Blindside Hit

Adam Caron has everything he could want. A brand-new contract with an NHL team, a nice apartment, the life he's dreamed about since he was a little boy. He has everything, except the name of the man he shared a drunken, blistering hot night with. Etienne Brideau can't stop thinking about the night he spent with Adam, but he knows better than to think Adam will want him sober. People don't fall in love with gawky, rawboned, awkward Etienne, especially not men like Adam Caron, rising hockey star, with his stunning good looks and charismatic personality. When Adam gets back in contact with him, Etienne doesn't let himself hope that they'll ever be more than friends. But the more entangled he becomes in Adam's life, the more he can't imagine letting him go, and when an injury threatens Adam's career, Etienne knows he's in too deep to walk away. But Adam has secrets of his own, and more than just their life as a couple may be at stake.

Even before Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin began their NHL careers in 2005, the two players were rivals. They first met at the World U20 (Junior) Championship, playing for the gold medal, and ever since they have been opponents in the NHL and international arenas. No two star players could be so different. Crosby is the consummate captain and team player, the responsible face of the NHL. Ovechkin is the loose cannon on ice and off, capable of a great play or a cocky comment. Sid vs. Ovi traces this intense rivalry game by game, year by year, from 2005 to 2011 and beyond. Their biographies are given consideration alongside their in-game performance and career development to present a clear picture of their lives, their careers, their league, and their countries. Hockey fans can well be divided into those who prefer one or the other of this pair of scintillating talents. But one thing is certain – the presence of one inspires the other to greater heights.

From youth football to the NFL, almost no one understands concussions. Children are dying, and NFL players are retiring early and with impairments. Why? The NFL suppresses the true information about head injuries. Nowinski shows how to recognize them, how long to stay out of action, and how to educate teams and players.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BC NATIONAL AWARD FOR CANADIAN NON-FICTION A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK From the bestselling author and Hall of Famer Ken Dryden, this is the story of NHLer Steve Montador—who was diagnosed with CTE after his death in 2015—the remarkable evolution of hockey itself, and a passionate prescriptive to counter its greatest risk in the future: head injuries. Ken Dryden’s The Game is acknowledged as the best book about hockey, and one of the best books about sports ever written. Then came Home Game (with Roy MacGregor), also a major TV-series, in which he explored hockey’s significance and what it means to Canada and Canadians. Now, in his most powerful and important book yet, Game Change, Ken Dryden tells the riveting story of one player’s life, examines the intersection between science and sport, and expertly documents the progression of the game of hockey—where it began, how it got to where it is, where it can go from here and, just as exciting to play and watch, how it can get there.

America’s Overpopulation Predicament: Blindsiding Future Generations— The subject of this book will profoundly and adversely affect every man, woman and child on earth by 2050. Most of us have experienced a situation when we or someone we know has some critical knowledge to share that needs immediate action only to be told to wait our turn as other irrelevant topics are given attention. This author asks for his findings to be heard against an ocean of mediocrity as he relates his personal “eye opening” experiences from all over the world with similar emotion, I suspect, as Newton felt when he suddenly understood the force of gravity, or that of Archimedes when he shouted “Eureka” as he suddenly understood the method for measuring precious metal content in an object. Like the seer who catches a glimpse into the future, Wooldridge finds it hard to limit his efforts to the written word. For here we find as compelling a case for massive and immediate action as ever there was one. Here is a subject matter so extraordinary that it should be shouted from every rooftop. The information this book contains is imperative and irrefutable. It destroys the impotent etchings of any clay or gold tablets as a roadmap for humanity. Man or woman, young or old, it will entreat you to look ahead without bias to the stark reality of what is ahead for our nation and our world. Packed with references to support his case, and literally floating above contrary voices like whitecaps on the ocean, Wooldridge advances the case for the salvation of modern civilization. He suggests courses of action that will ultimately prove to be the only way to prevent humanity from vanishing like dust in the wind. K. R. Hampshire, Researcher and Entrepreneur, Denver, Colorado

#1 National Bestseller This hockey generation's brightest talent has been plagued by concussions. Now, the very style of play that has brought Crosby such success may be heralding the end of his career. Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player ever to put on skates. You could argue that Bobby was better, or Wayne, or Gordie. But it would be hard to argue that any of those guys changed the game as much as Sid. No defenceman came along in Bobby's wake to play like him. There will never be another 99. But in Crosby's case, the entire league was re-made in his image. The game can be divided into two eras: before and after Sidney Crosby arrived in 2005, breaking Mario Lemieux's rookie scoring record. Says NHL star Matt Duchene, who entered the league in 2008, just three years after Crosby: "Just in the time that I was going from peewee and bantam to junior, there was a whole other game before and after. You didn't have a choice really--you had to adapt and adopt the way he did things or get left way behind." In an effort to keep up with Sid, the game changed. It's faster now, more skilled. There are more highlight-reel goals, and fewer fights. And in many ways, Crosby has thrived. Three Stanley Cups. Two Olympic gold medals. A World Cup. And enough individual trophies to fill a truck. But then, if Crosby hadn't changed the league, he might expect a longer career. Today, Sidney Crosby is the first generational superstar whose every shift could be his last. He invented a faster game, and the faster game has taken its toll on its creator. Crosby has suffered several concussions, and missed most of an entire season with symptoms. He plays the game fearlessly, but he also plays it without a bodyguard. The irony is that he created a league that made it harder for him to thrive. And the tragedy may be that he has created a league that will bring his career to an end in one fell swoop, in front of millions. Telling the story of a generational talent and the way he has revolutionized the game, Gare Joyce will also bring into focus crucial questions about the way the game is played today, assessing fighting and concussions in the light of the way these issues impinge on arguably the greatest player ever to skate.

The football star made famous in the hit film (and book) The Blind Side reflects on how far he has come from the circumstances of his youth. Michael Oher shares his personal account of his story, in this inspirational New York Times bestseller. Looking back on how he went from being a homeless child in Memphis to playing in the NFL, Michael talks about the goals he had to break out of the cycle of poverty, addiction, and hopelessness that trapped his family. Eventually he grasped onto football as his ticket out and worked hard to make his dream into a reality. With his adoptive family, the Touhys, and other influential people in mind, he describes the absolute necessity of seeking out positive role models and good friends who share the same values to achieve one's dreams. Sharing untold stories of heartache, determination, courage, and love, I Beat the Odds is an incredibly rousing tale of one young man's quest to achieve the American dream.

Reflecting on nearly five decades with the Detroit Red Wings, Dr. John Finley takes sports fans far beyond closed doors and into the trainer's room where cuts were bandaged, broken noses were reset, sore muscles were rubbed out, and casts made for broken bones. In this stellar memoir, Dr. Finley recounts his experiences with the stars on the revitalized Red Wings franchise in recent years, including Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom, as well as heroes of previous generations, including 1972 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Gordie Howe. Along the way, Dr. Finley shares some of the most vivid accounts ever written on the subject of sports injuries, including the hundreds of stitches he applied to Borje Salming's face after it was cut by Gerard Gallant's errant skate blade, as well as his recommendation on the knee injury sustained by a young Steve Yzerman that ultimately helped maintain his Hall of Fame career.