Your Favorite Hockey Books?

[Northern Dancer]

can't believe no one has mentioned the game by ken dryden.i haven't read espo's or looking for bobby orr, but i've heard good things about both.

a great book, but about a fictional hockey player, is king leary by paul quarrington.

IMO The Game by Ken Dryden is the best SPORTS book ever written. I would highly recommend it and that is from a Leaf fan whereas the book is about the dreaded Habs !!!!!

 

[hockeyisdbest]

Searching For Bobby Orr is one of the best books I've ever read. Stephen Brunt is a fantastic author.

Sidney Crosby Taking The Game By Storm was alright. I was expecting more, but I guess it was because it was written before he even started in the NHL.

Thanks for all the books mentioned

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Dick Beddoes' Greatest Hockey Stories is the most entertaining hockey read I've ever had. He's supremely colourful, and the stories are often as outrageous as they are hilarious.

Incidentally, because of this book, Jean-Baptiste "The Great" Pusie is now my all-time favorite hockey player.

 

[Injektilo]

My top five :

1. The Tropic of Hockey - Dave Bidini
2. Home Game - Dryden and MacGregor
3. The Game of Our Lives - Peter Gzowski
4. The Game - Dryden
5. A bit of a toss-up, but if i'm basically going on the number of times i've re-read these books, Grace Under Fire - Lawrence Scanlan.

History wise, Putting A Roof on Winter by Michael McKinley was pretty good.
I'm finishing up Midnight Hockey by Bill Gaston right now. It's alright, good stories etc etc, but it's not really saying anything all that interesting. I''m going to start Searching For Bobby Orr on my vacation in a few days. I've read the first ten or so pages, and it looks fantastic thus far. I'm not really a big fan of biographies or the like, but this one looks like it could be damn good.


As for fiction, I really like Understanding Ken, by a guy called Pete McCormick, or something to that effect. Another fiction one that looks like it could be really good that i'm hoping to read is called The Uninvited Guest, by John Degen. There's a few more I'm planning on reading when I'm back in Canada.

 

[Pivot King]

My Top 5:
The Home Team- Roy MacGregor: Great hockey stories that focus on the father/son relationship.

Fury-Theo Fleury's biography. Can't remember the author's name, but this is an excellent read and really shows the different childhood that Theo had.

So Your Son Wants to Play in the NHL-Dan Bylsma. His dad is also a co-author. Great read for anyone who has a kid playing hockey or is playing themselves. Tons of great life lessons and it sheds some light on the reality of making it.

Of Ice And Men- Bruce Dowbiggin. Focuses on the development of a few players and coaches and how they made it. This was written just after the '98 Olympics, so the rest of the world had caught up to Canada on the international stage. Hasek and Chelios are two of the players, can't remember the others. This is a great book when you remember back to the time it was written.

When the Lights Went Out-Gare Joyce. Recounts the 1987 Canadian World Junior team and the famous Piestany Punch Up with the USSR. Gives you great insight, especially if you weren't old enough to remember. Also focusses on Bert Templeton, a famous junior coach in the OHL who was known as a tough love type.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain*]

I just bought The Rebel League and was wondering... how is it??

 

[jiggs 10]

I have dozens of hockey books, but some that haven't been mentioned yet that I like are:

"The Flying Frenchmen" about the Rocket and the Habs
"Open Net" by George Plimpton, when he played goalie for the Bruins in an exhibition
"Thin Ice: A Season In Hell With The N.Y. Rangers" from 1981 is really cool

many others.

 

[Jungosi]

just read "The Game" by Ken Dryden and as far i can jugde it everything good said about it is right. The best read i had lately. I'd really like to read some more of the mentionend books but it's pretty hard/expensive to get them over here.

 

[vivianmb]

boys of winter...about the miracle u.s. team of 1980.

rebel league... about the wha

ice time... about new england high school hockey

the death of hockey(or how a bunch of guys with too much money and too little sense are ruining the greatest game on earth)... the title says it all

birth of a dynasty... about how bill torrey built the ny isles

 

[YearsintheWilderness]

"Open Net" by George Plimpton, when he played goalie for the Bruins in an exhibition

I've just posted a review of Open Net at my new hockey blog:

http://www.hockeynarrative.com

 

[JiriHrdina]

They Don't Play Hockey in Heaven by Ken Baker is a tremendous book and very inspirational.

 

[a79krgm]

Scott Young's "Hockey is a Battle" - Punch Imalch's story.

Good account of what it was to behind the bench during the Leaf's glory years. Some interesting comments by Punch on Leaf legends like the Big M and Carl Brewer.

 

[Mike Jones]

Don Cherry's autobiography is an entertaining read as well. I think it's called "Grapes", but I can't remember for sure.

