Hockey Superstars, 2003-2004

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.

While maintaining its essential structure, Romanuk’s 17th edition of
Hockey Superstars introduces some content departures. The 2003–2004
version contains the anticipated 16 glossy full-colour mini-posters of
the National Hockey League’s “superstars,” 17 if the cover is
included. Alphabetically arranged from Ed Belfour to Joe Thornton,
Romanuk’s selections include six wingers, five centres, three goalies,
and three defencemen. Players from 13 different NHL teams are
represented, with 10 players coming from seven teams in the NHL’s
Northeast and Northwest Divisions, likely the portion of the NHL best
known to Canadian fans. The Vancouver Canucks have three players in the
book (Todd Bertuzzi, Ed Jovanovski, and Marcus Naslund), while the
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings each have two.

Edition 17 continues having the two-column text face the player’s
full-colour action photo. The very readable text is further enlivened by
a “Did You Know?” box plus a “Hockey Heroes,” “Great
Moment,” or “Hockey Memory” box. Under each player’s picture,
another box provides the player’s 2002–03 statistics, draft details,
date and place of birth, position, shooting or catching handedness, plus
height and weight.

As in previous editions, the poster pages are sandwiched between two
matte-paper sections. The first introduces a new feature, “All the
Teams,” which divides the 30 NHL teams into their two conferences and
six divisions and provides, where appropriate, each team’s nickname,
colours, home arena, mascot, and number of Stanley Cups won. Hockey
purists may quibble about Romanuk’s including the seven cups collected
by the pre-1934 Senators. In addition to being invited to predict which
teams will make the playoffs, young readers can record their favourite
team, players, and goalies and chart their season’s standings. The
closing section now omits the hockey-playing reader’s own seasonal
stats, but again provides “Referee Signals” and “NHL Awards.” A
new concluding section presents the 2002–03 season statistics for
teams and the top 10 points leaders and goalies. A chart, “Countdown
to the Cup 2003–2004,” permits readers to record the playoff
match-ups. The hockey-related websites introduced last year have been
dropped.

Hockey Superstars remains a fine purchase for young hockey fans,
especially reluctant readers in Grades 3 and up. Recommended.