Hockey History Books

[Habsfan18]

Well, I hit the jackpot today! A few weeks ago I found a cheap copy of what was advertised as the revised 1960 edition of Lloyd Percival’s The Hockey Handbook. Received it today, and not only was it actually a 1951 First edition, but it’s signed by Lloyd Percival himself!

 

[DeysArena]

Well, I hit the jackpot today! A few weeks ago I found a cheap copy of what was advertised as the revised 1960 edition of Lloyd Percival’s The Hockey Handbook. Received it today, and not only was it actually a 1951 First edition, but it’s signed by Lloyd Percival himself!

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What happens if Robert Fulton finds out that you have his book?

 

[Bondurant]

Well, I hit the jackpot today! A few weeks ago I found a cheap copy of what was advertised as the revised 1960 edition of Lloyd Percival’s The Hockey Handbook. Received it today, and not only was it actually a 1951 First edition, but it’s signed by Lloyd Percival himself!

View attachment 579320View attachment 579321

Nice find. Not hockey related but I found an autographed James Ellroy paperback at a used record store of all places. Huge score for me as he is my favorite author. Hockey related, however, a major life blunder was passing on a Gordie Howe autographed book for $8 because I was not sure if the auto was legit. After researching and determining it was likely legit I went back a few days later and it was gone.

 

[kaiser matias]

Posted in the thread for it specifically, but also writing here to keep things in one spot:

I read Capitals, Aristocrats, and Cougars: Victoria's Hockey Professionals, 1911–1926 by Alan Livingstone MacLeod (2021), and was quite impressed.

MacLeod covers each season of the Victoria team in a chapter, and each game is given coverage. He also provides information on pre-season and post-season moves, and as an added touch gives some other information on events happening around the world at that time, the type of stuff a newspaper reader would have seen when going over the highlights of the previous game. It gives some good context to the era, and was neat to see the world that the Victoria team was in.

Highly recommend this for anyone here, especially those looking for PCHA history stuff.

 

[DeysArena]

I found The Icehouse Gang in a used-book store.

Does anyone know if it's worth reading?

 

[Habsfan18]

I found The Icehouse Gang in a used-book store.

Does anyone know if it's worth reading?

Definitely worth the read! The author was actually the Chicago Black Hawks team chaplain at the time, believe it or not, and he travelled with the team for the book. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it, but I remember there were some pretty good stories throughout.

 

[biblihockey]

What happens if Robert Fulton finds out that you have his book?

he died in 1815

 

[biblihockey]

Hello, i am cleaning my hockey bookshelfs. I am giving away some books and videos. If you re in Montreal, i can put it aside and deliver one day i am coming down there . Some are in english, some in french.

Livres sur le hockey . Dons, vente et échange

Vous recherchez un livre sur le hockey, vous souhaitez vous séparer de livres ? Je suis peut-être intéressé ^^

hockeyblog.me

Has anyone ever came across Bill Roche's hockey book ?

 

[Habsfan18]

Has anyone ever came across Bill Roche's hockey book ?

One of my favorites! Incredibly difficult to find and very rare, so if anyone comes across a copy I highly suggest you scoop it up immediately!

 

[biblihockey]

View attachment 587636

One of my favorites! Incredibly difficult to find and very rare, so if anyone comes across a copy I highly suggest you scoop it up immediately!

oh i thought it did not really existed, i ve been looking for years

 

[Habsfan18]

This should definitely be of interest to HoH members!

 

[seventieslord]

Hello, i am cleaning my hockey bookshelfs. I am giving away some books and videos. If you re in Montreal, i can put it aside and deliver one day i am coming down there . Some are in english, some in french.

Livres sur le hockey . Dons, vente et échange

Vous recherchez un livre sur le hockey, vous souhaitez vous séparer de livres ? Je suis peut-être intéressé ^^

hockeyblog.me

Has anyone ever came across Bill Roche's hockey book ?

Hi, I manage the publications database for SIHR and I'm always on the lookout for more books to add that aren't already in our database. I've already identified a few such books from your list. But I can't find any information on "Throws" by Thiffault. Can you please share an image of the front, year, isbn, publisher? (assuming it is about hockey).

Also, I was able to find all information on Daniel Poulin's Behind the Scenes of 110%, except for a review or summary that confirms it has anything to do with hockey. From looking at the cover, I would assume it doesn't, except that Daniel Poulin has written books that are about hockey.

