Hockey Books

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As a hockey fan growing up in the late '60's and early '70's, Ken Dryden was one of my heroes. The Canadiens seemed to always win the Stanley Cup in those years and Dryden was the goalie to watch in the '70's. The Game chronicles the latter stage of his career and provides a great deal of insight into the NHL, the Canadiens and, of course, Dryden himself.

My favorite part of this book is when he takes the time to drill down deeper into the quirky personalities of certain teammates. When you think of the Canadiens of the '70's, players like Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Guy Lapointe, Steve Shutt, and of course, coach Scotty Bowman come to mind. Dryden devotes much of The Game to coverage of teammates, coaches and even trainers, all written in the cerebral style he was known for throughout his career.

Any true hockey fan will want to read this book, regardless of how much or little you know about Dryden and Canadiens history. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the NHL today is where it stands after the 2004-05 lockout. Although Dryden didn't touch on this in The Game, he offered these prescient thoughts towards the end of the book (and his NHL career):

"Expansion and the WHA behind it, it will be a time to turn inward, to put its (the NHL's) unwieldy house in order. Like an aging adolescent having grown too fast, it will get reacquainted with its parts, get them in hand, and do something with them. It will be a time for realism, and stability, for chastened hopes and dreams deferred--except one. Off ice, the whispered word will be "cable." But it will represent a more modest dream this time, and more realizable, if the promised bonanza is only for some. It is time for a deep breath, a pause, a time to return the game to the ice. For that is the real tragedy of the 1970s, and the real opportunity for the 1980s. It is on the ice that its next great challenge lies."

Gee, he could have written much of that in the last 3 years and it would have been just as applicable. The league is on the rebound but the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, the ultimate hockey championship, are relegated to the Versus network. Ugh. I even had to bite the bullet and sign up for Versus network service yesterday so that I could watch games 1 and 2, featuring my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins against the evil Detroit Red Wings.

How sad is that? The Stanley Cup Finals start out on some third-tier cable network. Maybe it's time to toss Gary Bettman out as NHL commissioner and replace him with someone like Ken Dryden...

This is no ordinary sports autobiography. Dryden does not sing his own praises and tell us how he became the greatest goalie of his generation. Instead this is a deeply meditative book in which he shares with the reader his own questions as to the character and meaning of his own career in hockey. He provides in the course of this an inside look at the game, and long interesting descriptions of the people he has known in it, most notably his teammates.
The book does not really tell a consecutive story. It also leaves out certain things the reader might want to know. I for instance would have liked to have heard more about Dryden's family, his wife and parents, their relation to his success and career. But he pretty much keeps them out of it and focuses on the game.
His own relation to himself and his success , is I believe , quite admirable. He describes in detail the pleasures and the pains of goalkeeping. He describes too the part this position has in the whole game. I imagine a real hockey fan ( I am not) would be tremendously interested in the inside look he gives at the way players actually think about themselves and what they are doing.
Dryden is both tremendously intelligent and articulate- a truly outstanding writer.
Many have said this is one of the best sports books ever written. It is certainly one of the best I have read.

When I saw this book I said to myself I will give it a try-- After reading parts about the conversations in the locker rooms between players. I liked his own history about the game when growing up and the teams day to day conversations--going to practice, before certain big games. But he has a nasty annoying knack of disrespecting other players on any page in the book. The first read of the book you think it is just great sense of humor, but afterwards I think about and it is a tremendous disrespect to other professional players on his team. An example includes page 110 "The one original part of his game around which it might be done he seemed anxious to deny." Page 77 "On the one hand he is a good skater and forechecker, capable of playing any of the forward positions, a better-than-average playmaker and penalty-killer;on the other, he is not big,not strong, not tough, often injured, a worse-than-average shooter, and has surprisingly little goal-scoring ability.

Having grown up in the Boston area and having been a goaltender myself, I simultaneously despised Dryden for his mastery of our beloved Bruins, and admired him for his unparalleled consistency in a position fraught with inconsistency. In an era when college graduates in the NHL were few and far between, Dryden as a graduate of Cornell and later McGill Law School was a genuine odity. His level of intelligence is unquestioned however, it may have also been in part, what made for something of a "dry" read.

As a big fan of Les Canadiens who frequently took a weekend and stood in the Forum to watch Dryden and his teammates play, I was expecting a great book. Look at the glowing reviews.

