Breakaway: Hockey and the Years Beyond

Albert Stray is librarian and manager of the Streetsville Public
Library.

In 1989, Charles Wilkins co-authored After the Applause with Colleen and
Gordie Howe. Breakaway goes beyond the six-team era in profiling eight
well-known former NHL players who also played in the 1970s, 1980s, and
early 1990s. A separate chapter is devoted to each player, including
Tiger Williams, Johnny Bower, Randy Gregg, and Reggie Leech.

Their post-hockey lives are a study in contrasts. Reggie Leech, the
high-profile prolific scorer, underwent a downward spiral as an
alcoholic, only to recover and become a champion of Native Canadians.
Tiger Williams, on the other hand, was a player with unlimited
enthusiasm who parlayed his career into a successful retirement as a
property developer on the West Coast. Johnny Bower is described as being
“the most courageous bloody goalie ever to strap on a pair of pads,”
while Randy Gregg, the only medical doctor to play in the NHL, offers
candid opinions about professional hockey and the people who run it.
Complemented by 16 pages of black-and-white photographs, this book
should be of interest to all hockey fans.