Two Minutes For Booking - Now Is The Winter

I'm just starting the book Now is the Winter, and to say the least it is very promising if not already spectacular. It is an academic's view of hockey, somewhat of a rarity in the sport. Editors Jamie Dopp and Richard Harrison explain in the book's introduction:

"There was (and still is) a massive body of hockey writing in Canada; however, most of it was hockey journalism chronicling the exploits of colorful players, teams or eras, and rarely, if ever, studied in the academy. Hockey-related biographies kept fans happy, but weren't curriculum material - the lone exception lying, perhaps, in Ken Dryden's groundbreaking and meditative 1983 memoir, The Game. And though there were also many hockey histories, events in hockey rarely figured in textbooks on Canadian history as a whole, with the exceptions of the Richard Riot in 1955 because of its connection with the Quiet Revolution, and the 1972 Summit Series because of its links to the Cold War. Both of these were cases in which the ever present mix of hockey and politics exploded into public view. But up until the 1990s literary - or cultural studies - based considerations of the meaning of hockey and its writing were few and far between despite the prominence of the game in Canadian life."

The editors of Now is the Winter invite some of Canada's top writers to submit essays on hockey, especially focusing on it's role in Canadian life, culture, politics, history and the arts.

And the best part about this book - unlike some academic books on hockey I've seen (the kind where I swear the academic writers use a thesaurus to make every word even more academic), this book is written so that both academics and average fans - the majority of us - can really enjoy it.

I encourage you to check out Now is the Winter and I'll have a full review when I'm done!

Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound by Rick Thomas

Parry Sound, Ontario. Just the mention of this town evokes the image of hockey. Why? Because it is the hometown of none other than Bobby Orr - perhaps the greatest player to have ever played.

While Orr may have put this town on the map, hockey in Parry Sound has a far richer history than just what it's most famous hero offers. Hockey on the Georgian Bay goes back to the late 1800s, over half a century before Orr was even born.

Rick Thomas, who grew up playing hockey on the Seguin River and is best known as a long time minor hockey coach in the area, has been busy preserving hockey's amazing history in Parry Sound. He has just released his first volume of research, looking at the pre-Orr years from 1896 to 1941. It is called Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound.

Thomas does a wonderful job of piecing together the city's hockey history by exhaustively combing through the archives. His self-published book is a wonderful effort, very professional and appealing to the eye.

Now obviously the book's target audience is pretty small, with just the locals and former residents likely to have an interest. That may change when Thomas releases his follow up volume, with Orr's story likely dominating part 2 of his research.

For now we will have to enjoy part one of Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound. I do not fall in the target audience group but I can really appreciate Thomas' obvious passion, diligent research and excellent presentation. I can honestly say I really enjoyed this book, so I can only imagine how well received this title will be amongst the locals.

The book costs $16, and is available either by emailing the author or via the book's Facebook page.

Theo Fleury News

Theo Fleury is unveiling his very own video and audio podcasts on his website, www.theofleury14.com.

Fleury talks about current happenings in the world of hockey, bringing his unique perspective on the game as one of the sports' greatest players. His first podcast features discussion about Patrice Cormier's disturbing hit and the Stefan Auger/Alex Burrows incident. With the Olympics nearly upon us Theo also shares his golden memories of 2002.

I was also in conversation with Kirstie McLellan Day, Fleury's autobiographer. She is currently working on new material for an updated paperback release of Fleury's bestselling book Playing With Fire, including Theo's attempted NHL come back and the media blitz about his book.

There is no confirmed date for the paperback release, but I would expect to see it hit store shelves in autumn 2010.

Women On Ice by Wayne Norton

Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women's Hockey in Western Canada is the first book to focus on the early history of women’s hockey in western Canada.

Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

This beautiful book more accurately follows the history of the Vancouver Amazons, Vancouver's second notable women's hockey team. They were perhaps the most famous western Canadian women's team in the 1920s, although not necessarily the most successful. They had unique connections with men's major professional hockey, specifically Frank and Lester Patrick, who let them practice at their arena complete with artificial ice.

The author does a good job covering the story of the Amazons, likely because their history was a little easier to trace given Vancouver's newspaper archives. So many of the other women's teams in western Canada at the time came from smaller centers, and their histories have only been sporadically recorded.

