Keon And Me: My Search For The Lost Soul Of The Leafs by Dave Bidini

Dave Bidini is hands down the best writer in hockey these days. So news of a new release from Bidini is greeted with eagerness. When that book is about Dave Keon and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the anticipation was rightfully through the roof!

To no one's surprise, Bidini delivers. Bidini is the most creative hockey writer of our time, and Keon and Me is nothing short of a fantastic piece of literature that even non-hockey readers will thoroughly enjoy. This book is an instant classic that transcends the hockey world.

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While Keon And Me is a non-fiction book, Bidini presents the protagonists as wonderful characters that are easy to connect with. Obviously Toronto Maple Leafs legend Dave Keon is one of the main characters. He's a fascinating case study under any circumstances. After all, he was one of the most beloved players in the history of "Canada's Team" yet he has essentially been estranged from the sport for decades now and no one really understands why.

The other main character, as you can guess by the book's title, is Bidini himself. It's actually two different Bidinis - the 11 year old hero worshipping kid who has to deal with Keon's exit, and the current day Bidini still trying figure out not only Keon's cloudy story but his own coming of age. Through it all, Bidini shows an amazing and unconditional devotion to his childhood hero.

The book is part memoir and part an ode to Keon. It is also partly an ode to hockey at various stages in our lifetimes, specifically how we cling to that childhood innocence that forever keeps us in love with the game.

This book should break down the walls set and win some critically acclaimed non-fiction awards. Yeah, it's very much a hockey book and that's frowned upon by literary elitists, but this book is so much more than a hockey book, too. It is a literary gem that will stand the test of time.

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Heart Of The Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story

When the ghosts of hockey's past reminisce about the 1960 Chicago Blackhawks, they almost always focus on superstars Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita with Mr. Goalie Glenn Hall also getting a lot of attention.

Not as many people know the story of Pierre Pilote, the Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman who was so instrumental in Chicago's success and 1961 Stanley Cup championship.

That can all change this year as Pilote brings readers rinkside in this compelling biography, Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story. It is an authorized biography co-written with L. Waxy Gregoire and David M. Dupuis.

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From his upbringing in northern Quebec in which he played in a Monday night beer league, to captain of the Blackhawks, his captivating story of success has it all. Any sports fan will enjoy the stories of Pilote teaming up with the likes of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Glenn Hall, Moose Vasko, Tommy Ivan, Rudy Pilous, and Billy Reay. This is truly an unforgettable story told by an unforgettable star.

Pierre Pilote was one of the most outstanding defensemen of his time. In the days before Bobby Orr redefined how defensemen played the game, Pilote was already establishing himself as an offensive catalyst.

"Pierre changed the game quite a bit. He was even pre-Bobby Orr. With the defense moving in to be part of the offense, he was certainly influential," suggested Hawks goaltending great Glenn Hall. Pilote was essentially bridging the generation gap between Doug Harvey and Orr.

Pilote's blue line offensive style was due to his metamorphosis from a center to a defenseman in his late teens. He had always grown up as one of the top offensive forwards. His game was very raw and creative, as he never played organized hockey while growing up. But he tried out for and made the St. Catherine's Tee Pee's junior hockey team by switching to defense.

"And then when I started playing defense, I had to learn the position, but I was always thinking offensively, if you know what I mean. I guess it evolved when the Blackhawks started getting guys like (Bobby) Hull and (Stan) Mikita and stuff like that. We became more offensive minded I guess. I was involved in that kind of trend," recalls Pilote.

It took some time for Pilote to make the big leagues. He apprenticed for four seasons with the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL before making it to stay in 1956-57 with the basement dwelling Chicago Blackhawks. By 1961 he was a Stanley Cup champion and later was named team captain.

The Hawks had floundered for years prior to Pilote's arrival. But with the likes of Pilote, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Glenn Hall, the Hawks became Stanley Cup champions in 1961. Pilote scored the winning or tying goal in every Blackhawks victory that year. 1961 pre-dated the Conn Smythe Trophy, but Pilote was the obvious playoff MVP. His 15 points led all players.

Pilote started piling up assists as his confidence improved, and he quickly became one of the best blue liners in the league. The unflappable defender became a master of the give-and-go, a tactic his teammates came quick to rely on. In 1963-64, Pilote recorded 46 assists, tying an NHL record at the time. His best offensive season came in 1964-65 when he scored 59 points, breaking Babe Pratt's record of 57 points by a defenseman.

Although fairly small for a defenseman he played an aggressive game. In fact one year he led the NHL in penalty minutes with 165. His all-round play earned him the Norris Trophy in 1963, 1964 and 1965 and was a first team all star 5 straight times.

