Hockey's Greatest Moments: Celebrating the Best in Hockey

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation.

There must be a diehard market for coffee-table books about hockey. This
one focuses on the post-1960 years, presenting us with Pelle
Lindbergh’s stardom and tragic death, the closings of Toronto’s
Maple Leaf Gardens as well as the Chicago Stadium, Wayne Gretzky’s
stirring speech during the 2002 men’s Olympic tournament (“I know
the whole world wants us to lose, except Canada and Canadian fans and
our players”), and even (gasp) an account of the Canadian women’s
team’s gold medal effort at those same Games.

A final “Souvenirs” section pays homage to some outstanding coaches
such as Roger Neilson and Bob Johnson, Al Iafrate who perennially won
the hardest slapshot contest held yearly at the NHL All-Star game,
female trailblazer Manon Rheaume, Swedish trailblazer Borje Salming,
referees, broadcasters, and even Canadian singer Stompin’ Tom Connors
for his classic “The Hockey Song.” The photographs are stellar and
the index is very welcome.

Hockey’s Greatest Moments is a great gift for the hockey fanatic, but
given the plethora of similar books, it will not likely become a
classic.