5 comments about Ice Time: A Tale of Fathers, Sons, and Hometown Heroes.

1. I guess I would be a bit bias, but this amazingly discriptive narrative really pulls you in to the book. My older Brother Thom DeZenzo was one the the captains of the Methuen Hockey team in 2000 and I recall the author very vividly. It was at my house that the team died their hair bleach blonde. The author truly captured all aspects of a team that I knew personaly.



2. This is a terrific memoir connecting three threads: the author's youth playing hockey, his work as a volunteer coach for his old high school hockey team, and his efforts to introduce his young son to hockey. The focus rarely leaves these three threads, making this one of the most well-structured memoirs I've read in years. In addition, the prose is lyrical and poetic, often in sharp contrast to the rough-and-tumble sport and the gritty neighborhood settings. (The reviewer who gave this book one star totally misses the point that a memoir *must* include the author as a major character. This is memoir, not journalism.) Highly recommended for everyone, not just hockey enthusiast, because of the great writing, sharp descriptions, connections between past/present/future, and wise reflections.



3. When I first learned about this book, I was more than excited that someone had finally written book about high school hockey. I had already read the great accounts of high school sports in Friday Night Lights, and In These Girls, Hope Is A Muscle. Thirty pages into the book, I was more than impressed with the author's beautiful descriptions of Methuen, hockey, and his growing up in this area of New England.
   
   Suddenly, things began to change, as I was now embedded in the author's autobiography of his past hockey and athletic exploits! He makes a very clear statement in the beginning that he doesn't want to be back in his high school years, but simply remember them. Oh, he does remember everthing and anything, and certainly lets the reader know of his dauntless exploits. Who really cares how many goals he scored on a frozen pond playing against a bunch of kids, or popping in nine goals in a pickup game with a senior group pretty much out of shape, or being one of the three stars in the annual JV intersquad scrimmage! Give me a break.
   
   Atkinson managed to work his way into his old high school with the pretense of collecting background for his book. What he did was to live vicariously through this new Ranger team and maybe better his own team record of 5-15-1. He committed the inexcusable error of a writer; allowing your own life to intermingle and become part of what you were trying to write about.
   
   As for the team, too bad Atkinson created an almost Neanderthal mentality and impression of these boys. The naive reader might think this is what hockey is all about, but what a terrible injustice to a group of athletes. As for the coaches, between the locker room expletives, bench outbursts during games, and the pre-game talks about "mating sperm whales" with your female goalie standing in the doorway, I feel this is a reasonable estimate of inappropiate juvenile behavior and thinking with some of the Methuen coaching staff.
   
   At the end, as I struggled to finish his "memoirs," I had to laugh at his mention that he didn't feel quite the same and welcomed going back to Methuen High School after his year. They were probably happy he was finally gone. Typical of "volunteer" coaches or staff, their impression of what they are doing and accomplishing is usually far from reality. The author may have felt he was imparting "words of wisdom," and valuable pieces of experience to members of the team, but Mr. Bobb you really missed the target here. A sixteen, seventeen year-old boy barely hears the words of his parents, much less his teachers, and certainly nothing from a 42 year-old "want-to-be."
   
   If you know anything about high school sports, and/or hockey, save yourself from this self-indulging book. Oh, by the way, why can I be so critical? I have just finished my 34th season coaching high school hockey, ninety-percent of it as a head varsity coach. Along with this, twenty-five years as a head varsity coach in two female sports, and thirty-six years as a high school classroom teacher have all allowed me to see just about everything. In my career, the players and teams of the past are in the books. Next season, all the pages start to be written again.



4. The author is constantly searching for emotional resonance and relevance, using events and information from the players', coaches and parents' lives, without ever really revealing much about his own life except in relation to his hockey playing. Yes, the absence of mention of Liam's mother is a very big gap and a weakness of the book, because the question is always there for the reader.



5. I don't really know what the Conn Smythe Trophy is- only hear them mention it during hockey highlights on TV. I never played hockey and I'm not a huge fan of the sport. But I am big fan of this book.

