however. "I grew up in Shawinigan with Marcel Pronovost. We were close friends and played a lot of hockey together. I almost ended up going to Detroit with him. What happened was, a Detroit scout from Quebec City came to Shawinigan to look at four players: Marcel, the Wilson brothers, Johnny and Larry, and me. I wasn't there that night so he signed up the other three and went back home. It was lucky for me that I didn't sign with them. Their regular goalie was Harry Lumley and they had young guys like Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall in their system at the time and I might not have gotten a chance to play. I would have disappeared somewhere, especially in Ontario where they had their farm clubs and I didn't speak a word of English. I would have been lost."
And so Jacques Plante stayed behind, and while his friends followed their dream, he continued on with his studies, and graduated from high school at age 18 in the spring of 1947.
He immediately took a job as a factory clerk alongside his father to help the family. But it was apparent to everyone in town that his future lay elsewhere. He had been given a brief taste of semi-professional hockey that year when he played in one game for the Cataractes. Now when he wasn't working at the factory, he was working on what he considered his true profession – goaltending. Spending up to four hours each day in the nets, he kept himself sharp for the opportunity that he was sure would present itself.
Excerpted from Jacques Plante by Todd Denault Copyright © 2009 by Todd Denault. Excerpted by permission of McClelland & Stewart. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
October 29, 2009
Interview With Don Weekes
Our interview today is with Don Weekes, the legendary trivia king. He has two new books this autumn, The Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia and World Class Hockey Trivia.
How many books does this make for you over the years now Don?I have been writing hockey trivia and statistic books every year since 1992. On a few occasions two per year and once three trivia books in one season, including the Great Gretzky Trivia Book in 1999. The number must be close to 30, if you count the books I've co-authored with Kerry Banks.
Do you have a favorite book out of that collection?
Not one book, because they were all fun to research and write in their own way, but a few held something special, particularly The Unofficial Guide series of three books that looked at hockey's most unusual records and the best and worst firsts in the game.
You must be banned from playing in all those hockey trivia contests at bars and on radio stations. Have you ever tried to enter one of those anonymously and just clean up the winnings?
Actually, my mind doesn't think that way. I could hold my own in a contest, but I write trivia so that I can tell stories about the history of hockey. I write about both the big and little events of the game, both the heroes and zeroes.
How often are you stumped by trivia questions?
I could tell you who won the 1935 Stanley Cup, but not who scored the Cup winner. So, I do get stumped.
What made you decide to get into the hockey trivia book business in the first place?
I always enjoyed local history more than world history. It's closer and more relevant to me and where I live. And I love the game. So it was natural and easy for me to be interested in hockey history, especially in Montreal. This city breathes hockey.
You live in Montreal and must have met many players over the years. Which players really know their hockey history?
In my experience, older players tend to know more about the history of the game. I remember producing a television documentary on the Canadiens move from the Forum to the Molson Centre (the name at that time) in 1995. We interviewed many Habs (Maurice Richard, Bob Gainey, Ken Dryden, etc.) and a few opponents, including Bobby Orr, Vladislav Tretiak, Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay and Bobby Hull. From this perspective, Hull was very impressive. He knew all the Flying Frenchmen dating back to the 1920s, the significance of the Canadiens's dressing room and the mural of players on the wall. His knowledge went beyond his era, both prior to and since.
Generally speaking, do players really know much hockey history, or are they just too busy focusing on the present?
I'm not sure. But I think you are right. They are focussed on the here and now. At one time I was a producer on Dick Irvin's Hockey Magazine, a syndicated TV show in the 1980s and 1990s. On one visit by Eric Lindros, Dick had to explain who his dad was to Eric. Of course, Dick Irvin Sr. was the legendary coach of the Canadiens and the first captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. Eric was about to get drafted by the Nordiques, so I guess he had other things on his mind. And in the end he created a little history of his own.
Have you ever thought about writing hockey books outside of the trivia realm?
