New Book Celebrates One Of Hockey's Most Important Books

A lot of people know that Anatoli Tarasov is considered to be the great architect of the Soviet hockey empire.

But even Tarasov had to learn from someone. That someone was a Canadian coach and author named Lloyd Percival.

Percival was Canada's leading expert on fitness through out the mid 20th century. Although he was best known for coaching track and field, he would often make forays into other sports in order to help those athletes attain greatness, too.

In 1951 Percival attempted to make a big splash in hockey when he published The Hockey Handbook. Percival was years, even decades, ahead of his time here in Canada. 

His book featured the oddest things Canadian hockey coaches and players had ever heard of. Breathing control? Gymnastics? Goal setting? No way, we scoffed. Goal scoring is what we practice!

Hall of Fame coach Dick Irvin (no, not the television broadcaster, that is his son) blasted Percival's notions. It was "the product of a three year old," he unceremoniously snorted. 

While the NHL was quick to dismiss The Hockey Handbook, Europeans were quick to adore it. It is not a coincidence that European hockey exploded and caught up to Canadian hockey only a generation or so after the publishing of this book.

One person who especially appreciated the book was Tarasov. He called it "the bible." 

"Your wonderful book, which introduced us to the mysteries of Canadian hockey, I have read like a schoolboy," Tarasov once said.

Tarasov of course added his own quirks and innovations, but Percival's book was the basis of the greatest hockey program ever created.

Nowadays every NHL player and aspiring young player follows The Hockey Handbook's principles even though they likely have never actually read the book. The techniques in the book, which have been republished and updated regularly, are now common place in hockey culture in Canada, and especially in the NHL.

Fast forward to today and I will introduce you to a new author named Gary Mossman. Mr. Mossman, with the help of Seraphim Editions, has penned a new book that looks at the impact of Percival and his Hockey Handbook. The new book is called Lloyd Percival: Coach and Visionary .

Here's the promotional blurb:

 

They called him 'Coach', but Lloyd Percival was much more. 

He introduced modern track and field to Canada, produced a blueprint for radically changing the way hockey was played, built the world's first modern fitness club, inspired and contributed to government policy on sport, and was instrumental in the success of Canada's best amateur and professional athletes. 

However, he was a radical, an iconoclast, and a thorn in the side of the authorities in amateur and professional sports for almost four decades. Percival has been compared to Marshall McLuhan for his willingness "to look at things people took for granted". 

Respected around the world, Percival's controversial prescriptions for change made "the stepfather of Russian hockey" a "prophet without honour" in his homeland. 

The story of Lloyd Percival is the story of sport and fitness in Canada during an era of profound change, a story of the man most responsible for those changes and of his enduring legacy.

So as we celebrate Russian hockey history as the 2014 Sochi Olympics begin, lets be sure to celebrate the Canadian author who, unknowingly, gave Russian hockey history it's greatest assist. And be sure to check out Mossman's new book which explores the famous hockey book but also the man and his everlasting impact on the sporting world.

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

The Winter Classic by Russ Cohen and Michael del Tufo

The holiday season is upon us. For many hockey fans that now includes the highlight of the regular season in the annual Winter Classic outdoor game. This year Detroit hosts Toronto at The Big House at the University of Michigan. With an expected 106,000-plus fans in attendance, this game will dwarf all other Winter Classics of the past.

Speaking of Winter Classics of the past - that is the focus of Russ Cohen and Michael del Tufo's new book The Winter Classic.

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

The NHL debuted the Winter Classic in 2008 in at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo to a crowd of 71,217, which still stands as the biggest crowd in NHL history. Subsequent Winter Classics were played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field (40,818), Boston’s Fenway Park (38,112), Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field (68,111) and Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia (46,967).

The Winter Classic has been the one event that has transcended the American sports scene as a true hockey event. In many ways it is the most important game on the calendar.

Back in 2008 they probably never dreamed it would grow to be such a spectacle.

“We weren’t sure if we could sell 73,000 tickets at a football stadium,” said  NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins. “Then we sold out in 20 minutes.” And despite wet and snowy weather, no one left. And it was television hit.

Six years later, the Winter Classic continues to thrive, with festivals and sold-out alumni games now part of the experience. HBO's "24/7" documentary specials are fan favorites and the souvenir sales are through the roof.