But when I read this, I found it rambling, full of topics not explored. And the characters in the book come across as half-baked.

The Ken Dryden I see in this book is introspective to the point of being morose. He gripes so much about the pressures, the disjointed life he lives. True, his role during the Canadien dynasty was not to lose the game. Of course, when you have guys like Gainey, Lemaire, Robinson, Lapointe, Lafleur, all in front of you, it does take the edge away.

But I got no real feeling as to why he plays, with all the dislikes he has of it. The cameraderie? I am not convinced.

But you get no real feeling for the writer, for his family, or his teammates.

The book takes a bizarre turn 3/4 through on a history lesson, quite interesting but out-of-place. And his whining about the physicality of the game grinds on me.

Dryden got a lot of attention for being a law student. But he has left his law studies behind and you hear nothing of why.

The edition I have has a 20-year afterword. He is the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs now, with relatively little success.

I guess the overall impression of the book was to appreciate parts of it but to wonder why it was written. Dryden comes across as quite introspective, often unwilling to share his thoughts and feelings. No problem with that, but why did he write the book?

This book to me is 5 stars-- a lot better than even The Game by Ken Dryden. His life story told from himself creates a very solid atmosphere and ultimately a great blend of tragedy into fantasy. This is one of the few books I finished within a week without having to do for school work.

An interesting story. Very inspirational. Well written. Its a true story and I love that, it gives you another reason to always have hope and to never give up.

I couldn't put it down. A GREAT book!. I read it over and over again. It's very inspiring. Helped to recongized the importance of fulfilling a dream. It's way more than a hockey book it teaches life gulidlines.

Someone had given my husband a copy of this book to read and I picked it up one day because I am a big-time hockey fan. I read it cover to cover in all of about five hours. I was completely absorbed by Ken Baker's story, I think much more so because I know a lot of the players he talked about. Jason Firth, John Vary, Willett, Hayzie and my favorite, Beau-beau(David-Alexander Beauregard), I smiled each time I read their names, thinking of the times they spent in Port Huron over the years. Minor league hockey is not glamorous (try being married to a broadcaster), but Baker's dream moved me. So many people in his position would have just given up and he kept digging deeper, he knew he could do it if given the chance. I wish I could be that brave.

If you like hockey or even if you don't you won't be able to put this book down. It's moving to the point of being captivating. In telling his comeback story Ken Baker reveals much about the inside workings of minor league pro hockey. He is transparent about his own life as well as presenting an expose on pro hockey. It's easy reading but also inspiring. This is one you'll want to read and pass on to your friends.

All in all, a good read that summarizes the impact the WHA had. It was a league of extremes ie the BEST ie Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, and the worst ie New Jersey Knights, Denver Spurs, etc. It is worth noting that in pre season exhibition games between the NHL and WHA, the WHA won more games. The Jets were world class, and the Nordiques, Whalers and Aeros were as good as any respectible NHL team.
The NHL experienced it's best era in the 1980's, simply because it absorbed so many former WHA players ie Gretzky, Messier, Gartner, Goulet, both Nilssons, Hedberg, the Howe brothers, Vaive, Ramage, Hartsburg, Langway, and on and on and on.
To this day, the NHL ignores the fact that the WHA improved hockey by allowing Europeans to play.
In retrospect, it is too bad the WHA never survived. Rather than a 30 team NHL, imagine two competing leagues with the same number of teams, the champion of each league competing for the Stanley Cup. At present, the NHL enjoys a monopoly because it has expanded into every conceivable market, so as to head off any new potential revival of new WHA entity coming into existence.

If you LOVE hockey and sports...Please read this one.....Great historical reference to a time when hockey grew ableit in some of the strangest cities.......This book gives a great insight to how the league started, yes survived and ended....The stories are priceless......Derek Sanderson, The Great One and even lots on the Carlson Brothers (most know them as the Hanson's from Slap Shot)......This book even outlines the behind the scenes development of the movie Slap Shot.......!!!!!!!!

This is great read, I found myself intralled with the knowledge, and research
of the writer. A person that does not know the history of the WHA and hockey in general would have no problem understanding this book. I would recommend
this book and writer to anyone.

Easy read with great stories about the old WHA. I lived in B'ham, AL during the time of the Baby Bulls and the Bruiser Bulls so the stories of Frank (the beater)Beaton, Gilles (bad news) Biladeux and the rest of that gang were great. I gave it to my dad for Christmas and he loved it too.