I have written a few hockey books that depart from the Q&A concept. Because I work fulltime in television, my research and write time is limited. Although I collect material all year long, when I get down to the job, the trivia in my books is quite compact. And now that you ask, I have a couple of really good ideas, but they are much bigger projects that would demand big chunks of time.
As we said earlier, you have two new books out this fall. Lets talk about The Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia. At 576 pages it is huge? Are these stumpers all new, or a collection of your best over the years?
GreyStone's publisher Rob Sanders had been asking me for years to produce a "best of" book of my work and I said no. Trivia by its very nature changes, sometimes game by game; and I didn't want to go over old work. I wanted to write fresh material. But Rob convinced me that it would be fresh because everything would be updated. He was right and it was a huge seller. That first Big Book came out in 2005 and was reviewed favourably in Sports Illustrated. And this was before I ever had a review for any of my books in The Hockey News. So that was kind of cool. Then, they wanted another Big Book for 2009 and this time I said maybe. The trivia had to sustain 800 questions and, as it turned out, I believe it worked very well. There are a lot of great stories and facts that are all together now in one volume. And I have a bunch of new questions, so it's the real deal with puzzles, games and quizzes.
You also are bringing out World Class Hockey Trivia, a very timely release about international hockey trivia with the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver coming real soon.My hockey history was really limited to pre-NHL and NHL. I had written a little about the world game, maybe a hundred questions or so on the Summit Series, Canada Cup and the Olympics. With the Winter Olympics at Whistler, I liked the idea of writing something timely and relevant. The process gave me a much broader reference of the game. And the stories are fascinating.
Hockey trivia books are not your only gig. You have a pretty fascinating day job. Tell our readers about that.
I produce advertising for CTV Montreal. That includes TV promos for our news shows, retail sales campaigns, print and radio campaigns. Television allows you to combine words with pictures and sound. Its a compelling medium, especially if you are a creative person.
Since you work with CTV and are so well known in the hockey world, will you be working the Vancouver Olympics in any way?
I was hoping to, but I expect my work will keep me in Montreal. Wherever I am, I will be watching every minute of every game.
Okay, give me your best trivia stumper you've got.
That's tough. How about an easy one and a hard one.
1) Who scored the most goals without winning the NHL scoring title in one NHL seasons?
2) Who is the only player to score 200 career goals without having at least one 20-goal season?
I have no idea! What are the answers?
1) Brett Hull scored 86 goals (35 more than his closest rival) but had only 45 assists. Wayne Gretzky out-pointed Hull 163 to 131.
2) Larry Robinson. As of 2008-09, only the Big Bird has done it. And it not as easy as you might think. Read more...
New Jacques Plante Book
This weekend marks the release of one of the last big hockey titles this season - Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey by Todd Denault.
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive. In the meantime, here's an excellent article on the book and it's author. Robert at Eyes On The Prize previously interviewed Todd Denault.
October 28, 2009
Reflections 2009
It's here - Reflections 2009, the annual action photo extravaganza of the season past published by the National Hockey League, with a share of the proceeds going to Hockey Fights Cancer.
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
As always, the photographs are the best of the best, capturing the most exciting, thrilling, stunning and sometimes humorous moments from last season.
They still refuse to put the captions on the photo, instead burying them in the back, an annual pet peeve of mine. But as always, this is a must have book for every hockey fan's coffee table.
And the best part is that part of the proceeds from sales of this book are donated directly to Hockey Fights Cancer, a joint charity initiative undertaken by the National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association.
And you can also order the Reflections 2010 Wall Calendar.
See, now you have even more reason to go out and buy Reflections 2009. It's an amazing book and you are helping to make a difference and fight cancer too.
Fighting For Gold by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Lorna Schultz Nicholson and Lorimer Publishing have teamed up once again to offer another young adult title - Fighting for Gold: The Story of Canada's Sledge Hockey Paralympic Gold.
Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
Every Canadian knows that Canada is a global gold medal favorite when it comes to hockey, both in mens and womens hockey. But not everyone realizes Canada is looking for a third Olympic hockey gold medal in 2010 - the Paralympic sledge hockey title.
2010 should be sledge hockey's big coming out party in this country, making Nicholson's release the perfect introductory resource for young Canadians.
The first thing we learn is Canada enters the Vancouver games as the defending sledge hockey gold medalists.
"This is the amazing story of a team that came into the Paralympics as the underdog and ended up winning the gold medal," says Nicholson. "Norway had been Canada's biggest rivals in the sport since its inception in the Paralympics, so it was even more thrilling when Canada shut out the defending world champions 3-0."
Nicholson has written 14 books, most hockey themed young adult offerings, making her the perfect choice to write this book.
"I think readers will find these athletes inspirational," she says. "Not only was the trek overseas to Turin physically challenging and exhausting for the players, they have all been through difficult times in their lives and have gone on to become world class athletes."
Canada opens the 2010 Paralympic games on March 13th with a game against Italy. If all goes well, they will be defending their championship title in the gold medal game on March 2oth.
Must Have Blackhawks Books
David Morris over at Kukla's Korner takes a look at the must have Chicago Blackhawks books over the years.
Read more...Canada's Olympic Hockey History, 1920-2010 by Andrew Podnieks
This is one of my most favorite hockey books in my extensive collection: Andrew Podnieks' Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History 1920-1998.
I bought before Christmas 1997 and a year later I bought another copy as a back up because I referred to it so often that it was breaking down.
It is also a book that people constantly asked me how they could get a copy. The book surprisingly disappeared pretty quickly as the publisher remaindered the book and offered it for as little as $3.99 before everyone could get a copy.
Enter the year 2009, and we have excellent news to report. Podnieks is back with a beautiful updated book called Canada's Olympic Hockey History, 1920-2010.
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
Produced by HB Fenn and The Hockey Hall of Fame and endorsed by Hockey Canada, this beautiful 256 page book is every bit the must have book as the original. Only this time, it will not be nearly the secret.
The book is full of some of the most amazing historical photos found anywhere. The old black and whites of Olympics from decades ago are the most interesting, as they document just how far the great game has come.
You likely will not realize how special the photo collection is until after you buy the book though, since the book is sitting on store shelves in shrink wrap. Fortunately Lisa at HB Fenn allowed HockeyBookReviews.com to display exclusive sneak peeks inside the book:
Many of these photos are not found in the original book, by the way.
I could rave on forever about the imagery in the book, but the written information is equally as amazing too. Andrew Podnieks is a masterful researcher who likes to share unique stories and accounts. This book is full of just such special moments. Many of the stories are carry overs from the original text, although when possible Podnieks added new material.
Of course there is also a statistical compendium here as well, recording the statistics of every man and woman to ever play an Olympic game for Canada.
With the Olympics coming up on us quickly, Canada's Olympic Hockey History, 1920-2010 is a very special coffee table book that is the perfect Christmas gift for the Canadian hockey fan.
October 27, 2009
Fever Season by Eric Zweig
You would have to be living under a rock to not know about the dreaded H1N1 flu virus. Even the hockey world is affected by it. Colorado goaltender Peter Budaj has contracted H1N1.
H1N1 is the worst flu since World War I. Now that Spanish Influenza virus seriously messed with the hockey world. The 1919 Stanley Cup championship series between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens was cancelled after several players fell ill. Hockey Hall of Famer Bad Joe Hall of Montreal eventually died as he had contracted pneumonia on top of the dread flu.
This real life event serves as the setting for Eric Zweig
Buy The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com
This young adult story is set in early 1919 in the midst of the Spanish Flu has killed 1000s throughout Canada and the United States.
