Wayne Gretzky's Ghost by Roy MacGregor

Roy MacGregor has been called "the best hockey writer in the country," and we finally have a collection of his very best hockey writing, revised and updated, in Wayne Gretzky's Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey

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

For nearly 40 years Roy MacGregor has brought hockey, our national sport, alive on the page. From tales of the game's greats (Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau, Marcel Dionne) to today's stars (Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Daniel and Henrik Sedin), his magazine and newspaper coverage has revealed so much about these and so many other personalities, in moments of promise, victory and defeat.

While many of these stories play out on the ice, some of the most compelling take place on the home front (Mario Lemieux's battle against cancer, the many tribulations of Bob Gainey), and MacGregor's prose shines especially when focused on the human side of a sport defined by superhuman feats of speed, aggression and power.

Wayne Gretzky's Ghost will be a personal book, and also a book of challenging ideas: that Wayne Gretzky, through no fault of his own, was the worst thing to happen to hockey; that CBC's Hockey Night in Canada has lost sight of what it is; that goaltending has become a position out of all proportion to what was intended.

And who could offer a better perspective on the game than a writer who, playing as a youngster, had to face an onrushing phenom from Parry Sound named Bobby Orr, or who spent a year ghostwriting a national newspaper column for the Great One himself? When it comes to hockey, Roy MacGregor has seen (and in some cases, done) it all.

Joe's Note: I read this book while riding the buses on a recent trip to Vancouver. It got so into it that the first day I missed my stop. Two very rainy days later I was much more attentive to my travels, but I was enjoying the story about Bob Gainey's challenges so much that I purposely stayed on the bus past my stop in order to finish reading the chapter. Once I got off the bus I immediately ducked into a Tim Horton's and finished reading the book!

Three of Canada's great treasures: hockey, Tim Hortons and Roy MacGregor.

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

Over The Line by Al Strachan

When major publishers Fenn and McClelland and Stewart merged, that was great news for hockey fans. They appear committed to becoming hockey's foremost publisher.

One of their projects for 2011 enlists hockey writing heavyweight Al Strachan in Over the Line: Wrist Shots, Slap Shots, and Five-Minute Majors. Roy MacGregor writes the foreword.

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

The book is a 288 page trade paperback. Here's more from the publishers:

Bestselling author and Toronto Sun sportswriter Al Strachan is a permanent fixture in the illustrious world of professional ice hockey. His opinion, backed by an extensive knowledge of the game and his sharp sense of humour, is read and enjoyed by millions of fans internationally. He has established unique and personal relationships with the biggest names in hockey from every generation and era and it is through these contacts that Strachan can step Over the Line to obtain exclusive access to information.

Strachan has been writing about hockey for over forty years. He has experienced first-hand all that the game has to offer. From Stanley Cup victories, miraculous saves, and incredible goals to devastating hits and world class bouts, Strachan has been there to report on the most exciting, controversial, devastating, frustrating, humorous and talked-about episodes in the history of the game, whether it's Stanley Cup victories, miraculous saves, and incredible goals or devastating hits and world class bouts. In his latest adventure, he relives tales from the rink that will fascinate, amuse, shock, and entertain all fans of the game -- from dressing-room banter between player and coach to insider information on the League's revenue sharing program. It's all here, glorious page after glorious page of stuff that any fan of hockey must read.