Pilote was a great influence for many of the NHL's following generation of defenders.

"Growing up, I was a big Chicago Blackhawks fan so I watched Pierre Pilote and Elmer Vasko, Doug Jarrett and all those guys that played on that team," remembered Larry Robinson, the great Montreal rearguard. "Before Orr, there was Pierre and Doug Harvey. Those were the guys who pioneered defensemen taking the puck and rushing up the ice with it and tried to control the play."

"What Pierre Pilote did for me was show me that a defenseman had to have his head up and the puck in front of him so that he is always ready to move the puck," said New York Islanders standout Denis Potvin. "Starting in my junior career and later in the National Hockey League, that's the way I tried to play: Always ready to make a pass. Pierre was not a huge defenseman but he was one of the best ever at separating a player from the puck and that's very important. A defenseman's two most important jobs are to stop the opposition and generate the offense and I saw Pierre as one of the best at doing that."

For more modern fans, many old-timers also compare today's Scott Niedermayer to Pilote, although Pilote was never as gifted as a skater.

Pierre Pilote's great career was recognized in 1975 when he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He retired having played 890 regular season NHL games, in which he scored 80 goals, 418 assists and 498 points.

Fighting Back: The Chris Nilan Story

With the help of writer Don Yeager, Chris Nilan has released his autobiography, Fighting Back: The Chris Nilan Story.

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Has there ever been a more aptly named book? The former Montreal Canadiens tough guy is the fifth most penalized player in the violent history of the National Hockey League. In one game he managed to accumulate a NHL record 10 penalties in one game!

Nicknamed "Knuckles," Chris Nilan was one of the most feared fighters ever. But as we have come to find out in later years, the biggest fight of Nilan's life has not been against Jay Miller or Dave Brown or Bob Probert. No, it has been Nilan's fight to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

Nilan reveals his off-ice battles with an addiction to pain killers developed into a life-and-death struggle with booze, heroin and depression. He is open about his downfall because he hopes no one else has to go through it. Like recent books by Theo Fleury and Bob Probert, there is some pretty heavy content here. It may be uncomfortable at times but it is expertly presented by the authors. A good book gets the reader emotionally involved, and this book accomplishes that.

Of course it helps that the main character was once one of the most famous/infamous and loved/hated hockey characters of his time. The attachment is already there for most of us. And there is always a soft spot for these kids who fight against long odds to make it big.

Nilan grew up on the tough streets of Boston and became one of the most feared enforcers in the history of hockey - no easy feat. He also served as a pretty decent role player, helping the Habs win the Stanley Cup in 1986. He scored 20 goals that year, often playing on a checking line with Guy Carbonneau and Mike McPhee.

Ultimately Chris Nilan's story is a story of triumph. He constantly has overcome obstacles, whether the fight be to make it to the NHL or, thankfully, his fight against his demons. And now that he has his life back on track, he wants to help others who face similar demons.

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Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players

Every few years the Hockey Hall of Fame comes out with a fantastic new book highlighting the greatest players in the history of the game: the enshrined members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

2013 brings us the Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players . It is right up to date including the 2013 inductees Scott Niedermayer, Brendan Shanahan, Geraldine Heaney and Chris Chelios. 

It reminds me a whole lot of the 2011 release Official Guide To The Players Of The Hockey Hall of Fame. That book was almost a real thick pocket book, where as the new release is in large coffee table format. Which is actually nicer in that the photos that tend to dominate these Hall of Fame books are more enjoyable in the larger size.

But other than that the two books have a very similar feel to them. The content is rewritten but essentially says the same thing. This must always be a challenge for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Their tried and true formula with these books is heavy on the photos and lean on the biographies. Often it is the sidebar features that steal the show.

The Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players is a nice book on it's own. If you have been collecting hockey books for any serious length of time you will know the book is essentially an updated version of previous Hall of Fame releases.

Here's more from the publishers:

Profiles, stories, artifacts and archival images of every player in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The greatest individual honor that can be bestowed upon a professional hockey player is to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players  celebrates each and every player who has been so honored since the first class in 1945, and all the way to the class of 2013.

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Here are just a few of the Hockey Hall of Fame's most famous inductees:

• Wayne Gretzky
• Bobby Orr
• Maurice Richard
• Guy Lafleur
• Patrick Roy
• Tim Horton
• Johnny Bower
• Ken Dryden
• Mark Messier
• Frank Mahovlich
• Brett Hull
• Steve Yzerman
• Joe Sakic

Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players also features artifacts and memorabilia from the Hockey Hall of Fame's extensive archive, including: Bill Barilko's Stanley Cup-winning puck (the last goal he ever scored), Wayne Gretzky's record-setting 802nd goal puck and Mario Lemieux's 1987 Canada Cup jersey.

