2008 Hockey Book Preview: St. Michael's College: A Hundred Years of Pucks and Prayers

The book: St. Michael's College: A Hundred Years of Pucks and Prayers Hardcover, 400 pages
The Author: Kevin Shea with Larry Colle and Paul Patskou
The Publisher: HB Fenn
Release Date: Oct. 1st, 2008
Pre-order: Amazon - Chapters

Book Description
If Notre Dame is the most storied breeding ground for professional football, then St. Michaels College certainly holds the same distinction in hockey. From the grassroots beginnings of the hockey program in 1906 through to today, more than 180 students from St. Mikes have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. This comprehensive history of hockey at St. Michaels College School, located in Toronto, Canada, will take readers through one hundred years of extraordinary memories: triumphs, tears, perspiration, and inspiration of one of the most exciting hockey programs in the world. Extensively researched, the book weaves into the narrative the personal recollections of some of the greatest players ever to pull on the Double Blue of St. Mikes: Tim Brent, Arnie Brown, Ed Chadwick, Gerry Cheevers, Paul Conlin, Father Les Costello, Murray Costello, Kevin Dineen, Dick Duff, Father Ray Hannigan, Tim Horton, Larry Keenan, Red Kelly, Ken Klee, David Keon, Ted Lindsay, Barry MacKenzie, Frank Mahovlich, Cesare Maniago, John McCormack, Jim McKenny, Gerry Odrowski, Mark Osbourne, Mark Popovic, Rod Seiling, Kevin Weekes, and Benny Woit. These are just some of those who have lovingly provided their stories about St. Michaels and the impact it had on their lives, both professionally and personally. It truly is a remarkable story and a remarkable achievement. Whether the name St. Mikes is familiar or not; whether the term double blue stirs up any memories or draws a blank, this school and program is responsible for producing many of the games greatest names and for influencing the sport of hockey. This book will appeal to anyone that has ever dreamed of someday playing in the NHL or anyone that enjoys following the sport.

About The Author
This is Kevin Shea's 7th book. Barilko Without A Trace, Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup, and Over the Boards: The Ron Ellis Story.

Joe's Note
Kevin Shea has the reputation as one of the best researchers in the hockey writing community. With St. Mike's he has a lot of material to work with. Like in Shea's previous efforts, this book will be in-depth to the nth degree.

First Books Of The Season Are Here!

Today I was pleasantly surprised to have Fed-Ex deliver me a package from Scholastic Canada. Inside the box were 6 new hockey books for me to review.

As per agreement with publishing houses, I will wait until the official release dates to properly review the titles. But just so you are aware of what is coming within the next month or so, here's a listing of the books Scholastic sent me:

Just One Goal by Robert Munsch, Illustrated by Michael Martchenko - Released September 1st, 2008

The Hockey Tree By David Ward and Brian Deines - Released November 1st, 2008

Wendel and The Great One by Mike Leonetti, Illustrated by Greg Banning - Released October 1st, 2008. Also available in French - Wendel Clark et le grand Gretzky

Hockey Trivia for Kids 2, by Eric Zweig - Released October 1st, 2008

Hockey Superstars 2008-2009 by Paul Romanuk - Released October 1st, 2008

Slapshots: The Complete Series: Books #1-4, by Gordon Korman - Released October 1st, 2008 (Amazon link not yet available)

A Stack Of Hockey Books

I'm back from vacation. I was off to Vancouver Island where the only thing more countless than beaches are used bookstores.

I was more successful at getting some good used hockey titles than a suntan. I'm not even sure how many I got, though I'm sure the unpacked pile must look something like the image above.

Of course, I have not really had much of an opportunity to read much of any of them, though I must say two recent titles look very promising.

The first is Brian McFarlane's World of Hockey. I'm guilty of dismissing much of McFarlane's work as regurgitated hockey history stories (hey, isn't that what I do at GreatestHockeyLegends.com?), but this McFarlane release has given me a great new respect for McFarlane.

This book is McFarlane's own autobiography and it is nothing short of amazing. Did you know his father wrote many of the Hardy Boys' novels? Or that he was junior/college hockey star in his own right? Or that a huge uproar was made when he was hired by NBC, making front page headlines? Or that he once owned a professional lacrosse team?

McFarlane opens up and gets downright personal at times. It is a really refreshing read, and I'm only 1/4 of the way through it.

The other title that really excites me is Paul Grant's Baptism By Ice. It is about an American discovering Canada through hockey. I suspect it is as much about society and culture as it is about hockey, and that is probably the best thing going for this book. That and it is hilarious, at least judging by the few snippets I have read so far.

Look forward to these two book reviews in the coming weeks. I'm back from vacation and ready for a whole new season of hockey book reviewing!

2008 Hockey Book Previews

It's been a busy summer over at Hockey Book Reviews.com, too. I reviewed a number of classic titles and I've been hard at work previewing a number of 2008's upcoming hockey titles. Here's an alphabetical listing:

► 100 Great Canadian Sports Moments
► Black And Gold
► Don Cherry's Stories & Stuff
► Hockey's Top 100
► Honoured Canadiens
► HNIC: My Greatest Day
► Ice Warriors
► Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years
► Open Ice
► Patrick Roy
► Reflections 2008
► Saving Face
► Tales From The Flyers

I will be away on vacation until September. I will have fresh daily content over at Greatest Hockey Legends.com each and every day that I am away. Be sure to check it out, as I count down the 20 Greatest Photos In Hockey History.

Ask The Hockey History Blogger: What Other Books Do You Read Besides Hockey?

Ha ha! Great question.