You don't have to be a hockey fan to enjoy the wild & fast times of the World Hockey Association. Even the league founders - who had successfully launched the American Basketball Association - did not have a clue about the sport.

But what they saw was an opportunity to bring life to a game that for too many years was operated like a feudal empire by the National Hockey League and made Major League Baseball - before the unity of the player's association - look absolutely progressive.

The WHA operated from 1972-1979 and revolutionized pro hockey in many ways; from a court decision in its first year that basically overturned the NHL's reserve-clause on player contracts, introducing the sport to Sun Belt cities and - for numerous franchises - being literally on the ground floor in new arena construction and introducing pro fans to a pair of young players that quickly redefined the game - Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

Author Ed Willes gives the reader a great tour of the often unique personalities on the ice and in the front offices in this fast-moving text. And some of the wacky highlights include:

* a team so in debt that a group of potential owners backed out of a deal to buy it for one dollar;

* a player slated to be a major star lasting only eight games in the first season and then striking a buyout deal to be paid for not playing;

* an arena where the players had to be especially careful not to have cockroaches find cozy homes in their gear;

* a radio announcer who had to use his wife's gasoline credit card to refuel the team plane so it wouldn't be stuck on the tarmac until the next morning.

But through the hijinks was a small group of owners and a pool of players who wanted the league to succeed without merging with the NHL. It wasn't meant to be, as the league ended up with six teams in its last season, with four ending up in the NHL.

Maybe the WHA is judged as a failure because it sputtered to an uneventful end, but Willes demonstrates how chasing a dream can make for great memories....and some unbelievable stories.

This book along with The Hockey Goalies Handbook by Corsi and Hannon will provide enough information and differences of opinion for anyone from beginner to the high school level. Chaptes 2 and 3 on exercises and stretching are something that every goalie needs to consider. I can't recommend one book over the other because they complement each other so well.

A great comprehensive goaltending book. Stretching, taking care of your equipment, practicing, playing, and visualizing...this book has got tons of information and is very helpful. I'd love to see some follow-ups going even further indepth!

For all u lucky goalies out there.......U hafta read this book. it's no comparison to any other goaltending book out there. not only does it give info. for ice hockey goaltending it ALSO gives info. for roller hockey goaltending. Of course it also has a forward written by Martin brodeur the best goalie on the ice. U gotta buy this book and u wont regret it.

Offering a well writen and condensed description of both Ice and Roller/Street hockey for a person wishing to learn the How To's of Hockey Goaltending. It has great descriptions backed up with photo's to truely give the reader an idea of what is being described.

I am in my first year of a Roller Hockey league and have found this book to be outstanding for my level of play. My game has drastically improved and my understanding of the position has too.

I would recomend this book for any and beginner to intermediate levels of players.

I'm 30, never played a minunte of hockey, and want to play goalie. This is the book I bought. I loved it, because of the general all around information it provides. From stretching, eqiupment, technique , to mental toughness. It also does not talk down to you, as you were ten years old.
My only complaint is the lack of depth in the equipment chapters. If it was an all encompassing book, I would have liked more information on kinds of different pads, masks, gloves, ect.
I recomend this book, they tried to help all areas, and I think it worked on me. And I now play goalie twice a week.

For a Philly Hockey fan and fan of the overall game, Jonesy is an amazing read. Great stories with insight into the game that most of us never get to see. I laughed outloud more than a dozen times. I literally couldn't put it down. That is the best compliment you can give any book.

"Jonesy" is an entertaining story. The biggest problem with it is that is could have been written better by an 8th grader. There are more than just grammatical errors; some sentences flat out don't make sense as written. I was stunned that a published work could be such a mess (didn't anyone edit this?!) Oh well, if you can get past all that and enjoy hockey, you will enjoy the book.

First, this was a great read. I enjoyed it a lot despite thinking back to the Caps postseason woes under Terry Murray and Schoenfeld when Keith was there. Let me say he was one of the most clutch Caps ever, one of my favorites and I was ticked they dealt him for Chris Simon and Curtis Leschysin (spelling?), who was in town a minute and a half. I was never really a Chris Simon fan when he was here.

Three of Keith's stories I loved: I'll try not to tell too much as I don't want to spoil them.

The grueling skating regimen after Caps practice during the '92 playoffs, with Keith getting ticked that the Caps were beating the Pens and that meant more skating. High fiving Steve Konowalchuk when the Caps were losing so the skating would end.