   What 40-ish guy hasn't thought that he could go out and still compete with high school athletes? One could say Ice Time is a nostalgic look at the past (Atkinson's HS memories), or a hopeful look into the future (his son's), but I say it is about being present. That is appreciating who and where you are at the moment. Slowing life down an focusing on the present. There's lots of references to memories and how things come back to us, how much happens that seems significant at the time, but we never get the satisfaction of remembering it because it gets wiped from our brains.

   Chapter 25 where J.A. describes a Xmas eve jog around his childhood neighborhood is a great example. This whole chapter is masterful writing. Most of the book is. He slips into vain self-indulgence as he describes all the goals he scores and cheerleaders he dates but the good parts make it well worth it. In many of the hockey game descriptions, I had to skip ahead because I couldn't wait to see if the Rangers won or lost the game. 4 3/4 stars.

5 comments about Messier: Hockey's Dragonslayer.

1. THIS IS ABOUT MARK MESSIER FORMER NHL GREAT. THE BOOK COVERS THE CAREER OF MESSIER AND A BIT OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE. MOST OF THE BOOK IS ABOUT HIS CAREER WITH THE NEW YORK RANGERS AND HIS LEADERSHIP THAT HELP THEM FINALLY WIN A STANLEY CUP. THE BOOK IS NOT WRITTEN GREAT DETAIL BUT STILL IS INTERESTING AND MOVES ALONG. I FOUND SOME OF HIGHLIGHTS WERE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GRETZKY, HIS BURNING DESIRE TO WIN AND THE BIG EGO AND THE HIGH MAINTENANCE HE REQUIRES TO KEEP HIM HAPPY AND TO PLAY HARD. IT IS A NICE EASY READ AND IS ENTERTAINING. RECOMMENDED.



2. Mark Messier is and always will be my favorite hockey player but this book provides no original insight into his character whatsoever. The book offers the same repetitve praise over and over about what great leader he is without ever touching upon the other sides of his personality, particularly the darker and more personal aspects that we don't get to read about in the paper. This book could have been written in a week.



3. A great read....filled with insights and facts on how messier became the great player he is today. Great perspectives on mess from players to coaches to writers. A must read for hockey fans of all ages.



4. Well written! Keeps you interested and waiting to find out what happens next. Mr. Carpiniello has given the reader a lovely glimpse into the career of a wonderful athlete. As a hockey mom whose son greatly admires this superstar, I am grateful for a biography that celebrates the leader, the nice guy. In answer to "Horrible", who cares whom the athletes go out with and who doesn't assume that they do? Fill in the blanks or read Jackie Collins. On target to what the sport is about. The hard work, the dedication and the will to win! Well done!



5. Well written! Keeps you interested and waiting to find out what happens next. Mr. Carpiniello has given the reader a lovely glimpse into the career of a wonderful athlete. As a hockey mom whose son greatly admires this superstar, I am grateful for a biography that celebrates the leader, the nice guy. In answer to "Horrible", who cares whom the athletes go out with and who doesn't assume that they do? Fill in the blanks or read Jackie Collins. On target to what the sport is about. The hard work, the dedication and the will to win! Well done!

3 comments about On the Ice With Wayne Gretzky (Matt Christopher Sports Biographies).

1. I thought this book was sweet.I liked it because it told me about his life and how he would play hockey with kids twice his age and still get goals.It said how he would win Stanley Cups and Art Ross trophys(a highest goal scorer of the year).Ialso liked it because it wasn't very long.



2. This book was very good. It told about Wayne Gretzkys life, his stats and how great he really was. Thats why his nick name is the Great One. He set more than 61 records and has set untouchable ones. This is one of the best sport books ever made.



3. it really taught you that he didnt have the best lif

5 comments about Fury: Inside the Life of Theoren Fleury.

1. It's too bad the author didn't wait a few more years to write this, because he missed all kinds of drama that Fleury encountered after its publication, including his suspension from the NHL for drug problems, another divorce and brawls playing hockey in Ireland.
   The author could have dug a little harder, too, into Fleury's messed up family and the speculation widely throughout the NHL that he might have been victimized in several ways by authority figures in his junior career.



