The Thunder Bay Public Library has a number of books on the history of hockey. For example, Hockey: A People’s History by Michael McKinley offers a broader view of hockey history. McKinley begins his book by delving into hockey’s origins, then continues with information on a multitude of topics including Lord Stanley’s donation of the cup, the Dawson City Nuggets team, the building of the Montreal Forum, and Florida’s Tropical Hockey League of 1938. The CBC television series that the book accompanied is also available at the library as a set of six DVDs.
Did watching hockey during the Olympics spark an interest in its past? If so, Canada’s Olympic Hockey History 1920-2010 by Andrew Podnieks is a great resource. Illustrated throughout, Podnieks’ book offers information on Canada's Olympic hockey teams, their trips towards the Olympics, and their games at the Olympics. Starting from the time of the amateur champs representing Canada up to the modern day professional players, this book covers the history from the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons playing in Antwerp, Belgium to just before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
In the dawn of professional hockey do you think team owners were people of great integrity, the good of the game the main priority, and everything was done fairly and above board? If you ever held any of those notions, Deceptions and Doublecross by Morey Holzman and Joseph Nieforth will quickly set you straight. Creating a new league to keep an owner out, unevenly applying rules, and newspaper reporting of extreme "homerism", were the order of the day back then. This books covers the time of the NHL's formation but also includes the period prior to and after this.
If you ever wanted to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, you can get a glimpse of some of the memorabilia on display in the book Hockey Hall of Fame Treasures. It is chocked full of photographs that showcase hockey related items from a variety of eras: cards, pennants, sticks, pucks, equipment, trophies, masks, etc. Some interesting items include a pair of white and green skates from the California Seals team, a 1940’s Toronto Maple Leafs cardigan sweater, and the Clarkson Cup (North American Women’s Professional Hockey Trophy).
For hockey history closer to home, check out David Nicholson’s book Gamble in Goal. Nicholson traces Bruce Gamble’s hockey life starting from his time of playing ball hockey and outdoor peewee hockey on the outdoor rinks of Port Arthur. The book continues through Gamble’s time in junior hockey at the early age of 14 through to his Memorial Cup Western Final and OHA all star team experiences. Readers will learn about the ups and downs of Gamble’s NHL and professional career which sadly ended due to a heart attack. Gamble would later die of another heart attack at the young age of 44.
Another book containing hockey history in the region is Neil McQuarrie’s On the Allan Cup Trail: The Story of the Fort Frances Canadians. Starting with the building of a small natural indoor rink in 1920, the book continues to the mid 1940’s and the formation of what would be called the Fort Frances Canadians hockey team. The senior team’s various runs at the Allan Cup, culminating with their victory in 1952, are described in detail. As a back story in the book, we get more than a glimpse at the many challenges and delays in the town of Fort Frances getting a new larger more modern arena built.
Check out these books and other hockey history books including ones on team histories, player biographies, and much more available at your local library.
Will Scheibler
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