Cohen and del Tufo look to recount all the great moments in their book, The Winter Classic. They also offer a behind the scenes look at each game. The authors offer a look at each venue and discuss why they were chosen. Player interviews about the venues and the games are plentiful. And of course the actual game is covered nicely.

If you are a fan of the Winter Classic, or if you are new to the hockey spectacle, you will want to check out The Winter Classic by Russ Cohen and Michael del Tufo.

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

2013 Hockey Books

A look at the upcoming 2013 hockey book releases:

99: His Game, His Story by Al Strachan
Anchorboy by Jay Onrait
Behind The Net: 101 Incredible Hockey Stories by Stan Fischler
The Best, Worst and Biggest NHL Trades of All Time
Between The Pipes by Randi Druzin
The Biggest of Everything In Hockey by The Hockey News
Bobby Orr: My Story by Bobby Orr
The Boy Who Missed The Bus by Matt McCoy
Completing The Quartet: Hugh "Muzz" Murray
Don't Call Me Goon by Greg Oliver and Richard Kamchen
50 Greatest Red Wings by Bob Duff
Fighting Back by Chris Nilan
The Game: 30th Anniversary Edition by Ken Dryden
Gordie Howe's Son by Mark Howe
Heart Of The Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story by Pierre Pilote
Hockey Hall of Fame Book Of Players by Steve Cameron
Hockey Hotbeds by Ty Dilello
Ice Cold by Billy Pepitone
Keith Magnuson: Life And Times by Doug Feldmann
Keon And Me by Dave Bidini
My Last Fight by Darren McCarty
My Toughest Faceoff by Brent Peterson
The NHL: A Centennial History by D`arcy Jenish
Original Six Dynasties: Detroit Red Wings by Bob Duff
Number Four Bobby Orr by Sports Illustrated
Pond Hockey by Brian Kennedy
Road To The NHL by Philip Croucher
Tales From Pittsburgh Penguins Locker Room by Joe Starkey
Tales From St. Louis Blues Locker Room by Bob Plager
The Toronto Maple Leafs: Their Defining Moments by Mike Leonetti
The Winter Classic by Russ Cohen and Michael del Tufo
This Is Russia by Bernd Bruckler and Risto Pakarinen
We Are The Goalies by NHLPA
We Are The Goal Scorers by NHLPA
Welcome To Maple Leaf Gardens by Lance Hornby
Where Countries Come To Play by Andrew Podnieks

Kids Books
A Very Hockey Christmas
The Brady Brady All Star Collection
Puckster's First Hockey Tryout
Puckster Goes To The Olympics

Pond Hockey: Rediscovering The Game by Brian Kennedy

I have finally started reading the fantastic new hockey novel Pond Hockey: Rediscovering The Game by Brian Kennedy.

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

Kennedy, of course, is the author of Growing Up Hockey and Hockey Is My Country (and covers the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks when not writing books). So readers familiar with his previous work will not be surprised by my "fantastic" designation.

How fantastic is it? I get up at 4 am and the last couple of nights I've stayed up past midnight wrapped up in it. And, as a rule, I don't particularly like fiction.

There is an exception to every rule and that exception is reserved for Brian Kennedy.

Pond Hockey inspiring story tells the tale of a country boy who seeks his fortune in the big city only to encounter bitter defeat. But when Todd Graham returns to his rural home town, he rediscovers the local pond where he spent many happy hours, as well as, the ghost of a past life where he experienced a defeat that has haunted him ever since.

I'm not quite sure what it is about this book. Kennedy captured my interest quickly with a compelling lead character. From there it is a romantic read about the game we all love - hockey. It is a perfect book to read by the light of the crackling fire as we pass these freezing winter nights

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

Hockey Hotbeds by Ty Dilello

Ty Dilello's first book, Hockey Hotbeds ,is a collection of stories on thirty hockey cities/towns around the world. Boston, Massachusetts, Gothenburg, Sweden, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Zurich, Switzerland are among the thirty hotbeds featured.

Each feature includes exclusive interviews with many of the games top players from the past, present and future. Dilello takes us around the hockey world in a wonderful e-book read.

Buy The Book: Smashwords

Dilello opens in Boston with some personal memories of the Bruins and the old Garden, as well as some hockey playing memories.