David Saifert is our hero, a thirteen year old English Canadian, who has lost father to WWI and his mother and sister to the flu. Feeling understandably lost and in a desperate panic to avoid the orphanage, young David begins searching for a long lost uncle, who he thinks lives in Seattle.
David gets a job with the Montreal Canadiens and travels with the team to Seattle, where the flu has ravaged the community.
Will David find his family? Will they survive the deadly flu? You're going to have to buy the book to find out!
Zweig is a prolific author, serving as managing editor of Dan Diamond & Associates, who are the consulting publishers of the National Hockey League. Zweig has previously branched out on his own with young adult fiction and kids titles, most notably with Star Power: The Legend and Lore of Cyclone Taylor.
Interview With Brett Henning
I recently sat down with Brett Henning, former hockey star turned author. We talked about hockey, family and his new book 7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players. Here's the interview.
When you were growing up with the Islanders, how often would you get on the ice with the players?
Looking back it feels like I lived at the rink. From the age of about 8 to 13 I would bug my dad every home weekend, especially if they were practicing at the Nassau Coliseum. I even remember taking "sick" days from school when the Penguins or Los Angeles would come into town. Still not sure if my mom caught on to that one. Ha. But yeah I would sit up in the stands, grabbing every puck shot over the boards, until the very end of practice. Then I would rush down, throw on my helmet and gloves, and skate to the bench while the injured and scratched players would skate extra. As soon as they broke off to individual groups to practice faceoffs, point shots, or play two pass I would jump on the ice. You can't believe how much a 12 year old's confidence can grow scoring on an NHL goalie.(Must have been hard to make that believable.) Everyone was truly really great both on the ice and off it, even though I'm sure they were a little annoyed to see me bouncing around in the locker room all the time.
Which Islanders players were the most fun for the kids? Were any of the players best to steer clear of?
There were definitely a few guys that were more fun and I knew I could always mess around with. Mic Vukota, Pat Flatley, Glenn Healy, and Rich Pilon come to mind. I think that they were so busy pulling pranks on each other that they were more than happy to have another person join the fray. Even if I was only 12 years old, I was probably on the same wavelength as their after practice jokes. Ha. I would sit in the TV room and try to blend into the corner and after a while I think they forgot I was in there. I definitely learned a few things during that time. It was great because even away from the rink I remember playing pond hockey in front of Pat Flatley's house or doing a school report where I interviewed Glenn Healy. I guess some could say that I was the coach's kid and that this was forced behavior but I can honestly say that they seemed happy to do it and had a good time themselves.
There were never any guys that I stayed away from. I can honestly say that they all treated me great. Some guys would hang out for a half hour, teaching me how to pass or something and I would feel guilty. The young guys were almost always serious but they still would acknowledge my presence and try to ask a few questions. I think a few of the guys were probably annoyed at my everlasting presence but I tried to stay out of everyone's way as much as I could and if they were they never showed it.
Did you get to meet a lot of players from other teams?
Yeah all the time. There was a hallway that was closed off at both ends. The Islander locker room and visitor locker room were at the opposite ends. My dad must have told me countless times to stay close to the Islander locker room or at least on the Islander's half of the hallway but when Mario Lemieux and Jagr are taping their stick at the same time I would kind of become mesmerized and drift down toward them . I will never forget when St. Louis came into town. I was out in the hallway in my usual spot probably playing mini hockey against the wall or something and Brett Hull comes up to me. He thought it was cool that we shared the same name and actually brought me into the St. Louis locker room. He propped me up on the stretching table in the middle of their locker room and all the players were peppering me with questions while they got dressed. That was unbelievable.
What do you think of the Islanders current plight? Will they be moved to KC or somewhere else?
Living in California I'm kind of distanced from it but it's sad to think that the Islanders could actually move. I think it's a veiled threat for leverage but the fact that it's come to that, says something about the state of the team. New York fans are very passionate about their teams and I know a lot people that live and die by the Islanders. To me nothing is better then an Islander vs. Ranger game. The electricity in the building is crazy. I once saw a whole section going at it in the upper deck. Not even exaggerating. But saying that, it's also tough for any fan base to go through some of the rough years that Islanders have had and not come out feeling dejected. I really feel bad for the alumni in this situation because many of them have made Long Island their home.
