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Books about Hockey

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  • Money99
    Hall Of Fame
    • Sep 2002
    • 12708

    #1

    Books about Hockey

    Wasn't sure where this should go, so figured I'd start a new thread about this.
    I've read quite a few hockey books in my day and I just finished Bobby Orr's memoir.

    If you're looking for details about specific games or stats, don't get this book.
    He's loathe to speak about himself and rarely gives any sort of exact detail about any event or game.
    In fact, he splits his pro career into about 3 chapters without more than 3 or 4 pages dedicated to each.

    What I liked best is the beginning and the end.
    He talks about his child hood and getting to the NHL. Then at the end, he talks about what he likes about today's game and what he doesn't.

    He really goes into detail how he thinks today's parents are too serious about the game and how they should let kids be kids.
    He's very much against letting kids play one sport 12-months a year and believes they need more than one sport to be better athletes, not hockey players.

    My cousin is an assistant GM for local Junior B team. Every year the owners spring for a cruise for all the players and staff.
    He said watching these guys try to play volleyball or basketball is hilarious. They have no clue and look so uncordinated.
    A few years back, some local NHLers came home to play in a softball tournament. One of those guys was Steve Ott. His entire team was made up of semi-pro players from the ECHL and AHL.
    Hardly any of them knew how to hold a bat or catch a ball. It was hilarious watching them fumble out there.

    Anyway, it was a good book. Not one of the best I've read, but still good.

    Don Cherry's book is still one of the best I've ever read.
  • gopher_guy
    The Kaptain
    • Jul 2011
    • 7390

    #2
    Re: Books about Hockey

    Over the summer I read Herb Brooks: The Inside Story of a Hockey Mastermind.

    It was a very good read. Goes through his playing days, his Minnesota teams in the '70s, and goes into pretty deep detail about the Olympic team.

    A lot of interesting stuff in that book that I never knew, like how the '79 Minnesota team was essentially a test run for the 1980 Olympic team. If they hadn't won the national championship and played as well as they did that season, who knows what would have happened with the 1980 USA team.

    Written by John Gilbert, who was (still is, maybe) a hockey writer who was good friends with Brooks. So plenty of behind the scenes stuff where Brooks describes his methods.
    University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey
    Minnesota's Pride on Ice: 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 & 2003 NCAA National Champions

    "The name on the front of the jersey is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back."
    -Herb Brooks

    Comment

    • Cletus
      MVP
      • Oct 2004
      • 1772

      #3
      Re: Books about Hockey

      I've read a couple. One I liked was A Breed Apart, about Goaltenders. IT helped me a lot to understand goaltenders in past eras. It was rather interesting but it's rather old. If you're a 90's hockey nut, you'll enjoy it.

      I also read Breaking the Ice about black NHL players. It was more about how hockey is a huge racist sport more than the storylines about their players. I understand that being a minority in a sport like hockey is tough, but the book seemed more like it was trying to grind an axe than to celebrate the journeys of black hockey players.
      PSN:BrrbisBrr

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      • Mashiasu
        Pro
        • Apr 2005
        • 482

        #4
        Re: Books about Hockey

        I'm really looking forward to Chris Nilan's book "Fighting Back" which is due out next week

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        • puckzone25
          Just started!
          • Dec 2013
          • 7

          #5
          Re: Books about Hockey

          The Boys of Winter is a great story about the US Olympic team, way more in depth yet interesting than anything else out there about Herbie and the boys.

          Honestly though, "Tough Guy" by Probert was probably the best hockey book I have ever read. The guy was genuinely a friendly and nice human being, and didn't care about making the speech in the book seem more professional. He wrote the same way he talks and let that be that, which made it a really easy read without it being considered "dumbed down."

          Comment

          • Money99
            Hall Of Fame
            • Sep 2002
            • 12708

            #6
            Re: Books about Hockey

            Originally posted by puckzone25
            The Boys of Winter is a great story about the US Olympic team, way more in depth yet interesting than anything else out there about Herbie and the boys.

            Honestly though, "Tough Guy" by Probert was probably the best hockey book I have ever read. The guy was genuinely a friendly and nice human being, and didn't care about making the speech in the book seem more professional. He wrote the same way he talks and let that be that, which made it a really easy read without it being considered "dumbed down."
            You betcha! I loved that book too!
            Theo Fluery's book was also written in a very frank manor. It too was a tremendous read.

            Check out Phil Esposito's "Thunder and Lightning". Another great, candid book. Extremely easy read.
            And it's worth to read just for the story regarding Andre The Giant and a Bruins puck bunny, haha.

