Hockey Showdown by Harry Sinden

On the day that hockey's eternal rivalry returns, can there be any other choice for the best hockey book to feature?

Looking For Olympic Hockey Books?

Here's a look at some books about Olympic hockey. Click on the links for full book reviews:

Canada's Olympic Hockey History, 1920-2010 - Super author Andrew Podnieks comes through with a complete history of Team Canada at the Olympics, breaking down each team and each tournament .

The Boys Of Winter - One of my favorite books of all time. The author does a tremendous job retracing this team's steps while expertly portraying the players and coaches. It is truly a tremendous read, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Going for the Gold - This is the newest entry from the literary world about the 1980 Miracle On Ice. It just came out in January and I have not yet had a chance to see it.

Let The Games Begin - Ralph Mellanby was an extraordinary television producer, most famously with Hockey Night in Canada but also covering many Olympics for Canadian and American television. Mellanby provides some great stories from a unique vantage point in this quick read. It's worth a look.

Squaw Valley Gold - An interesting look at an interesting Olympics. Its jammed full with research, almost too much for one book. But if you're looking to learn more about the 1960 Olympics and the 1960 USA Olympic hockey team, this is your book.

World Class Hockey Trivia - Looking for some fun and games, Olympic style? This is the book. There's lots of international trivia here, too. My favorite part about this book is I helped work on it.

A Loonie for Luck - Relive 2002 Olympic glory with this short Roy MacGregor classic.

Striking Silver - This is the story of America's forgotten hockey, the silver medal winning 1972 USA Olympic hockey team. The book is mostly told through first hand experience as the authors interview and profile the players, coaches and others associated with the team.

Gold Medal Misfits - I have not yet read this title, hence the direct link to Amazon. I have heard from a colleague it is rollicking story about the 1948 Canadian Olympic team. I'm ordering this title because it sounds like there is lots to learn here!

Long Shot: How The Winnipeg Falcons Won The First Olympic Hockey Gold - A look back to a pretty foreign time. The Winnipeg Falcons went from discriminated against in their how town to national heroes.

Breaking the Ice - USA Olympian Angela Ruggeiro tells her story.

Two Minutes For Booking - Now Is The Winter

I'm just starting the book Now is the Winter, and to say the least it is very promising if not already spectacular. It is an academic's view of hockey, somewhat of a rarity in the sport. Editors Jamie Dopp and Richard Harrison explain in the book's introduction:

"There was (and still is) a massive body of hockey writing in Canada; however, most of it was hockey journalism chronicling the exploits of colorful players, teams or eras, and rarely, if ever, studied in the academy. Hockey-related biographies kept fans happy, but weren't curriculum material - the lone exception lying, perhaps, in Ken Dryden's groundbreaking and meditative 1983 memoir, The Game. And though there were also many hockey histories, events in hockey rarely figured in textbooks on Canadian history as a whole, with the exceptions of the Richard Riot in 1955 because of its connection with the Quiet Revolution, and the 1972 Summit Series because of its links to the Cold War. Both of these were cases in which the ever present mix of hockey and politics exploded into public view. But up until the 1990s literary - or cultural studies - based considerations of the meaning of hockey and its writing were few and far between despite the prominence of the game in Canadian life."

The editors of Now is the Winter invite some of Canada's top writers to submit essays on hockey, especially focusing on it's role in Canadian life, culture, politics, history and the arts.

And the best part about this book - unlike some academic books on hockey I've seen (the kind where I swear the academic writers use a thesaurus to make every word even more academic), this book is written so that both academics and average fans - the majority of us - can really enjoy it.

I encourage you to check out Now is the Winter and I'll have a full review when I'm done!

Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound by Rick Thomas

Parry Sound, Ontario. Just the mention of this town evokes the image of hockey. Why? Because it is the hometown of none other than Bobby Orr - perhaps the greatest player to have ever played.

While Orr may have put this town on the map, hockey in Parry Sound has a far richer history than just what it's most famous hero offers. Hockey on the Georgian Bay goes back to the late 1800s, over half a century before Orr was even born.

Rick Thomas, who grew up playing hockey on the Seguin River and is best known as a long time minor hockey coach in the area, has been busy preserving hockey's amazing history in Parry Sound. He has just released his first volume of research, looking at the pre-Orr years from 1896 to 1941. It is called Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound.

Thomas does a wonderful job of piecing together the city's hockey history by exhaustively combing through the archives. His self-published book is a wonderful effort, very professional and appealing to the eye.

Now obviously the book's target audience is pretty small, with just the locals and former residents likely to have an interest. That may change when Thomas releases his follow up volume, with Orr's story likely dominating part 2 of his research.

For now we will have to enjoy part one of Early Hockey Years in Parry Sound. I do not fall in the target audience group but I can really appreciate Thomas' obvious passion, diligent research and excellent presentation. I can honestly say I really enjoyed this book, so I can only imagine how well received this title will be amongst the locals.

The book costs $16, and is available either by emailing the author or via the book's Facebook page.

Theo Fleury News

Theo Fleury is unveiling his very own video and audio podcasts on his website, www.theofleury14.com.

Fleury talks about current happenings in the world of hockey, bringing his unique perspective on the game as one of the sports' greatest players. His first podcast features discussion about Patrice Cormier's disturbing hit and the Stefan Auger/Alex Burrows incident. With the Olympics nearly upon us Theo also shares his golden memories of 2002.

I was also in conversation with Kirstie McLellan Day, Fleury's autobiographer. She is currently working on new material for an updated paperback release of Fleury's bestselling book Playing With Fire, including Theo's attempted NHL come back and the media blitz about his book.

There is no confirmed date for the paperback release, but I would expect to see it hit store shelves in autumn 2010.

Women On Ice by Wayne Norton

Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women's Hockey in Western Canada is the first book to focus on the early history of women’s hockey in western Canada.

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

This beautiful book more accurately follows the history of the Vancouver Amazons, Vancouver's second notable women's hockey team. They were perhaps the most famous western Canadian women's team in the 1920s, although not necessarily the most successful. They had unique connections with men's major professional hockey, specifically Frank and Lester Patrick, who let them practice at their arena complete with artificial ice.

The author does a good job covering the story of the Amazons, likely because their history was a little easier to trace given Vancouver's newspaper archives. So many of the other women's teams in western Canada at the time came from smaller centers, and their histories have only been sporadically recorded.

Mr. Norton touches on western Canadian women's history by tracing the history of the Banff Winter Carnival's women's hockey tournament. The Vancouver ladies were very popular in the Canadian Rockies. The tournament itself is quite interesting, and the author does an interesting job tying together the fate of BC women's hockey and this particular tournament.

The book features over three dozen photographs, some of which were never before published. The photos and stories of the women's teams preferences for swastikas as logos and nicknames are both startling and fascinating.

The book is published by Ronsdale Press.

A Referee's Life by Ron Wicks

Former NHL referee Ron Wicks has a new book out called A Referee's Life.

Wicks was a NHL referee for 26 years, so he must have an amazing collection of stories to choose from to compile this book. I have not yet seen a copy of this title yet, but NorthernLife.ca has a good rundown and interview with Wicks.

For more than 25 years, Ron Wicks has been blowing the whistle on some of hockey's greatest legends. Sporting a sweater with names like Howe, Hull, Orr, Lemieux or Gretzky left little impression on the official who, in a way, became an NHL legend himself.

“I put them, and hundreds of others, in the penalty box because they deserved it,” Wicks wrote in the introduction to his new book, A Referee's Life. “Rules are rules, and I called 'em whenever anyone broke 'em.”

You can read Laurel Myers full article here.