Gordie: A Hockey Legend - Hardcover

MacSkimming, Roy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1550541595 ISBN 13: 9781550541595

Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc, 1994

Synopsis

Before Gretzky, before Russians played in the NHL, before multimillion-dollar salaries, there was Gordie Howe: the greatest star ever to play hockey.

About this title

About the Author:

Roy MacSkimming is a sometime defenseman (shoots left), hockey dad and lifelong hockey fan as well as a writer and consultant. Formerly book columnist for the Toronto Star and sports writer for the Ottawa Citizen, he has written numerous magazine articles, two novels, "Formentera" and "Out of Love," a non-fiction book, "Canadian Publishing," and is coauthor of the self-help book "On Your Own Again." He lives in Ottawa.

From Booklist:

Long before Gretsky, Messier, and even before the original Hull, there was a big, raw-boned kid from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who was the most celebrated hockey player of his era. Amazingly, his era began in 1946 with the Detroit Red Wings and ended 34 years and 32 seasons later with the Hartford Whalers. When Gordie Howe retired, he was 52 and still an effective National Hockey League player. In between, he led the league in goals scored five times and in points six times, was a 12-time all-star, and claimed six Most Valuable Player awards. MacSkimming approached Howe about an authorized biography but instead went forward with this unauthorized version. No matter. It's far superior to the hero-worshiping, gee-whiz, then-we-played, ghostwritten autobiographies so popular today, but at the same time, it never strays into Kitty Kelly territory. Howe has his darker side: there were plenty of on- and off-ice battles with coaches and owners. MacSkimming reports them all, but he also captures Howe's sense of fun and makes it clear that the man lived to play hockey. Howe's enthusiasm for the game is omnipresent, from his very poor childhood with borrowed skates and makeshift sticks to his later years when he came out of a two-year retirement to play with his son in the upstart World Hockey Association. Must reading for hockey fans. Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1550541595
• ISBN 13: 9781550541595
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 220