 

[kaiser matias]

I finished Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women's Hockey in Western Canada by Wayne Norton (2009). It's a concise, concise look at the early history of women's hockey in Western Canada (Alberta and British Columbia), from roughly 1900 to 1940. Norton gives focus to teams in Vancouver, Victoria, Fernie, Edmonton, and Calgary, and shows how they were developed played each other, and ultimately all folded. Norton provides plenty of photos of the teams and players as well as highlights the sexist commentary that contemporary newspapers published about the teams, while showing that teams could become quite popular despite facing several obstacles.

It also serves as a bit of an introduction to early hockey, as he opens the books by contextualizing things and going over who the Patricks are and why they matter (Frank Patrick was evidently a booster of women's hockey: he sponsored the Vancouver team for several years, his wife "chaperoned" them as was required of the day, and in 1920-21 the PCHA hosted a few women's games in between regular season matches, though that did not repeat). Norton also makes clear some things that are a little jarring for a modern reader, things like the Fernie Swastikas, the terminology (hockeyists, for example), and again the rampant sexism (numerous mentions of the looks of the players, their marital status, and teams with names like "Kewpies", for some prominent ones)

As Norton notes at the end, he was hampered by a lack of sources, relying nearly exclusively on contemporary newspapers, which as anyone who's researched this era of hockey knows can be a daunting task at the best of times, but was even more so for the women's game. And with all the participants long gone, and it highly unlikely they left any written record, there was no way to incorporate any of their voices into the book.

That said, it's overall a good history of a topic that is not often covered, and done in good detail. Like he mentions, the history of Western Canadian hockey, like any history, was quite different than that in Central Canada (read: Ontario), and is deserving of it's own treatment.

 

[seventieslord]

I finished Women on Ice: The Early Years of Women's Hockey in Western Canada by Wayne Norton (2009). It's a concise, concise look at the early history of women's hockey in Western Canada (Alberta and British Columbia), from roughly 1900 to 1940. Norton gives focus to teams in Vancouver, Victoria, Fernie, Edmonton, and Calgary, and shows how they were developed played each other, and ultimately all folded. Norton provides plenty of photos of the teams and players as well as highlights the sexist commentary that contemporary newspapers published about the teams, while showing that teams could become quite popular despite facing several obstacles.

It also serves as a bit of an introduction to early hockey, as he opens the books by contextualizing things and going over who the Patricks are and why they matter (Frank Patrick was evidently a booster of women's hockey: he sponsored the Vancouver team for several years, his wife "chaperoned" them as was required of the day, and in 1920-21 the PCHA hosted a few women's games in between regular season matches, though that did not repeat). Norton also makes clear some things that are a little jarring for a modern reader, things like the Fernie Swastikas, the terminology (hockeyists, for example), and again the rampant sexism (numerous mentions of the looks of the players, their marital status, and teams with names like "Kewpies", for some prominent ones)

As Norton notes at the end, he was hampered by a lack of sources, relying nearly exclusively on contemporary newspapers, which as anyone who's researched this era of hockey knows can be a daunting task at the best of times, but was even more so for the women's game. And with all the participants long gone, and it highly unlikely they left any written record, there was no way to incorporate any of their voices into the book.

That said, it's overall a good history of a topic that is not often covered, and done in good detail. Like he mentions, the history of Western Canadian hockey, like any history, was quite different than that in Central Canada (read: Ontario), and is deserving of it's own treatment.

so maybe we can get the top-60 women project off the ground, after all.

 

[Kiimm]

What kind of good books are the of players like Maurice Richard, Henri Richard and other ledgens of Montreal Canadiens. Or about the club?

 

[kaiser matias]

Got a chance to read When the Rangers were Young, which was written by Frank Boucher and Trent Fayne and published in 1973. It's effectively Boucher's memoir of his life and four decades with the Rangers, and is great. While it effectively skips over his four seasons in Vancouver, it does look at his youth in Ottawa, his time with the RCMP, and his playing, coaching, and managerial career in New York. He goes over the struggles he had trying to make the Rangers good during and after the war, as well as his relationship with Lester Patrick, as well as his thoughts on nearly every notable Ranger player of that era. It also is not afraid to note the amount of drinking that was done, even during Prohibition, and the openness of the writing makes it sound like one of the many memoirs published by former players these days, and very well could have been written this year in terms of its tone. Highly recommend anyone looking for a look at the early Rangers get a copy to read.

 

[kaiser matias]

Another one read: Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics at the 1972 Summit Series by Gary J. Smith.

