CORNERED - RON MacLEAN

 CORNERED

Cornered by Ron MacLean and Kristie McLellan Day

- RON MACLEAN -

Ron, the level headed guy opposite Don Cherry on Hockey Night In Canada's Coaches Corner...well, he comes across very level headed in this book. He shares the journey of going from local radio DJ to national sports caster / celebrity.

I read a few of the reviews before diving into this book and I found many were very critical of this book for being bland/boring and implying that Ron is just riding the coat tales (and crazy coats at that) of Don Cherry.

Well obviously the Ron and Don relationship is going go make up most of the stories - they've worked together, hung out together, and have been friends for like 30 years!

Ron's story is not all that exciting, to be truthful. There is no dramatic battle with cancer, fighting out of poverty, drug abuse, or anything like that. Ron seems like a regular old middle class guy who was really into radio and broadcasting. He's a bit of a workaholic who likes to be overprepared for everything he does...so it only makes sense that he would work his way up the chain and become a big name wherever he worked. With his love of hockey it happened to work with Hockey Night in Canada.

He does reveal a bit of his personal life. Again, it's pretty tame. He sounds like a really nice guy who works a lot...so not a whole lot of extras like climbing Kilimanjaro or playing in a folk band.

What I find about these type of books, ghosted by Kristie McLellan Day, is that they lack any flair in the writing and word choice. There is not a lot of literary language being used. It almost feels like a transcript written out from an audio interview. Which is great, in that is really gives you a feel for how someone speaks, the words they use, and the stories they tell...but it also seems choppy at times. But, at least it feels authentic.

Ron MacLean's Cornered

I picked up this book at a local thrift store for $1. There were a huge pile of biographies that someone had just dropped off. All in great shape, probably read once, and now were going for $1. A bookworms treasure pile!

Anyway, if you've followed hockey, kept up on the drama at the CBC, and watched Coach's Corner...you will not find a whole lot of new information in this book. There are not even a lot of behind the scenes stories. However, if you've watched hockey, kept up on the CBC drama, and watched Coach's Corner, you WILL like this book. It's like a trip down memory lane.

I liked it.

SLAPSHOTS - THE STARS FROM MARS

 THE STARS FROM MARS - GORDON CORMAN

Gordan Korman - SLAPSHOTS 1 The Stars From Mars

A classic Cinderella sports story. These never get old. 

This book reminds me of the Mighty Ducks movie. A ragtag team of hockey players that inherit a strange coach and a star player who used to play the rival team.

They start out rough, but with some help and determination they get better. Of course it all comes down to the final game against the best team in the league. Will they work out all their problems and win?

This is by far the best hockey book I've read for kids. There are all kinds of players, so easy to relate to at least someone even if you are not a hockey player. There is a lot of actual hockey action, which seems to be missing from other 'hockey' books. And, the story moves along at a good pace to keep you reading...it might be predictable, but there are some twists along the way.

If you want a copy, or you want the entire series you can get it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/2GwB1DM

ODD MAN RUSH - BILL KEENAN

ODD MAN RUSH

- BILL KEENAN -

I've read a lot of hockey biographies/autobiographies and I have to say that Odd Man Rush is one of the best of the lot. Typically hockey books are full of dry prose and pace slowing stats. Keenan's writing is the opposite - lively, humourous, and almost devoid of the rundown of numbers that are like speed bumps when reading.
His take on hockey is just as passionate as any NHL star, but, Keenan is not afraid to dig into the corners of self deprecation. Layman's terms - he makes fun of himself and some of the situations he gets himself in. That is what makes this books so fresh and different. Most other hockey books are serious and keep up the "man's-man"/winner attitude - which is sometimes inspiring, but, can get kind of dull after reading six books where no jokes or even slightly funny stories are told. Luckily, in Odd Man Rush there is very little heavy-talk about leadership, grit, taking a puck in the face for the team...or really even winning. Instead there is focus on the funny characters one meets in the locker room. The strange superstitions goalies have. Bad crowd behaviour. Childhood dreams mocked. Even a sacrilegious criticism of the being-a-man / tough guy attitude.
I love how the hilarity starts right from the beginning. First coach's first prep talk, 'have fun and don't care about winning b/c none of you are going to make the NHL anyway'. Keenan moves teams and takes on new personalities to fit in. It starts with faking a 'Canadian' accent. Then he changes the way he dresses (turns out a preppy private school kid doesn't wear the same clothes as the ragtag bunch from Jersey). He even relishes the day he was given a nickname...rhymes with Billy. Not Silly, not Philly, not Killy, but, Dilly (one of the many slang words for male body part). He was finally accepted as part of the team! Light hearted, fish out of water stories, fill the start of this book - those easy to relate to childhood memories one looks back on and thinks, "wtf was I thinking?"
As Keenan moves up in hockey, and in life, the stories change slightly. Still light hearted, but, are more about his teammates...mostly the wacky ones, the D-bags (as he refers to them), and the influential people he plays with. The 'fish out of water' stories are still there, but, are more literal as Keenan moves to Europe to play hockey and runs into language problems and cultural differences.
Overall, a fun trip through the hockey community and all the weird and wacky characters that make it what it is.
This book is available on Amazon - ODD MAN RUSH

