Many professional athletes begin their journey as children. Hockey players are no different. Wayne Gretzky learned to skate when he was 2½ years old! However, hard work and practice are what allow those with talent to make it to the next level. Readers are introduced to the common paths to becoming a pro hockey player, from youth leagues all the way to the NHL. Each chapter focuses on one step of the necessary training for pros, including full-color photographs and information about hockey superstars. Aspiring players can learn a lot about what it takes to excel on the ice!

What does it take to make it in pro hockey? Los Angeles Kings forward Dan Bylsma and his father, Jay, offer a wealth of inside information for young players. Dan Bylsma shares his experiences rising up through the ranks of amateur and professional hockey while giving advice on issues including becoming a team player, knowing the rules, relating to coaches and teammates, and working hard.

Black hockey players from Grant Fuhr to Jarome Iginla speak candidly for the first time about their experiences in the NHL. Since 1958, thirty-seven black men have played in the National Hockey League. Out of the 600 players active today, fourteen are black. Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey is the first book to tell the unique stories of black hockey players - how they overcame or succumbed to racial and cultural prejudices to play Canada's favourite pastime. Sports journalist Cecil Harris outlines in detail the personal and professional battles as well as the vict.

Canadians have always dreamed about hockey. And we all love our kids. But somehow our desire to give everything we've got to two of the things we love the most has left both worse off. For many families, hockey has become more business than pleasure, where children don't even play anymore--now they compete. The dream of playing in the NHL and the enormous costs that come with it, are killing hockey in Canada. Drawing on decades of combined experience in hockey at all levels, Ken Campbell and Jim Parcels pull back the curtain to show just how far our national game has strayed from its roots. What they reveal is a system driven by unrealistic expectations of a financial windfall, where minor-hockey fees and new sticks for kids are deemed "investments"--and where there is no shortage of entrepreneurs more than happy to take money from starry-eyed parents. Often shocking, always informative, " Selling the Dream " is not only a guidebook for involved hockey parents across the country, it is a defence of the game we all love, and of childhood itself.

The inspiring true story of Manon Rhéaume, the first and only woman to play a game in the National Hockey League, featuring an afterward from Manon herself. “One day, a woman will play in the National Hockey League. If no one prevents her,” said a twelve-year-old Manon Rhéaume. Manon always dreamed of playing hockey. So, when the team her father coached needed a goalie, five-year-old Manon begged for the chance to play. She didn’t care that she’d be the only girl in the entire league or that hockey was considered a “boys’ sport” in her hometown of Lac-Beauport, Quebec, Canada. All she cared about was the game. After her father gave her that first chance to play, she embarked on a spectacular, groundbreaking career in hockey. At every level of competition, Manon was faced with naysayers, but she continued to play, earning her place on prestigious teams and ultimately becoming the first woman to play a game in the NHL. Including an afterword written by Manon herself, Breaking the Ice is the true story of one girl’s courage, determination, and love for the sport.

**One of Sports Illustrated's Best Sports Books of 2017** Controversial hockey star Sean Avery's no-holds-barred memoir of high living and bad behavior in the NHL—coupled with the behind-the-scenes glitter of celebrity and media nightlife in New York and LA. As one of the NHL’s most polarizing players, Sean Avery turned the rules of professional hockey on its head. For thirteen seasons, Avery played for some of the toughest, most storied franchises in the league, including the Detroit Red Wings, the Los Angeles Kings, and the New York Rangers, making his mark in each city as a player that was sometimes loved, often despised, but always controversial. In Ice Capades, Avery takes his trademark candidness about the world of pro hockey and does for it what Jim Bouton's game-changing Ball Four did for baseball. Avery goes deep inside the sport to reveal every aspect of an athlete’s life, from what they do with their money and nights off to how they stay sharp and competitive in the league. While playing the talented villain in the NHL, Avery broke far away from his on-ice character in the off-season, and Ice Capades takes the reader inside the other unexpected and unprecedented roles that Avery inhabited—Vogue intern, fashion model, advertising executive, restauranteur, gay rights advocate, and many more. Love him or hate him, Sean Avery changed the way professional hockey is played today. Rollickingly honest and compelling throughout, Ice Capades transcends the “sports book” genre and offers a rare, unvarnished glimpse into the world of 21st century hockey through the eyes of one of its most original and memorable players.