Handling his own contract negotiations with GM David Poile and bringing the empty briefcase to the meetings. I kept thinking of the Animal House scene where one of the Delta's points to his briefcase and smiles before the student body hearing.

The Anson Carter stick story.

I also liked the John Poor story at the end.

Great job. Sure there was an error ir two in there but I got the gist of what Keith was trying to tell us. Excellent read!

As a WMU alum (class of '94) and hockey fan, I had the good fortune to have great seats for pretty much every home game for Jones during his junior & senior years in college. He impressed me as a player then. Given that connection, and hearing through John Buccigross' column that the proceeds for this book would go to charity, I pre-ordered this and read it immediately upon receiving it.

The life and career of Jones are told through his unique voice throughout. This makes for very easy reading - if it seems aimed at a slightly younger-than-adult audience - and the 200 or so pages, much like Keith's career, go by far too quickly.

Passages are both hilarious and touching.

Highly recommended!

I liked this book. It's not horribly well written but it was enjoyable for the price.

For those who can remember "Original Six Hockey" the vividness of the players and teams retains a print on the mind, that may be matched only by very unique sporting events.

At this time in sports history, only four American cities really came to know and love their teams (the other two were Canadian), but it was a worshipful relationship.

The action was picked up by local television stations in these cities, and because the players did not wear helmets, the players were recognizable to the average fan. In Detroit, Gordie Howe was as legendary as Al Kaline, and probably much more so. The relationship between fan and player was intimate, and because the league was so small, he teams played each other, including play-offs, sometimes over twenty times a season. The fans knew their team, and they knew the other teams in the league.

This is the back-drop for the author's elegy to Terry Sawchuk, arguably the greatest goalie in NHL history.

Goalies for some reason have had tortured psyches, and Sawchuk battled through many inner demons to perform brilliantly on ice. Perhaps being the last line of defense, or the "gate-keeper" is what turns these players upside down. Or perhaps it is a certain personality of a player that would make him want to aspire to become a goalie.

This is a question the author does not attempt to answer, however, as the title suggests, he makes no attempt to gloss over Sawchuk's off the ice issues.

Sawchuk was a brilliant warrior on the ice, but he battled demons in his personal life such as alcoholism, spousal abuse, and estrangement of his family. Even his teammates felt as if they didn't really know him.

But he played through pain, and performed superbly into his 40's. He set a record which many people never believed would be broken. He was a unique and elite athlete.

The author brings us back to the seasons, and the key games in which Sawchuk performed. He paints a picture of the teams he matched up against and the urgency of the games. The reader can feel the competition between the goalies on the team, and discern the relationships between the players and the front office.

His death occured as the result of a drunken fight with a teammate, and I remember the shock of the media when it was announced. He was only forty one, and still an active player.

I remember someone once described as a mystery within a conundrum within a paradox. Sawchuk falls into this description.

He is a great subject, and it is a very enjoyable book.

THE AUTHOR DOES A SPECTACULOR JOB SHOWING THE GREAT CAREER OF A HOCKEY LEGEND. FROM HIS CHILDHOOD TO HIS FINAL DAYS, TERRY SAWCHUK WAS A VERY COMPLEX MAN. GOOD VS. EVIL FIGHT ALWAYS GOING ON INSIDE HIM. THE DREADED DEMON ALCOHOLISM IS WELL DESCRIBED AS TO WHY HE HAD SUCH ANGER AND MOOD SWINGS. A GREAT CAREER AND TURBULENT FAMILY LIFE. EVERY ASPECT OF SAWCHUK'S LIFE IS SO WELL DESCRIBED BY MR. DUPUIS. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BIOGRAPHIES I HAVE READ. THANKS FOR A GREAT JOB MR. DUPUIS. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I bought this book as a present for my husband, who is a die hard hockey fan. But, I ended up reading it myself and I really enjoyed it. I get to know more of Terry Sawchuck than just the old NHL goalie whose record was just got broken by Roy. It is not the best written book, but it tells the story that it is suppose to tell. It was an easy and enjoyable reading and I am not even a Red Wings fan.