Truth be know, not a heck of a lot. I don't get a heck of a lot of time to read books outside of hockey. And I'm a notoriously slow reader.

As a rule I don't read novels. I know, I know, but I've always found non-fiction more satisfying. I like travel books in particular.

Here's five books that I found time to read this summer. None of them have anything to do with hockey:

1. Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw - Part novel. Part travel guide. Part history text book. Part comedy. Part memoir. All brilliantly put together by one of my favorite non-hockey writers - Will Ferguson (mind you, he did help out on The Girlfriend's Guide to Hockey)

2. Country Roads of British Columbia: Exploring the Interior - I like to explore spots most people have never even heard of. Gas prices got way too high this summer, and are here to stay, so until I strike it rich, I guess I'll have to travel vicariously through Liz Bryan's excellent book.

3. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day - Great book. But I need to re-read it because me not a genius!

4. Breaking Dawn - Yeah right, who am I kidding. But I did give my girlfriend's kid my Chapters card so she could save 10% on it, so technically I bought it. At least I bought enough of the hottest selling book of the summer to warrant the cheap plug on this website!

5. Frommer's Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands & the San Juan Islands - I'm going on vacation there for almost three weeks, although this book has made me realize I need about 3 months off of work!

An old friend recommended I read Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid. If that's how long the title is I'm thinking the book must be unbearably long. Perhaps I'll settle for The Sex Lives of Cannibals instead.

2008 Hockey Book Preview: Hockey Night In Canada: My Greatest Day by Scott Morrison

The book: Hockey Night in Canada: My Greatest Day Hardcover, 200 pages
The Author: Scott Morrison
The Publisher: Key Porter
Release Date: October 16, 2008
Pre-order: Amazon - Chapters

Book Description
Key Porter and Hockey Night In Canada have not done a great job in releasing information about this upcoming title. It was the same last year with By The Numbers: From 00 To 99.

It's pretty obvious what they're planning though. Morrison will write about or perhaps for 50 people about their "greatest day," likely their most famous game. Since this is a HNIC release, you can bet CBC covered the game.

Of course there is no word yet as to who are the 50 people sharing their stories, although the cover image contains Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky and Hayley Wickenheiser.

As soon as Key Porter releases their official book description, I will be sure to post it here.

About The Author
Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fameís 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.

Joe's Note
This book will almost certainly follow in the template of 2007's HNIC/Morrison release, By The Numbers: From 00 To 99. Which means we count on a high quality finished product featuring great photography and layout, and some good content. This should be a solid book to flip through, and a common book under the 2008 Christmas tree.

Canadiens legends: Montreal's Hockey Heroes by Mike Leonetti

Canadiens Legends: Montreal's Hockey Heroesby Mike Leonetti and Raincoast Books dates back to 2004. It is a beautiful 240 page coffee table book loaded with both black and white and colour photos.

| Buy at Amazon - Chapters |

The Montreal Canadiens are hockey's most storied team. Through biographical sketches of 85 Habs greats, Leonetti traces the lengthy history of the Canadiens. The biographies are always accurate and thorough, although Leonetti rarely digs deeper beyond profiles we often see of these players. In some spots I found some profiles to be under written or rushed.

Since the Canadiens date back all the way to 1909, Leonetti spends much of the first quarter of the book introducing us to Montreal's earliest stars such as Newsy Lalonde, Aurel Joliat, Sprague Cleghorn, and of course Howie Morenz. True Montreal historians will be disappointed to not find such important luminaries such as Jack Laviolette, Joseph Cattarinich and Skinner Poulin.

We then move into the powerhouse years when Rocket Richard, Doug Harvey, Boom Boom Geoffrion and Jacques Plante reigned supreme.

The Quiet Dynasty of 1961-1973 gets significant coverage, with more biographies than any other era. Perhaps this reflects Leonetti's youthful memories. Jean Beliveau, John Ferguson, Frank Mahovlich and Henri Richard are obvious inclusions, while he also looks at role players like Gilles Tremblay, Bobby Rousseau, and Claude Larose. That is fantastic. My only complaint is he does not treat the other eras with the same respect.

The second great dynasty of 1974 through 1979 is remembered well through Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey and company.

Much of the 1980s and 1990s were far from glorious by Montreal's standards. The author has no choice but to look at the best of what was available. Chris Chelios, Guy Carbonneau, Mats Naslund and of course Patrick Roy were hardly slouches.

Finally the author reaches the modern era, looking at the top players at the turn of the century. Only Saku Koivu remains with the team at time this review was published.

The book also has guest writers contribute some of the great moments in Montreal's history. Red Fisher looks back at The Richard Riot and at Scotty Bowman. Dave Stubbs writes about the Canadiens-Nordiques rivalry and the closing of the Montreal Forum. Frank Orr looks at the New Year's Eve game against the Russians and the Canadiens' broadcasters over the years. Jean Beliveau contributes a beautiful foreword.

Canadiens Legends is a solid book worthy of adding to any collection. This is actually the second book of the "Legends" series by Raincoast.

In 2003 Leonetti also authored Maple Leaf Legends: 75 Years of Toronto's Hockey Heroes.

In 2006 Jeff Rud picked up the series when he wrote Canucks Legends: Vancouver's Hockey Heroes. Even though Vancouver's history great pales in comparison to Toronto and Montreal, Rud's work may be the best of the series.

There has never been any mention of continuing the series, although texts on the other Original Six teams Detroit, Boston, Chicago, and the New York Rangers would be easy. Edmonton would also be a strong candidate given the Canadian marketplace and the continuing love affair with Wayne Gretzky.