2. Parts of this biography focus on Theo's childhood development and his opening years with the Calgary Flames. I say 'parts' because it also spends a great deal of time discussing how various parts of the Flames organzation runs, with chapters devoted to the people behind the scenes. While the book doesn't concentrate completely on Fleury, I still felt it was informative in bringing me the whole picture regarding the things that affect his daily life (travel, practices, autograph hounds, injuries, and such). In a few years, I'd like to see this author revisit Fleury and write about his days with the Avalanche, the Rangers, and the 2002 Winter Olympics.



3. The Theo-specific info in this book would make a very nice in-depth magazine article. The book is poorly written, very disjointed. The author introduces a Theo story, and in the next paragraph is telling the history of the food services manager. In one place, I counted 6 pages that included only 1 paragraph of 2 lines about Theo. Theo has an incredible spirit. His story is one of triumph over truly overwhelming odds. He deserved a better effort for what is titled as HIS biography. If you want to know about the GM, coaches (at all levels), security guards, bus drivers, entertainment managers, food service, mascots and ticket sales this is the book for you. If you want to really get to know an NHL player, read Brett Hull: His Own Story.



4. I bought this for my husband, for Christmas. I read it out of curiosity. Theo's story will not just warm your heart. It will make you love him, and respect him. So many who have his difficult background use it as an excuse to walk around with a chip on their shoulder. Theo doesn't, he only has a chip on his shoulder on the ice, where it belongs. The author included a lot of other stuff, that sometimes made the book a difficult read, but I'd just turn the pages until he picked up Theo's story again. I liked him to begin with, now I root hard for him, this little dynamo paid his dues, and earned his success. If you only read one book this year, you have to read this one.



5. I bought FURY a while ago and hadn't gotten around to reading it. But then I saw Wayne Gretzky at his retirement news conference say how he would have liked to play with Theoren Fleury. I got out the book and spent all night reading it. It was one fun book about sports, about an interesting guy and what it is really like inside a real pro sports team. Now that Fleury is playing for an American team it's easier to follow his play--another 40 goal season. Thanks to whoever wrote this book for an interesting read. I learned so much. And it was fun doing it.

5 comments about Pavel Bure: The Riddle of the Russian Rocket.

1. Although the author really didn't have much access to Pavel himself, he fills in lots of the gaps and dispells a lot of the myths about the most exciting player to put on a Nux jersey (sorry, Markus Naslund...you're great but you don't lift me out of my seat like Pavel did).

   This book only confirms my thoughts on writers like Tony Gallagher and Al Strachan--guys who never let the facts get in the way of a story. It also is an eye opener about how Nux mgmt operates and how the Nux WILL NEVER WIN A CUP until they bag this whole Quinn and his acolytes (Burke and now Nonis) hiring policy.

   It hurts to read some of this as what mgmt did during Pavel's era is jaw droppingly stupid from bad trades post-1994 to being so chintzy about contract negotiations with key members of that Cup run team and I can now understand why Pavel finally wanted out. And to those out there always talking about how "great" a place to live Vancouver is, read this and wake up to the fact Vancouver is still a backwater and not some sort of cultural and enlightened "world-class" city.




2. I think that this book is probably the best book out there right now. It tells the reader everything about the Russian Rocket, including his relationship with his father. And if you're a hockey fan like me, you really have to read this wonderful book.So don't delay,order today!



3. If you're looking as to why Pavel Bure appears to be such a "selfish little (...)" (as quoted by a certain Canadian famous hockey personality), then you should read this. The readers are treated to potential reasons as to why Bure acts like he does. He's got his reasons like anyone else does, one of them being he grew up in the former Soviet Union and their media laws towards sports are very different from that of North Americas. Another one being that he is an introvert that simply doesn't like to be bothered.

   I love this book, I can just pick it up and start reading from anywhere because its so well-written. Some of the pictures are neat, like the one of him from the Soviet Union days.

   There is also some other notes on other current NHL stars like Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, and also delves into the Bure brothers relationship with their father Vladimir-who is now estranged from the family for mysterious reasons not given.

   There is even some Russian Mafia rumors in this so if you're into that whole extortion stuff then you might like that too.

   Either way, its a very good read.




