This Is Russia by Bernd Bruckler with Risto Pakarinen

Austrian goaltender Bernd Bruckler pulls the curtain on life in Russian hockey in his KHL memoir “This is Russia: Life in the KHL - Doctors, bazas and millions of air miles ”

Bernd Bruckler spent three seasons in the “Kontinentalnaya Hokkeynaya Liga” in Russia, better known simply as the KHL. Established in 2008, the KHL has quickly become the top European hockey league, with ambitions to challenge the NHL for the hockey supremacy of the world.

Bruckler played two seasons with Torpedo Nizhny Novogorod, and one season with Sibir Novosibirsk in Siberia. In this memoir he tells what it’s like to be an import player in Russia, and the challenges he faced with the language, the culture, and the hockey. He talks about life in the baza, his teammates, doctors, pills, training camps, the saunas, and the money. Oh the money!

“In my three years in the KHL, I saw things I thought I’d never see, but I’m glad I did. Some things were wonderful, others were horrible, and some things were just explained to me as ‘This is Russia’,” says Bruckler, who was the Philadelphia Flyers fifth-round pick in 2001, and a WCHA All-American in 2004.

Written with the help of Finnish hockey writer Risto Pakarinen, Bruckler has collected his stories from behind the curtain into a book titled “This is Russia: Life in the KHL - Doctors, bazas and millions of air miles ". It's available on Amazon.com right now, and in book stores shortly.

The Love Of A Good Hockey Book

Risto Pakarinen had just a wonderful post on his website about his first and still favorite hockey book in his collection - Valeri Kharlamov's 1979 autobiography, written in Finnish.

First, he made it clear how much he truly loved this book:

It’s dog-eared, it’s underlined, it’s been photocopied and plagiarized (in my school essays), it’s been with me from breakfast to bedtime and back in a day, it’s got food stains and other smudge, I’ve read it as a pre-teen, a teen, a young adult, and as a grown man – and I’ll be reading it again and again in the future. I’ve had it with me on the bus and to the gym, I’ve studied it, memorized it, and lived it.

Then, he answered his friend's question as to whether he would sell it to him, for any price.

"Not for 20, 30, or 100 euro. A hundred euro is not enough because 500 is not enough. Sure, 500 euro might get me a trip to New York City, or buy me that Lego Star Wars Death Star I’ve been saving for, but I can’t ask a guy to pay 500 euro for an old book. That would be just ridiculous. And if he wouldn’t pay 500 euro, then he wouldn’t pay 5000 which wouldn’t be enough, anyway.

"Some things just aren’t for sale" 

Give the whole post a read. Risto is one of the best writers out there. Also check out his own book he wrote - Off The Post -  a whimsical and fun read hockey fans on both sides of the Atlantic can surely enjoy.

Also, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends and tell me your favorite hockey book you woul never part with.

Off The Post by Risto Pakarinen

You can be forgiven if you are not a fan of NHL.com. The website is very busy and crowded, and easy to get overwhelmed, and there's tons of other, more impartial sites out there.

But NHL.com does have some of the best feature writing and feature writers in the business working for them. For a long time I've been faithfully reading Bill Meltzer's "Across The Pond," Phil Coffey's "Ice Age" and Evan Weiner's "Off The Wall."

Another favorite of mine is Risto Pakarinen's contributions to the NHL.com blogging community Only now I've found a more enjoyable and completely new experience in reading it.

Pakarinen has published his blog entries into the book Off The Post: Hockey Stories From Around The World.

Pakarinen is no stranger to the hockey world. He's a die hard fan who turned his obsession with pucks, ice, Valeri Kharlamov and Wayne Gretzky into a career of journalism. The Swedish-based freelance journalist from Finland is a regular at NHL.com and The Hockey News. He's also covered tournaments such as the world championships and world cups. His writing is unique, simple and elegant.

His book is far more than a collection of posts from his NHL.com blog. Each online posting is by itself, an experience to be enjoyed in the immediate moment. But when you pick out the best and put it into a book, Pakarinen's contributions become an entertaining and thoughtful archive of the past couple of years. But it also offers so much more.

It also serves to eliminate any myth that Europeans can not be rabid NHL fans like Canadians can be. The book quickly sets the scene for us North American fans that the European fan experience has some differences and challenges. But the book quickly proves that in many ways there is no difference between hockey fans worldwide at all. Other than those pesky time zones.

Beyond the excellent posts on the happenings of the day, an astute reader can enjoy Off The Post as a journey that must be experienced. It is very much Pakarinen's journey, as hockey for him is a lifestyle. The best part about the book is whenever Pakarinen allows himself to get personal and reflective, sharing childhood memories and wearing his current emotions on his sleeve for all to see.

It's a great, quick read, full of personality and obvious passion for the game. I think the book format of Pakarinen's blog posts works far better than anyone could have imagined.