The author's skill in writing indicates that this is a three-star book...as long as you understand that this was written by a fan, for fans. It is not a literary classic. The sentence construction is simple, but that's part of the charm of this book. Interwoven in the book are interviews with Sawchuk's wife, a couple of engaging surviving former teammates, and most obvious, research done in newspaper "morgues". It is written chronologically, highlighting season achievements. Of most interest to me are the tales told by his wife. Sawchuk was a full-blown dysfunctional alcoholic. His wife was most happy when Sawchuk was not around, although the man was around enough to produce seven children.

The fight/horseplay with teammate Ron Stewart that led to Sawchuk's death was covered in detail. That's mainly why I bought the book. I knew of his career highlights, which you can see on the back of his hockey cards. There weren't enough behind-the-scenes stories regarding each season to hold my interest.

I understand Jerry Sawchuk, the eldest child, also has written a book about his father. I get the feeling that his book, plus the Dupuis tome, put together could produce a satisfying final product. I need more than Dupuis offers, and finished the book feeling somehow unsatisfied.

I started reading this book because I had heard that Patrick Roy, who passed Terry Sawchuk's record of most winningest goalie, was reading it in order to find out more about the goalie he would be passing in the record books. What I found out as I continued reading was that even if you are just a fan of hockey in general, this is a great read. It is so honest that it is almost surprising that the Sawchuk family would want to release some of the information the reader finds out. It is even more interesting to read if you know someone who was an alcoholic, because Terry goes through many of the same troubles that other alcoholics do. The pictures included in the book are helpful and they give an idea of the people in Terry's life as well as the surroundings in his life. The writing style is easy to follow no matter how good of a reader you are, though sometimes the many statistics and names of other hockey players get confusing and boring. All in all, the Sawchuk book is fun to read and it really lets you in on Terry Sawchuks life on and off the ice.

I`m sorry to say that the real story of the first American to play hockey in the ussr should not be aboutTod Hartje but Bill McCormack.

Great book. Gives great in sight to how life in Russia used to be for a hockey player (it is much different now).

Tod is a great man on top of it.

If I were you, I'd buy this book and once you open it, it will be hard to put it down.

Interesting book about a Harvard hockey player who voulenteers to be the first American to play in the Soviet hockey system in Kiev (Ukrania). The most interesting aspect of the book was seeing how the Soviet hockey system functioned then thru the eyes of someone who was there.

I found the conditions apalling: 11 months of training a year, living in army barracks-type quaters, eating greasy-gruel with no nutrition, no "personal recognition" when scoring a goal (it was considered a "team" effort and no celebration was allowed). It sounds like being a prisioner! Yet they produced a breed of hockey players superior to the "healthy and happy" North Americans! Go figure....

Now that the Russian hockey system is falling apart (as was apparent in their 2000 World Cup performance), it's interesting to look back at how the old system worked and think how can they improve their situation today.

I have not read a book for fun in 4 years! I am a college student, so I have read plent of required stuff, but nothing out of my own ambition. I happened upon this book in the bookstore the other day, and it looked interesting. I have now read it, and I liked it so much that I came here feeling I HAD to let other people know how good it was! I am sure it helps that I love hockey, and being from Detroit, I am automatically interested in russians and hockey. It was VERY INTERESTING, and also hilarious. The author wasn't afraid to tell of things such as the teams' joking about the size of a fellow teammates....um....dong. I hope i can atleast say that.

Anyhow, I loved it, and i hope you will to.

This is one of the best books I have read on hockey. It is an easy read and believe me, once you pick it up it will be hard to put it down. If you love hockey, this is for you. It is a behind the scenes look at communist times Russia. It really opened my eyes to the hardships these players have to endure to make it in hockey. All along you are able to relate to all the Russian players, and to realize that they are so similar to us Americans!
My son is an aspiring NHL'er and he has agreed to read it. One of his trainers is mentioned in the book. I have read him passages and now we both have the greatest respect for this man. Just reading about what they have to endure, you will know just how privileged we are to live in the States.
I believe you won't be dissapointed if you read this book

This is a great book . I have all the Benoit books and dvds. I think this is the best of the Benoit books. There is so much info in these books it's not right out front , it's between the lines but be assured its there. Tracking is regional but the Whitetail info is not. I have learned more about mature Whitetails from the Benoit books and dvds than any other source. Larry's the man no doubt but Lanny Benoit may be the best pure deer hunter alive. Theres a little horn tooting in the book but as someone once said " If you can do it it ain't braggin ". I have Hal Bloods book too it is also very very good. If you buy just one book on tracking buy this one or Hals.