4. This book is the true meaning of perfection and excellence. He may not be Wayne Gretzky, but Bure could beat him in a speed competition easily. Through the tough times of growing up in Russia, to the glorious days of the Olympics, Pavel Bure is truly a hero and an overall nice guy too. Everyone should read this book, because I sure enjoyed it a lot, and if you know the game of hockey, you will appreciate it even more.



5. If you want to find out who the Russian Rocket is you'll have to read this book. I would recommend this autobiography for anyone to read if they have an interest in the NHL. This book gives you details on what actually took place for the Russians to be able to come and play hockey in the NHL.

5 comments about Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey.

1. Those who want to learn about hockey - and not just what Alan Eagleson did to it - should run, not walk, to buy this book.
   Conway's book is superb, and his work on Eagleson made him a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
   It's a must-read for any sports writer, too. It's like having an "Investigative Journalism 101" class taught to you, and for a fraction of the money you'd pay at a university.



2. This is the most interesting book I have ever read. I studied it to do an oral presentation for Grade 9 English class a few years ago and was so intrigured by the Alan Eagleson story that, now in my first year of University, I am pursuing a career very similar to that of Alan Eagleson...one in which I would essentially deal with the business side of the NHL where I would love to make some sort of a positive influence, as Eagleson did. However, Alan Eagleson's corruption, which is described in this book, is an excellent example of how one person can cause a negative influence on many people's lives through illegitimacy and how public opinion of that person can change almost instantly as a result. Russ Conway did an excellent job of investigating Alan Eagleson, and his book is a wonderful summary of his work. I would recommend this book to anybody, whether they are a hockey fan or not.



3. This is one of the most important sports books ever written. Through his exhaustive work, Russ Conway exposes the greed, corruption and financial swindling that plagued the NHL throughout Alan Eagelson's reign of terror and the financial and emotional price that so many players faced. Most importantly, Conway's work served as the catalyst for Mr. Eagleson's downfall and proving many player's assertions of corruption. Put simply, this is an important piece of journalism that every fan of sports should read, whether you are a hockey fan or not.



4. Russ Conway has written a wonderful investigative piece about a man who is truly a disgraceful figure in the history of Canadian hockey. Russ brings forth, with his own agressive style, the wicked ways of a man who calling a crook is an understatement. First, he never backed down to get his answers and his writing is first-rate. Anyone who follows hockey should read about a man who almost destroyed it.



5. All hockey fans owe Russ Conway a debt of gratitude for helping rid hockey of the parasite Alan Eagleson. He documents Eagleson's criminal and disgusting behaviour in great detail, helping fans to better understand what hockey players faced in the past, the necessary background information for many of the issues facing pro hockey today. I haven't read such a gripping book since "Net Worth". Eagleson will be back in the courts again before long, no doubt willing to lie about the charges being brought forward by a number of retired hockey players. Read this book and you'll see that the players have justice on their team.

5 comments about Brodeur: Beyond the Crease.

1. A really great book about the hockey career of the best goalie ever to play in the NHL and perhaps the world. Along with introspective looks at the NHL over the last 17 years, this book goes into some very personal and trying times in Martin Brodeur's life, including his ugly and very public divorce and current relationship. A great read and a must have for Devils fans everywhere.



2. Bought this for my son in law and he couldn't put it down, fast friendly service.
   
   Thank you
   Ellen



3. A must read for any Devils or Brodeur fan. A good read for any hockey fan in general. Gives an interesting inside view of the team and league through the eyes of a player over the last few years.



4. A good, but not great account of the best goaltender in hockey today. The ghosted effort to write in the first-person doesn't work. Still a good read for the dedicate hockey fan.



5. If your a Brodeur fan, you'll enjoy the book. It's an easy read. I personally wish that there was more of his "routine" type stuff in the book, but that is just my bias as a hockey player also- wanting to know what he does. It goes into it a bit, but not enough for me! Other than that, it goes into more detail in some places relative to others, so sometimes it's overkill sometimes you want a lot more, but overall, worth it to read.

5 comments about So Your Son Wants to Play in the NHL.