This has to be my favourite book as well. I was a huge Rockies fan in the 70's and early 80's (That ended when they moved to New Jersey and started dressing like Christmas elves) and loved what he had to say about people like Ray (I taught Ferguson everything he knows) Miron and Hardy Astrom. I would have loved to see Keenan try and coach that team (With that starting goalie).

 

[Mike Jones]

birth of a dynasty... about how bill torrey built the ny isles

I wonder if any GM's have read this one. I'll have to look for it. Is it still on shelves?

 

[yada]

right now im reading the game by ken dryden and its a great book. interesting to read his thoughts on how larry robinson had grown to a great defenseman and how unsure of himself he always was. i never would think id hear a professional athlete admit they were scared of playing and scared of failing.


what are some good books about the oilers dynasty?

 

[hfboardsuser]

A good resource for stats and the history of the league:

Total NHL: The Ultimate Source on the National Hockey League by Dan Diamond

I use that as my laptop table. Whenever I need to find something when making a post or writing an article, I have it at my fingertips.

Predictably, lots of non-fiction books mentioned, but not much fiction.

King Leary by Paul Quarrington- Just won 2008 Canada Reads, a CBC contest whereby celebrities argue their choice for best Canadian book.

"Percival Leary was one of the hockey greats. Once hailed as “King of the Ice,†he is now tucked away in a small-town nursing home, sharing a room with the cantankerous and alcoholic reporter who chronicled his career.

Tracked down by a young advertising executive, King Leary is invited to Toronto to record a ginger ale commercial alongside the NHL’s newest hockey sensation.

Leary travels to the big city with his roommate and a slightly off-kilter male nurse, but he’s also accompanied by his ghosts: Clay Clinton, his one-time best friend and former hockey manager; Manny Oz, Leary’s challenger for the crown; and the hockey-playing monks of Bowmanville Reformatory, where Leary’s career began.

The trip is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching odyssey that reveals the truths of Leary’s not-always-illustrious life."

Who championed it to the jury? Dave Bidini, of course.

I have other recommendations; I'll post them later as I have to go to work.

 

[JFA87-66-99]

I wanted to get a good book about Wayne Gretzky,Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr, but I'm not sure which ones to look for. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Made Dan]

I want to get "Black Ice" from the library just becuase Willie O'Ree is such a nice guy and a great face for the game.

 

[the_speedster]

I teach and managed to trick my kids into reading the "Wolfsbay wings" series.... Not exactly a literary masterpiece buit a fun hockey filled series of books for your adolescent or preteen

 

[ekcut]

I don't think she does them anymore, but I always enjoyed the Hockey Scouting Reports by Sherry Ross. Not quite the books you guys are talking about, but it went through scouting reports on each player, which I thought was kinda cool. Last one I can find online is from 2004...

I enjoy these too. It's great to go back to the old editions and see writeups on the players and see how there projections game out. Off the top of my head, I remember her calling Jamie Rivers the next Al MacInis...she was slightly off on that one, but she was very knowledgable!

 

[Sotnos]

Predictably, lots of non-fiction books mentioned, but not much fiction.

I just read a great hockey fiction book called Saved by Jack Falla. A good look behind the scenes at a fictional NHL goalie in the latter years of his career.

I have a list on Amazon of hockey books that I've read.

edit: should've mentioned that the focus in Saved is winning the Cup, pretty topical for this time of year

 

[nyrmetros]

Anyone read the book about the California Seals? I enjoyed it.

http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=25971

 

[kmad]

My 26 Stanley Cups by Dick Irvin Jr. was a pretty good read for me, and it hasn't been mentioned yet.

He's not the greatest storyteller but it's full of a lot of first-hand accounts of some of the most exciting times in hockey history.

 

[Yammer]

I've just posted a review of Open Net at my new hockey blog:

http://www.hockeynarrative.com

Good review, though not easy to find!

Open Net is a favourite.

I admire The Game greatly but my favourite book is probably Road Games by Roy Macgregor, about the 1992 season and the fortunes of the expansion Ottawa Senators. Filled with great research and insight about NHL politics and some interesting musings about the players of the day. The Senators' goalie makes a memorable observation about Pavel Bure, the first player to have ever frozen him with skating speed: "he shouldn't be allowed in the league."

 

[Lost Kangaroo]

Lawrence Martin's The Red Machine
"Russian Revolution - Exodus to the NHL" by John Sanful
The RED MACHINE by Lawrence Martin
From Behind the Red Line: a North American Hockey Player in Russia
by Tod Hartje, Lawrence Martin

All good reads...

Loved this book, read it twice.

Home Ice by Jack Falla was a nice read as well.

Also enjoyed "Pride on the Mount"