Team Canada Books

Hockey Canada has a new online store. I hope to see it grow into the largest collection of Team Canada an international hockey books on the web.

In the meantime, there are two books available at the Hockey Canada online store:

Canadian Gold: 2010 Olympic Winter Games Ice Hockey Champions is a commemorative paperback book that celebrates the women’s Olympic hockey team winning back-to-back Olympic championships and the men’s team recapturing the gold they claimed in Salt Lake City.

Canada`s Olympic Hockey History Book is by the bestselling author Andrew Podnieks. This collector’s book offers a comprehensive, fascinating look at almost a century of Canada’s Olympic hockey history, including both the men’s and women’s teams. Moving chronologically starting with the 1920 games through Canada’s Turin’s 2006 games, Podnieks has compiled a treasure-trove of facts and figures on everything from team players, uniforms and rules, to travel conditions, opponents, and final standings. Complete with extensive archival photography from both the Hockey Hall of Fame and Hockey Canada, as well as personal accounts from players past and present.

2010 Hockey Books Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peak at the hockey books scheduled for release in autumn 2010:

Hockey Superstitions: From Playoff Beards to Crossed Sticks and Lucky Socks - Super-author Andrew Podnieks explores the fascinating and fun world of hockey superstitions: their origins, their quirks, and the mythology around them. Along the way, it gives us an original look into the minds of the players and coaches behind them.

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

The Greatest Game: The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey - Todd Denault takes a look at the night of December 31, 1975. On that night the Montreal Canadiens hosted the touring Central Red Army, the dominant team in the Soviet Union in what many say is "the greatest game ever played." Held at the height of the Cold War, this remarkable contest transcended sports and took on serious cultural, sociological, and political overtones. And while the final result was a 3-3 tie, no one who saw the game was left disappointed. This exhibition of skill was hockey at its finest, and it set the bar for what was to follow as the sport began its global expansion.

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

Final Call: My Life as an NHL Official - Kerry Fraser is one of hockey's best known referees. That's not always good, as Fraser found his fare share of controversy along the way. The zebra with his famous hair saw it all in the past 20 years or so, and he's compiled together in his autobiography in what should be an entertaining read.

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

 Barilko: Without a Trace - Bill Barilko's short life was laden with Canadian lore, and in Barilko: Without a Trace, Kevin Shea recounts it wonderfully. He became a Toronto Maple Leaf legend, and a Stanley Cup hero. The world was his oyster, and then it all came to shocking end. The plane carrying Barilko and his fishing friends disappeared, not to be found for over a decade. Note: This book was originally published in 2004, and is an excellent read.The reissued edition has a new chapter that chronicles a return to the site of the plane crash for the first time since 1962, and newly released and exclusive photos.

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

Hockey's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Goals - You can’t win if you don’t score, and this new collection scores big the most heart-stopping, game-winning, record-breaking goals in the history of the professional and international game. Best-selling authors and hockey masterminds Don Weekes and Kerry Banks reviewed thousands of goals to come up with their top-100 list of the most skillful shots, game-changing moments, and rink-rocking net-bulgers of all time. Relive the game’s most dramatic highlights, including Alexander Ovechkin’s acrobatic back-slider against Phoenix in 2006; Bobby Orr’s stunning airborne Stanley Cup — winner against St. Louis in 1970; and, of course, a few from all-time goal-scoring leader Wayne Gretzky.

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

Retired Numbers: A Celebration of NHL Excellence - In the storied history of the NHL, many players stand out, and a few become synonymous with their numbers. However, there are some whose skates are so hard to fill and whose stars shine so bright that their numbers are retired to the annals of legend. In Retired Numbers, best-selling hockey author Andrew Podnieks documents 116 players whose numbers have been raised to great heights in arenas across the league. From players who made their mark with one team (Paul Coffey with the Edmonton Oilers) to those who starred in many (Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Rangers, and the Los Angeles Kings), fans will learn just what made these players so memorable.