1. Since reading "So your son..." nearly two years ago, through various routes, my son and I have become good friends with both Dan and Jay Bylsma and the rest of the Bylsma family. I can honestly say that these guys really do "walk the talk" by putting into practice what the book says. It's a great read if you're a hockey fan but its not just about how one of kid made it to becomming a professional sportsman - their emphasis on a moral compass, sound family values and good educaton really can be used as a practical guide to parenting. Kids don't come with an instruction manual and most of us parents need all the help we can get! I would suggest to anyone wanting a "how do you do it" guide to practical, commonsense, no nonesense child rearing "GET THIS BOOK!" and read it. Great stuff!



2. It's not easy raising a successful athlete, and it is even more difficult raising a successful adult. Your Son Wants to Be in the NHL shows us a young adult who seems to have become both. It tells the tale of how Dan Bylsma grew from childhood success to success in the NHL. More importantly, it shows us how a boy can grow into manhood and become a person you would like to have as a neighbor.

   OK, the first few chapters, when the never ending succuesses of the Bylsma boys in athletics became almost as difficult to read as the phone book are a bit numbing after a while. Once parental pride calmed down the book turned into a compelling look at how difficult it is for a parent to find balance in their children's lives, to teach life lessons as well as sports techniques and to turn out a good person who also happens to be an NHL player.

   The struggles Dan had after leaving home at such a young age are dealt with forthrightly, which multiplies the shock you feel at stories of sexual abuse and the physical sacrifice players at the lower minor level make to reach the NHL. That shock is no stronger than when the reader learns that Dan and his wife lost their first child just as he was establishing himself in the NHL.

   This book gives the parent of an athlete much to think about. In a society where it seems more and more boys go through life without their fathers this book shows you that those boys lose something that may be irreplaceable.




3. I highly recommend this book to any father, coach or athlete of any age. I think if I had read it in high school, it may have changed my outlook on sports and life. The book takes you from a player and his father's beginnings in sport, through other people's (parent's) interferences to show how following one's goals can lead to success.



4. I thought this book was very self serving. I almost didn't finish reading it until I got to the chapter where Dan's son decided to go to Canada. I think it's great that his family was blessed with all the talent but I felt like he was stuffing down my throat. Having a son that has the dream of being in the NHL, it was worth finishing the book to finally get to know what it really takes to get there.



5. We have several hundred books in our hockey library. Ken Dryden's "The Game" was at the top of my list until I read Dan & Jay Bylsma's book. My son and I play on 4 roller hockey teams year round, play ice hockey during the summer, go to Kings games, watch the Ice Dogs and college hockey on TV, and are devout readers of "The Hockey News". Without a doubt, "So Your Son Wants to Play in the NHL" is the single best publication I've read as a hockey parent and amateur adult player.

5 comments about Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey.

1. There are some great stories, I was shocked coming from Johnstown,Pa how many references and quotes there were from former Chiefs and guys whose names I hadn't heard in years..truly could not put it down!



2. I bought this book for my dad who is also the father of a Junior A hockey player in Montana. He LOVES this book- quotes from it and laughs so hard he can barely talk. Highly recommend this one!



3. Excellent book. Well written, first-person account of life in the minors. Really enjoyed it. This is the first book I've ever read start to finish in one sitting. It ain't Shakesphere--and that's a good thing. I hate Shakesphere. This is an easy read, fun and enjoyable.
   
   Roger Snow
   Las Vegas



4. Doug and Adam do a wonderful job of bringing you into the world of minor league hockey thuggery. If you're a lover of the sport, regardless of whether you are a fan of the boys that drop the gloves, it's a must for your library.



5. I just finshed the book and wished Doug had played for more teams over the years so the story could continue. Doug comes across as a very likeable guy who happens to get his thrills by dropping the gloves with anyone who wants to go. Great insight into the workings of minor league hockey. The book's not expensive, it's easy to read, and very entertaining. Thanks for your memories, Doug!

5 comments about Yzerman: The Making of a Champion.

1. Douglas Hunter's subtitle "The Making of a Champion" tells the prospective reader what the author's focus is, as does the introduction. He sticks within those parameters and does a fairly good job of relating Yzerman's growth as a player throughout his career. I won't reiterate previous reviewers' listing of some factual errors. Those errors were annoying and caused me to subtract a rating star. I wasn't too bothered by the lack of information on his family because they were obviously a portion of Yzerman's maturation. Overall it's worth reading, although you may want to avail yourself of your local library's resources to obtain it because it's not a keeper for rereading, as Boys of Summer is.