Smith is a Canadian diplomat who served in Moscow during the early 1970s, and ended up playing a major role in helping set up the 1972 Summit Series, an 8 game tournament between Canada and the USSR. He played an active role throughout the series, and recounts this time, with a major focus on the diplomatic side of things (though he recounts all 8 games as well). With the 50th anniversary of the series this year there were several books published on it, but this had a unique view that I really enjoyed, and was captivated by how much work the Canadian diplomatic corps put into this.

 

[seventieslord]

Another one read: Ice War Diplomat: Hockey Meets Cold War Politics at the 1972 Summit Series by Gary J. Smith.

Smith is a Canadian diplomat who served in Moscow during the early 1970s, and ended up playing a major role in helping set up the 1972 Summit Series, an 8 game tournament between Canada and the USSR. He played an active role throughout the series, and recounts this time, with a major focus on the diplomatic side of things (though he recounts all 8 games as well). With the 50th anniversary of the series this year there were several books published on it, but this had a unique view that I really enjoyed, and was captivated by how much work the Canadian diplomatic corps put into this.

I'm finishing it tomorrow or the day after. I've found it truly fascinating.

 

[Chili]

What kind of good books are the of players like Maurice Richard, Henri Richard and other ledgens of Montreal Canadiens. Or about the club?

Some of the books I'm familiar with:

Jean Béliveau: My Life in Hockey (great book)
The Montreal Canadiens: A Hockey Dynasty-Claude Mouton (all kinds of info before 1980)
Dick Irvin authored several books on the Habs
The Montreal Forum: Forever Proud-1924-1996 (Great book on the Forum, includes a list of every event ever staged there)
Lions in Winter-(another great reference book on the history of the Habs to 1986)
The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey (Jacques Plante)-Todd Denault (besides a great book on Plante there are stories from the 1950's dynasty and a chapter on Frank Selke Sr.)

More recently books have come out on Scotty Bowman (Ken Dryden) and Toe Blake (Winning is Everything-Paul Logothetis)

There was a large book en franςais that I saw in a bookstore that came out around the time of the 100th anniversary of the team, 5-6 years ago on the Habs history, looked interesting. Don't have the details though. Looked comprehensive.

 

[biblihockey]

What kind of good books are the of players like Maurice Richard, Henri Richard and other ledgens of Montreal Canadiens. Or about the club?

There are so many, an oral history of montreal canadiens by Dick Irvin is great. The game by Dryden. biographies exist for Lafleur, Gump Worsley, Butch Bouchard ( this year ) Vezina ... The one of Henri Richard is not very good . Bio from Gump Worsley is cool too.

I bought this book on marketplace … and it s signed by the rocket ^^

 

[The Panther]

What kind of good books are the of players like Maurice Richard, Henri Richard and other ledgens of Montreal Canadiens. Or about the club?

I was trying to find a good (English) history of Maurice Richard a few years ago... and couldn't. But someone on here recommended Maurice Richard: Reluctant Hero (2001), and I finally got around to ordering it (I even got it here in Japan!) and I'm reading it now.

It's very good.

However, it's rather short at 160 pages, which are about 50% photos. But I think this is the best we can get (at least in English) as far as The Rocket goes.

 

[seventieslord]

Try these ones for more depth...

Hockey's Rocket by Ed Fitkin
Our life with the rocket by Roch Carrier
A cultural history of Maurice Richard by Benoit Melancon
Rocket Richard by Andy O'Brien

A couple of those are old and rare, I know, but these are the best.

 

[Habsfan18]

Brand new book just published that may be of interest:

And a newly announced one for the fall that I’m really looking forward to, just trying to ignore the ridiculous title..:

 

[Habsfan18]

Thought I’d copy and paste my annual upcoming book list that I post to my Hockey Library page and to the SIHR email list. It’ll be updated throughout the year.

————-

- Rocky Hockey: The Short but Wild Ride of the NHL’s Colorado Rockies - by Greg Enright…March 19th, 2023

- A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto - by Russell Field…May 17th, 2023

- Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of its People, and Olympic Gold - by Ethan Scheiner…July 4th, 2023

- Picturing the Game: An Illustrated Story of Hockey - by Don Weekes…October 1st, 2023

- Heaven and Hell in the NHL: The Morris Lukowich Story - by Morris Lukowich with Geoff Kirbyson…October 3rd, 2023

- Draft Day: How Hockey Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind - by Doug MacLean with Scott Morrison…October 3rd, 2023

- Living in Two Worlds: A Coach’s Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back - by Ted Nolan with Meg Masters…October 10th, 2023

- Leafs 365: Daily Stories from the Ice - by Mike Commito…October 17th, 2023

- Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at Twelve of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History - by Randi Druzin…October 24th, 2023

