Wanted to bring this up as I read a few hockey books recently. Most were alright, and I'd add them to the hockey history book thread if I could find it (and if it's revived I'll be glad to add there). But one in particular is deserving of mention in the worst book section:
The Ovechkin Project: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Hockey's Most Dangerous Player by Damien Cox and Gare Joyce.
Going in I should have known that as a book written by Cox it would be bad (see my comments about his ghost-written Brodeur autobiography above), but Joyce isn't too bad so maybe it would balance out. It did not, frankly was terrible. To start with, it was not done with the consent of Ovechkin, so his perspective is completely absent, and all references to him are second-hand. That doesn't necessarily make a bad book, but this one was.
First, there are several obvious errors throughout the book, ones that any seasoned hockey fan would notice, and one would expect an experienced journalist and book publisher would catch. Things like a "1988 Canada Cup", referring to a "Rich Stadium" for the 2007 Winter Classic (it had been Ralph Wilson Stadium for about a decade by that point), noting Lester Patrick as the Rangers coach in 1940 (Frank Boucher had taken over), and saying Crosby and Stamkos shared the 2010 Art Ross Trophy for goal scoring (they shared the Rocket Richard; the Art Ross of course being for points, which Henrik Sedin won that year). These are beyond embarrassing for two people who are literally paid to write about hockey, and while some may think it's pedantic to note, I would think people here would understand.
Next, the book has an unusual focus: it covers Ovechkin's rookie season over parts of two pages, and the first three seasons of his career in less than five. However it spends ten pages detailing a meaningless game between the Capitals and Penguins in 2010, and then exact detail on the 2010 first round playoff series between Washington and Montreal. One would be forgiven for not knowing Ovechkin scored 65 goals one season, the first time in a decade someone had scored that many, or that he won the Art Ross Trophy the same year, as they are quickly passed over. Instead pages are spent critiquing the coaching techniques of Viacheslav Bykov, who led the Russians at the 2010 Winter Olympics. On multiple occasions the writers outright suggest broadcaster Pierre Maguire knew more about what was going on than Bykov did, and while Bykov should be criticized for his efforts, Maguire is not exactly a good comparable.
There is also considerable emphasis placed on Crosby. This of course is to be expected in writing about Ovechkin, however the way the book fawns over Crosby, seeing no fault in him, while Ovechkin is perceived to be full of errors, is grating, and at times it feels like the book is written about Crosby and not Ovechkin (Joyce of course wrote a book on Crosby a couple years before this, and had a second one published in 2019 extolling the virtues of Crosby as the best player in NHL history).
Lastly there is an undue attack on Ovechkin the person, and perceived slights towards the media. Again, pages are spent on some insignificant time he brushed off Ken Campbell, and undue weight is spent on Ovechkin signing with an ad agency, and then worrying about the agency's investment in Ovechkin. It comes across as a couple writers angry that Ovechkin wouldn't talk to them, so they want to showcase him as someone unfriendly with the media, which is definitely not something that one could say about Ovechkin, especially in the early years of his NHL career.
Hopefully there will come a time when a real biography of Ovechkin is written. But this is not it, and should not be considered something anyone should read with any hopes of learning anything useful about the individual.
so "some merit" afterall Merya.... and sometimes thats ok with books, particularly about something that you love like hockey. That you do get something out of it. I think I posted earlier that one book I thought dreadful & surprising me that it was, was Bob McCown's book.... McCowns Law: 100 Hockey Arguments..... not because it was written badly, wasnt researched properly & full of errors or whatever, it was just some (not all but enough) of his "arguments" that I felt ill conceived. Amateur. Clearly no depth of understanding & shouldve just stuck to what he does know HOWEVER..... A- for Effort..... But, it did "annoy me". So much so that I could barely finish it but finish it I did.
). His later failure to make it big in Edmonton is rather lazily handled too. (Gretzky and his huge ice-time was supposedly the 'culprit'.)