2. Yzerman by Douglas Hunter is a revealing portrait of how an individual star player becomes a champion by transforming his game to a more defensive all around skilled player. He sacrifices his personal time to achieve team-based success and improves the players and organization around him. The book is packed with detail on the draft and how the organization built the team around him. Yzerman gets in depth on how the star changed from a goal scoring all about points man, to the captain who would do the checking or dice in front of a puck. Hunter talks about his off ice experience that Yzerman has throughout his career.
   
   Douglas Hunter has never met or even talked to the famous Stevie Y while he writes this book and probably from my take on the book never even saw him play. As I read Yzerman I found the book was very bland. It was hard to keep reading and picking it up because it was just packed with detail and a bunch of nonsense that had really nothing to do with Yzerman too much. The book just doesn't grab your attention the way watching Steve Yzerman play does. That kind of took the excitement from the book. Yzerman is a great star today and he doesn't really show off his talent but just makes hockey look so easy. He sacrifices his body often and will pass before he ever shoots. I think the book kind of takes away Steve's relaxed playing style. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you're a die-hard Yzerman fan or a detail wiz.



3. Let's see, what can I say that might actually be helpful. Let me preface this by saying that I'm a die-hard Detroit sports fan, and have been ever since I moved to Michigan in 1984. I love the Tigers more than anything, but Yzerman is my favorite athlete of all time.
   
   In doing research for any book, a competent author would usually have pages and pages of notes. Through careful editing, only the most important and relevant details would actually be placed in the book itself. However, in this book, Hunter's laziness is evident. It looks as if he conducted maybe 7 or 8 interviews for this book, and in order to fill space, inserted every mundane detail of every interview into this book. The bibliography is shamefully short. Hunter even has the audacity to use information from his book about Tim Horton and insert it into this book to try and fill space. What does Tim Horton have to do with Steve Yzerman? Nothing. I'm not even going to start on the factual inaccuracies.
   
   In addition, the narrative is lost and directionless. Hunter keeps the narrative jumping around in time, going off on tangents that don't contribute anything but waste the reader's time. Hunter also fails to provide details of Yzerman's on ice career, aside from cumulative season statistics. This makes me think that Hunter did not watch Yzerman play much, because anyone who saw Yzerman in his prime would want to describe Yzerman's electrifying play. There isn't even any satisfactory mention of Yzerman's Game 7 overtime winner against St. Louis.
   
   Bottom line, it looks like Hunter was churning this out to try and fill the vacuum in the market for Yzerman books. Do a couple interviews, surf a couple websites, write a crappy book, make a quick buck. This book is very poorly and lazily written; it might be the worst thing I've ever read. And I read a lot. It is a disgrace to Yzerman, books, authors, and humanity. Do not buy this book.



4. I was ecstatic when I saw a book based solely on Steve Yzerman was finally being published. I was completely misguided. This book wasn't about Steve Yzerman the person/hockey all-star, this book was about all the things that happened around Yzerman over the last 3 decades. I was also horrified that the author never even interviewed Yzerman. Makes me think I should write a book. I know Gerard Gallant would talk to me and I know that I would remember that he coached the Summerside Hemphill Pontiac Western Capitals who won the Royal Bank Cup in 1997. Which leads me to the comment that not only was this book a huge disappointment because it gave us nothing about the real Yzerman, but it was replete with errors. Essentially it is wrong to have this book in the non-fiction section of the bookstore because most of the information is so inaccurate that the novel is fictional. Don't waste your money.



5. I read Hunter's book on Scotty Bowman and thoroughly enjoyed it. Likewise, "Yzerman" is a good book told by this strong storyteller. The factual errors (noted here in other reviews) brought the breezy read to a screeching halt for me, but it didn't prevent me from liking it and sending my copy on to friends. If you're a Detroiter (or a transplant) you'll enjoy the look back on Yzerman's early days with the Wings - which went largerly unnoticed thanks to the Tigers surge in the standings. The factual stuff is the only reason I give it a four-star and not a five. I highly recommend the Bowman book.