Fury: Inside the Life of Theoren Fleury

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

At first glance, this book appears to be the typical sports biography:
just another of a young man who grew up in rural Canada and achieved his
dream of becoming a professional hockey star. Most such biographies are
designed chiefly to capitalize on an athlete’s popularity at the
height of his career. But in this case, first appearances are deceiving.

What makes this book so interesting and enjoyable is the method
employed by award-winning journalist Andrew H. Malcolm (The Canadians,
1985) to describe and analyze the internal operations of the Calgary
Flames. Malcolm uses the dysfunctional upbringing of the pint-sized
Fleury as a backdrop and Fleury’s on-ice accomplishments as his focus.
However, his book is really about the people who have influenced and who
continue to influence the life of this Calgary franchise player, from
the hockey executives, scouts, and coaches; to the volunteers, family,
and hometown supporters; to the trainers, equipment handlers, and skate
sharpeners; to the ushers and the media; to the choreographer of the
Jumbotron that hangs over centre ice. According to Malcolm, the
multimillion-dollar salaries have not eroded Fleury’s basic decency
and strength of character.

In a book that eschews sports clichés and locker-room jocktalk,
Malcolm gets to the essence of hockey in Canada.