He then goes on to some of hockey's most famous cities - Montreal, Ottawa, Minneapolis, Helskinki - and not so famous - Ust-Kamengorsk, Jyvaskyla, Weston, Herning. Along the way he introduces us to local legends past and present. He interviewed the likes of Johnny Bower, Cesare Maniago, Mike Liut, Andy Bathgate, Thomas Steen, Peter Bondra, and Nik Antropov.

Dilello, who writes for the International Ice Hockey Federation, has an easy-to-enjoy writing style and is well researched. It is an interesting premise as he takes us on a journey around the world. Literally.

Check out Ty Dilello's Hockey  Hotbeds on Smashwords today.

This Is Russia by Bernd Bruckler with Risto Pakarinen

Austrian goaltender Bernd Bruckler pulls the curtain on life in Russian hockey in his KHL memoir “This is Russia: Life in the KHL - Doctors, bazas and millions of air miles ”

Bernd Bruckler spent three seasons in the “Kontinentalnaya Hokkeynaya Liga” in Russia, better known simply as the KHL. Established in 2008, the KHL has quickly become the top European hockey league, with ambitions to challenge the NHL for the hockey supremacy of the world.

Bruckler played two seasons with Torpedo Nizhny Novogorod, and one season with Sibir Novosibirsk in Siberia. In this memoir he tells what it’s like to be an import player in Russia, and the challenges he faced with the language, the culture, and the hockey. He talks about life in the baza, his teammates, doctors, pills, training camps, the saunas, and the money. Oh the money!

“In my three years in the KHL, I saw things I thought I’d never see, but I’m glad I did. Some things were wonderful, others were horrible, and some things were just explained to me as ‘This is Russia’,” says Bruckler, who was the Philadelphia Flyers fifth-round pick in 2001, and a WCHA All-American in 2004.

Written with the help of Finnish hockey writer Risto Pakarinen, Bruckler has collected his stories from behind the curtain into a book titled “This is Russia: Life in the KHL - Doctors, bazas and millions of air miles ". It's available on Amazon.com right now, and in book stores shortly.

2013 Hockey Book of The Year: Keon And Me by Dave Bidini

It is time we name the HockeyBookReviews.com 2013 Hockey Book of the Year. I do not really know why I've waited so long to name this, because there is a very obvious winner this year: Dave Bidini's Keon and Me: My Search For The Last Soul of the Leafs

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

Dave Bidini is hands down the best writer in hockey these days. So news of a new release from Bidini is greeted with eagerness. When that book is about Dave Keon and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the anticipation was rightfully through the roof!

To no one's surprise, Bidini delivers. Bidini is the most creative hockey writer of our time, and Keon and Me is nothing short of a fantastic piece of literature that even non-hockey readers will thoroughly enjoy. This book is an instant classic that transcends the hockey world.

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

While Keon And Me is a non-fiction book, Bidini presents the protagonists as wonderful characters that are easy to connect with. Obviously Toronto Maple Leafs legend Dave Keon is one of the main characters. He's a fascinating case study under any circumstances. After all, he was one of the most beloved players in the history of "Canada's Team" yet he has essentially been estranged from the sport for decades now and no one really understands why.

The other main character, as you can guess by the book's title, is Bidini himself. It's actually two different Bidinis - the 11 year old hero worshipping kid who has to deal with Keon's exit, and the current day Bidini still trying figure out not only Keon's cloudy story but his own coming of age. Through it all, Bidini shows an amazing and unconditional devotion to his childhood hero.

The book is part memoir and part an ode to Keon. It is also partly an ode to hockey at various stages in our lifetimes, specifically how we cling to that childhood innocence that forever keeps us in love with the game.

This book should break down the walls set and win some critically acclaimed non-fiction awards. Yeah, it's very much a hockey book and that's frowned upon by literary elitists, but this book is so much more than a hockey book, too. It is a literary gem that will stand the test of time.

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

Check out HockeyBookReviews.com to take a look at all the 2013 Hockey titles. If you are Christmas shopping online this season (it's not too late for delivery!), please consider purchasing via the Amazon/Chapters links provided on the site. The affiliate links help to support HockeyBookReviews.com and GreatestHockeyLegends.com