Out of all the players you played with in the USA Hockey Development program, who surprised you for making the NHL, and for not making the NHL?
That's a great question. As a kid you always have your eye on the great players in your area or have at least heard rumors about some kid half a country away that scored so many points in a season. With being a part of the Inaugural USA National Development Program, it was kind of weird because you were staring across the locker room at most of these same players that you heard about or played against in summer all star leagues. Some of the players like David Legwand choose to play in the CHL but that year we tremendous talent, especially at D. I wasn't necessarily surprised by some of my teammates making the NHL but the impact some have made and are still making has surprised me. The name that keeps popping into my mind is John-Michael Liles. He was a 1980(my age) but I believe he started off the season playing for the younger team. He always had great talent and could see the ice well which makes him so good on the powerplay now, but at that time he was really small for a D. I could be wrong but I don't remember him weighing more than 160 pounds.
The players that surprised me not making the NHL were mostly because of injuries. You know career ending injuries are out there but you never think it will happen to you or a friend. Both of my close buddies on that team-Pat Aufeiro and Matt Doman--were severely hampered by injuries and eventually had to retire because of them. Pat was a very gifted offensive defenseman who was a one man breakout and Matt was a true leader. I guess it happens all the time, especially in hockey but the old cliche of being young and thinking you're invincible rings true when thinking about that time.
When you played with Team USA at the 2000 WJC, you played with some great future talent. Can you make a comment about each of the following players:
- Rick Dipietro
He stood on his head that tournament. Rick was part of the National Development Team in Ann Arbor so I knew him pretty well. He is very confident in his ability and that tournament everything seemed to click for him.
- Jordan Leopold
Jordan also played at the NDTP. He is a great heads up player. Always made the right play and was always in the right position defensively. He had a few injury problems while I played with him (concussions and shoulder if I remember correctly) so it's great to see the kind of career he's put together. One of the nicest guys out there.
- Brooks Orpik
Brooks is from the Buffalo area and with me being from Long Island I grew up playing with him on all the USA Hockey summer teams. He is a beast. Very strong and when he wants to move you from the front of the net there's not much you can do. He was very quiet when I played with him and let his on-ice play do the talking.
- Dany Heatley
I remember Heatley really taking over the power play. He was so big and had such good hands that it was tough to stop him. I remember thinking that he created room out on the ice unlike any player that I had every seen other than maybe Scott Gomez. He also had a great shot.
- Marian Gaborik
I don't remember him doing much against our team. I definitely remember being out against him a few times though because his speed was unreal. He would leave you in the dust instantly. It was like he had Top Gun afterburners.
At Notre Dame you played with future NHLers Ben Simon and Brett Lebda. Why did you choose Notre Dame?
Other than watching Rudy as a kid I didn't know too much about Notre Dame. When I first visited I was really taken aback by the spirit of the campus and the overall beauty of it. It also didn't hurt that my mom is a huge Catholic and really liked that aspect of the school. I was fortunate enough to play about 2 and a half seasons at Notre Dame before being injured. It's funny because you go to an ND home game, take a look around and realize it's not a rink. What I mean by that is its a rink inside of a big domed athletic facility. The stands are temporary on all but one side and during football weekends they shove hundreds of alumni into the other side. If a puck flies over the boards you have a chance of taking out Joe Montana. I guess what I'm getting at is it's not the best facility in the CCHA.(They're getting a 20 million dollar upgrade over the next couple of years.) Compared to where some of my friends went including BU, Minnesota, and Wisconsin it wasn't a big hockey school. But despite all that I would have made the same decision again. The campus is beautiful, the academics are really strong, and I've met some of my greatest friends through my experience there. At that time we were building a great hockey fan base and I think really laying the path for what they have been able to accomplish the past couple of years.
