Hockey Biographies

Ask a hockey fan if they have heard the wonderfully electric call of Nick Bonino's overtime-winning goal from the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, and they will almost surely answer with a resounding "Yes"! That's because video clips of the Hockey Night in Punjabi broadcast immediately went viral, amplifying the profile of Harnarayan Singh, the voice behind the call.

In this inspiring book, US Olympian and hockey star Kendall Coyne shares the grit and determination it took to break down barriers and achieve her dreams against tremendous odds, encouraging young people to follow their passions and never give up.

Picking up where the best seller The Russian Five left off, Vlad the Impaler will have listeners alternately laughing and in tears with dozens more memorable, untold stories and anecdotes from the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup championship season 25 years ago. The book includes a foreword by Hall of Fame defenseman Slava Fetisov, along with lengthy excerpts from interviews of several members of that team, from captain Steve Yzerman, teammates Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, and coach Scotty Bowman, among many others.

Tasked with finding common ground and building friendships between the world's two largest countries and arctic neighbors, a young Canadian diplomat finds himself on his first overseas assignment in Moscow, the Soviet capital. It's the early 1970s and a Cold War between communism and capitalism, the west and the east, is simmering-while the ice rink is just starting to heat up. Smith opts for sports diplomacy, throwing off his embassy black tie dress codes and donning the blue and white sweater of the Moscow Maple Leafs.

One of the most compelling figures ever to lace on a pair of skates, Carl Brewer was a gifted skater and stickhandler, renowned for his ability to control the pace of a game and goad opponents into costly errors. His talents made him an NHL All-Star and one of the cornerstones of a Toronto Maple Leafs dynasty. But he was also a loner playing a team game, a free spirit in an era when players were expected not to make waves. Teammates and management alike wrote him off as an eccentric, an enigma.

The life and career of Nicklas Lidstrom almost reads like a real-life hockey fairy tale. Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings as a 19-year-old defenseman out of his native Sweden, Lidstrom spent the next two decades manning the Motor City blueline. During those years he became a Hockeytown legend, amassing a mind-boggling collection of accomplishments and accolades: four Stanley Cups, seven Norris Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman, a Conn Smythe Trophy, 12 All-Star selections, and gold medals in both the Olympics and World Championships.

When most sports fans hear the stat 3,000, they immediately turn to baseball. But for those fans whose breath comes out in frosty puffs, and who bleed ice and snow, 3,000 can only mean one thing - the glory of Montreal Canadiens hockey. The "Original One" of the "Original Six", the Montreal Canadiens hockey team is practically synonymous with superlative: The most Stanley Cup championship victories, with 24? The Montreal Canadiens. The highest number of regular-season wins? The Montreal Canadiens. The oldest active franchise in the NHL? The Montreal Canadiens.

One of the most inspirational comeback stories in professional sports. Aaron Volpatti was never supposed to play in the NHL. As an average, undersized youth hockey player, Aaron had to fight his way, literally, into competitive hockey. But in the early hours of April 20, 2005, he found himself in a very different fight–a fight for his life after a devastating burn injury.

In Philadelphia Flyers orange and black, Chris Therien cut an imposing figure on the ice, a stalwart physical presence for over a decade in the NHL. But by the end of his playing career, he was concealing a much greater battle with alcoholism which bled into his professional and family life. The defenseman-turned-analyst now opens up candidly and completely, reflecting on his life and career with perspective gained from over ten years of sobriety.

Murphy’s life didn’t begin on a track that would lead to homelessness. He was smart, dedicated to hockey, and was a key player for the Oilers, Red Wings, and Blackhawks, among other teams. But one vicious body check changed his life forever. Despite being shaken by the hit, Murphy was cleared to return to the game. Soon after, his entire life seemed to change. Murphy became a journeyman, moving from team to team. Along the way, other NHLers said they noticed something different about him, too.

They fire hard slap shots. They speed across the ice. Who are the brightest stars in the game of hockey?

To most Canadians, the Molson name is part of the very fabric of Canada. Since 1786, when John Molson founded his first brewery in Montreal, it has become synonymous with beer, hockey, and philanthropy. Few realize, however, how close the family came in recent years to losing control of the enterprise. Back to Beer...and Hockey offers intimate details of the life and work of Eric Molson, who not only saved the company, but positioned it to thrive as a global brewery into the 21st century.

Growing up on a First Nation reserve, young Ted Nolan built his own backyard hockey rink and wore skates many sizes too big. But poverty wasn’t his biggest challenge. Playing the game meant spending his life in two worlds: one in which he was loved and accepted and one where he was often told he didn’t belong. Ted proved he had what it took, joining the Detroit Red Wings in 1978. But when his on-ice career ended, he discovered his true passion wasn’t playing; it was coaching.

Bob Bourne was everything a son wants to emulate—an NHL All-Star, a Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year,” a Stanley Cup champion. Justin Bourne followed in those huge footsteps, leading his teams in scoring year after year, and finally garnering an invitation to the New York Islanders’ training camp—the same team his father had played for.

Most sports team owners make their money elsewhere and purchase a team as an extravagant hobby—but that is not the story of Ed Snider. One of the few owners in history to start a franchise by mortgaging nearly everything to his name, the Philadelphia Flyers founder would go on to form the billion-dollar empire of Comcast-Spectacor and cement his standing as one of the biggest movers and shakers in the city’s history.

From the backyard hockey rink to the nail-biting suspense of draft days, Karl Subban shares tales of his family's unique hockey journey. Mixing personal stories with lessons he learned as a coach and principal - lessons about goal setting, perseverance, and accomplishment - How We Did It will allow other parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors to apply the same principles as they help the young people in their lives to identify, develop, and live their dreams.

Stan Fischler, the dean of American hockey journalists and best-selling author of more than 60 books on hockey, profiles the heroes of Hockeytown in Detroit Red Wings: Greatest Moments and Players. One of the National Hockey League's "Original Six", few teams in professional hockey have enjoyed more success than the franchise in Detroit. Among the players Fischler glorifies are the immortal Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, and Sid Abel, all players whose numbers reside on banners in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena.

Mark Messier is one of the most accomplished athletes and dynamic leaders in the history of professional sports. He won the Stanley Cup five times with the Edmonton Oilers during their dynasty years and once more with the New York Rangers, ending the team’s 54-year championship drought. He is second on the all-time career lists for playoff points and third for regular season games played and for regular season points. Notably, he is the only player to have captained two different NHL franchises to championships.

Hilary Knight started skating when she was five. Fifteen years later, she was the youngest member on Team USA at the 2010 Olympics. The next 10 years of her career have only gotten more impressive. Discover more about Knight's highlights on and off the ice in this thrilling biography in the Stars of Sports series.

Hockey culture: it’s a commonly used phrase inside the game, glorifying sacrifice, toughness, loyalty, and a sense of identity. Justin Davis viewed this culture as something he was lucky enough to experience. After all, he’d won a Memorial Cup after leading the tournament in scoring, and he’d been drafted by the Washington Capitals. “In my mind,” he says, “I was the normal one.” Unfortunately, after stepping outside the game, he began to recognize the racism, sexual abuse and bullying that was so deeply ingrained in the sport.