THE LONELY END OF THE RINK

THE LONELY END OF THE RINK

- Grant Lawrence -

Grant has another book - Adventures in Solitude - which I really enjoyed reading, so when I heard he had this new 'hockey' book I instantly ran out...you thought I might say, ran out and bought the book. No, sorry, I'm kind of cheap. Instead I put the book in the upper half of my mental list of books to read at some point in life. Only a month or so later something clicked in me and I went to the library and found the book. Strangely enough it was in. I thought it would be on backorder, reserved by two dozen people, ETA of approx three years...guess I overestimated Grant's popularity. At least in my mind he is that high in demand. Why? Because, he is an awesome writer. An awesome Canadian writer!

What could be more Canadian than hockey? Boreal Forests you say? Maybe. Arctic stuff. Sure. But, let's stick with hockey shall we? Me, being a good ol' Canadian male, love to watch me a good hockey game - and even read me a good hockey book. However, this was not always the case. That is why this book resonated with me.

Grant's relationship with hockey is similar to so many non-athletic boys who grew up in the great white north. It's a Love/Hate/Love again kind of relationship. Like Grant, I was one of those kids who was more interested in looking at bugs or reading a good Tin Tin book then freezing my baguettes off playing hockey on a bumpy frozen pond. I was never involved in organized hockey, heck, I didn't even know what hockey was until I was five or six - shameful Canadian, I know.

Then, just like Grant, the time came when I discovered ball hockey. It is an almost universal school age rite of passage for little boys - becoming addicted to road hockey and playing every chance you get (mostly recess time at school). This one track thinking rules your pretween life and often leads you deeper into the world of hockey. You start paying attention to the NHL, and eventually you pick a team to support wholeheartedly. Vancouver was Grant's team, Toronto was mine.

Then you hit high school and things change. Just like in Grant's book, it seems the bullies are always those hockey jocks, wearing their hockey jackets with a number stitched into the shoulder. This tarnishes the image of hockey, or at least grassroots hockey. You still loyally support your NHL team, but, at the same time you despise the local AAA team. It is quite a juxtaposition.
Eventually, when you get to that comfortable adult stage, the idea of hockey changes again. Maybe you have a kid who wants to play, or you have new friends (not bullies) who play in 'beer leagues'...and now you secretly wish you had taken up hockey in your youth. Or, that you could even just have that same kind of fun like when you played road hockey with your school chums on the playground. Well, Grant did this. He found there are many, many, like minded people out there. The art and band geeks are forming hockey leagues where the focus is not on winning or losing, but, just having fun...and maybe winning a trophy. It sounds utopian, especially to a bookworm like me.

Along with this psychiatrist inducing rehash of memories, Grant also gives us a great history of his team - the Vancouver Canucks. Everything from their fashionable flying V jerseys to their game seven Stanley Cup Final losses (yes, plural. They have lost the game seven final twice...ouch). Even though I was not a big Vancouver fan in the 90's, I do remember some of the more memorable moments...like Pavel Bure's game seven double overtime breakaway goal against Calgary. I was babysitting some neighborhood kids and their Mother must have been out partying hard b/c that double overtime game went into the wee hours of the morning, 2 or 3 am my time...and I remember watching it and cheering (I was a big Pavel Bure fan - I had so many of his hockey cards).

What I really love about Grant's writing is all of the pop culture references, and I really love how most of them are Canadian. Where else can you find a reference to Mr. Dress Up? Or a wish to hear some Raffi. Or, stories based on the life lessons learned from Coaches Corner? It's Canadiana at it's best.
Great book Grant. I really hope you put out more...I'll be sure to buy, er, I mean borrow them from the library. Sorry, like I said, I'm cheap.

RATING: READ