Staunch sentinels behind the blueline, the best defencemen of the golden age of hockey were loved and hated, robust and unflinching. To admirers, these bodycheckers appeared to have no understanding of the word pain. Francis Clancy, Ching Johnson, Allan Stanley, Eddie Shore, Doug Harvey and Tim Horton could sometimes be brawny bad guys, but they were always rocks on ice. In their zone, the puck stopped!

A pioneering and beloved Canadian legend comes to life Father David Bauer changed lives — at the rink, in the classroom, and at the pulpit. Bauer’s dream created the first truly national Canadian hockey team. In 1963, that unique group represented Canada abroad and were committed to both country and to Father Bauer. Whether shepherding the hockey program at St. Michael’s College in Toronto or the men’s national team out of the University of British Columbia, Bauer was both spiritual leader and trailblazer. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} Through exhaustive research and countless interviews, author Greg Oliver explores a Canadian icon, the teams that he put on the ice, and the rocky, almost unfathomable years of the 1970s when Canada didn’t play international hockey. Finally, for the first time ever, the whole story of Father Bauer’s critical importance to Canada’s game is told in the rich detail it deserves, and a beloved icon is celebrated for his contributions to our nation’s sporting history.

Legendary Canadien and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Larry Robinson takes readers rink-side in this highly anticipated and poignantly told memoir. Larry Robinson spent 20 seasons playing in the NHL -- seventeen with the Montreal Canadiens and retiring from the game after his final 3 seasons with the LA Kings. His great size gave his teams an incredible presence on the blue line and a tremendous defender in front of their net. But he was more than just big. He was agile, he could score and he played a style that provided both offensive and defensive strengths. For his effort, Robinson was twice recognized as the NHL's top defencemen and his contribution helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup six times during his tenure with the team. Never afraid to drop his gloves and play a physical game, Robinson is and will forever be regarded as one of the NHL's greatest defencemen. In The Great Defender, Robinson relives his road to the NHL and the unexpected NHL journey that has lasted over 4 decades. He has enjoyed the good fortune of playing with greats, including Ken Dryden and Guy Lafleur to coaching the greatest of all--Wayne Gretzky. His successes as a player and coach are well-documented and in his memoir, hockey fans will now enjoy the opportunity to experience the odyssey of this legendary player as seen through his eyes, lived through his emotions, and told through his voice. Robinson's story is one of triumph and will leave readers cheering for the man fondly nicknamed "Big Bird." In the process of writing this book, bestselling sports writer Kevin Shea interviewed many of Robinson's teammates, colleagues, players and family members and spent countless hours with Larry himself to capture a fascinating picture of one of hockey's greatest careers.

Barry Melrose's life is hockey. From the time he was old enought to skate, he knew it's what he was meant to do. Growing up in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, he was one of a generation of future NHLers that included Wendel Clark, Bernie Federko, and the Kocur brothers. He fought his way through the Canadian minor league system, eventually getting drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. But Melrose chose instead to play for the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers, beginning a professional career that saw him sent up and down, between the big leagues and the minors, before ending his playing career as a player coach in the AHL. As a coach, he saw success at every level, winning a Memorial Cup, a Calder Cup, and reaching the Stanley Cup Final as coach of the LA Kings. Dropping the Gloves shares Barry's years of experience. He explains the psychology of the game, the inner workings of the locker room, and how many different elements are required to create a winnning team.Told in the same plain-spoken style that has made him ESPN's best-known hockey commentator, Dropping the Gloves is a fantastic compendium of hockey knowledge.

Hockey’s most controversial authority gives you everything you need to know to be Canada’s best-informed armchair coach. Sports talk-radio personality Bob McCown knows what he’s talking about, and he’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind. Depending on your own strongly held opinions, some of Bob’s will have you cheering in agreement while others will tempt you to throw the book out the window (if you weren’t enjoying the damn thing so much). McCown’s Law will be fuelling and informing heated discussions at the bar for years to come. A sample of Chairman Bob’s opinions: -The Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years for a perfectly logical reason: they have the crappiest players. -It’s time the law put hockey’s most violent offenders in something more restrictive than the penalty box. -Let’s leave Olympic hockey to the men. -Eric Lindros won’t end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he still deserves to be mentioned right alongside the all-time greats. -Slovakia, not Canada, may just be the greatest hockey nation on Earth. -The Ottawa Senators. Are these guys a bunch of chokers or what?

Broadcasting icon and bestselling author Don Cherry is back to give us more of what we want: behind-the-scenes sports stories that are as colourful as his wardrobe. For the last sixty years, Don Cherry has lived and breathed hockey. He has interviewed all of hockey's biggest names on Grapevine and "Coach's Corner," and he coached some of them too. But Don's interests span across all sports, and even beyond. In this unforgettable book, Don grants us unparalleled insider access to some of the most legendary athletes and figures of our time. Follow Don to the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs and to the pitcher's mound at Rogers Centre (and learn how the Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson saved his neck). Jet back in time to meet Bobby Hull, Phil Esposito, Scotty Bowman, John Ferguson and other greats--up close and unfiltered. Discover Don's opinions on the toughest guys he ever played against, "hockey parents," the role of fighting in the game, and the Hall of Fame (and who should be in it). Learn about Don's friendship with Gord Downie--the incomparable late frontman of the Tragically Hip and a lifelong hockey fan. This is Don Cherry in all his hilarious and frank glory, spinning his yarns with the best of them.

Making advanced stats simple, practical, and fun for hockey fans Advanced stats give hockeyÍs powerbrokers an edge, and now fans can get in on the action. Stat Shot is a fun and informative guide hockey fans can use to understand and enjoy what analytics says about team building, a playerÍs junior numbers, measuring faceoff success, recording save percentage, the most one-sided trades in history, and everything you ever wanted to know about shot-based metrics. Acting as an invaluable supplement to traditional analysis, Stat Shot can be used to test the validity of conventional wisdom, and to gain insight into what teams are doing behind the scenes „ or maybe what they should be doing. Whether looking for a reference for leading-edge research and hard-to-find statistical data, or for passionate and engaging storytelling, Stat Shot belongs on every serious hockey fanÍs bookshelf.