Complete with more than 300 photos and 100 artifacts -- as well as stats, facts, quotes and other interesting stories and snapshots from each star's career -- Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Players is the definitive book on the stars who have been awarded hockey's most prestigious honor.

The Hockey News: The Biggest Of Everything In Hockey

The Hockey News' latest book, The Biggest of Everything in Hockey is a mix of all things, well, big in hockey's past and present. It is a book for fans of all ages.

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Chapters feature the biggest player, the biggest feud, the biggest brawl, the biggest save, the biggest goal, the biggest upset and the biggest comeback. There are lots of fun topics like the biggest nose, the biggest fashion faux pas, the biggest beard and even the biggest fan!

A number of honourable mentions are acknowledged in each category, offering readers with great stories about larger than life figures, events and oddities in hockey history. 

The Hockey News annually puts out up to a couple of book releases each fall. If you've been reading my blog long enough you know I've been critical of the production value of THN texts in the past. The Biggest of Everything in Hockey escapes that criticism due to their glossy presentation with colour photos. The high quality display really compliments what THN offers best - a team of high quality writers.

That combination gives readers exactly what they expect from The Hockey News - a book worthy of being under every hockey fan's Christmas tree.

Completing The Quartet: Hugh "Muzz Murray" by Roger Godin

Chris Chelios, just inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame here in the Fall of 2013, is considered by many to be the greatest American hockey player of all time. Others might suggest Brian Leetch or Brett Hull or Mike Modano or Pat Lafontaine. Regardless, you'll note they are all very modern stars.

America has been playing hockey pretty much as long as Canada has been, but they have not developed superstars until relatively recently. Sure, there was a Frank Brimsek here or a John Mariucci there, but they seemingly lack that star quality over the years. While they may not be able to boast an Eddie Shore or Howie Morenz or Cyclone Taylor, the Americans do have a number of very important players in the course of their own hockey history to be acknowledged.

Enter Roger Godin. He is one of the top hockey historians in the world. He is a proud member of the Society For International Hockey Research and an even prouder Minnesotan. His work over the years has him so highly regarded that the NHL's Minnesota Wild hired him as the team's curator.

Godin tells us there are four American hockey greats prior to the year 1925. He has presented papers to SIHR on each and has turned them into published works.

The players are Hobey Baker, who most good hockey fans will recognize, along with Moose Goheen, Cody Winters and Muzz Murray. Murray is the fourth player featured by Godin, hence the title Completing The Quartet.

Murray was a standout with the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA from 1918 through 1922, peaking in the 1919 Stanley Cup final against the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately that series was never completed because of an influenza epidemic. Murray, a native of Michigan, became only the second American born player to ever compete in the Stanley Cup finals.

Murray never played in the NHL himself, though the PCHA was considered to be an equal major league at that time. He has never gotten much attention by hockey historians, at least not until now thanks to Roger Godin.

The "book" is essentially his presented paper. It is only 36 double-spaced pages long. That includes 6 interesting black and white photos. It is produced by Milkees Press out of Roseville, Minnesota. The book is only available by contacting Roger Godin directly.

This book has a very limited marketplace as I suspect there just isn't that many people looking to learn about Muzz Murray. For those people who are, you don't have to look any further.

I hope the author looks at the possibility of combining his work on these four early American hockey stars in a full book presentation, perhaps while introducing us to other early day American stars who have laid the foundation for the many great American players today. That is a book that needs to be written and there is no better choice than Roger Godin to write it.

The NHL: A Centennial History by D'arcy Jenish

D'arcy Jenish, one of the most thorough hockey historians you will ever read, is back with a new title: The NHL: 100 Years of On-Ice Action and Boardroom Battles. Jenish previously wrote The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years Of Hockey Glory, wowing readers with the depth of his research.

Mr. Jenish takes this to a whole new level in his NHL centennial book. The NHL centennial is not until 2017, so Jenish and Doubleday Canada are getting a good head start here. I know for a fact that there are several centennial books already in the works. They will have a tough standard to meet with Mr. Jenish coming in first in line.

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I was curious as to why Jenish, the former senior writer for MacLean's magazine, and Doubleday Canada were in such a hurry to release this title. Just reading the introduction to the book reveals why. Jenish is not so much writing the history of the National Hockey League, at least not the story we've always been told. Through his amazing research he has uncovered new truths about the NHL. Essentially he is re-writing history.

