Undergrounders by David Skuy

David Skuy is back with another hockey themed young adult novel, Undergrounders.

Buy the book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

Here's more from the publisher, Scholastic:

Can playing hockey help a street kid get his life back? After his mom dies, and the landlord kicks him out, 12-year-old Jonathan faces the loneliness and danger of life on the streets -- until he meets Lewis. Lewis takes him under his wing and leads him to his new home among a group of kids living in an abandoned underground shopping mall who call themselves the "Undergrounders." Now renamed "Mouse," Jonathan runs errands, delivers packages and panhandles for food money. An escape from this life underground comes to him in the form of hockey gear. Stolen hockey gear, but hockey gear nonetheless. He suits up and heads to the community rink, where he befriends regular kids who welcome him into their game and onto their team. He agrees, knowing he can never tell them about being homeless. Playing hockey makes him feel like a kid again, but keeping his double life a secret proves to be more difficult and dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

About the Author

David Skuy is a lawyer, a writer and a Leafs fan to the core. He spent most of his childhood playing some sport or another. What he remembers most is the intensity, the competitiveness, and the sheer enjoyment of playing a sport you love when you’re young. David lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Scholastic also offers a sample passage on their website.

Hockey Trailblazers by Nicole Mortillaro

There's a new book out from Scholastic and author Nicole Mortillaro. Hockey Trailblazers is a book aimed at young readers looking for inspirational stories from real life hockey heroes.

Buy the book: Amazon.ca - Chapters  - Amazon.com


It is a well written, well presented juvenile literature offering. I would definitely recommend it for young, possibly reluctant, reader/hockey fan in your life.

Here's more from the publisher, Scholastic

The stories of five real hockey heroes who overcame challenges to play the game they love at the highest possible level! This inspiring book profiles hockey players whose talent and determination eventually broke down barriers in hockey and opened doors or the generations that followed. Readers will learn about:

- Willie O’Ree, who challenged racial barriers as the first black player in the NHL.
- George Armstrong, the first aboriginal player to make it big in the NHL, played 11 seasons as the Captain of the Maple Leafs, and proved his talent many times over.
- Bobby Clarke was the first player with diabetes to play in the NHL. Knowing his place in hockey history now, it is laughable to think he was dismissed as "too fragile" to play the game.
- Manon Rhéaume, the first woman to play pro hockey.
- Larry Kwong, the first Chinese-Canadian in the league.

This fascinating book includes photos of all the players and sidebars about others they inspired, including Jarome Iginla, Hayley Wickenheiser and Jordan Tootoo. It encourages young fans to consider hockey, and the meaning of determination, from a whole new perspective.

There is also a sample passage available on the Scholastic website.

About the Author

Nicole Mortillaro is a children’s book editor and an avid hockey fan to boot! She has written four previous works of non-fiction for young readers, including biographies of Jarome Iginla and Bobby Clarke. She lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario with her daughter.

Hockey Gods At The Summit by Frank Cosentino

There is a new book out on the 1972 Summit Series. Hockey Gods at the Summit: How the 1972 Canada-Soviet Hockey Summit Became a September to Remember is a very interesting project presented by former CFL player turned author Frank Cosentino.

In this fictional retelling of the famed 1972 showdown between the Soviets and the Canadians, Cosentino has let's the ghosts of Canadian hockey's past play a big role in the series progression.

Here's more from the publisher, General Store Publishing:

In this evocative depiction of the famed 1972 Canada-Soviet hockey summit, Team Canada receives a heavenly assist from a group of gone-but-not-forgotten NHLers when it appears the greatest hockey series in this country's history might be forfeited to the Russians.

Buy The Book: - Chapters -  Amazon.com

Frank Cosentino, a retired Canadian professional football player, educator and coach, has written an imaginative fiction story based on the iconic 1972 Canada-Soviet hockey series that today remains a source of national pride and is regarded by many as a landmark event in Canadian cultural history. Indeed, Paul Henderson’s summit-winning goal is known as “the goal that everyone remembers” and has become the most well-known goal in the history of the game.

Cosentino was a renowned quarterback who played 10 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with Hamilton, Edmonton and Toronto. As a player he was a member of five Grey Cup teams, winning twice with Hamilton.

Now a prolific author and Professor Emeritus at York University, who taught courses in sports history, Cosentino has created a supernatural tale that sees 14 deceased NHLers taking part in the legendary ’72 hockey summit. When the heavenly hockey players think the home team is in danger of losing the series, players of a bygone era such as Georges Vezina, Howie Morenz and Bill Barilko and other “Hockey Gods” provide an assist by “infusing” themselves into Team Canada players like Paul Henderson, Tony Esposito and Peter Mahovlich.

