Summer Reading: Mad Men and Wealthy Barbers

On my most recent camping trip I got quite a bit of reading in. I cracked the spines of some old favorites, and one new non-hockey release:

Off The Post by Risto Pakarinen
The Rink: Stories From Hockey's Home Towns by Chris Cuthbert and Scott Russell
The Mad Men of Hockey by Trent Frayne

And, in my non-hockey reading, I picked up the new twist on the old Canadian Classic: The Wealthy Barber Returns

Summer Reading: King of Russia

My latest summer 2011 campfire read is McClelland and Stewart's 2007 release King of Russia: a Year in the Russian Super League. It chronicles Canadian hockey coaching legend Dave King's journey to the Ural Mountains to become the first Canadian coach in Russia. The book is based on King's daily diary, typically meticulous and refreshingly open, and polished up beautifully by The Globe and Mail's ace hockey reporter Eric Duhatschek.

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

I personally consider Duhatschek to be the best hockey journalist out there for quite some time. Not only is he incredibly connected, thorough and respected, but he's got an easy to read and captivating writing style. So I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised how easily I was drawn into the text.

But I was very pleasantly surprised just how compelling and fascinating the text is. One biography or well written autobiography that I've always wanted to read is that of Coach King. He is a three time Olympic coach, and formerly the one man Canadian national team king-pin. He's also coached two NHL teams and teams all over the world. As one of the greatest - although also greatly underrated - bench tacticians ever, his story potentially has so much to offer a reader - about the Soviets, about the NHL, about Canadian hockey and about European hockey, and so much more.

King of Russia isn't that book. Instead is a look into a single season of King's career. I cracked the spine already disappointed because I knew it wasn't what I was looking for.

A few paragraphs later, I realized I had found quite possibly the leading candidate for best read of the new hockey book season.

Back when King was coaching in Calgary, the NHL had a great influx of eastern Europeans. One of them was Soviet great Sergei Makarov. We North Americans were never truly understanding of the hardships these guys faced. A whole new country, a whole new way of hockey, a whole new language, a whole new life. They understandably struggled, and we were quick to dismiss them as inferior, and never truly understood the incredible transition they had to go through.

Well now we can, but in reverse. It is the Canadian, King, pioneering his way into Russia. He had to deal with the strange new homeland, a language barrier, a cultural 180 degree turn and a stubborn and peculiar hockey system. Oh, and there's such 21st century hazards such as the Russian mafia. Finally Coach King understands Makarov's struggles all too well.

Through it all, King tries to finds the silver linings, but in his daily diary he is very open about wondering if he has made a big mistake. At times we get to see the rare vulnerable side of a hockey legend.

But we also get to see so much more. By the end of the book, I'm converted in to a Metallurg Magnitogorsk fan and am looking online to buy a jersey. I feel for many of the players, much like King. King looks to former NHLer Dimitri Yuskevich defenseman to be an early pillar, and an English ally. Swedish defenseman Anders Eriksson and Canadian goalie Travis Scott are also relied on heavily. Ilja Vorobiev becomes a favorite of Coach King and of any Canadian reader. Others on the team include gormer NHLer Igor Korolev, the wildly enigmatic Stanislav Chistov and teenage phenom Evgeni Malkin, who leads the team and the league, but will soon leave the league to join the National Hockey League.

Malkin's departure allows to better appreciate how the Russians feel about the NHL continually uprooting the country's top young players. It's a real eye opener for us Westerners, and maybe the Russians have a point when it comes to their continuing dispute about player compensation with the NHL-IIHF player transfer agreement.

King learns first hand why the Russians are able to develop incredible individual talents but poor international teams. Its a far cry from their glory days, that's for sure.

Through it all, King is continually open and perplexed, and as usual successful. Its an amazing look into just one year of an amazing life. I still want a great biography or autobiography of Dave King, but I now realize it would take volumes to cover his hockey insight.

Summer Reading: The Golden Jet

Another campfire read for me this summer was one of my favorite books from 2010: the unique The Golden Jet: A Spectacular Career in Stunning Photographs:

You already know Bobby Hull had a spectacular career. Let me assure you the photographs in this books truly are stunning.

Consider this book is a coffee table autobiography. Countless photographs accompanied with Bobby's own captions brilliantly bring back to life the amazing career of one of hockey's true greats. The photos steal the show, but Bobby's commentary are the true jewels of this treasure chest.

The book is also accompanied with a tribute DVD featuring exclusive interviews, archival footage and behind the scenes clips.

This book is listed at $29.95 US/$34.95 CDN. (Apparently no one has told Triumph Books that the Canadian dollar is at/over par for a few years now.) For a book of this size loaded with so many rare and exclusive photos, that is a really reasonable price. And of course, many bookstores and online sources are selling it 30% less than the jacket price.

I wish other hockey greats would consider such a project as this. I hope Triumph Books is looking to create a NHL series of books along these lines, as I am a big fan of their approach.

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

By The Way: Of course, more recent fans know Bobby Hull strictly as Brett Hull's dad. This is a great chance to learn more about one of hockey's true legends. Oh, and Brett makes more than a few appearances in the book - from a tot to a pee-wee to a NHL star in his own right.

Summer Reading: The Greatest Game

Every summer I escape hockey and the computer by going camping and hiking. The escape from hockey is never far for me. I always carry a few hockey books for evenings of sitting around the camp fire. It is a great way to forget about the daily aches and blisters acquired while chasing waterfalls and mountain tops.

On my most recent outing I found myself staying up far later than I should have. I needed the rest for a full next day of outdoor activity, but I was far too immersed in Todd Denault's The Greatest Game.

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

The book is about the famous New Year's Eve clash between the Montreal Canadiens and the Soviet Red Army team back in 1975. My favorite parts of the book are the historical build up to the game. Denault explores the rise of the likes of Anatoli Tarasov, Sam Pollock, Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak. It is a must read text for any fan of the Habs or the Soviets.

Denault is as thorough a hockey researcher as you will find, yet he presents his findings with the gift of a storyteller. It is a magnificent book. Here is my original book review.

The book is being released in paperback
in the fall of 2011. As soon as I found out about additional material I will pass it along.