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

CROSSING THE LINE

CROSSING THE LINE

- Derek Sanderson -

Another hockey memoir from a player who had it all...then lost it because of drinking and drugs.
I can't get enough of these type of books, I loved Theo Fleury's Playing With Fire and Bob Probert's Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge, which were essentially the same kind of story. A tough hockey player makes it to the NHL, makes rookie of the year, has a bright future, then for some reason takes to drinking and drugs and gets kicked out of the league. They are a bit sad, and at points frustrating (b/c you can see where the drinking is taking them), but they are interesting reads because the lifestyle is so far removed from mine. It's like they take place in a different world.
I had no idea who Derek Sanderson was before I read this book. I vaguely knew about the success the Boston Bruins had in the 70's with players like Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. I had no idea what hockey was really like back then.
Turns out, at least according to Derek's versions, the game sounded ten times more violent than today's games. Frequent bench brawls, stick swinging, lots of fights, and a culture of being rough & tough. That was the way to win, and that was the way Derek played. The behind the scenes stuff sounded almost unbelievable as well. They would all smoke in between periods, go out drinking when then game was done, and only workout a week before the season started.
The main topic of the book, of course, was Derek and his crazy life. Apparently, he had a knack for saying outrageous things to the media, exaggerating the fast life he lived (dating playgirls and owning a rolls royce for instance), and playing hockey with a feisty spark that caught fan's attention. He was not the star hockey player who scored the most, but, he was pretty good with his hands and gave a good show with his fists.
Underneath this larger than life personality was an insecure, fearful, pretty modest guy. Which is why, according to Derek, he started drinking. It was his way of coping with his fears. Well, the drinking kept getting worse and eventually it caught up to him. As a reader you could see it coming and knew he was going to lose it all and just wanted to shake some sense into him. As it turned out when he hit rock bottom it was worse that you'd think. On top of admitting to himself he was an alcoholic he found out he had a corrupt lawyer who was in charge of his finances and cleaned him out. So, the millions he had made were gone. Sanderson ended up living on the streets for a short time, penniless and to proud to go home and ask for help.
It took a near death experience before he found God and changed his ways. From there, the book wraps up with a brief history of his after hockey life.
This is one of those books that I'd say is good, but, only b/c I'm a hockey fan. If you are not a fan of the game, well, three quarters of the book will be mind numbing he-shoots-he-scores kind of stuff, interlaced with only brief off rink debauchery. So, I give this book a 'READ' rating for all the hockey fans out there, and a 'Do Not Read' for all the non-fans.

RATING : READ

THE GAME

THE GAME

- Ken Dryden -

You want to get more than a general feel for hockey? Want to dig into every aspect with a microscope, but, in an easy to read way? This is the book.

Dryden takes what you might think is just a hockey story to a completely new level. To the level of literature, in my opinion.

The writing is amazing...it really is.

Dryden writes from his point of view, the strange view of a goalie. The player who is on the ice the entire game, but, only directly involved in the play for a few minutes. His view is of a much larger scale. He sees the entire game. He has time to think about things. Things outside of hockey too.

The book starts with the day Ken meets with the general manager to confirm he is going to retire at the end of the season. He questions if this is the right move. He wants to move onto something else - being a lawyer. He questions if this is what he really wants. He questions if he is at his peak. How long will this last? He questions his team. The Canadians of the mid 70's, winning three Stanly Cups in a row. Are they becoming to complacent? He questions the toll hockey is taking on his family life and his health. That feeling of uncertainly is not only limited to Ken, he comments on the politics of the time. The uprising of separatism in Quebec and the big question - should Quebec separate from Canada. He even manages to question Canada's place in the world, tieing in hockey with the Cold War.

