Power Plays!: Hockey Tips and Trivia

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

More trivia than tips, there is not much to differentiate this slim book
of essentially National Hockey League miscellany from others like it,
except its higher cost. While Brunt, a sports columnist for The Globe
and Mail, does include a few brief pointers about shooting and skating
(the latter taken from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association’s
coaching manual), the remainder of the book is a hodgepodge of largely
historical NHL “stuff” ranging from “Five Great Goals,” “Puck
Lore,” and “All-Time Greats” to profiles of four of the classic
“Ice Palaces.” As expected of books of this ilk, Power Plays! is
profusely illustrated with action photographs, but the vast majority are
in black and white. In the fashion of breakfast cereal-box premiums, the
book contains a “prize”—eight bright, colorful, cartoon-like
“free original hockey tattoo transfers” that young readers can
adhere to themselves. Brunt’s choice of personal pronouns suggests he
has assumed that only males play or are interested in hockey.

The book’s open, inviting format, coupled with its large print and
simple text, should appeal to those reluctant middle-school readers who
will seemingly not read anything other than liberally illustrated hockey
titles; however, its price may put this book beyond the financial reach
of most of its intended individual purchasers, who will then have to
seek it out in school or public libraries. Not a first-choice purchase.