Hockey Sucks Let S Fix It

The game of hockey has drastically changed over the past two decades and not for the better. Gone are the days of goal scorers, stick handlers, tough guys and passers. When they left so did the excitement and the unexpected. Now it is a game played by drones in exactly the same fashion by every team. Former hockey reporter Michael Munro examines the impact manufactured hockey players are having on the National Hockey League and its feeder systems. In this Western based critique Munro explains how the NHL ended up eliminating goal scorers and entertainers with a series of rule changes and management decisions. And it is a discussion of how Canada lost its role as the dominant hockey nation and started developing only supporting players and not lead actors. An honest and sometimes disturbing 250 page essay that is a must read for anyone who loves hockey and wants to see it become a global success.

The Hartford Whalers were a beloved hockey team from their founding in 1972 as the New England Whalers. Playing in the National Hockey League’s smallest market and arena after the World Hockey Association merger in 1979, they struggled in a division that included both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens—but their fans were among the NHL’s most loyal. In 1995 new owners demanded a new arena and, when it fell through, moved the team to North Carolina, rebranding as the Hurricanes. Unlike fellow franchises that have folded or relocated with little fanfare, the Whalers’ fan base stayed with the team, which remains as popular as ever. Even though more than two decades have come and gone since Connecticut’s only professional sports team moved, nobody has truly forgotten the Whalers, their history, and their unique—and still highly profitable—logo. And while the NHL continues to thrive without them, their impact stretches far beyond the ice and into an entirely different cultural arena. Christopher Price grew up in Connecticut as a diehard Whalers fan, experiencing firsthand the team’s bond with the community. Drawing from all aspects of the team’s past, he tells the uncensored history of Connecticut’s favorite professional sports franchise. Part sports history and part civic history, Bleeding Green shows vividly why the Whalers, despite an inglorious past and a future that unexpectedly vanished, remain firmly embedded in the American milieu and have had a lasting impact on not only the NHL but the sports landscape as a whole.

The comedian and radio personality discusses his drug addiction, battle with depression, and ultimate recovery.

Get your fix of not one, not two, but three of the Woods Cop Mystery series! This triple-thrill pack includes three of Joseph Heywood’s mystery novels: Ice Hunter, Blue Wolf in Green Fire, and Chasing a Blond Moon. Each novel takes the reader on a suspenseful journey through the wild against vicious poachers and hunters. This package is the perfect introduction to this thrilling mystery series featuring conservation officers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Hailed by many as the world's greatest harmonica player, John Popper has redefined the instrument. As the lead singer and principal songwriter of Blues Traveler, Popper has performed for more than 30 million people over 2,000 live dates and composed such radio staples as "Hook," "But Anyway," and "Run-Around," the longest-charting single in Billboard history. He has appeared with Eric Clapton and B. B. King at the White House, welcomed the Hungarian ambassador to the stage, and inducted Carlos Santana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In Suck and Blow, Popper shares a candid, spirited account of his life and career. A straight-F student at Princeton High School, Popper's life changed with one serendipitous harmonica solo that captured the attention of his mercurial band teacher (the same teacher whose life was later fictionalized in the Academy Award-winning film Whiplash). After befriending three fellow musicians with whom he would form Blues Traveler, Popper's academic career nearly ended in twelfth grade, until a meeting with the Dean of the New School for Social Research in which Popper pulled out his trusty harp and played his way into college. Popper and Blues Traveler soon became enmeshed in the lower Manhattan music scene of the late 1980s, eventually becoming the house band at the fabled Wetlands Preserve and embarking on a journey that would one day land the group at Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve. Along the way, Popper and his cohorts commanded the attention of fans and bands alike, through inspired performances and riotous debauchery. Popper's unique perspective on the music business began under the tutelage of Blues Traveler's mentor and manager Bill Graham. After the rock impresario's untimely passing, Popper applied many of Graham's lessons to the formation of the H.O.R.D.E. tour, which John co-owned and hosted over eight years, welcoming such artists as Neil Young, the Allman Brothers Band, Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Ziggy Marley, and his longtime friends the Spin Doctors. Popper also shares a forthright assessment of his longstanding battle with obesity. Plagued by weight problems since childhood, a motorcycle accident a few years into his career confined him to a wheelchair for two years while his weight ballooned to 436 pounds. Angioplasty, gastric bypass surgery, and a tattoo on his chest that reads "I Want to Be Brave" when viewed in the mirror are products of Popper's struggle, compounded by codependency issues and the untimely death of founding Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan. Popper's personal identity is entwined with his political passions. A staunch supporter of gun rights, he has performed at the National Republican Convention, yet he also maintains liberal positions on social issues. He will reconcile these views and share his encounters with the Bush family, the Clintons, the Gores, and other politicos. The iconoclastic, self-described Johnny Appleharp also dishes on cutting contests, Twitter trolls, party fouls, and prostitutes. In Suck and Blow, John Popper does it all with his signature honesty, humility, and humor. /DIV

THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS HAVE BECOME ONE OF THE MOST STORIED FRANCHISES IN NHL HISTORY. Winners of five Stanley Cup championships, the Penguins have hosted generations of stars from Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, all of whom have left an indelible mark on team history. Phil Bourque, who helped earn two of those Stanley Cup victories and who now serves as color commentator alongside Mike Lange for Penguins radio broadcasts, has gotten to witness more than his fair share of that history up close and personal. In If These Walls Could Talk: Pittsburgh Penguins, you'll relive some of that history, from Bourque's memories of training camp with Lemieux to his stories of celebrating with (and having to repair) the Cup. Through singular anecdotes only Bourque can tell about current and past players, coaches, and opponents, this book provides fans with a one-of-a-kind, insider's look into the Penguins' greatest moments, disappointments, and everything in between.

The suspense continues as Jameson Force Security as they do the dark and dangerous jobs no one else wants to do… Code Name: Hacker Bebe Grimshaw spent years behind bars after being caught hacking nuclear codes for a crime syndicate, but her job at Jameson has given her a second chance at doing the right thing. But things aren’t what they seem when she learns, Griffin Moore, the handsome stranger she met in the park has been sent to kill her. Code Name: Hacker is an enemies-to-lovers romantic suspense standalone. Code Name: Ghost Malik Fournier was captured and his teammates killed in a mission gone wrong. Following his rescue and return home, he continues to be riddled with survivor’s guilt. Anna Tate lost her husband in that mission, but she offers him the comfort he doesn’t think he deserves, but from which he can’t walk away. Code Name: Ghost is a forbidden romantic suspense standalone. Code Name: Rook Cage is more of a ‘here for the night’ than a ‘here for forever’ kind of guy, so what’s the harm in telling a lie about his job? Jaime Dolan’s the woman he never knew he needed in his life and when he marries her without telling her the truth, he has some serious explaining to do. Code Name: Rook is a ‘can he save his marriage’ second chance romantic suspense standalone.

Rock star drummer Bishop Riley just needs a few months to relax and detox before his band’s next tour. But the last place he expected to do it is in Seldon, Alaska. And the last person he wants to do it with is Penny Jones. Fiery, headstrong Penny has zero in common with the cocky, too-hot-for-his-own-good Bishop, and she’d like to keep it that way. But the more Bishop gets under her skin, the more she wants to let him in. And the more Penny lets him see, the more Bishop wants to know this stubborn girl with the killer body and soulful eyes. The simmering heat between them won’t go away, no matter how hard either of them tries. Their time together in Alaska may be running out—but so is their resolve for not taking a chance on love.