            Comment

            • Cletus
              MVP
              • Oct 2004
              • 1772

              #7
              Re: Books about Hockey

              I finished reading "Journeyman" by Sean Pronger. Good book, easy to read and makes you think about hockey from a personal standpoint you don't get on television.
              PSN:BrrbisBrr

              Comment

              • Money99
                Hall Of Fame
                • Sep 2002
                • 12708

                #8
                Re: Books about Hockey

                I'm reading Chris Nilan's "Fighting Back" right now.
                Pretty entertaining if not a bit far-fetched. I have to question the validity of some of his stories.
                For instance, he talks about the time he met his first wife Karen Stanley.
                Karen was the mother of Theresa Stanley who was the long-time girlfriend of Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger.

                Whitey had basically helped raise Theresa's kids so he was very close to them.
                The first time Chris met Bulger, Whitey took out a gun and basically threatened Chris that if he didn't treat Karen right, he would make him disappear.

                The reason I think this is BS is because I doubt Whitey Bulger had to threaten anyone in Boston.
                If you lived in Boston - especially if you were Irish and living in South Boston - you knew who he was. Words probably didn't even have to be exchanged.

                There are some other tall tails that are a bit hard to believe.

                Overall though it's been pretty entertaining.
                I think he gets in more fights off the ice than on.

                P.S. In the book, he has a photo of him and Probie riding camels in Dubai.
                I'm not 100% certain, but I believe in Probie's book, he talks about doing a charity tour with Nilan in Dubai and the two of them get into a fight while Nilan's drunk at a casino.
                Might have that wrong though.

                Comment

                • DrJones
                  All Star
                  • Mar 2003
                  • 9053

                  #9
                  Re: Books about Hockey

                  These were my first two hockey books.



                  Originally posted by Thrash13
                  Dr. Jones was right in stating that. We should have believed him.
                  Originally posted by slickdtc
                  DrJones brings the stinky cheese is what we've all learned from this debacle.
                  Originally posted by Kipnis22
                  yes your fantasy world when your proven wrong about 95% of your post

                  Comment

                  • Turbojugend
                    MVP
                    • Sep 2013
                    • 2242

                    #10
                    Re: Books about Hockey

                    For me, Ken Dryden's The Game is still the be-all-to-end-all for hockey bios, if not sports bios period.
                    www.heyimbill.com | sports poster art and other cool stuff

                    Comment

                    • Money99
                      Hall Of Fame
                      • Sep 2002
                      • 12708

                      #11
                      Re: Books about Hockey

                      Originally posted by Turbojugend
                      For me, Ken Dryden's The Game is still the be-all-to-end-all for hockey bios, if not sports bios period.
                      I know I'm going to have my Canadian passport taken from me, but I've tried to read that book twice now and couldn't get very far.
                      The political commentary bored me to tears.

                      But that was when I was in my early 20's so maybe I'll be ready to try again now?

                      Finished Gordie Howe's recent biography. A very good book too.
                      It was sad reading how his friendship with Ted Lindsey completed fell apart.
                      As Howe described, they were once thick as thieves; having been roommates, best men in each other's weddings and business partners.
                      Now he considers Lindsey as someone he merely played hockey with. No more. No less.

                      I also read Terry Ryan's book "Tales of a First Round Nothing".
                      Very entertaining read. Ryan is hilarious and he has many funny anecdotes regarding his storied minor-league career.

                      The next one I'd love to try is "Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts"
                      http://www.amazon.com/Future-Greats-.../dp/0385664400

                      I love the managerial side of sports so something like this seems right up my alley.

                      Comment

                      • Turbojugend
                        MVP
                        • Sep 2013
                        • 2242

                        #12
                        Re: Books about Hockey

                        Originally posted by Money99
                        I know I'm going to have my Canadian passport taken from me, but I've tried to read that book twice now and couldn't get very far. The political commentary bored me to tears.
                        The first part of the book is a challenging read, especially when it comes to Canadian politics (which I know absolutely nothing about). But stick with it and you'll uncover great stories about Dryden's childhood in a hockey-obsessed neighborhood, wrapping his shins in newspaper to make his own goalie pads or flooding the backyard with a hose at night to wake up to a makeshift rink for him and his friends. Also, his insight into one of the greatest teams ever is well worth reading.
                        Last edited by Turbojugend; 07-22-2015, 05:52 PM.
                        www.heyimbill.com | sports poster art and other cool stuff

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                        • Drop_ya_mitts
                          Rookie
                          • Nov 2019
                          • 104

                          #13
                          Re: Books about Hockey

                          The Code and Boy On Ice are a couple of really good reads

                          Comment

                          • Pribalt.info
                            Just started!
                            • Feb 2022
                            • 1

                            #14
                            Re: Books about Hockey

                            Thanks, learned a lot!

                            Comment

                            • Money99
                              Hall Of Fame
                              • Sep 2002
                              • 12708

                              #15
                              Re: Books about Hockey

                              Game Change by Ken Dryden is amazing.
                              Dryden does a great job explaining the progression of the game and how we got to where we are now.

                              Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

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