Hockey Books For The Christmas Season

I went down to my local bookstore early this evening and finally got my hands on this years NHL "Official Guide And Record Book", about two months later than usual.

Once there, I couldn't believe my eyes! There were so many new hockey books recently released in time for Christmas on display, I'd have needed $500 just tobuy them all. I honestly saw a good two dozen treasure troves on hockey, it almost made me depressed.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I reference many books from time to time. The above picture is a small sampling of what I own. Several boxes are packed away in the basement, covered in dust.

I can afford to buy a hockey book a month if I'm lucky. Guess I'll have lots of catching up to do. Then there's the music books that consume me. I also picked up Philip Norman's "Shout", probably the most controversial book ever written on The Beatles. I'll be adding that to the 17 books I already own on the Fab Four. Want to know anything about John, Paul, George, and Ringo - I know the answer. And no, they didn't break up because of Yoko!

Back to the hockey books. I'm posting this piece for two purposes. The first is to share the release of these books with internet friends and bloggers alike. If you get your hands on any of them, I'd love to hear what you think of them. Secondly, it serves as my Christmas wish list - to send to family and friends - hint, hint!

I have linked to a pair of articles I found on the many books seen tonight. Check them out - the range of subject matter is simply awe inspiring.

It gets me thinking sometimes, if there's such a market for them, I ought to write one myself.

Until that doesn't happen, here's a listing of what I found most interesting.

The Rookie: A Season with Sidney Crosby and the new NHL - By Shawna Richer. Foreword by Roy MacGregor. McClelland and Stewart, 316 pages, $29.99

Searching for Bobby Orr - By Stephen Brunt. Knopf Canada, 295 pages, $34.95

Brodeur: Beyond the Crease - By Martin Brodeur and Damien Cox. Wiley, 290 pages, $29.99

Saving the Game: Pro Hockey's Quest to raise it's game from Crisis to New Heights - By Mark Moore. Foreword by Paul Henderson. McClelland and Stewart, 420 pages, $34.99

Our Game: The History of Hockey in Canada - Text by Dave Stubbs / Illustrated by Neal Portnoy. Lobster, 48 pages, $12.95

Hockey: A People's History - By Michael McKinley. McClelland and Stewart, 346 pages, $60

Celebrating the Game: Photographs from the Bereswill Collection at the Hockey Hall of Fame - By Andrew Podnieks. Foreword by Pat LaFontaine. Fenn, 137 pages, $50

A Canadian Saturday Night: Hockey and the Culture of a Country - By Andrew Podnieks. Greystone, 135 pages, $26.95

For a more detailed look inside these books, check out this link to Wayne Scanlan's article at the Ottawa Sun.

From another webpage, you can also add these interesting titles.


Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players Association (Key Porter, 310 pages, $24.95).

The Power of Two: Carl Brewer's Battle with Hockey's Power Brokers (Fenn, 341 pages, $34.95)

The Canadian Hockey Atlas - By Stephen Cole. Doubleday, 400 pages, $60

His Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales from Ray (Scampy) Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL (Wiley, 272 pages, $29.99)

When the Lights Went Out: How One Brawl Ended Hockey's Cold War and Changed the Game (Doubleday, 346 pages, $32.95).


For more information on these and other hockey books, follow this link.


Happy reading!


And don't forget me come Christmas!