Hockey Book Reviews.com

This is the cover image of Black ice, a new autobiography by former NHLer Val James. Black Ice: The Val James Story Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com  Who is Val James? He is an almost entirely forgotten about hockey player from the past. But hey, I don't blame you for that. He played only 11 NHL games (plus 3 more in the playoffs) in his career and there are 1000s of guys like that who equally as memorable than him. So why has Val James his autobiography and, more importantly, why should you read it? First off, a bit more about the book. From the back cover, "Val James became the first African American player in the NHL when he took to the ice with the Buffalo Sabres in 1982, and in 1987 he became the first black player of any nationality to skate for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Born in central Florida, James grew up on Long Island and received his first pair of skates for his 13th birthday. At 16, James left home to play in Canada, where he was t...

In the past I've talked about a book by brothers George and Darril Fosty called Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925 It is a pretty interesting book about one of the least known group of hockey players ever. The maritime league was an all black league featuring back when black hockey players were never heard of. George Fosty was a guest on CBC radio's Sportology recently. Here's the link to the short audio podcast.

Brothers George and Darril Fosty have re-released their book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925 Though Willie O'Ree did not become the first black NHL hockey player until 1958, blacks playing hockey dates back to the 1870s, nearly as long as the great game itself. Twenty-five years before the negro baseball leagues in the United States and twenty-two years before the birth of the National Hockey League, the Coloured League helped to pioneer not only black athletics in Canada but the entire emerging sport of ihockey. The authors argue that the black contributions to hockey were conveniently ignored or simply stolen by whites who observed such elements as the "flopping" goalie and the slap shot. That's right. The authors suggest a 3'6" goalie named Henry "Braces" Franklin was the first goalie to drop down to the ice on his knees, back when standard rules prohibited such tactics. And a fellow named Eddi...