“The book is a mixture of fact and fantasy,” said Cosentino. “I wrote the book from this perspective because I wanted to make the reader aware of some hockey legends from other eras. We have an undeniable hockey culture in Canada. It helps define who we are.”

This is Cosentino’s 15th book, including two on the CFL and the history of football and sports in Canada. After he hung up his CFL football cleats, he taught and coached at the University of Western Ontario for six years where his teams won Vanier Cups in 1971 and 1974. He then joined York University in Toronto as professor and chair of Physical Education and Athletics. He and his wife, Sheila, live in Eganville, Ontario.

More Soviet Hockey Books

The following book is a biography of Akardy Cherneyshev, the famed coach of Moscow Dynamo. It is written by a fellow named M. Aleksandrov. Published in 1979, this book is over 180 pages and contains over 20 rare black and white photos.

Here's a look inside the book, including a photo of the great coach with the Stanley Cup!

The next book is a biography of the great Sergei Makarov. This book was written by O.Spassky, and published in 1987, when Makarov may have been at the zenith of his greatness. Seriously, there was no doubt he was one of the top ten players in the world at that time, maybe even top 5. He should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The book is 190 pages. Here's a look inside:

Here's another biography, this one about Victor Konovalenko. He was a Soviet goaltender in the days before anyone heard of Vladislav Tretiak. It is no wonder why no one in North America knows about him. This book, titled "Third Period," was published in 1986.

And here's a text on the original Soviet hockey great, Vsevolod Bobrov:

Georges Laraque Defends The Bone Cage

In case you have not yet heard, former NHL tough guy Georges Laraque is defending the Canadian novel The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou on CBC Radio's Canada Reads.

Here's a nice article on CBC's website.

The former NHL tough guy is so confident about the book he’ll be defending in this week’s Canada Reads debates, he’s already landing haymakers on the rest of the literary field.

“It’s called Canada Reads. Can-a-da. Which means what book would the majority of Canadians be more attracted to read? And what is the biggest event that the country loves every four years? It’s the Olympics. People love our Olympic athletes.”

“I truly believe the more people who will read this book, the better the support will be for our Canadian athletes,” Laraque said. “Instead of always complaining about the number of medals we’re winning, we’re going to understand the struggle they go through.”

Here's the full story.

The Glory Years: Memories of a Decade, 1955-1965 by Billy Harris

I have thoroughly enjoyed Billy Harris' autobiography The Glory Years: Memories of a Decade, 1955-1965.

Published by Prentice Hall Canada back in 1989 Harris gives an insider's view on the Leafs of that era. Harris of course was a utility player on the Leafs in those days, so he definitely qualifies as an insider. He presents the story of his team, coaches and teammates candidly and articulately with a mixture of criticism and wry humor. It is an excellent history of the Leafs of that time frame, with some neat insight on the likes of Punch Imlach, Dick Duff, Bobby Baun, Tim Horton and Frank Mahovlich.

Harris also tells his story from his youth to his years beyond the Leafs. He is a fascinating individual. An academic with many interests and a hockey man who embraced international hockey in a time where it was almost taboo for Canadians to do so, Harris was not your typical jock.

All hockey book enthusiasts know there is a glut of Toronto Maple Leafs books about their glory days. I enjoyed this book so much I would put right near the top of my recommend Leafs history books list.

The book contains many black and white photos, most taken by the author himself. Many of them are humorous as they reveal the hi-jinx and antics of life on a pro sports team back in the 1960s.

Hockey E-Book Store - Amazon

Here's a look at Hockey E-Books available at Amazon.com. These e-books are specifically for the Amazon Kindle.

More Russian Hockey Books

The other day I shared some amazing photos from a rare Russian hockey book simply titled "Vladislav Tretiak."

I thought now is a good time to look back at a few other books from the Soviet hockey era.

Here is a real rare book from the 1967 World Hockey Championships. It is curiously titled "58:9." The 90 page book consists mostly of 80 black and white colours:

Here's a 158 page book from 1984 about deceased hockey great Valeri Kharlamov:

Here's a cover shot and a look inside of a 1979 book about coaching great Arkady Chernyshev

Here's a rare 1987 book about the great Sergei Makarov. As you can see many great photos lie inside:

Here is Bobby Hull's famous book "My Hockey" released in Russia in 1971: