~~Into the Empty Net was the much-anticipated sequel to the best-selling Last Minute of Play. Its 21 chapters takes the reader through the lives of those who played in the NHL as our hockey heroes, and illuminates their varying views of the game. Rollicking with humour, sometimes poignant and sad in its down-times, always brutally honest and occasionally shocking in the re-telling of their stories, Into the Empty Net originally came out in October of ’94, e...

~~ A cross-country best-seller upon release in 1993, Last Minute of Play, was the author’s second book, and a breakthrough title, receiving positive critical acclaim, more for its story-telling writing style rather than the admitted celebrity of the players, coaches, GM’s, and owners  depicted in the book. To underscore that premise, here is the author’s favourite quote of many from those early days after the release. It came from the Toronto Star’s revered columnist, the late Ji...

Leafs and Sabres in the final round of the Eastern Conference playoff ! The Toronto Maple Leafs have breezed through the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and await the Buffalo Sabres as their next opponent for a chance at the Stanley Cup. Led by third-season centre, Randy Logan, the Leafs are a team in turmoil. With tycoon owner Frank Conder, embattled GM Phil Stevenson, negative and  bombastic coach Ernie Taylor, the front-office is a war zone of sub-plots and ...

Terry Ryan was poised to take the hockey world by storm when he was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 NHL draft, their highest draft pick in a decade. Expected to go on to become a hockey star, Ryan played a total of eight NHL games for the Canadiens, scoring no goals and no assists: not exactly the career he, or anyone else, was expecting.Though Terry’s NHL career wasn’t long, he experienced a lot and has no shortage of hilarious and fascinating revelat...

Hundreds of thousands of hockey fans around the world are addicted to Down Goes Brown, and with good reason: Sean McIndoe is the funniest writer in hockey. His often insightful, always entertaining posts have made the site one of the top hockey blogs in the world—and definitely the most amusing. From shrewd observations to tongue-in-cheek commentary, Down Goes Brown manages to capture the essence of hockey while exposing the frequently funny side of the sport. Now, in

One of the greatest sports figures of all time at last breaks his silence in a memoir as unique as the man himself.Number 4. It is just about the most common number in hockey, but invoke that number and you can only be talking about one player -- the man often referred to as the greatest ever to play the game: Bobby Orr.From 1966 through the mid-70s he could change a game just by stepping on the ice. Orr could do things that others simply couldn’t, and while teammates and o...

After almost two thousand games and thirty years of wearing the Stripes, legendary NHL official Fraser dropped his final puck at the end of the 2009/2010 season and relives his colourful career officiating hockey in his candid book.After thirty years in the NHL, legendary referee Kerry Fraser has decided to hang up his skates and enjoy the game from the other side of the boards. Never shy about offering his opinion, nor afraid to step in and separate an on-ice figh...

"Nobody enjoys the full kaleidoscope of the game quite like Kenny, from banana blades and '70s staches to air-brushed, mistake-laden hockey cards." —Jeff Marek, Sportsnet Hockey host and Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast co-hostHockey Card Stories reveals what was really going on in your favorite old hockey cards through the eyes of the players depicted on them. Some of the cards are definitely worth a few bucks, some a few cents—but every stor...

Hockey legend Gordie Howe once said there were two superstars in the Hull family: Bobby, the Golden Jet and one of the greatest players ever to tie up a pair of skates, and his brother Dennis, who had a solid career with the Chicago Blackhawks, and is now one of the most sought-after public speakers in North America. In The Third Best Hull. Dennis Hull outlines his life in hockey with humorous anecdotes, insights, and stories. Not just another sports autobiography, this book provides insig...

A great collection of hockey stories from one of Canada's best writers.Al Strachan (Bestselling author and Toronto Sun sportswriter) is a fixture in the hockey world. His insights are read and enjoyed by fans across North America. Well liked and respected by players and coaches, Al is often given special privileges due to a personal relationship he shares with a hockey insiders that allows him the scoop on a breaking story.Strachan knows hockey and has been writing about it for alm...

A fresh, analytical, and entertaining take on hockey’s tough guysIn professional hockey, enforcers are often as popular with fans as the stars who cash the big paycheques. Called upon to duke it out with a fellow troublemaker, or to shadow (and bruise) an opponent’s top scorer, these men get the crowds out of their seats, the sports-radio shows buzzing, and the TV audience spilling their beers in excitement. Don’t Call Me Goon gives the mayhem-makers their...

A heartfelt addition to McFarlane’s epic canon of hockey writingFrom its moving introductory homage to the late Jean Béliveau, to its subtle, remarkable considerations of how the sport was shaped by legends like Newsy Lalonde, Gordie Howe, Dick Irvin Sr., Ted Kennedy, and Hobey Baker, to its poignant lament for the untimely death of American hockey hero “Badger” Bob Johnson, Golden Oldies is the product of a lifetime love of hockey and a career in the game...