Who was the coach at the time?
Dave Poulin was my coach when I was there. He's a really great guy and taught me a lot about the game and life afterward. I played center and at the end of most practices we would work on face-offs. It's very humbling to get your butt handed to you by your 45 year old coach in a warm-up suit. I think his forearms were carved out of steel.
I was injured my junior year so during my senior year I wanted to be around the team as much as possible. Coach made me sort of a glorified assistant coach. I could hang out with the guys but I also wore a headset up in the press box. I got to see a different side of the coaches sitting in on those closed door meetings.
It's interesting because the coach there now-Jeff Jackson-was my coach at the National Development team and also during my World Junior experience. He's an unbelievable coach. Very smart and well prepared X's and O's wise.
How was the college experience for you?
The college experience was great for me. I don't remember who said it, but it was someone in the Islander locker room that said "college was fun. Where else do you get to hang out with 10,000 to 40,000 kids your same age?" And I agree completely. It's sort of like a self contained environment run by kids. Everyone is kind of on the same page. You could have played in front of a packed house on Friday night but come Sunday you had to bare down and join the study group with a lot of the same people that cheered you on. It's not so much the academics but the people you interact with that shape your experience. At Notre Dame they force you into a dorm environment as an athlete for the first 3 years which I believe only helps the situation. The football games there are something truly special to be around.
Clear up this misconception about US college athletes - do athletes have an easier course load than regular students?
Guys are always exaggerating saying that so and so took underwater basket weaving or bean bag theory but I can tell you that at Notre Dame there were no exceptions. In fact when I was there the football team lost a few top recruits due to grades. I will say that we did have a tutoring program for athletes that I took full advantage of for calculus. Once they started adding the letters into the equations it was all downhill for me. Ha. But yeah everyone at Notre Dame had to take school very seriously. No one wanted to get the phone call from Father Al who was our team's advisor at mid-terms asking about a below average mark. And at Notre Dame as an athlete you couldn't live off campus if you had a 2.7 GPA or under. That lit a fire under a lot of guys too. One of the coolest things that I always tell people is that I played with a guy who is actually a rocket scientist for NASA now. But then again my non-athlete girlfriend edits most of what I write.
College sports is HUGE business down in the States. Should US college athletes be better compensated?
This is a tricky one. For the most part getting a good education and getting to play the sport that you love should be enough. When you say that sports is HUGE business down here in the states, it definitely is. Football and basketball make schools a ton of money. But for the most part I'm not sure how big of a money maker college hockey really is. I personally always felt that the entire Notre Dame sports' program would clam up money wise if the football team didn't make that big bowl game and get the guaranteed 4 million dollar or so payday. I could be wrong but that's how it felt. I feel football and basketball are the lifeblood of a lot of schools. If you started to pay certain athletes like Tim Tebow who probably makes Florida over 10 million a year then it would hurt the sports at the bottom of the totem pole. I don't think that hockey is at the bottom of the totem pole money wise for any school and it wouldn't really affect college hockey too much but the NCAA is trying to foster a sportsmanship mentality over all else. Paying college athletes, I believe completely, goes against this thinking.
You have recently finished your first book - 7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players - What made you decide to write this book?
Initially I didn't sit down with the intention of writing a book. And it's one of those things where if I was assigned this as a school project-write a 240 page book-I probably would have laughed to myself and said yeah right. But it happened that I had a lot of time due to getting laid off and I really couldn't watch one more Youtube hockey fight or episode of Rescue Me so I sat down to write a long email to a friend that's a coach. It ended up being a looooooot longer than I expected. I had a number of experiences since getting injured that were a little unconventional such as living in Australia for a year. Plus being a self help nerd and reading a lot of those types of books I felt gave me information and knowledge that would have really helped me when I was playing. I had a bunch of these aha moments and wanted to write them down.