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

Sports Illustrated The Hockey Book - Following in the tradition of Sports Illustrated’s gorgeous, best-selling coffee-table books, The Hockey Book is destined to captivate not only hockey mavens but also all sports fans. No sport has produced more astounding photography, and this hardbound 256-page volume brings readers into the guts of the game, chronicling the careers of immortals such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, and Wayne Gretzky. The book dips into hockey’s hardscrabble roots, long before goalies wore masks or skaters wore helmets and when ungentle teams such as Philadelphia’s Broad Street Bullies battled their way to the Stanley Cup. It also brings to life what is perhaps the most memorable sporting event of the 20th century: Team USA upsetting Russia and winning gold at the1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. The Hockey Book’s oversized photos are accompanied by an extraordinary collection of stories, from a stable of writers that includes William Faulkner, George Plimpton, four-time National Magazine Award-winner Gary Smith, and longtime Sports Illustrated pucks writer Michael Farber, himself a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. Sports Illustrated shoots and scores with this collection.

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

The Ovechkin Project - In The Ovechkin Project, two of North America's best-known hockey writers, Gare Joyce and Damien Cox, tackle the tale of the world's most mercurial hockey talent today. Ovechkin has, since the day he entered the NHL, taken the league and the hockey world by storm, brought a new era of commercial success to the U.S. capital and generated a remarkable rivalry with Canada's golden boy, Sidney Crosby. He is the most compelling figure in the game, and Joyce and Cox will show how Oveckhin came to be the star he is today, one of the few hockey players in history to truly transcend the sport.

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

Eddie Shore and that Old-Time Hockey - Michael Hiam takes a look at the life and times of the great Eddie Shore. In his heyday, "the Edmonton Express" was beloved by Boston Bruins fans and respected throughout the league for his exceptional skill on the ice as much as for his ferocity. Eddie Shore and That Old Time Hockey is an exciting and long-overdue biography of this hockey superstar.

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

The Day I (Almost) Killed Two Gretzkys: And Other Hits, Near Misses, and Off-the-Wall Stories About Sports, and Life - James Duthie is one of North America's most recognized hockey media personalities, as well as one of the most respected and personable commentators on the game, and one of the most prolific. Best known as the host of all TSN's NHL hockey broadcasts on The NHL on TSN and for his coverage of the World Junior Championships, James also has a strong following for his work in print, on TSN.ca and in the Ottawa Citizen. He has been writing columns about hockey, sport in general, and his own twisted view of the world for over a decade. This book is the first and only collection of some of his most popular and most controversial columns, as well as several brand new pieces never previously published.

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


They Call Me KILLER: Tales from Junior Hockeys Legendary Hall-of-Fame Coach - Brian Kilrea - also known as "Killer" - is one of the most famous coaching personalities in hockey. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003, Killer is known as the winningest coach in junior hockey history, a two-time winner of the Memorial Cup, and winner of countless other divisional championships. Even the Canadian Hockey League's Coach of the Year award (which he has won four times) is now named after him! With his years as a player, 29 years as coach and now General Manager of the Ottawa 67's and two years spent with the New York Islanders, Killer has a lot of stories to tell. Stories about life in the juniors, about being a coach, about the young stars he molds for their futures, and stories from his players and colleagues about what it's like to work and live with Killer.

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

Twenty Greatest Hockey Goals - Every hockey fan remembers certain goals scored that stand out from all others. But if one had to name just 20 as the greatest ever accomplished, what would they be? There's Paul Henderson's third game-winning goal in 1972, the one that clinched the Summit Series for Canada against the Soviet Union. Also Mike Eruzione's upset "Miracle on Ice" winner for the United States against the Soviets at Lake Placid in 1980. And don't forget the famous Stanley Cup winners by the Toronto Maple Leafs' Bill Barilko in 1951 and the Boston Bruins' Bobby Orr in 1970. From the goal by the Montreal Victorias against the Winnipeg Victorias in the 1896 Stanley Cup rematch that truly made hockey's most famous hardware a national event, to Wayne Gretzky's 77th goal in 1982 that beat Phil Esposito's single-season record for goals, to Sidney Crosby's "golden goal" in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Zweig serves up a slice of exceptional hockey moments that's sure to provoke heated discussion.

