Didn't see a recommendations thread, but please link if there already has been one.
There seems to be a general lack of hockey books around (compared to other sports), but it would be nice to hear of any gems that you've read.
So far, I've only finished Theo Fleury - Playing With Fire; an insightful and honest account of the man; a truly troubled guy who went through some pretty hard times. Worth the read.
Current getting through both The Greatest Stories Ever Told and Bob Probert - Tough Guy. The former has some great short stories and articles (particularly liked the one about Richter). The latter, as you might imagine with a guy like Probert, is similar in vein to Theo's, although I find it interesting how little he goes into some pretty important life situations. Perhaps he just didn't want to talk about them.
I also picked up Patrick Roy's book on the cheap due to Borders going into liquidation, so I have that up on the chopping block.
Lastly, I picked up this beauty off eBay last year:
It doesn't really give any groundbreaking advice (I used to play NHL '94 in leagues), but it's a really nice book to flick through. Easily my favourite sports game of all time.
Thanks for those, will definitely check them out. Not specifically looking for something more entertaining or historical necessarily, but certainly something more exciting than a book of hockey stats.
I don't think it's what you are looking for, but I really enjoy(ed) the Top 60 since '67. Just a concise couple of pages on each guy, nothing too fancy... but a lot of good minds got together to pick the 60, and I learned a lot from the various quotes.
Phil Esposito's "Thunder and Lightning"
Bob McKenzie's book "My Life as a Hockey Dad"
"Lets Talk Hockey: 50 Wonderful Debates"
Eric Lindros' "Fire on Ice"
I actually used the forum search (http://hfboards.com/search.php) and it came up with nothing. Guess I will use the Google search from now on.
The forum search is unfortunately disabled until hfboards finally gets a system upgrade. It's a real shame for those of us who frequent the history section, but it is something that will be fixed.
The forum search is unfortunately disabled until hfboards finally gets a system upgrade. It's a real shame for those of us who frequent the history section, but it is something that will be fixed.
I'm really hoping it's fixed by the time the next ATD rolls around. It's unfortunate that it's not here for the minor league drafts, but I think the ATD without the search function would really hinder the progress and knowledge we've uncovered so far.
I found "Hockey on two continents" by Peter Stastny to be an absolutely marvelous read. Gives an insight into both north american and Slovakian hockey.
If You Can't beat 'em in the alley: The Memoirs of Conn Smythe with Scott Young. Great read, very entertaining and gives you a look at the old school mentality of the NHL. you can get a copy on amazon.com used for almost nothing
One of my favorite books is Cyclone Taylor's book. It really gives you insight on how hockey was played in his days, and he talks about what it was like growing up in the 1890's-1900's era. He also gives great insight on old time players like Art Ross and others. The one part that I liked was when he talks about going to see Ty Cobb play in like 1905. It was just a very fascinating book to me.
I found "Hockey on two continents" by Peter Stastny to be an absolutely marvelous read. Gives an insight into both north american and Slovakian hockey.
I dare you to show me a link anywhere on the net where this book is for sale.
I dare you to show me a link anywhere on the net where this book is for sale.
I guessed it was written in Slovak. With a google search I was able to find a link to a facebook page about what I suspected is a book with that title. Google Translate confirmed that. Now with the Slovak title, I found a single used amazon listing here. For $100.
And then here's a Slovak site with a whole bunch of listings. For notable less than $100, but in Europe.
The Stephen Brunt book about the Gretzky trade is a must read IMO.
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Exhibit A as to how hockey doesn't matter on ESPN:
Last night an ESPN program was discussing how the Detroit Pistons needed a hero citing the heroes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions and no mention of the Detroit Red Wings. All this despite the Red Wings probably being the most succesful team in Detroit right now.
Didn't see a recommendations thread, but please link if there already has been one.
There seems to be a general lack of hockey books around (compared to other sports), but it would be nice to hear of any gems that you've read.
So far, I've only finished Theo Fleury - Playing With Fire; an insightful and honest account of the man; a truly troubled guy who went through some pretty hard times. Worth the read.
Current getting through both The Greatest Stories Ever Told and Bob Probert - Tough Guy. The former has some great short stories and articles (particularly liked the one about Richter). The latter, as you might imagine with a guy like Probert, is similar in vein to Theo's, although I find it interesting how little he goes into some pretty important life situations. Perhaps he just didn't want to talk about them.
I also picked up Patrick Roy's book on the cheap due to Borders going into liquidation, so I have that up on the chopping block.
Lastly, I picked up this beauty off eBay last year:
It doesn't really give any groundbreaking advice (I used to play NHL '94 in leagues), but it's a really nice book to flick through. Easily my favourite sports game of all time.
Here are a couple;
1. 'War on Ice" by Scott Young - goes through Canada in international hockey from 1954-74.
2. "The Game" by Ken Dryden
3. "Hockey, The Way it Is" by Brian Conacher
4. "The Forgotten Summit" (had to throw this in - it is my book on the 1974 Canada/Soviet Summit series.)
I guessed it was written in Slovak. With a google search I was able to find a link to a facebook page about what I suspected is a book with that title. Google Translate confirmed that. Now with the Slovak title, I found a single used amazon listing here. For $100.
And then here's a Slovak site with a whole bunch of listings. For notable less than $100, but in Europe.
"Grapes" Don Cherry and Stan Fischler....Humorous and insightul much like the man himself...Fischler uses the words sextet and subterenean about fifty times but the book has a nice flow and arc to it.
Red Kelly did a book on strategy I had as a very young child...wish I could remember the title.......Dry with diagrams and schematics but unuusual and detailed.
Thunder and Lightning....Filled with the usual convenient Esposito hyperbole about Orr and others, but provides some good and entertaining information on how the Lightning were brought to the league.
I recently read "King of Russia" by Dave King and found it very interesting, especially some of his comments about transportation in light of the recent tragedy. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/077...SIN=0771029128