Mr. Norton touches on western Canadian women's history by tracing the history of the Banff Winter Carnival's women's hockey tournament. The Vancouver ladies were very popular in the Canadian Rockies. The tournament itself is quite interesting, and the author does an interesting job tying together the fate of BC women's hockey and this particular tournament.

The book features over three dozen photographs, some of which were never before published. The photos and stories of the women's teams preferences for swastikas as logos and nicknames are both startling and fascinating.

The book is published by Ronsdale Press.

A Referee's Life by Ron Wicks

Former NHL referee Ron Wicks has a new book out called A Referee's Life.

Wicks was a NHL referee for 26 years, so he must have an amazing collection of stories to choose from to compile this book. I have not yet seen a copy of this title yet, but NorthernLife.ca has a good rundown and interview with Wicks.

For more than 25 years, Ron Wicks has been blowing the whistle on some of hockey's greatest legends. Sporting a sweater with names like Howe, Hull, Orr, Lemieux or Gretzky left little impression on the official who, in a way, became an NHL legend himself.

“I put them, and hundreds of others, in the penalty box because they deserved it,” Wicks wrote in the introduction to his new book, A Referee's Life. “Rules are rules, and I called 'em whenever anyone broke 'em.”

You can read Laurel Myers full article here.

Einstein's Refrigerator by Steve Silverman

As promised, I will do a monthly Non-Hockey Book Review. It forces me to read something not about hockey. And I figure why not share my thoughts here with you guys. Maybe you'll be intrigued by the book, too.

Einstein's Refrigerator is a collection of oddball but true stories. Usually each story fills 3 or 4 pages in this 180 page book, making it a perfect book to pick up and put down. You can quickly read a passage or two, and learn something real neat.

And learn you will. I had no idea about a molasses flood that plagued Boston, or that George Washington was actually not the first president of the United States, or that for years there has been a chicken, named Mike, who has running around with his head literally cut off.

Some of the stories are a bit crude, like Fartman, and others are downright amazing, like that of Nikola Tesla, the scientist most of us have never heard of but he was smarter than Einstein.

Oh and speaking of Einstein, did you know he spent several years later in life trying to improve the refrigerator?

Did you know that Niagara Falls dried up on April Fool's Day, 1848? Or that Donald Duck inspired inventors on how to raise sunken ships? Or that there is a novel out there that has over 50,000 words in it, not one of which has the letter "e" in it?

I must say I really enjoyed most of the true stories in this book. I would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for an entertaining read. And you'll learn lots, too!

Wendel Clark's New Book

The first book of 2010 appears to be Wendel Clark's book Wendel: My Life In Hockey.

The book is published by Jackson Events, which is a handling service for celebrities, namely hockey players. It is available at Chapters but not Amazon so far.

I am trying to get a review copy. In the mean time, be sure to read Mike Zeisberger's Toronto Sun article about the book.

Also be sure to check out WendelClark.ca and his Facebook and Twitter feeds for more information on the book and sales locations.

Bargain Book Alert! Patrick Roy Biography $7.99

Chapters has recently put the Patrick Roy biography, written by his father Michel, on the bargain shelves. You can now pick up the hard cover book for just $7.99. Just visit Chapters and look in the 90% section.

You can expect a number of hard cover titles to hit the Chapters bargain sections in the coming weeks as publishers prepare for paperback releases in autumn 2010.

Also consider: Bruce Dowbiggin's The Meaning of Puck, now just $5.99.

Hockey Night In Mildmay by John Thompson

John Thompson grew up in Mildmay, Ontario, a little known town in the South Bruce area north of London and Kitchener. Nowadays Mildmay is home to about 1200 people.

Mildmay is typical of any small Canadian town. In fact is not so different than many neighborhoods and inner-communities within Canada's bigger towns and even large cities. The hockey rink is much more than a place of sport. It is a place of community, a place of social gathering.

This was especially true in the years after World War II when Thompson was growing up. It was a time of innocence. For the young hockey players of the Mildmay Monarchs, this was their glory days.

