How Hockey Saved The World

HOCKEY-From the Buddhist concept meaning Key to Happiness and Chilly Serenity during Bloody Brawls and Melees. How Hockey Saved the World is the greatest, if only, hockey protest book ever written. It is the often true story of how a middle-aged, overweight American got off the couch long enough to lose weight and learn to play hockey in order to find a magic puck that would end the NHL lockout, unseat President George W. Bush and end the Iraq War. A handbook on how to survive without professional sports while becoming a better parent, achieving world peace and playing hockey, however poorly. "A tongue-in-cheek view of politics and sports, delivering humor and laughs that recall the work of Mark Twain, Joseph Heller and Ambrose Bierce. -Cliff Bellamy, Durham Herald-Sun "[T]he author's subversive wit and genuine belief in the game's magic are oddly persuasive. An amiable meditation to warm even the iciest hearts." - Kirkus Discoveries After reading How Hockey Saved the World, and seeing the error of my ways, I will resign the Office of the Presidency effective January 15, 2009. -President George W. Bush

HOCKEY-From the Buddhist concept meaning Key to Happiness and Chilly Serenity during Bloody Brawls and Melees. How Hockey Saved the World is the greatest, if only, hockey protest book ever written. It is the often true story of how a middle-aged, overweight American got off the couch long enough to lose weight and learn to play hockey in order to find a magic puck that would end the NHL lockout, unseat President George W. Bush and end the Iraq War. A handbook on how to survive without professional sports while becoming a better parent, achieving world peace and playing hockey, however poorly. "A tongue-in-cheek view of politics and sports, delivering humor and laughs that recall the work of Mark Twain, Joseph Heller and Ambrose Bierce. -Cliff Bellamy, Durham Herald-Sun "[T]he author's subversive wit and genuine belief in the game's magic are oddly persuasive. An amiable meditation to warm even the iciest hearts." - Kirkus Discoveries After reading How Hockey Saved the World, and seeing the error of my ways, I will resign the Office of the Presidency effective January 15, 2009. -President George W. Bush

A riveting look behind the mask of an NHL goalie, The Save of My Life offers understanding and hope to anyone living with mental illness By the time he was twenty-two years old, goaltender Corey Hirsch had realized his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, won an Olympic medal and drunk from the Stanley Cup. While he excelled on the ice, out of the net Hirsch was plagued by persistent dark thoughts and ceaseless anxiety. On days when he could barely get out of bed, he was able to push aside the endless loop of dark thoughts running inside his brain long enough to win a game. But as soon as he got back home, the agonizing cycle started all over again. And it continued, until finally he was able to confide in a team trainer who helped him get the professional treatment he needed. Diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Hirsch was able to embark on the rocky road to recovery. As one of the first professional athletes to talk openly about mental health, Hirsch wrote about his OCD for the Players’ Tribune. His piece remains one of their most-read articles ever. As Hirsch says, “I am not insane. I am not a bad person. I am not weak. I have an illness, and there is a treatment.”

In Coast to Coast, a wide range of contributors examine the historical development of hockey across Canada, in both rural and urban settings, to ask how ideas about hockey have changed.

Discusses the history and reform of Canadian professional ice hockey.

"Canadians are passionate about their healthcare system--and their hockey. While the Canadian medical system is a source of pride―based on ideals of universal coverage, public funding, and high-quality medical care--this treasured healthcare system is failing due to soaring costs, the challenge of an aging population, and poor care delivery. It needs a reality check ... Dr. Stephen Pinney pulls the curtain back on the existing Canadian healthcare system and exposes its fundamental flaws--flaws that are the inevitable result of the system's history and evolution. Hockey, Canada's game, offers a potential principle-based solution to this national dilemma. The book proposes a path forward that would allow Canadians to redesign their healthcare system in a way that matches their ideals. That redesign, Dr. Pinney proposes, should reflect ideas most Canadians know and accept: the principles inherent in a Stanley Cup--winning hockey team."--Provided by publisher.

#1 BESTSELLER The legacy of the greatest hockey series ever played, fifty years later, with stories from the players that shed new light on those incredible games and times. “Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here’s another shot. Right in front...they score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” These immortal words, spoken to hockey fans around the world by the legendary broadcaster Foster Hewitt, capture the historic final-seconds goal scored by Paul Henderson that won the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Hockey fans know the moment well, but the story of those amazing eight games has never been fully told—until now. The series was the first of its kind, and one of the most dramatic sporting showdowns in history. With the Soviets dominating international hockey, this series was meant to settle the debate, once and for all, of who owned the game. It was Canada’s best against the Soviets for the first time. And in the shadow of the Cold War, this was about more than eight games of hockey. Expectations were high as the series began. This was supposed to be easy for Team Canada, but after the disappointing first four games on home ice with only one win, victory seemed out of reach. With the final four games in Moscow, Canada got a rare glimpse behind the iron curtain as the team, as well as three thousand raucous fans, arrived in the USSR. Amid the culture shock and strained relations, what followed was a tug-of-war battle that lasted to the dying seconds of game 8. Now, five decades after this historic event, it’s time to reflect on the greatest hockey series ever played. Veteran journalist and hockey analyst Scott Morrison uses a storyteller’s voice to reveal what it meant to hockey then, and what it means now. Filled with the memories of the players and others involved with the series, he shows how it changed the game, and challenged a nation’s sense of identity and place in the world.

This volume examines the cultural meanings of high-level amateur and professional hockey in Canada during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, the author analyzes English Canadian media narratives of Stanley Cup "challenge" games and championship series between 1896 and 1907. Newspaper coverage and telegraph reconstructions of Stanley Cup challenges contributed significantly to the growth of a mediated Canadian "hockey world" – and a broader "world of sport" – during this time period. By 1903, Stanley Cup hockey games had become national Canadian events, followed by audiences across the country. Hockey also played an important role in the construction of gender and class identities, and in debates about amateurism, professionalism, and community representation in sport. The author also explores the connections between violence and masculinity in Canadian hockey by examining media descriptions of "brutal" and "strenuous" play. He analyzes how notions of civic identity changed as hockey clubs evolved from amateur teams represented by players who were members of their home community to professional aggregations that included paid imports from outside the town. As a result, this volume addresses important gaps in the study of sport history and the analysis of sport and popular culture. This book was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.