Jenish tells a story of two perpetual struggles -- survival and growth. In doing this the author was granted unprecedented access to previously unpublished league files, including revelatory minutes of board meetings. He also conducted dozens of hours of interviews with league executives, including commissioner Gary Bettman and former president John Ziegler, as well as well as owners, coaches, general managers and player representatives. 

He now reveals for the first time the true story behind some of the most significant events of hockey history.

"This work tells us a different story," writes Jenish. "It challenges conventional wisdom."

He adds that his book "will give the reader a fly-on-the-wall perspective on the debates that took place within the inner sanctum of the NHL. We can hear Clarence Campbell, Conn Smythe, Frank Selke, Lester Patrick, Art Ross, James Norris and others speaking candidly and openly about the most difficult challenges they faced."

These challenges are turned in the major storylines for the book's purposes.

Stories like how for much of the first 90 years of NHL existence owning a NHL team really has not been a licence to print money, as so many will have you believe. Jenish shows the constant struggles for teams to stay afloat. That struggle almost saw the loss of both Chicago (a fairly well documented fact) and Boston (not nearly so well known) in the height of the Original Six "glory" days.

Jenish also reveals that NHL seriously considered expanding shortly after World War II, eyeing Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia in particular.

"There's a surprise on every page," he told the Peterborough Examiner. I don't think he was exaggerating.

In more contemporary times Jenish expertly conducts interviews with Gary Bettman and John Ziegler, getting both men - especially Ziegler - to open up candidly about many issues. As a result Jenish offers us a fresh perspective on the battle with the WHA, modern expansion and the unfortunate labour disputes.

It will be interesting to see how this book is received. Back in 2002 Morey Holzman and Joseph Nieforth, two more excellent researchers, offered what they believed to be a new history of how the NHL was formed with their book Deceptions and Doublecross. It, like Jenish's book, was a fascinating premise but a commercial flop. No one was interested in it. 

Will that same affliction bring down Jenish' work? I certainly hope not as there are some incredibly important revelations here. The fact that the book follows the NHL's evolution to today should really help it capture an audience. This truly might be the most important hockey book of it's class.

That being said the book is a heavy, academic read not likely to capture the interest of the casual fan, which, let's face it, makes up the largest segment of hockey fans. But to those hardcore hockey history fans I suspect this book will be hailed as one of the most important books ever written. As the publisher suggests, "this is a definitive, revelatory chronicle that no serious hockey fan will want to be without."

We will see if it is important enough to be accepted by the mainstream as hockey's rewritten history. 

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Ken Dryden's The Game: 30th Anniversary Edition

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already at the 30th anniversary edition of Ken Dryden’s The Game .

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Widely acknowledged as the best hockey book ever written and lauded by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 10 Sports Books of All Time, The Game is a reflective and thought-provoking look at a life in hockey. Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goalie and former president of the Toronto Maple Leafs turned politician, captures the essence of the sport and what it means to all hockey fans. He gives vivid and affectionate portraits of the characters—Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, and coach Scotty Bowman among them—who made the Canadiens of the 1970s one of the greatest hockey teams in history. But beyond that, Dryden reflects on life on the road, in the spotlight, and on the ice, offering a rare inside look at the game of hockey and an incredible personal memoir.

It may have been thirty years since this seminal book first hit book stores, yet it’s still just as relevant as ever. This commemorative edition marks the 30th anniversary of the book’s original publication, and it includes a new foreword by Bill Simmons, new photography, and a new chapter, “The Game Goes On.”

The new chapter discusses the tradition of NHL players from the Stanley Cup-winning team having the opportunity to take the Cup home. Surprisingly, this tradition didn’t start until 1995. Having never had the chance to take part in this custom, Ken petitioned to have the opportunity to do so, and when his request was finally granted – he celebrated his success in a big way.

In this celebration he was able to have with his family, Dryden expertly ties together themes from his original text from 30 years ago to today's audience. Themes such as how hockey is about so much more than sport, but rather it is about community, and family and Canada. It is the national narrative, whether it is played out in the big NHL arena's, or in our own backyards.

The new chapter in The Game: 30th Anniversary Edition is just a few pages long. It was the first chapter I read in the new re-released offering and I was instantly taken back. I was immediately reminded why The Game is arguably hockey's greatest book, and why Dryden is possibly hockey's most fascinating person and most gifted writer. Instantly I knew I had to re-read this 30 year old book that I have read a few times before, something I wasn't really planning on when I agreed to do this review. I am so glad I did, because this timeless classic is such an amazing read.

And now it has a whole new spectacular ending to it.

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