Published locally in 2006, Thompson goes on to document hockey's great history in this small Ontario town. He scours through the news archives, retelling stories of yesteryear, from great victories to the day Rocket Richard came town. He relives his youth while keeping alive the memories of local heroes gone by, names like Hat Trick Harry Dosman, Snoozer Trushinski, and Pepper Voisin. The Monarchs even had their own "Rocket" - Jiggs Liesemer.

This book could be about any community in Canada. Ultimately, the target audience is pretty small, as only residents of the South Bruce, Ontario region will be interested. Nonetheless, it is an excellent keepsake for any current or former resident.

Even though I've never heard of Mildmay or any of the players mentioned except Frank Trushinski, I took a real liking to this book. Perhaps it brings back fresh memories of my hometown winning the Hockeyville contest, and the great hockey pride that brought up. I toyed with the idea of writing a Hockeyville book for Terrace, but never got anywhere with that. If I ever did though, Thompson's book would excellent example for anyone looking to do their own book on their own hockey community.

One thing I really like about Thompson's book is even though this book looks back mostly the days of his youth, he very much wants this book to be inspirational for current and future Monarchs hockey players. These little Monarchs will dream of becoming a Mildmay legend and included in a future edition of Thompson's book "Hockey Night In Mildmay."

Where To Buy The Book

This book, expertly produced and presented, is not widely available. You will not find it in Chapters or on Amazon.

You can get copies mailed to you by contacting John Thompson at sstj99@yahoo.com. You can also pick up copies at the Town Crier Weekly or Stewart's Market in Mildmay, Wordsworth Books in Waterloo, or at The Outpost and Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener.

It is listed at $19.95.

Introducing 2 Minutes For Booking

Alright, it's January 2010, which means we are still a good 10 months away from the peak of this year's hockey book season. But I have big plans for Hockey Book Reviews in the meantime.

With the Olympics coming fast, we will soon be looking at some great international hockey books.

Of course we will be previewing the hockey book class of 2010.

I have a couple of texts I have to catch up on: So, You Be Keon and I'll Be Mahovlich by Oksanna Crawley and Hockey Night in Mildmay by John Thompson.

And I'm also introducing a new feature called 2 Minutes For Booking, where I will share a favorite passage from a hockey book in my library. In addition to enjoying the quote, hopefully it will introduce you to some old hockey books for you to add to your own library.

My first installment of 2 Minutes For Booking features Bruce Dowbiggin's 1998 book Of Ice And Men.

And just for fun, I thought I might throw in the odd non-hockey book I find of interest, and maybe you would to.

2 Minutes For Booking: Of Ice And Men by Bruce Dowbiggin

Here's a great quote from Bruce Dowbiggin's book Of Ice and Men:

"They say it is a true story, and even if it isn't, it's too good not to tell. Pugnacious junior Link Gaetz of Spokane showed up at the 1988 amateur draft sporting two black eyes. To everyone in attendance at the Montreal Forum that day, the burly defenseman looked the essence of hockey toughness - to everyone except Glen Sather, that is. Asked to appraise the young prospect, the Edmonton Oilers president, general manager, and, at the time, coach - took one look at the battered Gaetz and said, "I'll take the guy who gave him the black eyes."

Published in 1998 by McFarlane, Walter & Ross, Bruce Dowbiggin's Of Ice and Men is a collection of four biographies. Dowbiggin takes a look at Detroit's great leader, Steve Yzerman; Chris Chelios' two way brilliance; Dominik Hasek's uncanny goaltending; and master architect Glen Sather.

The book is a bit dated, as all four of the profiled legends have added to their stories in the 12 years since the book was published. It is still a good snap shot in time, looking back four of hockey's great when they were at or close to the top of the game.

Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

2009 Hockey Books

Here's a look back 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
Home Ice: 2010 Olympic Hockey Guide
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
Making It In Hockey
NHL Guide & Record Book
Now Is The Winter
Pelle Lindbergh: Behind The White Mask
Pick Up Hockey
Playing With Fire: Theo Fleury
Puck Funnies
Reflections 2009
7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players
Squaw Valley Gold
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 Trail Less Traveled
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
Howling Timberwolves Series
I Love My Hockey Mom
Oil King Courage
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