This wide ranging view, all connecting, is wonderful to read. Educational too. Really, it should have won this years Canada Reads.
On that note, What made me pick up this book was Alan Thicke, you know from Growing Pains? Ya, he's Canadian eh? Well he was championing this book on Canada Reads 2012 and made it sound like a book all Canadians should read. I will back up Alan's arguments. This book gives us an inside look at 'our' national game from someone at the highest level while also providing a broader perspective on Canadian society at the time. There are many pages devoted to play by play hockey moments, but, for the most part Dryden talks about his teammates. The quirks and personalities of the other players are endless. From these descriptions he goes off on small tangents talking about a vast variety of topics; cities, family life, drinking, humour...again, seemingly endless, yet fascinating how easy it was to relate to these 'stars' and their celebrity life. There were also more serious forays into his criticisms of hockey that still seem to be going on thirty years later - the role of fighting, how hockey has been corrupted by big business, and the touchy subject of how Canada is losing it's domination of the sport internationally. On a personal note, I found his discussion on how children were being raised at the time still very very relevant.
He starts off describing Guy Lafleur's creative genius on the ice. How he spent hours just fiddling around with the puck, just like when he was a kid. This let him invent and master new moves to deke out defenseman and score. It brought something new and exciting to the game. But, Dryden comments, nowadays kids are so scheduled with activities such as piano lessons, hockey practice, soccer games, etc. that they do not have the hours of free time to just play outside, to not kick a ball at a tree five hundred ways in an afternoon. That was in the early 80's. I hear the same comments to this very day!
Another theme throughout the book that really came close to home was his work / family life balance. Which would not have been called that back then. He talks about being a ghostly figure in his house from October to June (Hockey season). He is either gone on the road, coming home late from games or traveling home from the road, or sleeping late to get ready for the nights game. He realizes he does not have any genuine interaction with his kids for months at a time. The summers are different, but, for the most part he just accepts it and tries not to feel too guilty.
His brief tangent into his childhood strikes me as being so Canadian, at least little boy Canadian. His backyard had a paved section to it, bordered by fence and gardens...making the ideal 'rink'. It was a little lopsided and on a bit of a hill, but, that didn't stop him and the neighborhood kids from spending every available spare minute playing road hockey with an old tennis ball. His life was school in the day, road hockey at night (and all day Saturday and Sunday). I'm sure there was a bit of hockey card trading thrown in there, but, he didn't mention it.
So, to wrap it up, this book should have won this years Canada Reads...since they were looking for the most Canadian non-fiction book.

RATING: READ

Getting back to my dewey decimal countdown challenge, this book was found in the 700 section of the library. 700's down, now onto 600. I have an environmental book on the go. Sounds exciting eh? It is one of those do-something-for-a-year-and-blog-about-it type of deals. Sleeping Naked is Green, that's the title. Sounding better?

TOUGH GUY

TOUGH GUY!

- Bob Probert -

I know Bob Probert, not in the literary sense, but in the hockey world. He was big when I was a pre-teen  and followed hockey religiously, even the fighting side. Bob Probert was the ultimate enforcer of the time. Which is why I was a bit surprised to see his name on this book, as the author. Then I saw the fine print, with help from Kristie McLelland Day. Then I though, what kind of story would Bob have to tell. A few fisticuffs tales? Then I remembered, the off ice antics; the suspensions for drugs, the car accidents...maybe there was a bit more of a story here? And, with all the hype recently about the problems these enforcers face (drugs, suicide, brain damage, etc) I thought I'd give the book a try.
Tough Guy was tough - a tough read. The way the book is written feels like a direct transcript from an interview Bob is giving. I'll remind you, Bob was a high school drop out who made his NHL career by punching people out and getting a few whacks to the head himself (every few days for a decade!), hence, the narrative was a little unfocused at times. However, the overall story made up for it.
The book is a chronological account of Bob's life focusing on his hockey career. It starts out sounding like a typical hockey star's beginning - success in the early years, drafted into a junior club, drafted by an NHL team. There was not much difference with Bob, only he was always bigger than the other kids and used his long arms to his advantage in a fight. That, along with some good hands (he put up some pretty good points) made him catch the scout's eye.
Off ice, he was not as successful in school, and liked to party...a lot. He dropped out of high school, not that he attended much anyway, and spent his time playing hockey and drinking with buddies. That's pretty much how he spends the next twenty years of his life.
The main chunk of the book are stories of incidents Bob has with drugs and drinking. Things like, car accidents while drunk driving, the use of drugs, the suspensions from hockey for drug use, the countless rehab visits, and a few of the sober moments. The hockey stories take a backseat. He recounts the many players he was teammates with (mostly the ones he partied with), the successes he had in the peak years, and a few of the more interesting fights he had.
He ends it with the last part of his life, where he has sobered up and put time and effort into his family.

It was like a journey back to the 'glory years' for both Bob and me. He played at a time where I knew all the players. So, his name dropping was like candy to me - Yzerman, Gilmour, Gretzky, Federov...
The game has changed dramatically since then. Fighting is not as encouraged now as it used to be. Drug use now is almost unheard of and those that do get some major 'help'. Probert comments on the players now, how they are so much faster and bigger. There would be little chance of someone with mediocre talent, even with some big fists, to make it into the league today. It was interesting to get a behind the scenes look into this game...I wonder if they still party as hard now as they used to.

Rating: Read