Every Canadian town has a hockey story, and Ron MacLean has a hockey story for every town. A new book by the co-author of the national bestseller Cornered. When you first meet Ron MacLean, he asks where you’re from, and he always comes back with a story. No one has crossed this country more than MacLean. In his 28 years on Hockey Night in Canada and now as host of Rogers’ Hometown Hockey, Ron has met fascinating people from coast to coast and has great stories to tell. Now, in this new book, MacLean is back, with brand new tales from across the country. These are stories you’ve never heard before. From London to Castlegar, Yellowknife to Cole Harbour, Medicine Hat to Trois Rivieres, from Bantam to Junior B to the NHL, our country is full of great characters: Players, coaches, hockey moms and hockey dads; rivalries, practical jokes, careers that grew out of nothing and "can’t lose" prospects who flamed out too soon; spectacular triumphs, heart-breaking tragedies and tales of friendship, betrayal, love and loyalty—all compelling, entertaining and inspiring. Once again working with Kirstie McLellan Day, co-author of the blockbuster bestsellers Playing With Fire, Tough Guy and Cornered, this is MacLean at his finest.

One hot afternoon in 1998, Dave Bidini – who loves hockey, watches it, plays it, and breathes it – found the Stanley Cup final so tedious to watch that at one point he clicked channels to Martha Stewart – and never switched back. This made him wonder where in the world the game might exist free of the complications of professional sport. He set out to find the tropic of hockey. His quest took him to a rink on the seventh storey of a mall in Hong Kong – a rink encircled by a dragon-headed roller coaster – and to the gritty city of Harbin in northern China, where a version of hockey has been played for 600 years; to Dubai in the desert of the United Emirates, where hockey is brand new and incredulous Bedouin drop by the Al Ain rink to touch the ice; and to Transylvania, where the game is a war between Romanians and ethnic Hungarians, who were introduced to hockey by a 1929 newsreel of Canadians chasing the puck. Bidini’s encounters with odd-sized rinks and players of wildly different talents and experiences have inspired him to interweave his stories of hockey in unlikely places with funny and eyebrow-raising stories about places and players back in Canada. As a bonus, readers are also treated to some striking observations about the game, its fans, and the testosterone, the profanity, and the moments of grace that enrich it.

The city of Columbus, Ohio, had always struggled to support any professional sports franchise. It’s a town where Ohio State University reigns supreme, and everything else is less important. That was until 1991, when the Columbus Chill, a minor-league hockey franchise, arrived. Using Veeckian marketing tactics and on-ice shenanigans, the Chill became the talk of the city and gained a religious local fan base. Based on the success of the Chill, from 1991–99, the city of Columbus was awarded with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2000, the city’s own NHL franchise. Chill Factor follows the wild ride through the eyes of team president and general manager David Paitson, from the early formation of the minor-league franchise through the decision to rattle the status quo by going to the edge and beyond with a marketing and promotional plan that was both edgy and controversial. The success of the Chill after their first season gave the organization the impetus to challenge local civic and business leaders to build a world-class arena and emerge from the shadow of OSU. There were setbacks and triumphs on and off the ice, and eventually the realization that the Columbus of today would not be possible without the aid of the Chill. Chill Factor takes readers into the front office and onto the rink, giving every angle of how a small town was able to get behind a working-class team that fought both on and off the ice. This thrilling account will appeal to those who remember the Chill’s reign, as well as those who enjoy seeing the underdog climb the ladder to sports supremacy. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

An insider's guide to NYC for the hockey-obsessed—fans and players, alike. Attention Big Apple hockey heads: Want to know where to join a league, play a pick-up game, or get your blades sharpened? Where to grab some grub before heading to the rink or where to find a post-skate brew? In The Hockey Addict’s Guide New York City, Brooklyn-based beer leaguer Evan Gubernick highlights NYC’s best hockey hubs, along with the go-to spots nearby. The local hockey community chimes in, from rink rats to pros, and takes readers beyond Madison Square Garden to discover the best sports memorabilia, pro shops, sneaker boutiques, and more. Whether you’re a New Yorker or a tourist, this is a top-shelf guide to the five boroughs—on the ice and off.