- The Game That Saved the NHL: The Broad Street Bullies, the Soviet Red Machine, and Super Series ‘76 - by Ed Gruver…November 1st, 2023

- Tough Guys: Hockey’s Enforcers on Wild Brawls, High Stakes, and the Code that Binds Them - by Dale Arnold…November 7th, 2023

- Boston Bruins: Blood, Sweat & 100 Years (illustrated coffee table book for the Bruins centennial)…November 21st, 2023

- Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey Part 2 1957-1972 - by Jim Genac…December, 2023

- The First Great Rivals: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins in Photos 1933-49 - by Jeff Miclash

- Forgotten Blueshirts: The Frank Boucher Era New York Rangers 1940-1955 - by George Grimm

- New York Islanders 50th Anniversary Commemorative coffee table book authored by Stan Fischler. It’ll be given to Islanders season ticket holders. At this time I have no idea if it’ll be available for non-ticket holders to purchase.

Recently published books include:

- Jim Genac’s “Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey Part 1 1946-1956”
- Grant Pennell’s “Sitting on Tretiak: The 1972 Summit Series Play by Play Volume 1: The Canadian Games”
- Cedric Bolz’s “The September He Remembers: Josef Kompalla and the 1972 Summit Series”
- John G Robertson & Carl T Madden’s “The Bruins in 25 Games: Boston’s Most Unforgettable Wins and Heartbreaking Losses”
- Pat McDonald and Ty Dilello’s “Mr. Winnipeg: The Ab McDonald Story”

 

[reckoning]

Thought I’d copy and paste my annual upcoming book list that I post to my Hockey Library page and to the SIHR email list. It’ll be updated throughout the year.

————-

- Rocky Hockey: The Short but Wild Ride of the NHL’s Colorado Rockies - by Greg Enright…March 19th, 2023

- A Night at the Gardens: Class, Gender, and Respectability in 1930s Toronto - by Russell Field…May 17th, 2023

- Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of its People, and Olympic Gold - by Ethan Scheiner…July 4th, 2023

- Heaven and Hell in the NHL: The Morris Lukowich Story - by Morris Lukowich with Geoff Kirbyson…October 3rd, 2023

- Draft Day: The Art of Building Winning Hockey Teams - by Doug MacLean with Scott Morrison…October 3rd, 2023

- Living in Two Worlds: A Coach’s Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back - by Ted Nolan with Meg Masters…October 10th, 2023

- Leafs 365: Daily Stories from the Ice - by Mike Commito…October 17th, 2023

- Behind the Mask: A Revealing Look at Twelve of the Greatest Goalies in Hockey History - by Randi Druzin…October 24th, 2023

- The Game That Saved the NHL: The Broad Street Bullies, the Soviet Red Machine, and Super Series ‘76 - by Ed Gruver…November 1st, 2023

- Boston Bruins: Blood, Sweat & 100 Years (illustrated coffee table book for the Bruins centennial)…November 21st, 2023

- Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey Part 2 1957-1972 - by Jim Genac…December, 2023

- The First Great Rivals: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins in Photos 1933-49 - by Jeff Miclash

- Forgotten Blueshirts: The Frank Boucher Era New York Rangers 1940-1955 - by George Grimm

- New York Islanders 50th Anniversary Commemorative coffee table book authored by Stan Fischler. It’ll be given to Islanders season ticket holders. At this time I have no idea if it’ll be available for non-ticket holders to purchase.

Recently published books include:

- Jim Genac’s “Path to the Summit: Anatoli Tarasov and the History of Soviet Hockey Part 1 1946-1956”
- Grant Pennell’s “Sitting on Tretiak: The 1972 Summit Series Play by Play Volume 1: The Canadian Games”
- John G Robertson & Carl T Madden’s “The Bruins in 25 Games: Boston’s Most Unforgettable Wins and Heartbreaking Losses”
- Pat McDonald and Ty Dilello’s “Mr. Winnipeg: The Ab McDonald Story”

Thank you very much for putting that together. You do a much better at giving hockey fans a concise organized list of upcoming book releases than Amazon does. Hopefully some of those authors will post on hfboards to promote their work and answer questions from the fans.

I'll definitely be getting the Ted Nolan book and George Grimm's Rangers one. I'm leaning towards picking up the Rockies one too.

I'm intrigued by the Flyers one; on one hand I am always looking for any new information about the '76 Super Series, but I don't want it to be a one-sided account. But with Todd Denault's book about the Habs-Red Army game, and this one about the Flyers game, maybe someday there'll finally be a book about Buffalo's 12-6 win over the Soviet Wings.