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

Canucks at 40: Our Game, Our Stories, Our Passion -  From the inaugural Canucks goal in 1970 and their unexpected first Stanley Cup appearance in 1982 to glory days of the West Coast Express and the captaincy of Roberto Luongo, the fans have been there all the way. Now in their 40^th year, the Vancouver Canucks are celebrating the greatest moments in their history and giving fans an inside look at their team.

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

Love That Hockey Game: Peter Puck's 200 Fascinating Hockey Facts - Brian McFarlane is back with his old buddy Peter Puck. This time he's highlighting some of the most interesting facts in hockey.

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

Toronto Maple Leafs: Diary of a Dynasty, 1957--1967 - A chronicle of the Leafs' glory years of the 1960s. Written with assistance of Paul Patskou, Roly Harris and Paul Bruno, author Kevin Shea extensively researched using Hockey Night in Canada archives, multiple newspaper sources and interviews with the principals, including George Armstrong, who hasn't done interviews for years.

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

Oh So Close, Canada!

KP Wee is a super baseball and hockey fan with a few self published titles. In 2009 he came out with his latest title - Oh So Close, Canada! Lamenting Some of the Missed Championships in Canadian Sports History.

Buy The Book:  Amazon.ca - Amazon.com - Author's Website

The author looks at the 1984 Montreal Canadiens, the 1985 and 1987 Quebec Nordiques, the 1986 and 1990 Calgary Flames, the 1991 and 1992 Edmonton Oilers, the 1993 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1994 Vancouver Canucks, the 1998 and 2002 Montreal Canadiens, 2003 Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators, the 2004 Calgary Flames and 2006 Edmonton Oilers.

Now some of those teams were legitimately heart-breakingly close to winning the Stanley Cup. Others, not so much. It is written with a undeniable degree of fandom. Though covered rather briefly, fans of those particular teams will enjoy re-living those playoff runs. It would be nice if the author dug a little deeper though, perhaps exploring common themes or long term effects on the team and the community.

The book is actually multi-sport. There is lots of baseball coverage, with seemingly every year the Montreal Expos or Toronto Blue Jays were close it is deemed to be a championship that got away.

There is also some revisiting of the Canadian Football League with 1990s Calgary Stampeders.

Canadian Hockey Literature by Jason Blake

Whether one loves hockey or loathes hockey, you will not find any Canadian deny the sport plays a very big role in our culture. Yet it is a fact that is very much taken for granted, and rarely studied.

Jason Blake offers a significant exploration of hockey and Canada's culture in his book Canadian Hockey Literature.

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

Blake, an English professor at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), studied Canadian hockey literature, the first in-depth study of it's kind. By that we mean hockey fiction, not hockey-friendly biographies and histories and other such non-fiction.

Of course, there really isn't a great collection of hockey fiction. Up until about 25 years ago hockey fiction was almost non-existent, especially when compared to the wealth of literary gems in the baseball world. Things have really improved in recent times, thanks to the likes of Mark Jarman, Richard B. Wright, Paul Quarrington, David Adam Richards and Mordecai Richler. That being said, much of the fiction remains juvenile.

By studying Canadian hockey literature (the author also studies dramas, short stories and poetry), Adams challenges the popular perceptions of Canada's game. Specifically Blake studies five recurring themes:

• Hockey as a symbol of nationhood - a chapter that almost sets the stage for the reader, explaining how and why hockey became such a prominent role in Canadian culture.
• The hockey dream - explores the stereotypical Canadian childhood dream of hockey, and the contrasting harsh reality almost everyone faces.
• Violence - A lengthy investigation of the contradictory idea that peace-loving Canadians love their bloodsport.
• National Identity - a study of discrepancies in hockey culture in our country, especially concerning Canada's high immigrant population.
• Family - hockey's role in both family building and family division.

It is an interesting study of the Canadian dream and it's ironic truths, though you will have to be keenly interested in the topics. It is an academic read, although not too offensive when it comes to usual excessive wordiness or too repetitive. It is refreshing that way, engaging even the interested layman observer.