Veteran hockey writer Ed Willes takes an irreverent look back at the sometimes thrilling, often infuriating and always fascinating history of the Vancouver Canucks. Cheering for the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks over the last half century has required patience, commitment and a forgiving nature. It’s not that the Canucks have been uniformly awful or drearily predictable. Far from it (as this past season would attest). But every time they seemed close to delivering the ultimate prize to their fan base—the indomitable faithful—they slipped on a banana peel and tumbled straight into the abyss. Most of their failings were self-inflicted. The franchise’s ownership history is as uneven as its won-loss record. But some have been so random and so accidental, the faithful can legitimately wonder what they did to anger the hockey gods. It started in 1970 with a spin of the carnival wheel, which gifted Hall of Fame centre Gilbert Perreault to the Buffalo Sabres and left the Canucks with Dale Tallon. And it’s continued uninterrupted for over 50 years. For decades, veteran Vancouver hockey writer Ed Willes has had his own vantage point on this team that has, in his words, “been haunted by dark and unnatural forces since its inception.” And Willes’s knowledge extends far beyond the most infamous chapters of the story. As this irreverent, often bitterly funny chronicle shows, the litany of woe stretches back farther and runs deeper than many Canucks fans realize, and stars several of the biggest names in hockey history. Willes’s account tells the story of a uniquely confounded franchise and its obsessive followers, who have thus far been denied the thrill of a Stanley Cup championship. Their consolation has been the dubious comfort of wallowing in collective misery.

This third instalment in the spectacular Legends Series celebrates Western Canada's first NHL franchise, the Vancouver Canucks. Full of glorious photos and engaging stories, Canucks Legends chronicles the first four decades of the franchise--from a young expansion team, to the Canucks' current place among hockey's elite, on the verge of bringing the first Stanley Cup to Vancouver. The Canucks come to life through 75 player profiles--Orland Kurtenbach, Stan Smyl, Richard Brodeur, Cam Neely, Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and many others--and over 300 historic and contemporary photos. With guest essays by journalists Archie McDonald, Tony Gallagher, Iain MacIntyre and Kevin Woodley, this book is a must-have for every Canucks fan and hockey historian.

A Thrilling Ride invites fans to relive the greatest moments of the Canucks’ most celebrated season and historic achievements, and takes them on a journey through the entire 2010-2011 season, from the opening-night introduction of the Canucks Ring of Honour to the emotional ceremony to retire former captain Markus Naslund’s jersey, and from the President’s Trophy victory through all four rounds of the play-offs, including the Canucks’ redemptive victory over archrivals the Chicago Blackhawks, to the final and formidable face-off against the Boston Bruins. The book is also a tribute to Canuck Nation—the enthusiastic and devoted fans who celebrated each victorious moment and suffered through each painful setback. A Thrilling Ride is dedicated to these passionate fans who—with faces painted and towels in hand, some in green spandex body suits—cheered relentlessly, long after the final buzzer. Fans who—after hooligans and upstarts attempted to destroy their city—showed up in the morning to restore order to the streets.

This four-volume set introduces, on the management side, principles and procedures of economics, budgeting and finance; leadership; governance; communication; business law and ethics; and human resources practices; all in the sports context. On the marketing side this reference resource explores two broad streams: marketing of sport and of sport-related products (promoting a particular team or selling team- and sport-related merchandise, for example), and using sports as a platform for marketing non-sports products, such as celebrity endorsements of a particular brand of watch or the corporate sponsorship of a tennis tournament. Together, these four volumes offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the state of sports management and marketing today, providing an invaluable print or online resource for student researchers.

How a 19th century instrument helped to shape New World culture.

A hilarious collection of Jack Knox's best-loved humour columns. In this side-splitting follow-up to the bestseller Hard Knox: Musings from the Edge of Canada, Jack Knox presents his best writing, marking his twenty-year anniversary as a humour columnist at the Victoria Times Colonist, the newspaper that made him a household name. Revisiting his most—and least!—popular columns, Knox weighs the potential benefits of a marijuana-like drug that reduces anxiety in rats; reports on the “Bush Boys,” a pair of brothers who emerged from the forest near Vernon with a dubious story about being raised in the wilderness (they were actually from suburban California); and muses over fictional characters such as Barbie, Ken, Harry Potter, and Archie growing up and facing the grim realities of life. He also includes a hilarious collection of “nastygrams” (a.k.a. hate mail) that he’s received over the past two decades. Opportunity Knox goes to show that humour comes when you least expect it. From politics to weather, sports to entertainment, Knox finds the bizarre in everyday life and the ordinary in what should by all accounts be bizarre.

Built on years of interviews with friends, family, teachers, coaches, and teammates, the first biography of Alphonso Davies, the new face of Canadian men’s soccer Arguably the most famous Canadian athlete on the planet, Alphonso Davies has been the subject of global attention after bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old soccer sensation. Since then, he’s landed a multimillion dollar deal with German giant FC Bayern Munich and helped Canada reach the men's World Cup for the first time in 36 years. Based on years of original reporting and extensive interviews with his friends, family members, teachers, coaches, teammates, and others from his inner circle, Alphonso Davies: A New Hope paints a complete portrait of the soccer star. The first biography about “Phonzie” covers every angle of his life and career — from the harsh realities of growing up in a refugee camp amidst the Liberian civil war, to the unique challenges of starting a new life in a foreign country, twice, to his trailblazing path as a Canadian megastar in the world’s most popular sport. Bringing together intimate details and never-before-told stories, author Farhan Devji pulls back the curtain on a person and player who has captured the hearts of a nation and become a shining light for refugees everywhere.

Two-time NBA MVP 2005-2006 Leader in Free Throws and Assists 2006 NBA All-Star Game Starter The relatively short kid who in junior high confidently told his mother he would one day play in the NBA has done that and so much more. Steve Nash has beaten overwhelming odds to become not only a top-flight athlete but a widely admired human being. It's been an incredible journey, and Steve Nash: The Making of an MVP is your inside ticket for the entire trip, from Steve's earliest years in Victoria, B.C., where he honed his now legendary work ethic and hoop skills to his current superstar status with the Phoenix Suns. "I'm glad the world has got a chance to learn from a guy like Steve Nash." --Charles Barkley, "TIME" Magazine