Are you planning on writing more books?
Not at the present moment. I really enjoyed the writing process and I believe that there is a ton of information in this book that can help players, coaches, and parents but I want to wait and see how this is received before I put something else together. But you never know. Maybe I can switch fields and write a travel guide on beach hockey in Brazil or something.
Tell us more about your company Score 100 Goals
The idea behind Score100goals is to dream big. Really big. As I mentioned before I'm kind of a self help geek and looking around, including at myself in the mirror I realized that a lot of people have these big dreams growing up. And then because of thousands of reasons-time, self esteem, money, weight, education, etc-you lose these dreams and become satisfied with just reacting to life's circumstances. I want to help people realize that despite every reason the critical voice in your head tells you why somethings not possible, you can quiet that voice to dream big and have big goals. And I realize that it's pretty easy to say and believe me I have a tough time pounding it into my thick skull a lot of the time, but I think it's the most important thing a person can do. The company name--Score100goals--refers to, kind of the 4 minute mile or Mt. Everest of hockey. In that, there used to be talk of "maybe this is the season where we see a 100 goal scorer." Now we talk about players hitting 50 goals in a season. To even mention 100 goals in a season seems impossible. But why not. Kids should be growing up thinking that they're the player that's going to score 100 goals in a future season. And if you're a goalie, or a defenseman, or 50 years old playing at 11 pm to an empty arena-then take your individual dream and have it come alive.
The Score100goals products (New shooter tutor and Scoring System, iPhone/iPod touch game correlating with the shooter tutor, and now the book 7 Pre-Game Habits of a Pro Hockey Player) are meant to improve a players performance and help them reach the highest levels in hockey. I would like to continue adding unique products that will help players on the ice but also get the philosophy across of dreaming big. So I hope that a kid playing hockey hears this and grows up to get his picture in the Hall of Fame holding a puck that says 100 on it. Or even more importantly a kid playing hockey hears this and maybe doesn't make the NHL but grows up and cures cancer because he dreamed big. That would be cool.
What are your future goals in hockey?
My future goals in hockey are to grow Score100goals big enough so that it has the means to reach every hockey player, parent, and coach in the world.(As an example of above, I have to fight with my critical voice saying that's too big a goal as I wrote that last sentence.) I want to help them reach their dreams and goals. And hopefully this will give Score100goals the financial means to help grow the game of hockey by donating to other like minded organizations and people.
Be sure to check out Brett Henning's new book 7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players.
October 25, 2009
The Sterling Seven by Chris Mizzoni
Back in 2007 I raved about a children's book written and beautifully illustrated by Chris Mizzoni. Mizzoni combined brilliant artwork and layouts with hockey's own Casey At The Bat storyline based loosely on King Clancy. The result, Clancy With The Puck became one of my favorite children's books ever.
Mizzoni is back with an equally brilliant book called The Sterling Seven. It tells the fictional story of hockey's first team, based loosely on the Ottawa Silver Seven. The boys from Sterling are too good for everyone else, and travel all over in search of competition. They even travel by rail, steamship and dog ship to the far north (a reversal of the actual Dawson City Klondikers story), but to no avail. They can not find a worthy opponent.
That's when the Sterling Seven head overseas and spread the game of hockey beyond their homeland. At first the teams over there are not very good either, but eventually they play enough to give boys from Sterling a challenging game. They get to be so good that they can even beat the best team in the world, and the Sterling Seven could not be happier.
Mizzoni's first book had the powerful Raincoast publishing machine behind it. Raincoast has gotten out of the publishing business, focusing on core tasks such as distribution. Mizzoni opted to go the self-publishing route this time around, meaning the book will not immediately be widely available on store shelves. The book can be found in several independent booksellers, but for most of us the only way to get it is through the author's website - Sterling Seven.ca - or via the Author House website.
If you enjoyed Clancy, you will enjoy The Sterling Seven.
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