Ken Reid S Hometown Hockey Heroes

From Sportsnet Central host and broadcaster Ken Reid comes an inspiring and entertaining new collection of hockey stories about local legends who define the game and its values. In many communities across Canada, hockey lives in the nearby arenas and leagues that forge both decades-long rivalries and unbreakable friendships. Fans show up to cheer not for distant NHL superstars, but for the homegrown heroes who define their town. These players don’t always make it to the big leagues, but they inevitably become legends. In this entertaining collection, Canadian broadcaster and Sportsnet Central host Ken Reid tells their uplifting stories, from Pictou, Nova Scotia, to Kimberley, British Columbia—and everywhere in between. There’s Robbie Forbes, who arrived in Newfoundland in the mid-eighties still dreaming of the pros and ended up giving the town a dream of its own when he led the Corner Brook Royals to a Canadian Senior Hockey title. He also happens to be Sidney Crosby’s uncle. In a legendary Ontario community, the name Paul Polillo is spoken in the same reverential breath as Wayne Gretzky in their shared hometown of Brantford. There’s also the tragic story of George Pelawa, who may have been the inspiration for Tom Cochrane & Red Rider’s famous song “Big League.” And Tyson Wuttunee, an Indigenous player in Saskatchewan who, through hockey, found the family and home he’d always longed for. Featuring heartwarming stories of grit, leadership, and lifelong bonds, Ken Reid’s Hometown Hockey Heroes celebrates how hockey, and the values the game teaches, can shape our communities for the better.

A follow-up to the 2014 national bestseller Hockey Card Stories, Ken Reid’s new offering presents 59 more stories about your favorite hockey cards from the players themselves. Hockey Card Stories 2 will take you all the way back to the 1960s and right up to the Hockey Card Boom of the 1990s. How did Eric Lindros handle being at the center of the 1990s rookie-card craze? Ever wonder why one tough guy’s Upper Deck card looks more like a High School yearbook picture than a sports card? Of course, once again, there are glorious mullets, errors, and broken noses. There’s even the story of how a rhinoceros and a Hall of Famer ended up on a card together. And as a special bonus, Ken Reid reveals the story behind the chase for his greatest hockey card.

Get to know the men who fulfilled their childhood dream From the beer league to the minor league, hockey players from coast to coast often say theyÍd give anything to play just one game in the NHL. One Night Only brings you the stories of 39 men who lived the dream „ only to see it fade away almost as quickly as it arrived. Ken Reid talks to players who had one game, and one game only, in the National Hockey League „ including the most famous single-gamer of them all: the coach himself, Don Cherry. Was it a dream come true or was it heartbreak? What did they learn from their hockey journey and how does it define them today? From the satisfied to the bitter, Ken Reid unearths the stories from hockeyÍs equivalent to one-hit wonders in the follow-up to his bestselling Hockey Card Stories.

From the national bestselling author of One Night Only come 39 new stories about what a big-league goal can mean to an NHLer Including interviews with Billy Smith, Chris Mason, Damian Rhodes, Christian Thomas, and Slap Shot’s Dave Hanson. This follow-up to Reid’s national bestseller One Night Only: Conversations with the NHL’s One-Game Wonders unearths the blood, sweat, tears, and laughs of the journey to and from a single big-league goal. If you’ve ever picked up a hockey stick, chances are you’ve dreamed of scoring in the National Hockey League. Ken Reid interviews and profiles 39 men who did just that: they bulged the twine in the best hockey league in the world … but only once. From minor league call-ups to season-long mainstays and even a Hall of Famer, One to Remember answers all the questions … What did that one tally mean? Was it enough to satisfy a lifelong ambition, or was it just the smallest taste of success? Is the achievement still cherished years later? Or is it bittersweet, a distant reminder of what could have been?

Get to know the men who fulfilled their childhood dream. From the beer league to the minor league, hockey players from coast to coast often say they'd give anything to play just one game in the NHL. One Night Only brings you the stories of 39 men who lived the dream - only to see it fade away almost as quickly as it arrived. Ken Reid talks to players who had one game, and one game only, in the National Hockey League - including the most famous single-gamer of them all: the coach himself, Don Cherry. Was it a dream come true or was it heartbreak? What did they learn from their hockey journey and how does it define them today? From the satisfied to the bitter, Ken Reid unearths the stories from hockey's equivalent to one-hit wonders in the follow-up to his bestselling Hockey Card Stories.

"Hockey Card Stories" reveals what was really going on in your favourite old hockey cards through the eyes of the players depicted on them. Some of the cards are definitely worth a few bucks, some a few cents -- but every story told here is priceless. Sportsnet's Ken Reid presents the cards you loved and the airbrushed monstrosities that made you howl, the cards that have been packed away in boxes forever, and others you can't believe ever existed. Whether it's a case of mistaken identity or simply a great old photo, a fantastic 1970s haircut and 'stache, a wicked awesome goalie mask or a future Hall of Famer's off-season fashion sense, a wide variety of players -- from superstars like Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, and Phil Esposito to the likes of Bill Armstrong who played only one game in the NHL -- chime in on one of their most famous cards.

Hockey Card Stories reveals what was really going on in your favourite old hockey cards through the eyes of the players depicted on them. Some of the cards are definitely worth a few bucks, some a few cents—but every story told here is priceless. Sportsnet’s Ken Reid presents the cards you loved and the airbrushed monstrosities that made you howl, the cards that have been packed away in boxes forever, and others you can’t believe ever existed. Whether it’s a case of mistaken identity or simply a great old photo, a fantastic 1970s haircut and ’stache, a wicked awesome goalie mask or a future Hall of Famer’s off-season fashion sense, a wide variety of players—from superstars like Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, and Phil Esposito to the likes of Bill Armstrong who played only one game in the NHL—chime in on one of their most famous cards.

Sportsnet anchor Ken Reid interviews 60 former NHLers -- the greats (Orr, Esposito, Potvin), the not-so (Steve Ludzik, Michel Dion, John Garrett), and the not-great-at-all -- who bring to life a golden age of both collectibles and professional hockey.