A chronicle of Minnesota's hockey excellence in the world's top hockey league--the NHL The years 1960 to 1982 were a watershed moment for Minnesota hockey, and the Land of 10,000 Lakes has enjoyed hockey success ever since. In that time, pioneering homegrown players like Bill Nyrop, Dave Langevin, Reed Larson, Mike Ramsey, Dave Christian, Neal Broten, Paul Holmgren, and Phil Housley established themselves as bona fide stars at the games' highest and most competitive level. More recently, another remarkable group of native sons--including Zach Parise, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglein, and T. J. Oshie--left their mark on the league. Profiling more than seventy players and compiling Minnesota NHL records gathered nowhere else, Jeff Olson celebrates the brilliant achievements of Minnesotans in the National Hockey League.

Reflecting on nearly five decades with the Detroit Red Wings, Dr. John Finley takes sports fans far beyond closed doors and into the trainer's room where cuts were bandaged, broken noses were reset, sore muscles were rubbed out, and casts made for broken bones. In this stellar memoir, Dr. Finley recounts his experiences with the stars on the revitalized Red Wings franchise in recent years, including Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom, as well as heroes of previous generations, including 1972 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Gordie Howe. Along the way, Dr. Finley shares some of the most vivid accounts ever written on the subject of sports injuries, including the hundreds of stitches he applied to Borje Salming's face after it was cut by Gerard Gallant's errant skate blade, as well as his recommendation on the knee injury sustained by a young Steve Yzerman that ultimately helped maintain his Hall of Fame career.

All Roads Lead to Hockey reflects Bill Boyd's lengthy odyssey across the North American continent in search of hockey's roots. From Barrie, Ontario, where he reflects on one of the best junior hockey teams, all the way to Laredo, Texas, where he investigates a thriving Hispanic hockey program, Boyd vividly portrays a transnational pastime. (Texas, it turns out, has more professional hockey teams than any other U.S. state or Canadian province.) All Roads Lead to Hockey features interviews with fans, current players, retired champions, and coaches, including hockey legend Jim Brophy. Through their words, Boyd captures hockey?s timeless magic.

Distinguished sportswriter Elmer Ferguson called him the “greatest defensive” defenseman of his day. The NHL’s revered chief referee Cooper Smeaton ranked him ahead of his defense partner, Eddie Shore. Legendary manager of the Boston Bruins, Art Ross, wouldn’t sell him “at any price.” And yet he goes unrecognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lionel Hitchman, or “Hitch,” played 12 seasons in the NHL. First with the Ottawa Senators, helping them to a Stanley Cup win, and then with the Boston Bruins for ten years. As the Bruins’ captain and first “money player,” Hitch led them to their first Stanley Cup championship and to the NHL’s best winning point percentage of all time. His hockey stats belie his real contribution to the success of the Boston Bruins. Hitch was the last original Bruin and the first to have his sweater retired. After his playing career, he went on to coach in the Boston system for several years before parting ways with the franchise. Hitch, Hockey's Unsung Hero, is the story of an unheralded “superstar,” the times he lived through and the fascinating people who helped shape his character and life choices. It is told through the “scribes” of the day with interjections by some notable people who knew him well. A few family tales are revealed, including one that helps explain Hitch’s absence from hockey’s highest shrine.

The core of the book revolves around the shifting nature of Ontario’s political landscape. In many ways this is a story of successive governments, ambitious politicians, diligent bureaucrats, and endless library reports straddling the decades. Their aim appears to have been making even better a system that, despite weaknesses, was clearly the best in Canada. Three distinctive trends emerged in Ontario librarianship after the 1930s: first, a growing sense of professionalism in librarianship; second, an enhanced sense of belonging to a pan-Canadian library movement that in 1946 would result in the formation of the Canadian Library Association; and third, a heightened awareness of the competing demands of high culture and popular culture. Public libraries became an important vehicle for promoting community, albeit with competing visions of “space and place,” as Canada generally and Ontario specifically experienced post-World War II immigration and the baby boom. As libraries approached the 21st century, the concerns of digital formats and the all-encompassing Internet intertwined to alter the book-centric "bricks and mortar" world of libraries. Nonetheless, public libraries were well placed to survive this new threat, just as they had with the challenges of radio, television, and telecommunication challenges in the 20th century.