The book does a good job outlining the tracking methods that the Benoits use to consistently harvest large bucks. There are also several interesting stories of deer hunting adventures within the book.

These tracking methods are regional in nature and not very useful in the midwest where I primarily hunt. For anyone who hunts from a stand, this book will be a dissapointment.

I read the book from my local library rather than purchasing it and I am glad that I did.

Overall, it is a good read but not worth the money unless you hunt in the northeast like the Benoits.

This is one of the best and most unique whitetail hunting books I've read. The classic and now out-of-print "How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life," did a great job of describing the Benoit tracking method. This newest book is even better.

"Big Bucks the Benoit Way" is an excellent presentation of how the Benoits hunt. The Benoits are almost exclusively trackers, and they base their techniques on what their vast experience has proven to work best: not on the theories of others. This independent thinking makes this a very refreshing book, and their dozens of 200-pound plus bucks prove that they know what they are doing.

This book is loaded with great photos of big bucks and the Benoits in their trademark green and black wool jackets. There's plenty of shots of sagging meat poles, the deep woods on snowy days, and the tracks and rubs of big bucks.

Most valuable though, is the great information on how the Benoits find, identify, and then follow the track of a heavy buck until they successfully bag him. While few of us will ever be so spectacularly successful using these methods, all of us can learn from this book. I've successfully used these same Benoit methods to track down and bag trophy bucks from Montana to Wisconsin.

Hunters who enjoy this book share a kinship in understanding the magic of the deep woods and a fresh tracking snow and the smoking hot track of a big buck. If you are that type of hunter, you will like this book.

Bruce L. Nelson, author of "Hunting Big Whitetails."

If you track or stalk deer then you can learn a lot from this book. The Benoit's are quite remarkable with their year over year successes. However, if you are a stand hunter or hunt in private land areas that don't allow tresspassers then this book is basically worthless other than the nice pictures in it.

i have read big bucks the benoit way at least a dozen times.the best deer hunting book i have ever read.i live and hunt in north dakota no matter where you live and hunt you can learn from this book.as far as i am concerned larry and his family are the best deer hunters in the country they hunt in the toughest whitetail country there is out there tracking no matter what the weather is doing. HUNTING HARD EVERY DAY .taking home the biggest 200+ bucks they can find. bryce towsly and the benoits done a great job putting this book together. im hoping there will be more from the first family of deerhunting thankyou and keep bringing home those big bucks.

I will NEVER respect another professional or amature hockey player again. This book made me step back and really look at players and how they treat woman. It wouldn't shock me if all professional/amature hockey players that were married or had 'girlfriends' had girl on the side. Having a woman write the book was interesting. She really opened my eyes to what happens in hockey. There's nothing I wanted more than a boyfriend that played hockey, now, I think I'll just go with the hockey fan.... If your a hockey fan, especially if your a girl, or a puckbunny, read this book.

As I was reading this book a lot of hit to close to home. Being a teenage girl and a fan of a junior hockey team I've witnessed things that were mentioned in this book. Laura Robinson did an amazingly insightful job to inform the readers of the "taboo" subjects of hockey. I would definately reccomend this book to anyone who's looking for the truth of what goes on behind closed doors.

The game of Hockey has been glorified for years now and the goal of the players was to make it to the SHOW (NHL). Laura takes an indepth look into the darker side of this glorified sport. There were times during this book I could not help myself from crying and other times were I was infuriated with anger. Being a OHL hockey fan and female it has broughten into light how some not all of these young men have been both the abused and abusers. It shows how the shinning lights and the dream of the NHL can have deep and tramatic effects on these young men for the rest of there lives. I feel she is not trying to bash the entire hockey system, but has brought focus on a topic that if left alone could result in an explosion. An Explosion we are not capable in handling!

A very disturbing look at the hockey youth culture in Canada. However, I think Ms. Robinson overlooks the fact that humiliation and sexually-tinged horseplay are common to some degree among teenagers of ALL walks of life, not just athletes. Nor do I think she is correct in her assumption that such things are always degrading and involuntary on the part of participants. However, addressing the needs of those who have been traumatized by hazing and the like is a priority issue, and one that I think she calls much needed attention to.

When I ordered this book, I didn't expect to be reading what I did. This book sheds some light on the truly dark side of junior hockey, and it shows that there are serious flaws within the sport. It just goes to show that everything is not as it seems to be.