Sneak Peek At 2013 Hockey Books: Where Countries Come To Play

Where Countries Come to Play: Celebrating the World of Olympic Hockey and the Triple Gold Club by Andrew Podnieks.

Preview: Where Countries Come to Play chronicles each Olympic tournament, from the 1920 Antwerp games to Vancouver in 2010. Illustrated with photographs from the IIHF archives, the book features rare pictures of games and players, as well as memorabilia and artifacts. Each event is retold through a detailed narrative that will offer fans a complete history of Olympic hockey, including amazing stories from both on and off the ice, organizational challenges, bitter battles, player's tales, and spectacular hockey action. The book also contains a prelude to 2014 Sochi and a detailed appendix of Olympic hockey stats.

As well, Where Countries Come to Play celebrates the IIHF's Triple Gold Club, whose members have each won an Olympic Gold Medal, a Stanley Cup, and a World Championship. For the first time in book form, the elite club's twenty-five members are profiled and the story of their accomplishments told.

The book will be publsihed in advance of the Sochi Winter Games and is the must-have hockey book for all fans of the game and for anyone that has ever cheered for their nation as they skated out onto the ice.

Pre-Order The Book: Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com

2014 Hockey Calendars

A Great Game by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

From the National Post:

The Canadian public got its first look at the title and cover for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s long-anticipated non-fiction book about the early days of professional hockey.

Set for release on November 5, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and The Rise of Professional Hockey tracks hockey from the first years of Canadian confederation to the First World War.

A promotional website launched by publisher Simon and Shuster promises the book is “a fascinating look at the hockey heroes and hard-boiled businessmen who built the game” and features a one-minute video showcasing black-and-white photos of early hockey teams against a triumphal soundtrack.

Notably, the website makes no reference to the day job of author “Stephen J. Harper,” but assures that he writes with a “fan’s passion.”

Here's the full story

Stompin' Tom Connors' Hockey Night Tonight: The Children's Book

I love it! Back in 2002 Nimbus Publishing combined with Canadian music legend Stompin' Tom Connors to change his iconic song "The Hockey Song" into a children's book, Hockey Night Tonight .

With 24 pages wonderfully illustrated by Brenda Jones, I can't think of a better way to pass on this great Canadian tradition to the next generation.

I dare you to read this book to your kids and not break out into song . . . and smiles!

Hello out there!
We're on the air!
It's hockey night tonight!

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

Also be sure to check out another Stompin Tom song turned into children's book, Bud the Spud.

The Year of the Chicago Blackhawks

Andrew Podnieks and the NHL have teamed up again for their annual summer release honouring the Stanley Cup champions. Of course that means The Year of the Chicago Blackhawks: Celebrating the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions is an absolute must-have for all Chicago fans.

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

Now I know in the past I've been a little bit critical of this series. It is rushed out just a few weeks after the hockey season has ended and as a result follows a rigid template year after year. I would like to see the NHL take a little more time and come up with something a little more unique from year to year. The Stanley Cup champion and their fans deserve that.

But the 2013 release, published by Fenn/McClelland and Stewart, is a gem as is. The Blackhawks season, which started with an unprecedented winning streak and ended with Lord Stanley's mug, is brilliantly captured by Podnieks' writing and by the beautiful photography that fills the 144 pages of this paperback. My mom always told me presentation is very important, and these guys delivered.

Just like the Blackhawks did. A deserving keepsake for a deserving champion. Hawks fans will love reliving such an amazing season with each turn of the page.

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

If you are interested in this title, you my also like Unstoppable!: The Chicago Blackhawks' Dominant 2013 Championship Season by the Chicago Daily Herald.

Before The Internet Sports Fans Had Zander Hollander

There is an absolutely fantastic feature in the New York Times this week about Zander Hollander. For nearly three decades he wrote annual "Complete Handbooks" about hockey, baseball, football and basketball. He wrote over 300 sports books over 45 years. I have most of the hockey books, though a couple of seasons are very hard to get a hold of.

These books were the bible of sports back then, spreading statistics and player biography information that simply was not compiled in such a "complete" and "handy" format until the internet came along. Sports fans of that era owe Hollander a debt of gratitutde.

This story, authored by Pete Croatto, is a celebration of Hollander's work and life. But it does have a sad ending.

From 1971 to 1997, Hollander edited sports yearbooks, brick-sized tomes known as Complete Handbooks, which in the pre-Internet era were almost holy objects to a certain type of sports-crazed youngster. Here, in one glorious place, was information — statistics, team rosters, records, schedules, predictions for the coming season and more — freed from the restrictions of newspaper column inches and far beyond what a still embryonic cable television system was providing.

In black and white were photos and detailed profiles of players from every team, players that even the most devoted fans might glimpse only in a rare nationally televised network game of the week or an All-Star contest, if at all. The work was Hollander’s driving force. Then he had a stroke, with Alzheimer’s following shortly after. Now 90, he no longer remembers the books that he struggled to produce, that brought him professional fulfillment, friendships and minor fame.

Here's the full story, including the complete behind-the-scenes look at how Hollander produced so many books every year.

The Big Book of Hockey for Kids by Eric Zweig

Find out EVERYTHING there is to know about hockey!

Who are the "Original Six"? What are some of the most historic hockey games? What jobs are available in the hockey industry, other than being an NHL all-star?

The Big Book of Hockey for Kids will answer all your questions, and more! From the first game (with roots in Irish hurling and Scottish shinty) to the billion-dollar industry it is today — including the evolution of hockey equipment, the Stanley Cup, and every NHL team — fans will learn the complete A to Z of hockey.

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